 Amen. All right. So we're there in Exodus 25 and it's kind of an easy chapter to get lost in a little bit. Sometimes all the descriptions and again it gets monotonous as we're reading through it. But what I want to focus on is the Ark, the Ark of the Covenant or the Ark of God, the Ark of the Tabernacle that it talks about there in verse 10. And there's actually three arcs in the Bible. The first is obviously Noah and the Ark, right? The large vessel or boat, the ship that he used, the animals two by two and Noah and his family. And then also the Bible talks about the Ark that Moses was laid in the river Nile by his mother, right? In Exodus chapter two. But this is the Ark of the Covenant. And so that word, looking at those other two mentions of the word Ark, we get that it's a container basically, something to carry something in, not necessarily something with a lid. Well let's just kind of go through it. I want to talk about what it looks like, what its purpose was, what it did in the Old Testament, or what it symbolized in the Old Testament, where it is today, what may have replaced that in the New Testament. So Exodus 25, look down at verse 10. We'll kind of go through it a little bit and in the description of it and see what it looks like. Verse 10 there in Exodus 25, And they shall make an Ark of shit and wood, two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. So a cubit is typically from fingertip to elbow, so about 18 inches. So that would mean that this box or container is about 45 inches by 27 by 27. It's four foot by two by two, more or less. And verse 11, And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without, shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about it. So it's going to be covered completely with gold, within and without. Verse 12, And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof, and two rings shall be in one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. And thou shalt make staves of shit and wood and overlay them with gold, and thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the Ark, that the Ark may be born with them. So the rings are just pure gold rings on the side of the Ark, and then these staves or poles are to be made to carry it. And these are also overlaid with gold. Verse 15, The staves shall be in the rings of the Ark. They shall not be taken from it. And thou shalt put into the Ark the testimony which I shall give thee, and thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold, two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. So this mercy seat is essentially going to be the lid that will cover the rest of the Ark, and it's the same size, 45 inches by 27 inches. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten workshop thou make them, and the two ends of the mercy seat, and make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end, even of the mercy seat shall you make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another. Toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be, and thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the Ark. So these cherubims or angels figures are going to be with their wings spread over, looking towards each other and down at the mercy seat. So if it's a, you imagine a rectangular box that's the Ark itself, and the cherubim are to be looking towards the mercy seat, and that's the lid that would go on the Ark. Where did they put it? So that's what it looks like. It's this gold covered within and without all pure gold, a wooden structure covered with pure gold. So where did they put it? Go over to Exodus 26, Exodus 26 and down at verse 33. So Exodus 25, this is when God is explaining to Moses what he wants him to build. He's explaining how it's to look, how it's to be, what size it's to be, how they're supposed to carry it, where they're to put it in verse 26, verse 30, chapter 26. And verse 33, look down, it says, and thou shalt hang up the veil under the taches, the rings. This is to separate the holy place to the most holy place, that thou mayest bring in thither within the veil the Ark of the testimony, the Ark. And the veil shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the Ark of the testimony in the most holy place. So this was to be in the most holy place in the Tabernacle, while the children of Israel and Egypt, or in the wilderness, excuse me, going to the Promised Land. If you want to turn to Exodus chapter 40, actually in Exodus 37, I'll just read for you, is when these were actually made. It says in verse 1, made the Ark of Shidemwood, two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And it goes on to go through exactly how God wanted it made, back in Exodus 26. So they made it in Exodus 37 and 38, is when they were putting everything together. And in Exodus 40, it says in verse 1, and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, On the first day of the first month, shalt thou set up the Tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and thou shalt put there in the Ark of the testimony and covered the Ark with the veil. I skipped down to verse 17, and it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the Tabernacle was reared up. And Moses reared up the Tabernacle and fashioned the sockets and set the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up his pillars, and he spread about the tent over the Tabernacle and put the covering of the tent upon it, as the Lord commanded Moses. And he took and put the testimony into the Ark, and set the staves on the Ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the Ark. And he brought the Ark into the Tabernacle and set the veil of the covering and covered the Ark of the testimony as the Lord commanded Moses. So we see that as God wanted him to do and commanded in chapter 26 and 25, so he did. They built it. They bought it into the Tabernacle, into the most holy place within the Tabernacle. So we know what it looked like. It was this gold box. If you've seen any pictures, it's a highly sought-after artifact for its monetary value and historical value and everything else. Any picture that you've seen is, the Bible gives a very good description of it. That's probably pretty close to what it looked like, size-wise and gold and everything else. And we know where it was supposed to be. It was supposed to be in the most holy place. So what was it for? Flip back to Exodus 25. We see it throughout the Old Testament quite a few times. It's mentioned. And we'll just kind of trace through this and kind of get a good feeling for what the Ark did or was a symbol of in the Old Testament. So in Exodus 25, look down at verse 21. