Ark of the Covenant Contents

Yesterday we were discussing the Most Holy Place...

What was found in the Most Holy Place?


Heb 9:3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;


Heb 9:4
Which had the golden censer
and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold
wherein was the golden pot that had manna
and Aaron's rod that budded
and the tables of the covenant

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We talked about the golden censer …

The golden censer inside the second veil, the golden censer only went into the Most Holy Place on the day of Atonement when the High Priest brought it into the Most Holy Place-

Lev 16:12 And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:
Lev 16:13 And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not


Once the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place he had in his hands incense and the censer. The incense representing the prayers of the saints, once put upon the fire a cloud of smoke would be created covering the mercy seat. The prayers of the saints presented before God.


Rev 8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Rev 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.


Heb. 9 mentions the mercy seat but first it mentions the ark of the covenant upon which the mercy seat rests. Beneath the mercy seat, inside the ark were objects-


The golden pot that had manna
Aaron's rod that budded
Tables of the covenant


Manna-
Exo 16:15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.


Exo 16:32 And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, 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.
Exo 16:33 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.
Exo 16:34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.


The bread which the LORD hath given you to eat. Food from heaven. Food directly from God where no food existed.


Aaron's Rod-


Num 17:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 17:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod.
Num 17:3 And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.
Num 17:4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.
Num 17:5 And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.
Num 17:6 And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.
Num 17:7 And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.
Num 17:8 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.
Num 17:9 And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.
Num 17:10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.
Num 17:11 And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he.
Num 17:12 And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.
Num 17:13 Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?

Num 18:1 And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
Num 18:2 And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.
Num 18:3 And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.
Num 18:4 And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.
Num 18:5 And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.
Num 18:6 And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the LORD, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Num 18:7 Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest's office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest's office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.



Aaron and his tribe- Levites- are chosen for the priesthood inside God's sanctuary.



Tables of the Covenant-


Deu 9:9 When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water:
Deu 9:10 And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.
Deu 9:11 And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.
Deu 9:12 And the LORD said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.
Deu 9:13 Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
Deu 9:14 Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.
Deu 9:15 So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.


Upon the tables of the covenant were written the following--


Deu 5:6 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Deu 5:7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
Deu 5:8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
Deu 5:9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
Deu 5:10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
Deu 5:11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Deu 5:12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.
Deu 5:13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:
Deu 5:14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
Deu 5:15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
Deu 5:16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Deu 5:17 Thou shalt not kill.
Deu 5:18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
Deu 5:19 Neither shalt thou steal.
Deu 5:20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Deu 5:21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour's.
Deu 5:22 These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.


The covenant being - the children of Israel would follow the commandments given by God, and He would be their God.


Any covenant takes two or more people.


COVENANT, n. [L, to come; a coming together; a meeting or agreement of minds.]
COVENANT, v.i. To enter into a formal agreement; to stipulate; to bind ones self by contract. A covenants with B to convey to him a certain estate. When the terms are expressed it has for before the thing or price.
COVENANT, v.t. To grant or promise by covenant.


To have a coming together, to have a meeting of minds, to enter a formal agreement, to bind ones self by a contract all requires at least TWO parties, right?


A covenant between two people is broken when the agreed upon terms are violated. Does the violation mean the terms were wrong? Or does the violation simply mean one chose to no longer follow the terms that they once agreed were fair and just enough to follow? To enter into a covenant that you don't agree with is PURE foolishness. You enter into covenants you agree to. The people of Israel- God's chosen people KNEW the terms of the covenant and agreed to them. Then they violated the agreement over and over and over again. It wasn't that the agreement, the covenant, was to blame- it was the weakness of the people that led to the constant violation. The covenant was full of fault because while it revealed God's love fully, it also revealed a people incapable of following it, people who HOPED to follow it, but failed. The realization being only ONE person would be able to NEVER violate the covenant and that ONE person would be the faultless, sinless Son of God who took on OUR nature, our propensity to sin and did NOT sin. Through HIM alone do we find salvation. That doesn't mean the terms of the covenant were at fault- they were agreed upon. It means HE alone could fulfill the terms of that covenant and THROUGH HIM (the NEW Covenant- that through HIM we could fulfill the terms of the old) we would find our hope, our salvation by His grace and mercy.


So… inside the Most Holy Place--


We have manna- food from heaven, food from God. We have Aaron's rod that budded- the sanctuary priesthood of the Levites enacted. We have the tables of the covenant- the covenant between God and man- God's commandments man were to keep, commandments of love.


God provides us heavenly sustenance, God provides us a High Priest, God provides us love. Precious and holy these symbols were kept inside the ark of the testimony in the most holy place, a place that a High Priest could only enter once a year. Heavenly symbols- the ark itself patterned after the heavenly as all things in the sanctuary were patterned after.


Exo 25:8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
Exo 25:9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
Exo 25:10 And they shall make an ark of shittim 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.



The ark was the first pattern given for construction of the Sanctuary.


Above the ark… in the most holy place… where God would meet with His people.


Exo 25:22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.


The heavenly sanctuary exists today and our High Priest is in the heavenly sanctuary. What a glorious, wondrous God we have who has provided for us in all ways. The day will come when all sin will be done away with once and for all. The day will come when our Savior returns to take us with Him to heaven. The day will come when the new city Jerusalem will come down from heaven to earth and God and His Son will be the temple of that city!


Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.


Praise God for His amazing LOVE!


By His grace may we learn more and more of His love as we study the deep things of God.


In His love!


Amen.