Sermon for Lord's Day December 31, 2023 "What About the Ark?" (pt 11)

A Heavenly Temple and the Faithfulness of God

Let's go to the Lord in prayer this morning. Our Heavenly Father, as we come before your throne this morning, we come first and foremost to give you praise, honor, and glory. You are the great God that made the heavens and the earth.

You are the God that made man from the dust of the earth. You are the God that made woman from the rib of Adam. Lord, we praise you and we thank you that according to the knowledge of your word that we can recognize this fact that we are made in your image and after your likeness.

And for that, God, we give you praise, honor, and glory. We praise you, God, today for the gift of salvation in your Son, Jesus Christ. We thank you for the propitiation for our sins that he made by the death on the cross, by the shedding of his blood, dear God, that we might have and know the forgiveness of sins that our sins have remission, that they are done away with, dear God, as we sing in that song and as the psalmist declares that our sins are cast as far behind you as the east is from the west.

God, we worship you in this time today. We pray, God, that as we look at your word today, dear God, that you would, I pray, Lord, number for me right now, I pray, God, that you would help me to have a clarity in my mind, give me liberty with my mouth, that as we stand and we proclaim what thus says the word of God, that we would do so in a sensible and a reasonable and a manner and in a way that would give you honor, that would give you glory, and that would give you praise.

Oh, God, our prayer is this, that each and every time that we come to open your word, each and every time that your word is read and each and every time that your word is heard, that we, as your people, may look up unto you and say, what a mighty God we serve today.

I pray, God, that you would encourage the fainthearted today, dear God, that you would convict the sinner, that you would show us Christ in the scriptures today, for it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Amen. Amen. Stand with us if you would. Ezra chapter 6, and we are just going to read verses 1 through 5 this morning. Ezra chapter 6, verses 1 through 5, these are the words of the living God. Then Darius the king made a decree and a search was made in Babylonia in the house of the archives where the documents were stored.

In Ecmatana, the citadel, that is, in the providence of Medea, a scroll was found on which was written these words, a record. In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem.

Let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be 60 cubits and its breadth 60 cubits, and with three layers of great stones and one layer of timber.

Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury, and also let the gold and the silver vessels of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, let it be restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place.

You shall put them in the house of God. As far as the reading of God's word this morning, so the events that took place in the book of Ezra, primarily you've heard us say this, but it's worthy of repetition.

The events in the book of Ezra lead us to worship the Lord. They lead us to worship the Lord because of his faithfulness and because of his sovereignty. Now, as you recall, this is part 11, so this is the 11th sermon since we've been in the book of Ezra, and the purpose, it's very important for us to keep in mind as we're going through Ezra, remember, it's to give us kind of a foundation, to give us an understanding of what was going on, what was taking place, the amount of time that has passed, and then once we can understand and know all this, then we are looking at the sermons that were preached by two men, Haggai and Zechariah.

Haggai preached four sermons over the course of just a few months. Zechariah preached a few sermons over the course of blending in with the same time of Haggai's sermons. Nevertheless, it is very important for us to keep in mind that ultimately the rebuilding of the natural earthly temple is to point us as God's people and to point God's people then to the heavenly tabernacle that God himself has prepared for his people.

As a matter of fact, I'm reminded of what the Lord had said previously to one of the prophets, shall the Lord God dwell in a temple made with man's hands, right? For God is bigger than that. But something that we're going to look at today, if you're taking notes and if you want to put the header on your notes, the header I have on my notes today is this.

It's this. What about the Ark of the Covenant? What about the Ark? I believe that this is a question of crucial significance. Now, and you may be saying to yourself, well, we don't even see anything about the Ark in this text.

But what we do see in the text is the rebuilding of the temple of God and God's original temple that he had Solomon build, the tabernacle in the wilderness had a place for the Ark of the Covenant. It's important for us to know not only what is in the text, but it's important for us to pay attention to what is not in the text.

It helps us to have a very good understanding and a good grasp of the things that are going on. So reminder, again, reminder, this natural tabernacle points us to the heavenly tabernacle that God has prepared for his people.

More specifically, or to be more specific, this tabernacle points to Christ. Christ is our rest. For Christ Jesus, the Bible says, tabernacled with men. The temple, the natural temple is a type and it's a shadow that points us to the antitype or to the substance, which is Jesus Christ.