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the Ark. And in the Ark shalt thou put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat between the two cherubim which are upon the Ark, the testimony of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. So it was a place that the children of Israel or specifically the high priests could come and meet and commune with God. It was a place where they could seek counsel at God or inquire of the Lord. Okay. Well, there's mercy seat. It talks about that here in this chapter. If you want to flip to Leviticus chapter 16, we'll kind of see what the mercy seat was for. Leviticus chapter 16. Again, this was a high priest. It was to have access to this most holy place. Leviticus 16, this is the the story of the scapegoat. So Aaron's picking two goats. One's going to be a sacrifice. The other one's going to be the scapegoat. Let's go to verse 14. So there's actually a a bullock or a young bull calf that is to be sacrificed in addition to this goat of the sin offering. Verse 14, it says, And he shall take the blood of the bullock so there to kill this young bull and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward. And before the mercy seat, shall he sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times. Verse 15, then shall he kill the goat. So this is the not the scapegoat, the other goat. Shall he kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring his blood within the veil and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. And he shall make atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel and because of their transgressions in all their sins. So shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. So this the sprinkling of the blood of this goat and of this bullock were a symbol of Christ's blood going to be shed for us, right? This is the cleansing of the blood. The Bible tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin, right? So this is the picture of, you know, the blood that's going to be shed by the Christ, by the Messiah. And this was to do to make atonement for the holy place because of their transgression of the children of Israel. So it's a representative to them. It's to this mercy seat specifically on top of the Ark that was where that sacrifice was pictured where it was made. So what was in the Ark? The Ark, one of the passages we just read talks about that. It turned to Deuteronomy chapter 10. So we know what it looks like. We know where it was supposed to be kept. We know what it was for, right? It was to meet and to commune with God for the children of Israel or the high priest. I had the mercy seat, so it was a place of atonement. But what was in it? So inside the Ark in Deuteronomy chapter 10, looked down to verse 1. At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew the two tables of stone like unto the first and come up unto me in the mount and make thee an ark of wood. So obviously Moses got the first two tables and he threw them down when he saw the golden calf when he came back down. And so these are the second time. And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou breakest and thou shalt put them in the ark. And then it goes on and I made an ark of shithom wood and hew two tables of stone like unto the first and went up into the mount having the two tables in my hand. And he wrote on the tables according to the first writing the ten commandments which the Lord spake unto you in the mount to the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly and the Lord gave them unto me. And I turned myself and came down from the mount and put the tables in the ark which I had made and there they be as the Lord commanded me. So we see that that Moses listened to God and he took these two tables of stone the ten commandments and put them in the ark. Okay, so also flip to Deuteronomy 31. Deuteronomy 31, let me go there myself. So there was more than just the ten commandments in there. We see in Deuteronomy 31. Deuteronomy 31 starting verse 24. And it came to pass when Moses had made an end of writing the words of the law in the book until they were finished that Moses commanded the Levites which bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Oh, I'm sorry, excuse me. Bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord saying, take this book of the law and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God that it may be there for a witness against thee. So it also tells him to take a book of the law the whole book, you know, Genesis through Deuteronomy that Moses wrote. It tells them to put that in there as well. Flip to Exodus 16. Exodus 16. So there's the ten commandments in the books of the law. There's a couple other things in there and we also see this mentioned again in Hebrews. We'll get to that in a few minutes. But in Exodus 16 we see one other thing that was in the ark. I looked down at verse 31. And the house of Israel was called excuse me. And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manah. So this is when the Israelites were in the desert. God's feeding them from heaven. Manah fell from heaven. He outlines how much they're supposed to gather, when they're supposed to gather it, what to do about the Sabbath day. He outlines all these principles for them. And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manah. And it was like coriander seed white and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. And Moses said, this is the thing which the Lord commanded. Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations. That they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt. And Moses said unto Aaron, take a pot and put an omer full of Manah therein and lay it up before the Lord to be kept for your generations. As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the testimony to be kept. Okay, so we see that there's the Ten Commandments along with the Book of the Law. We also see that there's a jar of Manah and Hebrews 9 confirms this as well. Turn also to Numbers 17. There's actually one more thing in the ark. Numbers 17. This is after Korah. The dispute between Korah and Moses and Aaron and everything and Korah was swallowed up by the earth. This takes place right after that. Numbers 17, verse 1. This is Aaron's rod but it is also the fourth thing that's in the ark. And we read that story just to get a feel for what that means or symbolizes. And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, speak unto the children of Israel and take of every one of them a rod according to the houses of their fathers. Of all their princes, according to the house of their fathers, twelve rods, and write thou every man's name upon his rod. And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi for one rod shall be for the head of their house of their fathers. And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of congregation before the testimony where I will meet with you and it shall come to pass that the man's rod whom I shall choose shall blossom. And I'll make to cease for me the murmurings of the children of Israel whereby they murmur against you. So if you remember Korah, there was a revolt or a reviling, right? There were contentions from Korah and his group with Moses and Aaron. And so this is the way that God's going to show who he's choosing. Who's going to be after this whole deal with Korah happened? Verse 6, And the Moses spake unto the children of Israel and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece for each prince won according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods. And the rod of Aaron was among their rods and Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of the witness. And it came to pass that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded and brought forth buds and bloomed blossoms and yielded almonds. And Moses brought out the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel. And they looked and took every man his rod and the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony to be kept for a token against the rebels. So he says it should be kept for a token against the rebels. And thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not. And Moses did so as the Lord commanded him. So did he. So we see that Aaron's rod that budded, you know these are just sticks that they chose for each man. Aaron's rod that budded was the one who God chose. God chose Aaron at this time. And this was to be kept for a token against the rebels that they take away their murmurings from me. Okay, so we'll keep that in mind. I'll just read for you. Hebrews 9, it also talks about this is one of the new, about the only New Testament