Title: Christ in the Ark
Text: Ex 25: 10-22
Date: August 4, 2019
Place: SGBC, NJ
Exodus 25: 10: And they shall make an ark of
shittim wood:
The gospel of God’s sovereign grace is declared even in
the order in which God gave Moses the pattern to build the tabernacle and its
furnishings. Here God begins with the
ark then the mercy seat which covered it—this was God’s dwelling place in the
holiest of holies—a picture of God’s dwelling in heaven upon his throne.
Next, God will give the pattern for the table of
shewbread then the candlestick then the curtains then the boards (26:15) then
the separating veil (26:31) then the brazen altar (27:1) then the hangings of
the outer court (27:9). So God begins in
the holiest of holies where God dwells and proceeded out to the exterior where
the children of Israel dwelt
What is significant
about that order? Due to ours sins, we could
not go from earth inward to God’s dwelling place, but rather, God came from his
dwelling place in heaven to us in the earth. Even in the order in which God gave the
pattern—beginning with the holiest of holies and working out to the exterior to
the people—God teaches us that we are saved by God’s seeking us in sovereign
grace. In our sins, we do not seek God,
God seeks his sinful people (Luke 10: 33; 15:4).
So today we begin in the holiest of holies with the ark
of the covenant.
Exodus 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. 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. 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 the one side of it, and two rings in
the other side of it. 13: And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood,
and overlay them with gold. 14: And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by
the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. 15: The staves shall
be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. 16: And thou shalt
put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. 17: 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. 18: And thou shalt
make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them,
in the two ends of the mercy seat. 19: And make one cherub on the one end, and
the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make
the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 20: And the cherubims 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. 21: And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the
ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. 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.
Proposition: The
ark of the covenant typifies our Lord Jesus Christ and the propitiation he accomplished
for his people and the propitiation that he, himself, is through faith in his
blood.
TWO NATURES
Exodus 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. 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.
Our Lord’s two natures is typified in the wood and the gold. His human nature is typified in the shittim
wood and his divine nature in the pure gold.
The incorruptible, imperishable shittim wood which
never rotted typifies our Savior’s perfect human nature (Is 53:2). If Christ would represent his sinful people in
obedience to God under the law, and as our sin-bearer, then he must be a Man like
his people, yet without sin. He is the
holy, sinless, incorruptible Man—the Holy One—the Head of his people.
The pure gold with the crown typifies the gold of His
Deity spread over His perfect humanity. Christ is King. King Jesus is holy Man and holy God—the
GodMan. Don’t try to figure that out or
explain it. Simply believe it. “And without controversy great is the
mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh…(1Ti 3:16)
As eternal God, everything
he accomplished in his humanity is eternal. He accomplished eternal redemption and satisfied
eternal justice for his people.
Again, the order
speaks volumes. God begins with that
which typifies our Redeemers person, which is, the wood and the gold of the ark.
Then God will speak of that which
typifies Christ’s work, the mercy seat.
The reason for this is because it is the blessed person of Christ that
gave value to his work. On the day of
atonement the priest first entered the holy of holies with sweet incense
(Leviticus 16:12,13) before he took in and sprinkled the blood (Leviticus
16:14). What does this say? God would first be reminded of the fragrant
perfections of Christ’s person. Then, the
priest placed before him that which spoke of Christ’s redemptive work. John the Baptist pointed to the person of
Christ before he stated his work (John 1:29). Thus it was in the order of the tabernacle
furniture: first the wood and gold of the ark which speaks of Christ’s person
then the mercy-seat which points to his work. It is not only his death, but who
died that saves his people.
NO HELP
Exodus 25: 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 the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. 13: And thou
shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. 14: And
thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark
may be borne with them. 15: The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they
shall not be taken from it. 16: And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony
which I shall give thee.
Christ accomplished
his work of redemption by himself without the help of his people. Two things combine here to typify that one
very important truth. One, is the fact
that no one could touch the ark. Two,
is the law within the ark.
One, the ark was to
be carried by these staves because no man could touch the ark. A man touched it once.
2 Samuel 6: 6: And
when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark
of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. 7: And the anger of the
LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and
there he died by the ark of God.
Two, within the ark was
the testimony—the stone tablets on which God wrote the law. It pictures how Christ had the law of God in
his heart. It typifies how Christ is the
fulfiller of God’s covenant law for his people.
These two things combined typify the truth that Christ alone fulfilled
the law for his people without the help of our hand at all. He said,
Isaiah 63:3: I have
trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me:
No sinner can fulfill
God’s law—our hand only corrupts due to our sins. But that is why God sent his Son, to fulfill
the law for his people. The law was in
Christ’s heart—"I delight to do thy will, thy law is within my heart.” It is by Christ’s will—by Christ
fulfilling the law for his people—that God’s elect are sanctified and perfected
forever!