So when we go to the text of scripture, our aim is not to find ourselves in the text. Our aim is to find Christ in the text itself. So Solomon's temple, for just a couple of points of reference here, dates.

Solomon's temple was built around 957 BC. 957 BC. The temple itself, Solomon's temple, was destroyed somewhere around 586. That was when the Babylonian siege came and the city was decimated. Jerusalem was decimated.

The tabernacle was torn down. So that was around 586. So we see over 400 years right here, or nearly 400 years, sorry. And the second temple, what we're reading about in Ezra, was completed, was rebuilt in the year 515.

So we see a large span of time that has taken place. So what about the ark? That is going to be our focus. That is going to be our thought, the thought process that we're going to be on this morning because it's very, very important.

Now concerning the ark of the covenant, did you know, did you know this? And some of you may be way ahead of me on this. And if it is, just wait on me to get where you are. But did you know that the ark of the covenant was not in the rebuilt temple?

The ark of the covenant was not in Harry's modernized, refurbished temple in Jesus' day. The last sighting of the ark of the covenant, or the last reference to the, sighting is not the right word. The last reference to the ark of the covenant is actually found in the book of Isaiah, which dates to about the year 701 when Sennacherib went to invade Israel.

Hezekiah brought his petition before the Lord. And that's the last time that we hear about the ark of the covenant in the Old Testament. So what's important for us to know today is this. God's presence was set forth in physical and invisible fashion in the ark of the covenant.

It's very important for us to know this. God gave because in the Old Testament, of course, you've heard this use this term. God uses anthropomorphic language, human language, so we can understand Him because God is wiser than us.

Amen. God's presence was set forth in physical and visual fashion in the ark of the covenant. So let's consider the ark here as we begin. Let's think about what the Bible says about the ark. Let's get a visual understanding, a knowledge of what the ark was.

So if you turn to Exodus chapter 37, we have a description given, an instruction given for the building of the ark. So in Exodus chapter 37, verse 1, the scripture says this, Bezalel made the ark of Acacia wood.

So we know the ark of the covenant was made of Acacia wood. And the scriptures give us the dimensions of the ark. Two cubits and a half. And again, don't get confused, please. When I say the ark, don't think of Noah's ark.

I'm talking about the ark of the covenant. But for short, I'm just going to say the ark. Two cubits and a half was its length. A cubit is 18 inches. So two cubits would have been 36 inches, which is three feet.

Another half would have made it somewhere around 42 inches long. It's how actually small the ark was. We think of the ark to be something that might, mentally, we think of it as something that might have been massive.

The ark was 42 inches long. A cubit and a half was its breadth. And the scripture says a cubit and a half of its height. Again, a cubit is 18 inches. A cubit and a half is 24 inches. So this box was just short of four feet long and two feet tall.

This was the ark of the covenant. And the scripture says it was overlaid with pure gold inside and outside. And a molding of gold was made around it. And he cast for it four rings of gold for its feet.

Two rings on its one side, two rings on its other side. And he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. We see throughout the Old Testament that specific instruction was given on how the ark was to be handled.

It wasn't to be handled with human hands, but the rings on the side of it were intended for those poles to go through, for a man to stand on each corner of the ark and carry this ark. Now, certainly it wasn't massive in size, but you can imagine if it was overlaid with pure gold, it had some weight.

The text goes on. And he made a mercy seat of pure gold. This is very, very important. This wasn't just any old box, but it was a box intended to be put inside the Holy of Holies in the temple, in the tabernacle, where only once a year the high priest would go and would apply blood to provide propitiation and forgiveness of sins for the people of Israel once every year.

So he made a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half was its length, so same length as the box, a cubit and a half its breadth, exactly the same. And the scripture says he made two cherubims of gold.

And he made them of hammered work on the two ends of the mercy seat, one cherub on the one end and one cherub on the other end. One piece with the mercy seat, he made the cherub on its two ends. The cherubim spread their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another, toward the mercy seat where the faces of the cherubim, the scripture says.

So you can imagine this acacia box overlaid with gold, with the lid on it called the mercy seat, which would be where the blood was applied. On this mercy seat, in detail, had two cherubim, two angels, one on this side, one on this side, each with their wings spread.

And they both looked at the mercy seat. They both, their gaze wasn't to the right or their gaze wasn't to the left. The focus was on where the propitiation of sin was to be made. So we see this in the book of Exodus.