mention of the Ark. Hebrews 9 forces which had the golden sensor and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid roundabout with gold. Wherein was the golden pot that had manna? Aaron's rod that budded and the tables of the Covenant. So we see in the New Testament it referencing three of these things that were in the Ark. So this is getting a little tedious but it's important for the second half of this. So I want to make sure we understand just what it looked like. You know, we get the idea on that where it was supposed to be kept in the most holy place. What it was for, it was to be used for a place to meet and to commune with God, especially for the high priest. It was a place to make atonement for the sins of the nation. And it had things in it. It had the Ten Commandments in it. It had the books of the law. It had the jar of manna and it had Aaron's rod that budded. So what was it for? What did it do in the Old Testament or what did it help to do in the Old Testament? Turn to Joshua chapter 3. So there's a couple of things that it did and we'll kind of look at a few of those here. Joshua chapter 3 we've just been going through in the Wednesday night series. Joshua chapter 3 and this is at the beginning when they're getting ready to cross into the Promised Land. And that's one thing that the Ark did is it helped to lead them into the Promised Land across Jordan River. Verse 1 of Joshua 3 and Joshua rose early in the morning and they removed from Shittim and came to Jordan. He and all the children of Israel and lodged there before they passed over. And it came to pass after three days that the officers went through the hosts and they commanded the people saying when you see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God and the priests the Levites bearing it then shall you remove from your places and go after it. So they're to use this as a thing to follow, right? When they get up and leave they're to follow it. Yet there shall be space between you and it about 2,000 cubits by measure. Come not near unto it that you may know the way by which you must go for you've not passed this way here to four. So it's going to lead them in this strange area that they haven't been to before. So they're to follow it and leave some space. Flip down to verse 14 please. And it came to pass when the people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan and the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people. And as soon as they that bear the Ark were coming to Jordan and the feet of the priests that bear the Ark were dipped into the brim of the water for the Jordan overfloweth all its banks, all the time of harvest. That the waters which came down from above stood up, stood and rose up upon a heap very far from the city of Adam. That is beside Zed-Aran and those that came down toward the sea of the plain even the salt sea failed and were cut off and the people passed over right against Jericho. So as soon as they entered into the river the river stopped flowing. It's damned up above and it stops and they pass over on dry ground in verse 17 says in the priests that bear the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. So the Ark was used as a leader to go into the promised land. It went into the sea first to the Jordan River first. The river dried up and the people were able to pass through on dry ground. So it helped to lead them into the promised land. Before they were into the promised land actually in Numbers 10 I'll just read this one for you. It led them through the wilderness. In verse 33 it says and they departed from the mouth of the Lord three days journey from Sinai and the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord went before them in three days journey to search out a resting place for them. So it was to where it was moving they would move and when it stopped they would stop and that's how they were kind of led throughout the wilderness in that time before they came to the Jordan River. So it brought them into the promised land across the Jordan River. It led them through the wilderness beforehand. Flip over to Joshua 6 if you're there in Joshua 3. Joshua 6 we also just talked about this one too. Verse 11 it helped them fight battles. So the Ark was instrumental in helping fight battles or leading in these battles. So this is the story of Jericho the walls falling. Just kind of a good verse on this verse 11 so the Ark of the Lord compassed the city going about it once and they came into the camp and lodged in the camp. And Joshua rose early in the morning and the priests took up the Ark of the Lord and seven priests bearing seven trumpets of ram's horn before the Ark went on continually and blew with the trumpets and the arm men went before them but the rearward came after the Ark of the Lord the priests going on and blowing with the trumpets. And so this happened through the different days and the different patterns that they were supposed to do and eventually culminated with the walls falling down. But the Ark was instrumental in leading this parade or this march around the city. So it helped fight these battles. Flip to Judges chapter 20 Judges chapter 20 this is after the Judges 19 incident and the children of Israel are fighting with the tribe of Benjamin and they're they fought twice with them and they've lost both times and they're trying to figure out if they should continue and go again. Judges chapter 20 and verse 26 then all the children of the Lord and all the people went up and came into the house of God and wept and sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until even and offered burn offerings and peace offerings before the Lord and the children of Israel inquired of the Lord for the Ark of the Covenant was there in those days and Phineas the son of Elias or the son of Aaron stood before it in those days saying shall I yet go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother or shall I cease and the Lord said go up for tomorrow I will deliver them into my hand. So there this is a place to inquire of the Lord to meet with the Lord to inquire of him to ask counsel of him and that's what they did here. So this is another role that we see the Ark of the Covenant instrumental in they seek counsel or inquire of the Lord. So what happened to it? So we know what it looks like what it was used for where it was supposed to be what was inside of it and we know the roles that it did throughout the Old Testament it was across into Jordan across the Jordan into the promised land it led them through battles it led them in the wilderness. What happened to it? Go to the first Samuel chapter 4. There's a couple of things that happened to it here in first Samuel and we'll kind of brief through some of these to get an idea of what happened and it's kind of an interesting story. First Samuel 4 let's look down at verse 1 I know it's a lot of Bible but we kind of get a good feel for what happened and these stories and why things happen and then we'll compare that with what we see in the New Testament and our application for our lives today. So first Samuel 4 look down at verse 1 and says and the word of Samuel came to all Israel now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle and pitched beside Ebenezer and the Philistines pitched an affect. So the Philistines are fighting against Israel and they say in verse 3 second half and when the people were coming to the camp the elders of Israel said wherefore hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines so they're not doing and he says let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us that when it cometh among us it may save