Isaiah 42:21: The LORD is well pleased for
his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable
Therefore, concerning our works, God says,
Isaiah 57:12
I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not
profit thee.
Therefore, if you and I put our hand to the ark—if we put
our hand to Christ’s finished work—the anger of the LORD will be kindled and he
will smite us and we shall die! Believe
on Christ and rest from trying to do what Christ has already finished!
THE MERCY SEAT
Exodus 25: 17: 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. 18: And
thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou
make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. 19: And make one cherub on the
one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall
ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 20: And the cherubims 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. 21: And thou shalt put the mercy seat
above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall
give thee. 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 cherubim’s (also
called seraphim) typify Christ’s preachers.
I say that because throughout scripture cherubim and seraphim are always
directing the eye of needy sinners to the Lord Jesus, giving God all the glory,
as do Christ’s preachers.
At the edge of the
garden, God placed “Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to
keep the way of the tree of life.” (Gen 3:24)—Christ is the Tree of Life
which his preachers declare to his people.
Isaiah was a needy
sinner to whom the Lord revealed himself.
He heard the seraphim, “one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy,
holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Is 6: 3)
John saw the cherubim “and they rest not day and
night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is
to come...they gave glory honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne.” And
that one John saw on the throne was a Lamb as it had been slain. The result of their proclamation was the
elders fell down to worship. (Rev 4: 1-11). Christ preachers declare God holy and give
Christ all the glory, honor and thanks. Through
their preaching the Holy Spirit causes Christ’s redeemed to fall down and give
Christ all the glory in faith.
Ezekiel saw them “And they went every one straight
forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they
went.” The Spirit of God move
Christ’s preachers. Therefore, they cannot be turned from preaching Christ and
him crucified alone. (Eze 1: 12)
Here, over the mercy seat there was two cherubim, each
facing from different directions, representing Christ’s prophets of old and his
preachers in this new day.
They were like the
mercy seat and one with it—"of gold, [Christ’s preacher is valuable
because he preaches Christ] of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two
ends of the mercy seat. [Christ was a man of sorrows and his preachers are
made to experience sorrow too] 19: And make one cherub on the one end, and
the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the
cherubims on the two ends thereof [Christ and his ministers are one with
Christ, even as Christ and his people]
Each faced the mercy
seat—"And the cherubims 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.” So if you walked in to the holiest of
holies, their faces and wings would draw your attention to the mercy seat. Christ’s preachers are always drawing our
attention to Christ our Mercy Seat.
As we see these cherubim
pointing us to the mercy, remember, God is pleased to save through the
preaching of the gospel of Christ crucified for these three reasons: so that no
flesh shall glory in his presence, so that of God are we in Christ and who of God
is made all unto us and so that we glory only in the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor
1: 17-31)!
Most importantly, we
see that Christ is the Mercy Seat, the Propitiation, God has provided for his
people.
Romans 3:25: Whom God
hath set forth to be a propitiation [mercy seat] through faith in his
blood,…
The word mercy seat
is propitiation—the true propitiation is the sacrifice by which God’s injured
honor is vindicated, his justice is satisfied, his law upheld, so that God’s
wrath is appeased toward his people. How
amazing is this! The very God we
offended, the very God whose law we broke, provided his people the propitiation,
the mercy seat—Christ Jesus. And that propitiation
is God’s own only begotten Son!
On the day of atonement—the
high priest, by himself, took the blood of a lamb (a lamb slain in place of the
children of Israel) into the holiest of holies—a picture of Christ our High
Priest entering God’s presence with his own blood which he shed in place of his
people. In the ark the law was unbroken because in Christ the law is fulfilled. But it is the same law his people broke. Yet, the mercy seat was the same dimensions
as the ark so it exactly covered the law which was in the ark (vv10, 17). The high priest sprinkled the blood seven
times upon the mercy seat covering that law, meaning perfection. But because the blood of bulls and goats
could never take away sin, he had to do it again next year. This is one way the old differed from the
new. Christ only had to offer one sacrifice
because he accomplished the work by his precious person and blood.
Hebrews 10: 12: But
this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the
right hand of God; 13: From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. 14: For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are
sanctified.
Brethren, Christ exactly fulfilled all the law for his
people. Christ made perfect propitiation
to God. He perfectly satisfied God by
his blood. Christ perfected his people
forever by his one offering. Through his
blood, God promises to meet with sinners through faith in Christ our Mercy Seat—“And
there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy
seat.”
The mercy seat was made of pure gold—if you are a true
sinner—Christ our mercy seat is more valuable to you than gold.
1 John 2: 1: My
little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man
sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2: And he
is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the
sins of the whole world.
1 John 4: 10: Herein
is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be
the propitiation for our sins. 11: Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also
to love one another.
Amen!