Daniel Hyde, in an article from Ligonier a few years back, wrote this concerning the idea of this ark being so really truly small in size and yet representing the great God that made the heavens and the earth.

Daniel Hyde said this, here is such a mind-blowing idea about the God of the Bible that we have to pause for just a moment. The eternal God who is not constrained by the existence of time. The infinite God who is not bound by the constraints of space.

The transcendent God who dwells above and beyond all time and space. And the immense God who fills all time and space. He condescended to the weakness of his people. And he became manifest for their benefit in one locale.

God made it so that his people would be able to identify his presence in this small piece of architecture that was to be placed in the Holy of Holies. It was to represent the mercy seat. The place of forgiveness of sins.

It represented the holy God. Hyde went on to say this God is not bound by time, but he bound himself to the time-bound experience of his people. Oh, what a mighty God we serve. What a good God that we serve.

That he puts things where we can grasp what he is up to and what he is doing. This God is not bound by time, but he bound himself to the time-bound experience of his people. This God, Hyde said, is not bound by space, but he bound himself to this box for a period of time.

I think about how so many in the world, really, who have such a shallow grasp of the theological truth and the person, the character, and the work of God, they will say, don't put God in a box. But what God did for a period of time in his history is he put himself on a box so that God's people might focus on him.

But the focus is not on this natural box. For God is bigger than the box itself. He, Hyde, went on to say this. This God is not bound by space, but he bound himself to this box. He is above all creational constraints, but he bound himself to them.

He is everywhere, and yet he was there in his Shekinah glory on the Ark of the Covenant. So, if we were to pause here and consider, for just a moment, a question, a question that may be lingering in your minds, at least I can say with certainty, I know it's a question that lingers in my mind.

It is one of those questions that they seldom ever be asked. No one may ever ask you that question that we asked you at the beginning today. Did you know that the Ark of the Covenant wasn't in the rebuilt temple, that it wasn't in Herod's remodeled temple in Jesus' time?

Nobody may ask you that, but if they do, at least now, as we move through this, we will have an ability to give a reasoned response for that question if it ever does come up. So, the question is this.

What about the Ark of the Covenant? What we're examining, we are examining the book of Ezra to gain knowledge, again, as we mentioned earlier, to gain knowledge of the context of the key sermons that were preached by Haggai and Zechariah.

Again, we're trying to understand, as a people of God, the importance and the significance of the preached word of God. The Lord gave Haggai and Zechariah, the Lord gave these men unction to preach and to proclaim what the Lord himself had told them to say.

The Lord knew what His people needed before they knew they needed it. That's a good thing today for us to recognize. The Lord knew what His people needed before they needed it, and He provided for His people's needs.

It is reasonable for us to think, for just a moment here, and perhaps even to anticipate a question that may be asked by the people of God here in the text. And that question might be, what about the Ark?

Nobody seems to consider this thought. Nobody seems to consider this question. And as we have been considering the rebuilding of the temple and specifically the significance of the restoration of worship, because that's what was key, that's what was being done, worship was being restored, then we must also, of a necessity, ask ourselves a hard question.

Again, that question is this, what about the Ark? Wasn't the Ark, and a question that we may ask ourselves, another one is this, wasn't the Ark the key to the worship of the true and the living God as God set worship up?

The answer there would be yes. Another question that we may ask, wasn't the mercy seat where the propitiation of sin was made? Again, the answer is yes. Another question, didn't the Ark represent the presence of God?

The answer is yes. If you read throughout the Old Testament, you'll find that is, for God's people, as long as the Ark of God, the Ark of the covenant was among them, they seemed to have victory in the battles.

As long as the Ark of God was away from them, had been taken, stolen, whatever the case may be, they found that they lost the battles. And what the wicked and the evil world found out, that when the Ark of God was in their presence, that they did nothing but hurt and suffer miserably.

They found this, as a matter of fact, the Philistines went so far as to call for some of the Israelites to come and take the Ark back. We can't handle this anymore. So the Ark played a mighty powerful role in the life of the church, the early church, the church in the wilderness.

So again, these are reasonable questions. These are needful questions. These questions are helpful to us. However, they may not be the right question for us to be asking. The questions matter just as much as the answers.

So perhaps asking ourselves what happened to the Ark of the covenant may not be the correct question. Maybe we should be asking ourselves this question. Was there a higher purpose to which God, who again, who by the way is infinitely wiser than we are, was there a higher purpose to which God would see to it that the Ark of the covenant would be removed from the church's presence?