us out of the hand of our enemies so they realize that they're not doing very well in this battle and they say we need the ark of God that's going to give us power and confidence and help us to win this battle. Verse 4 so the people sent to Shiloh that they may bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts which dwelleth between the cherubim and the two sons Eli, Haphni and Fenehas were there with the ark of the covenant of God. And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp all Israel shouted with a great shout so that the earth rang again they're very excited to see it it's boosting morale and it's boosting morale of the army and the soldiers and when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout they said what mean it this noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews and they understood that the ark of the Lord was coming to the camp and this is kind of interesting verse 7 and the Philistines were afraid for they said God has come into this camp they know they've heard about this they've heard that this is instrumental in some of the battles that they fought at Jericho crossing the Red Sea so they've seen this through Israel's history here in the Promised Land and conquering nations and kingdoms and stuff and so they understood this and they're afraid and the Philistines verse 7 were afraid for they said God has come into the camp and they said woe unto us for there has not been such a thing here to form woe unto us who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods these are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness they recognize these things be strong and quit yourselves like men O ye Philistines that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews as they have been unto you quit yourselves like men in fight and the Philistines verse 10 fought and Israel was smitten and they fled every man into his tent so it didn't work and there was a very great slaughter for their fellow of Israel 30,000 footmen so the beginning of this chapter it was 4,000 men had died and then they bring out the Ark thinking it's going to give them power and they're going to they can't lose now they have the Ark of God there well the Philistines fought and they slew another 30,000 people so it was a huge loss for Israel and verse 11 it says and the Ark of God was taken and the two sons of Eli Haphne and Fenehouse were slain so the end of this even though they brought it out this was there like in chess right you bring out the Queen and she's going to conquer everything she can move everywhere well they thought that the Ark of God was that powerful for them but it it didn't in this case they didn't have God's blessing behind what they were doing and the Ark actually ended up getting taken for Samuel 5 skip down to chapter 5 and we'll look at verse 1 and the Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer and to Ashton and this is kind of an interesting story and again this is a good bit of Bible we're just going to kind of read through and and again feel for this story and what really happened when the Philistines took the Ark of God they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon their false God and when they have Ashton rose early on the Marl behold Dagon was falling upon his face to the earth before the Ark of the Lord and they took Dagon and set him in his place again and they thought oh something must have knocked him over maybe a strong breeze or something happened and when they rose early on the Marl morning behold Dagon was Dagon was falling upon his face to the ground before the Ark of the Lord but this time and the head of Dagon and both palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold only a sump of Dagon was left therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any that come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon and Ashton to this day so they they kind of start recognizing here that their false God they put it in their right it's a it's a religious artifact to them and so they put it in with their temple of other things and false God Dagon and knocks over and then his hands and head get knocked over after they set him up so there now they realize something's up with this so they don't go into that room anymore but the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashton and he destroyed them and smote them with emeralds even Ashton and the coaster of pastor had mentioned this earlier about the emeralds this was a curse we can look up what that means verse 7 and when the men of Ashton saw that it was so they said the Ark of God of Israel shall not abide with us for his hand is sore upon us and upon Dagon our God so there they don't like it here at Ashton they sent therefore and gathered all the Lords of the Fiddlestians together and said what should we do with the Ark of God of Israel and the answer let the Ark of God be carried away under Gath so they're kind of playing hot potato with the Ark of the Covenant they don't want it near them because it's causing them trouble they're having pain and these sores and and these emeralds and so they sent it to Gath and they carried the Ark of God of Israel out thither and it was so that after they carried it about the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction and he smote the men of the city both small and great and they had so now from Gath it goes to Echron they keep sending it around at the different heads of the Kings of the Philistines and it came to pass as the Ark of God came to Echron that the Echronites cried out saying they brought the Ark of the God of Israel to us to slay us and our people they know what's going on they don't like it here they're like they're saying they're playing hot potato with it they want they want it out of here verse 11 so they sent gathered together all the Lord's of the Philistines and said send away the Ark of God of Israel and let it go again to his own place so they get everybody together and they said what should we do with this thing oh let's let's give it back to the Israelites we don't want this thing here anymore that a slay us not and our people for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city and the hand of God was very heavy there and the men that had died that died not were smitten with emerads and the cry of the city went up to heaven so they don't want it here there they decided to send it back skipped down the verse first Samuel 6 the next chapter and the Ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months okay so it's there seven months and they're bouncing it around to these different regions in the in the Philistine area and so what they do is they end up talking and how do how do we get this back and they say well let's build a cart and we'll put it on the cart and we'll get two milk cows and we'll put them on and we'll take their calves and put them on the side and we'll just make sure that they go straight towards Israel we'll send it this way and we'll watch where they go this area knows that it's causing destruction in their region in their town and they want to get rid of it and they want to send it back to back to Israel verse 7 of 1 Samuel 6 now therefore make a new cart take two milk kind and on which there have come no yoke and tie the kind to the cart and bring their calves home from them and take the Ark of the Lord and lay it upon the cart and put the jewels of gold which you return him for a trespass trespass offering in a coffer by the side thereof and send it away that it may go so they're putting actually make images of these golden emeralds and of these mice and different things and they're trying