Would there be a higher purpose to which God would see to it that the Ark of the covenant would be removed from the church? And when I say the church there, I'm referring to the church in the wilderness, the Old Testament saints.

Was there a purpose for God removing that from their presence? I know that some historians will say that the Ark is here or the Ark is there. We know that many people have an opinion on the location and the continued existence of the physical Ark of the covenant itself.

As well, there are non-canonical books like the book of Esdras, like the book of 2nd Maccabees, that lay out possible hiding places for the Ark. But our purpose today, our purpose today church, is not to argue where the Ark is, for the Bible tells us where and who the Ark is.

The Bible gives us this answer, but rather our purpose today is to do two things. Number one, to point to the purpose of the Ark of the covenant. And number two, to explain that why they in Esdras context and why we today do not need a physical Ark of wood and gold in our midst.

George Beverly Shea, I know he sung forever on the Billy Graham crusade. Some of you are old enough to have watched the Billy Graham crusades on TV. You've likely heard George Beverly Shea come up there with his slicked back hair and he would sing, I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold.

I'd rather have him than riches untold. I'd rather have Jesus than houses or land. I'd rather be led by his nail pierced hand. I'd rather have Jesus than worldly applause. I'd rather be faithful to his dear cause.

I'd rather have Jesus than worldwide fame. Yes, I'd rather be true to his holy name than to be the king of a vast domain and to be held in sin's dread sway. I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world can afford today.

We don't need a physical box to worship God for we have one who is the Ark of God. His name is Jesus Christ. So let's consider first what the Bible says about the Ark and its seeming, as far as we're concerned, disappearance.

Let's look at what we do know. What we do know, again, we can't speculate on things we don't know, but we can know what we do know and we can know what the Bible says. What we do know is this, the last known reference alluding to the Ark's presence in the temple dates from the year 701 BC.

It was when, as I mentioned earlier, when the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, surrounded Hezekiah's forces in Jerusalem. If you turn to Isaiah chapter 37 in verse 14 through 16, the scripture tells us plainly this.

Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. And Hezekiah, in this letter, context for this, the context for this was the threatening letter from Sennacherib that said, you're wasting your time.

We've blown through every other people of every other land and their gods were not able to save them. What makes you think that your God is going to be able to rescue from our hands? Well, Hezekiah knew that the God that he served was not the God of the other lands.

For the gods of the other lands were idols made with man's hands. But the God that Israel served is the God that made the heavens and the earth. He and he alone is the true and he alone is the living God.

So Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and he read it. And Hezekiah, the scripture says this, went up to the house of the Lord and he spread it before the Lord. Then Hezekiah prayed to the Lord saying this, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, the one who dwells between the cherubim.

What did the scripture already tell us? The ark was made with the lid that had the cherubim. And that was where the Shekinah glory or the presence of God was to be dwelt. So this reference to the presence of God, Shekinah glory, abiding above the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant between the cherubim, which were sculpted on the lid of the ark.

It seems to confirm that the ark was still located in the Holy of Holies in the year 701 BC. Next, let's consider from the Bible the purpose of the ark of the covenant. What is the purpose of the ark of the covenant?

Here again, we have nowhere else that we can turn to, but to the scripture itself. Let's look to the New Testament to see the purpose of the ark. If you turn to Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9 and what you'll find in verse 1 and through this entirety of this chapter is we see the writer here giving us the description of what the purpose of the ark was, what the purpose of the blood was, and who it was that ultimately made propitiation for sin.

Hebrews chapter 9 beginning in verse 1. Now, even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. He's speaking about the old covenant, right? The first covenant had regulations, rules for worship, and it also had a earthly place of holiness, which was a physical tabernacle.

For a tent was prepared, the first section in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the presence. It is called the holy place. So that's the first section. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the most holy place.

And the most holy place had the golden altar of incense and notice what the scripture says, and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold in which was a golden urn holding the manna and Aaron's staff that budded and the tablets of the covenant.

So what was inside the ark? A bowl of manna, Aaron's staff that budded when God demonstrated to those that challenged Aaron's priesthood. God caused Aaron's rod to bud to demonstrate that, yes, he was chosen of God.

This rod was in there and the tablets of the covenant, the commandancy and commandments. Above it, the scripture says here in Hebrews, were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. And notice what the writer states here, of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

These preparations having thus been made, the priests and he begins to give the order of service. These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties.