to put it as a as a sacrifice offering to lay with the Ark as they're sending it back kind of a way that they're they're trying to apologize and seek reparation and get get this plague that's in their nation out of there verse 10 and the men did so and took two milk kind and tied them to the cart and shut up their calves at home and they laid the Ark of the Lord upon the cart and the coffer with the mice of gold and the kind took the straight way of best she mosh and went along the highway and blowing as they went and turned out of sight of the right or to the left and the lords of the philistines went after them under the border of best she mosh so they're actually watching to make sure that it's going the right direction they don't want it boomeranging back into their camp and causing more problems so it goes into best she mosh and down at verse 16 it says and when the five lords of philistines had seen it they returned to Ekron the same day so they see it get into let's come back home first Samuel seven down in verse two it says and it came to pass while the Ark of Ode and Cure Joth Jerem that time was long for it was 20 years and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord so it was it crossed into the promise land they fought it was used to fight battles when they were fighting against the philistines it was taken and it was gone for seven months after those seven months the philistines sent it back to them with all these golden offerings for a trespass offering against you know having taken it and then once they got it back it was it was in Cure Joth Jerem for 20 years King Saul actually when he's King he inquires of the Ark he wants to bring it there for a for a something to inquire of the Lord to seek counsel of God but turned to second Samuel six so we see also that once David builds the temple he wants to bring it up and put it in or I'm excuse me not David built the temple David wants to bring it into the Tabernac he wants to keep it from you know bring it up from from Beth Bashi Moth and Cure Joth Jerem and he wants to bring it up so they have it near him for second Samuel six and verse one again David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel 30,000 and David arose and went with all the people that were with him of Bail of Judah from Bail of Judah to bring up from thence the Ark of God whose name is called by the Lord the name of the Lord of hosts that dwelt between the cherubim so he wants to bring it up into the into the midst of them and they sent the God the Ark of God upon a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinodab that was in Gibbia and Azza and Ohio the sons of Abinodab draved the cart so they don't carry it the way that God intended it to be carried they don't carry it like he outlined in Exodus 25 they put it on a new cart they mimic what the Philistines had done you know they put it on a cart and they sent it with cows and so David does the same thing he does it wrong he doesn't carry it correctly and let's see it in verse 4 and they brought it out of the house of Abinodab which is a Gibbia accompanying the Ark of God and Ohio went before the Ark and David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord in all manner of instruments made of firwood even on harps and on sultries and on timbrels and on cornets and on cymbals and when they came to nation's threshing floor Azza put his hand to the Ark of God and took hold of it for the oxen shook it so again it's on this cart it's not being carried the way it's intended and it's about the fall and so Azza braces it to catch it and God is angered with him and he kills him he didn't do it properly okay we'll kind of get to this and in the next part here and David was displeased and it says in verse 9 and David was afraid of the Lord that day and he said how shall the Ark of the Lord come to me set and first chronicles 13 and through 15 it kind of goes through this a little bit more he inquires with other people how it's supposed to be carried that when they the bear the Ark of the Lord had gone six paces he sacrificed oxes and fatlings so he's so happy now that they were doing it correctly that he was he was doing sacrifices every six yards or so and verse 17 it says and they brought in the Ark of the Lord and set it in his place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord so David brings it into this tabernacle that he has now that he's King it keeps it you know it was in Kirjot Jeremy brings it to the tabernacle that he has it first Kings chapter eight if you want to turn there we see Solomon and this is kind of the last resting place that we see of the Ark in the old testament first Kings eight verse six it says in the priest brought in the Ark of the covenant of the Lord into its place into the Oracle of the house to the most holy place even other wing under the wings of the cherubim so this is after Solomon has finally built the temple that replaced the tabernacle David of course wanted to build the temple but God said no so he saved up money and and and goods and use things to use to build the tab the temple Solomon builds it he brings the Ark of the covenant into this most holy place of the temple so that's kind of a brief history on where it was throughout the old testament you know they had it in Israel they crossed through the promised land with it it helped them to fight battles they were fighting a battle they brought it out the Philistines took it for seven months and they bring it back and eventually takes it into the temple of Solomon where is it at now turn to Jeremiah three where's it at now like I said in first Kings eight that's kind of the last mention that we see where it's at we don't know where it's at today the Bible actually tells seems to say here we'll see here and also in Hebrews nine that it's not an important thing anymore it was a picture of the sacrifice of Christ being sprinkled on this mercy seat that was a place to make atonment for it there's a lot of movies and books and different things written about the Ark of the Covenant it's this art great artifact archaeologists for looking for it all this and that and we don't know maybe it'll be something used in the end time events maybe it'll be something done in the future but the Bible doesn't really say explicitly where it is now and Jeremiah three look down at verse 14 eternal back sliding children say at the Lord for I'm married unto you and I will take you one of a city and two of a family and I will bring you design and I will give you pastors according to mine heart which I'll feed you with knowledge and understanding and it shall come to pass when you be multiplied and increased in the land in those days say at the Lord they shall say no more the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord neither shall it come to mind neither shall they remember it neither shall they visit it neither shall that be done anymore so talking about the Ark of the Covenant you know in that day when when you be multiplied and increased in the land when when he will bring us to Zion it won't be something that we it won't be something that's done anymore it's not part of the tradition anymore it's it's kind of prophesying here I'll flip to Hebrews chapter 9 and we'll kind of see that teased out a little bit more I'll go there myself Hebrews chapter 9 let's see let's look at verse 1 there then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary for there was a tabernacle made first wherein was a candlestick in the table and the showbread which is called the sanctuary talking about the tabernacle originally made obviously after the second veil the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all or the most holy place which had the golden sensor in the Ark of the Covenant overlaid roundabout with gold wherein was the golden pot that had manna Aaron's rod that butted and the tables of the covenant and over it that's the cherubim's of glory shadowing the mercy seat of which we cannot now speak particularly so that last part of verse 5 there of which we cannot now speak particularly is referencing the Ark I believe that's kind of saying like at that time they don't we can't speak of it we don't know where it is you know this is in Hebrews is in the New Testament obviously maybe it was lost sometime in the captivity Babylon or with Hezekiah when the Assyrians came or when the Babylonians came the Bible doesn't really say but based on Jeremiah 3 and on Hebrews 9 5 I'm kind of thinking that it's not around at this point that's my thought and based on seeing this but look down at verse 23 in there verse 23 it says here it was therefore necessary that the patterns of the things in the heavens should be purified with these talking about the blood of the blood of bulls and of goats so it was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens so the the earthly vessels like the tabernacle the table the show you know the mercy seat the Ark they were patterns of the things in heaven so God was describing in Exodus 25 what he wanted Moses to make and how it was to be made what it was to look like how they were to move at everything he was very explicit about that and Hebrews nine here seems to say that these are patterned after something in heaven so it was therefore necessary that the patterns of the things in heavens in the heavens excuse me should be purified with these talking about the bloods of the bullocks and the goats but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these okay this is talking about the the pattern of the things in heaven the actual things in heaven with better sacrifices the blood of Christ right this chapter talking about the blood of bulls and goats can't take away sin it was a picture of Christ shedding his blood verse 24 for Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands talking about he went he actually went to heaven he ascended up to heaven to to sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat there which are the figures of the true so the things the holy places made with hands are the figures of the true the actual ones but into heaven itself is where Christ entered now to appear in the presence of God for us you know as an atonement for us this is when Christ rose again and went to heaven momentarily and then came back to to dwell among us for a couple of months or years so we see kind of this history of the Ark what it was used where it went through got lost to the Philistines for seven months came back what it had in it and that it was a picture of something in heaven so what does it mean for us okay this is all the Old Testament stuff and now focusing on our application for it what do we see in the New Testament that takes this place well the Old Testament Ark was a picture of God's presence with the Israelites and we don't have a tabernacle this isn't there isn't the most holy place where somebody goes in and kills a goat and sheds his blood somewhere you know we don't those things were nailed to the cross but we now have the Holy Spirit right turn to Ephesians one verse 13 is a very famous passage that I'm sure we all know now we have the Holy Spirit the in dwelling of the Holy Spirit once we're saved this is by who were sealed Ephesians 1 13 in whom ye also trusted after that she heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation in whom also after that you believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance into the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of his glory okay the Holy Ghost in Acts 5 I'll just read this is with Ananias and Sapphira they lied and Peter said Ananias why has Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost later he says thou hast not lied unto men but unto God so we know the Holy Ghost the Trinity right the Holy Ghost is God and we have that with us we're sealed by that with the Holy Spirit right once we believe 1 Corinthians 6 if you want to turn there please 1 Corinthians 6 so the Old Testament Ark it was this beautiful golden vessel that contain things it was where they made the sacrifices but it was this beautiful golden vessel 1 Corinthians 6 look at verse 19 what know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which you have of God and you're not your own for you are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's and the Ark was this beautiful thing and it was to symbolize that you know God's presence with them and our bodies the Bible says you know if we're saved we're temples of the Holy Ghost so we ought to treat our bodies in ways that you know bring glory to God that's in us so what is what is the Holy Ghost do for us what is the Ark what did the Ark do in the Old Testament well it teaches them it led them led them through the wilderness turn to 1 Corinthians 2 just just a couple chapters before there so it actually teaches us so this is comparing contrasting the Ark with the Holy Spirit that we have now in the New Testament 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 9 it says but as it is written I had not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the hearts of man the things which God had prepared for them that love him but God had revealed them unto us by his spirit for the spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God for what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man which is in him even so the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God so the spirit is what leads us right it helps bring us to bring to remembrance things that we've read in the Bible things that we've heard from preaching it's that we have our conscience but it's more than that it's the Holy Spirit within us and that's what teaches us and leads us so in the Old Testament they had the Ark it led them through the wilderness the Holy Spirit leads us if we're if we're using it correctly and feeding it correctly it also the Old Testament the Ark was used to fight battles right the battle of Jericho and Luke 12 looked flipped down to Luke 12 excuse me I should have said that go over to Luke chapter 12 we also see that the Holy Spirit helps us to fight battles Luke chapter 12 verse 11 it says and when they bring you unto the synagogues and under magistrates and powers and taking taking no thought how or what thing you shall answer or what you shall say for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what you ought to say this could be at the point of martyrdom for us right we could be getting ready at this point if they bring us up before and you know to be to be killed and we see that with some of the stories told from the martyr's mirror that you know the Holy Ghost is speaking through them and that's a promise that God gives us that the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what you shall say so it's going to help us fight those battles the Holy Ghost or the Spirit you know the Holy Spirit so in the Old Testament they would go to the Ark to seek counsel with God it was a place to meet with God and to commune with God turn to John chapter 14 we see that also with the Holy Spirit it's a place to seek counsel with God to learn from God John chapter 14 is Jesus speaking here telling him future things to come and verse 26 says but the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you so again it's going to counsel us in