But into the second, only the high priest goes and, but he wants a year and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this, the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet open as long as the first section is still standing.

And then you'll see in parentheses, which is symbolic for the present age, the present age, that present time. According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper.

It is being made ultimately clear here, crystal clear here, that the blood of the bulls and the goats that had been made, that had been sacrificed over and throughout the centuries, were not acceptable to actually expiate the conscience of man.

But only, as we'll see here, the blood of Christ can do that work. He goes on, but they deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body, imposed until the time of reformation.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and the more perfect tent, and notice the clarification given in the scripture, not made with hands, that is not of this creation, for he entered, Christ, he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, how much more will he not purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Therefore, the writer states, he is the mediator of the new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

We see this sharp distinction drawn between the first covenant, the old covenant and the new covenant, the second covenant. We see this sharp distinction drawn. And he says this, for where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established, for a will takes effect only at death, since it is not enforced as long as the one who made it is alive.

Very important. Covenants were blood covenants from the beginning till this time. They were blood covenants. Somebody had to die for there to be forgiveness of sins. And the blood of the bulls and goats that died were only temporary.

But the blood of the only begotten son of the living God was sufficient, not just to cover temporarily our sins, but to cover eternally our sins. Therefore, not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood.

For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats and water, scarlet wool and hyssop, and he sprinkled both the book of the law and all the people, this is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for you.

And in the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.

Thus, the writer goes on. Thus, it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things. The copies of the heavenly things. Again, we see a reference here to type and shadow. We see this reference here to anti-type and substance.

What did the natural art typify? Who did it show forth? It set forth Jesus Christ, the propitiation of our sins. And not only the propitiation, but the propitiator, the one who provided eternal salvation to his people.

Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of these heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered not into the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things.

Again, God's people, please do not get this mixed up. Do not let worldly philosophy confuse you. And they say that what you're sitting on is the real deal. The building that you're in is what makes you holy.

No, it is Christ who makes you holy. This world is not our home. We live in this world at this moment, but my friends, we have a home eternal waiting for us, prepared by the King of Kings and by the Lord of Lords.

He goes on to say this, for Christ has entered not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself. Now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. What did the ark typify?

The presence of God, but it was only an earthly representation of that. For Christ Jesus, our ark stood before God. The scripture goes on to say this, nor was it to offer himself repeatedly. He didn't have to do it over and over and over as the high priest entered the holy places every year with blood that was not even his own.

For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, the scripture says this, as it is, Jesus, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

You want to know why I stated that we do not need an ark of blood overlaid with gold sitting in our midst that we have to see with our physical eyes to worship for my friend, Christ himself became our sacrifice.

He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And again, this takes us to verse 27, which is another one of those verses that are so often just ripped from context, but it's in the context of Christ's sacrifice.

And it says, just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes the judgment, so Christ, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

When he comes again, it's not to deliver or to offer salvation to those who had refused him for these long years. But when he comes again, it is to call his saints home to glory where we ever shall be with the Lord.

Second, so we've looked at the purpose of God or the purpose of the Ark of the Covenant. I'm trying to hurry here, by the way. Have we mentioned this in Sunday school? I'll announce it again. This is just part one of chapter six of Ezra.

We're going to be preaching part two tonight. Nevertheless, let's continue here. The purpose of the Ark of the Covenant, we see this demonstrated in Hebrews nine. Next, let's look at the purpose of God being fulfilled in removing the Ark of the Covenant from the presence of the people.

For this, again, without apology, we have nowhere else to go but to the scripture. Jeremiah chapter three. If you would turn to Jeremiah chapter three for just a moment here. Jeremiah chapter three. Amazing.

Again, it's amazingly gracious of God to lay before us in his word all that we need that pertains to life and godliness, all that we need to help us answer hard questions like this question here. Jeremiah chapter three.

So the context, again, of Jeremiah is leading up to calling Israel to repentance, declaring unto them that they are going to be, because of their sin and because of their idolatry, they're going to be given over into Babylonian captivity.

But this is on the backside of that. This is before this happens. But I want you to notice what the word of God teaches us and what the word of God tells us in this text. So Jeremiah chapter three and beginning in verse 12.

The prophet, the Lord declares to the prophet Jeremiah, go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, return, faithless Israel declares the Lord. Simple command. I will not look at you in anger for I am merciful, declares the Lord.