our lives and give us direction and teach us where we should go when we hear preaching we can read it with the Bible and on our Spirit the Holy Spirit within us can witness with ourselves and show us where we should go now how can we maximize the effectiveness of the Holy Spirit right grieve not the Spirit right it's possible to grieve the Holy Spirit if we're living within living in sin or we're not doing what God wants us to do but this verse John 14 it says bring all things to your remembrance the Bible tells us that the Holy Ghost won't speak of itself but it brings things to our remembrance so if we're not reading our Bible if we're not listening to preaching and studying the things of God and praying and reading our reading the Bible daily it has nothing to bring into remembrance so we need to be in a sense feeding or keeping things in our body and in our you know in our habits having good habits that would allow the Holy Spirit to teach us and to bring things to remembrance now the Old Testament had the the Old Testament Ark remember it had three or four things in it had the ten commandments it had the books of the law it had Aaron's rod that butted and it had the manna so how can we maximize the Holy Spirit that we have now in the New Testament once we're saved well the Old Testament Ark had the law and the commandments right Psalm 119 verse 11 says thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you right God tells us he wants us to memorize and meditate on Scripture so that we might not sin against you if you remember in the Old Testament they were to put the tables of stone in the Ark and they were to be a witness against thee had said so to show them their sin to show them what's right and wrong to convict them and keep them humble and keep them in that right mindset that they might not sin against thee the Old Testament had the the pot of manna well manna was the bread sent from heaven to sustain them in the wilderness so we see that God was taking care of them so that's a picture of that we have the Holy Ghost now so we see that God will I will never leave thee nor forsake thee right the Bible tells us but more than that Jesus said in John 648 I am that bread of life in verse 51 he says I am the living bread which came down from heaven if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I give I will give for the life of the world okay so Jesus is the manna was a picture of Christ right and you could take something away from the manna the bread of life talking about the Word of God Jesus was the Word and the manna they were to collect daily and that's something as well with the having the law in the Old Testament arc that we should be reading the Bible daily also in the manna we see okay so the law we should have God's Word in our lives and be feeding the Holy Ghost with by reading the Bible the manna we should be walking with Jesus right he says if you love me keep my commandments we should be continually trying to sharpen our Christian walk as we're going through life the last the other thing that was in there was Aaron's rod that budded okay he was the chosen priest 1st Peter 2 if you want to turn there please 1st Peter 2 1st Peter chapter 2 look down at verse 9 but ye are a chosen generation a royal priesthood and holy nation a peculiar people that ye should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light which in time passed were not a people but now are the people of God which had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy in the same way that Aaron's rod that budded was was to be in remembrance against the the revolters or against the people that would murmur we can remember here that look we are a chosen generation we are the royal priesthood now if we're saved we are kings and priests the priesthood of the believer and we're to be peculiar people we have a big job to do right we're the witness to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature right everybody and that's a big job to do and we need to remember that we're chosen for that job once we're saved and so in the same way that the old testament arc had these three or four things in it you know we should make sure that is the new testament that we have we can see the picture of that in the new testament holy spirit and then dwelling of the holy spirit and we need to make sure that we have those things in our lives as well that was the picture of it in the old testament translated to the new now first king's chapter 8 so when it was gone in the philistines when the philistines took the arc of the Lord first king's chapter 8 there were actually a couple things that were taken out of the arc at some point we can assume that it was probably during the philistines when they had it first king's chapter 8 and verse 9 remember in Hebrews it said that there were the ten commandments the pot of manna and the errands rod that butted well in first king's chapter 8 and verse 9 right after they bring it into to Solomon's temple it says there was nothing in the arc save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horib when the Lord had made a covenant with the children of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt so somewhere along the lines and assuming that it happened when it was at the philistines some of these items were lost well what was lost well the law the books of the law they had the ten commandments still there which is good but the books of the law were not there anymore what is the law the law is the knowledge and the fear of God right that's how we know what the fear of the Lord is that's how we know how to do these things the law was also remember to be something to memorize and to have in our heart so that we might not sin against God to keep us in the proper perspective of what sin is and what what God wants and desires for us also the law we could take this kind of from if the philistines were the ones that removed these items Satan Satan he's constantly trying to have different Bible versions and changing and corrupting God's word right we see that as early back in in the Corinthians it says for we are not as many which corrupt the word of God so even at that time there was already this process of trying to corrupt God's word so that's why you know we need to be vigilant against these different versions and perversions of the Bible Aaron's rod was removed so we have the law that was taken and so Satan's attack on that on maybe just us not reading our Bible daily maybe us just not memorizing certain scriptures are not not taking the time to do that or Satan's attack on the word of God in general Aaron's rod but it was was Aaron's rod this is a reminder that we are the chosen we're a chosen generation a royal priest we have a we have a great job to do okay and this was also a reminder for the people to keep the the the rebels from murmuring like the Korra did okay and so if we don't have this in our life now if we're not remembering remembering and keeping in remembrance that we are that chosen generation now that we're saved the Satan can get us to not maybe preach the gospel well you know we meet people also winning all the time that are saved but they're not doing anything they don't oh there's many paths to Jesus even one talk today with brother Phil and I that and she's saved and she says these things but Satan's convinced her that well you know there's there's a lot of different opinions out there and I know what I believe but she's not being effective for anybody right she's not doing any what at the profit James talks about right it's it's not for our own profit that we do things and we go so on and it's for the profit of others so Aaron's rod was taken out in the arc and that could show that you know hey we need to make sure that there's an attack on us remembering what we deserve and staying humble we're we're saved yes amen but we still deserve hell for for our sins right other people out there still deserve hell we can get it can get monotonous sometimes going soul winning and and it goes through time and we don't get salvation it could be month the two months three months where we don't see a salvation but we need to make sure that we always keep that attitude that look every person is a soul every person we have that you know you can talk tells soul winning stories and it and I know I've had that too when you you reach somebody at the door and maybe it's just the bridge too far they're not ready to make that decision they fully understand it they get it they understand the consequences of not believing but they're maybe just not quite ready to trust on that and it's and it's a humbling experience because well you know a lot of us we're in that set very same set of shoes not that long ago like it was three or four years ago that I was in that same position and it's it's a humbling thing knowing that okay I know where I'm going let's let's try and get as many other people to know where they're going at the same time so Aaron's rather butted was removed and that attack on us as a chosen generation the man I was also taken okay this is our daily Bible reading right they were to gather it every day it was a picture of Christ coming down right if you love me keep my commandments so the man I was taken out the jar of man that was taken out with the Holy Spirit it's important that we continue to walk in in the commandments and clean up our lives and be living our Christian life daily so what if we don't heed the Spirit's advice 2nd Corinthians 317 I'll just read for you says now the Lord is that spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is there's Liberty so we have Liberty as Christians right we're saved we're sealed there's nothing we could ever do to lose our salvation we have Liberty but with that Liberty comes consequences okay if we're not reading our Bible if we're not memorizing scripture if we're not remembering our job and our duty as a chosen generation to reach the dying world with the gospel if we're not constantly reminding ourselves of of what the law is and our condition and others conditions we're not going to be effective Christians right the consequences are that not for us but for future generations for other people out there for the unsaved that are out there okay if we're not feeding the Spirit he can't help to feed us if we're not reading our Bible there's nothing for him the Spirit to bring to remembrance if we don't have anything that we're giving him he can't bring anything to our remembrance so we need to be using these like what the Old Testament Ark had in them we need to be having those as part of our lives at least what they symbolize in order to be effective as Christians turn to John chapter 16 I'm sorry turn to number six numbers 14 I'll just read for you John 16 numbers chapter 14 please we'll end here so John chapter 16 again like I said the how about here when the Spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he will show you things to come so this is again if we're not feeding him if we're not giving him things to tell us he doesn't speak of his own he brings things to remembrance for us so numbers 14 so if we this is kind of an interesting couple verses the children of Israel did something wrong God tried to do what was right and it wasn't blessed and I want to look at that and kind of see so what if we don't heed the Spirit's advice what if we don't do these certain things and even with the Ark when they were moving the Ark when David was bringing the Ark back into his tabernacle they didn't do things the right way right they copied the Philistines pattern they put it on a cart with oxen pulling it and a man died because of it God's very specific in the Bible and he tells us that he wants things done a certain way in a certain manner in certain times numbers 14 looked down at verse 37 so this is when the the 10 spies went in to check out the land Joshua and Caleb were among them it says in verse 37 even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land died by the plague before the Lord but Joshua the son of Nine and Caleb the son of Japhana which were of the men that went to search the land lives still verse 40 and they rose up early in the morning and gath them upon the top of the Mount saying lo we be here and we'll go up to the place which the Lord had promised for we have sinned so they the punishment was dealt out because these eight people not the two Joshua and Caleb but the other eight murmured and it caused the rest of the people to be afraid and so the punishment was they were gonna wander in the desert for 40 years and all that generation was gonna die of a certain age and under but now they have a change of heart and oh no lo we be here in the second part of verse 40 we will go up into the place of Lord of promise for we have sinned so they recognize that and they have a change of heart and they wanna do what's right and Moses said where for now do you transgress the commandment of the Lord but it shall not prosper he's saying look you you already sin by being afraid and not want to go on the promised land initially and now you want to sin again even after God's dealt out his punishment you want to go against that it shall not prosper go not up for the Lord is not among you that you be not smitten before your enemies for the amulets and the Canaanites that are before you and you shall fall by the sword he's warning him because you're turned away from the Lord and therefore the Lord will not be with you but they presume to go up unto the hill top nevertheless the Ark of the Covenant the Lord and Moses departed not out of the camp so God God pictured by the Ark was not with them was not behind this movement then the amulets came down and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill and smote them and discomforted him even unto Horma and we need to be careful here because these people received the judgment they were going to wander in the 40 in the desert for 40 years and they were going to be killed because they got scared they were afraid and they didn't then they had a change of heart no, no, okay this time now we'll really go right how how many times do we have that if God tells us something we see something clear and we get nervous and maybe we don't go but then we then we then we do go after after you know thinking about it for a while or maybe not moving at the right time then we later decide to move but it didn't profit these people God wanted them to go initially not after he chastised them and so we need to make sure that we remember the you know we need to keep our arc or our spirit and our Holy Spirit full we need to be feeding it with the law with the manna and with Aaron's rod the butter we need to keep those things in mind and what they what they picture but we also need to be be sure to pay attention to not only what God wants us to do but also when and how he's very particular and how he wants us to do things and so we need to make sure that we're doing things according to his will so this is kind of a an interesting topic for me it I notice these things on it and I hope it was an encouragement for you guys and every time you read through the Old Testament you see the arc it might bring these things to membranes and we can apply it to our lives so let's let's close in word of prayer