May God be pleased to bless us
together this morning as we meditate in His Word. Let us turn to the
Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, chapter 9, and we'll read part
of verse 4 and verse 5. The Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews,
chapter 9, and reading part of verse 4 and verse 5. And in verse 4 we'll start at,
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, and over it the cherubims of
glory, shadowing the mercy seat, of which we cannot now speak
particularly. It is very important for us all
to realize the power of God. God works powerfully in so many,
many ways. In a physical sense, in a mental
sense, in a spiritual sense, we see the power of God. And how little do people appreciate
it today. we've seen haven't we in the
last week with that volcanic eruption in New Zealand how that
it wasn't really expected although there were signs and suddenly
there was that eruption and those people were killed thrust into
eternity one moment enjoying themselves the next moment finding
themselves in a lost eternity you see the power of God no man
can stop that kind of situation and then we've also seen it in
our nation in a mental capacity we've seen in the last last week
again the remarkable result of the election and again we have
to observe the power of God in changing or affecting men's minds. Again, people who voted one way
of their lives suddenly change. There may be obviously influences,
but nonetheless we should recognise that the power of God was at
work to produce a result which was really not expected by anybody.
So we can see that God rules and reigns, and we see his power
being exerted in so many ways. And we should never underestimate
what God can do. And we should never underestimate
the ability of God to do things which we look not for. And so
may we ever be able to put our trust and our confidence in our
God. Now, Israel came out of Egypt. They've been there for 400 years. They'd had a pretty tough time.
But the Lord brought them out by His power. No doubt about
that. And His power was wonderfully
exerted. We'll touch on one of those points
a bit later. But nonetheless, they were brought
through the Red Sea, again, where there appeared to be no escape. The Egyptians behind them hemmed
in by the mountains, the sea before them, but God appeared
and God brought about a wonderful deliverance. And then we see
as they were in the wilderness and God met with them. He met
with them upon Mount Sinai in a very remarkable way so that
the whole mountain shook with the power of God if you've seen
a mountain I'm sure you've all seen mountains to try and visualize
a mountain shaking is just not easy to visualize but nonetheless
it was so and there was fire and smoke and coming out from
the mountain and God descended upon that mountain and it was
on that mountain that God gave Moses instructions as to how
a temporary building should be erected for worship and what
that building should contain and it was given in very graphic
details and in such good detail that the Israelites were able
to bring about and perform that which was necessary and so the
tabernacle was built or rather made and erected and God then graciously
condescended to approve it by an appearance when he came down
in that cloud which had descended upon the tabernacle and it was
such a light that people could not stand and look at it so there
was the power of God displayed and central in that tabernacle
was the Ark the Ark of the Covenant and we have in these two verses
a very brief a very simple a very direct statement of what came
into that Ark it wasn't there initially all that was in the
Ark initially was the Law of God those two tables of stone
which were the Ten Commandments which God had written upon that
rock with his finger but then later there was the golden pot
that had manna and also Aaron's rod that budded now it's important
to realise that this is not recorded just for an historical account
but it is recorded to point us, as the Apostle Paul tells us
very clearly to direct us to the Lord Jesus Christ because
we today live in the Gospel day and we have the New Testament
but of course when the Tabernacle was erected and the Ark was placed
in the Holy of Holies there wasn't a New Testament and therefore
there were these symbols which were set before Israel and how
hard it would have been to have understood the great significance
of those things which were incorporated in that tabernacle. But we should
not be unmindful that all these things direct us to the Lord
Jesus Christ. And now today we are blessed
with this wonderful analysis that the Apostle Paul was able
to leave on record by the influence of the Holy Spirit to direct
us to the great truths that it contained, this tabernacle and
so that which was central was the Ark of the Covenant and it
was central in the Holy of Holies And the Holy of Holies was the
innermost place in the tabernacle. It went through the holy place
and separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies was a
very glorious heavy veil that went from the ground to the top
and from wall to wall and it cut off the Holy of Holies from
the holy place and in the centre of that place was placed this
Ark of the Covenant and we have a description of it and it's
a very simple description and it was a very simple object it
was rectangular wasn't very big it was something like 4 feet
long 2 feet wide and 2 feet high or a little bit less perhaps
but not very big and it's wonderful to think therefore that the the
Gospel is simple the Gospel is not complicated man tries to
make it complicated but it is simple and this tabernacle was
really a box just a rectangular box And it was made of wood. And the wood was, we're told,
was shitting wood, which is a wood which we know today as acacia. And it is a very durable wood. And it's a very hardy wood. And it shows to us, really, the
blessedness of Christ, who came into this world, as a human person
he took on himself our nature his humanity our humanity he
took upon himself and it showed to us through that wood that
was used the eternal being it wasn't something that would just
fade away that's why we have this wood and it obviously was
from the earth it had an earthly position the Lord Jesus Christ
was born into this earth and we should be thankful that it
was so because it is very important for us to understand the significance
of why Jesus was born into this earth and it was just like this no one could deliver themselves
from the wrath of God which was upon sin and sin had entered into the
world through Adam and Eve and sin continued to exist as it
does today and therefore every person born into this world is
a sinner and everyone therefore born into this world needs to
be saved from their sins indeed needs to have their sins taken
away well no person born into this world could possibly fulfil
that position because we are born in sin and shaped in iniquity
and therefore the only way that you and I could be saved from
our sin is the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ God himself
God himself the second person in the Trinity should condescend
to come into this world and live that perfect life and die that
sin atoning death and therefore we see his humanity in this simple
object of the Ark in this form of this wood, this long-standing
wood. Then of course, it wasn't left
there. It was then covered with gold,
pure gold. The inside of the box, the outside,
everything was covered, so that there was no sign of that humanity,
no sign of that earthiness. It was covered over. with gold
and that was pure gold which sets before us the glory of God
and so we see that wonderful combination of the Lord Jesus
Christ taking on himself human form and yet you see also displaying
the glory of God pictures in that golden position the Ark
of the Covenant and then that box was then covered and it wasn't
covered with just anything it was covered with that which was
of pure gold there was no wood there was no earthly element
pure gold and it was called the Mercy Seat the Mercy Seat the
Mercy Seat can also be considered as the atonement there it was
covering the Ark and of course covering what was in the Ark
and it was pure and it was upon that that the High Priest was
ordained to come and sprinkle blood blood as he went into that
Holy of Holies on that annual occasion, that day of atonement. It was a very, very special day
in the history of Israel. And my friends, atonement is
a very special time for us. When the Holy Spirit shows to
us that not the blood of an animal but the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ was indeed placed on the mercy seat not the physical mercy
seat but the spiritual mercy seat to atone for our sins to
take away our sins and therefore we have this glorious picture
of the mercy seat it was mercy and it is mercy that the Lord
Jesus Christ came into this world to redeem our souls we could
not have done it ourselves there was no possibility but because
of the love of the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ so willing
to come in order to redeem us unworthy sinners not worth any
notice and yet to think this blessed Saviour came to redeem
our souls now inside the ark was placed these tables the tables
of the covenant the law of God and that was a righteous law
and that was a holy law and it was placed there specifically
so that we might realise it was a righteous law it was a good
law and it is a righteous law and it is a good law but the
fact is that you and I could not keep that law however hard
we might try however we might endeavour to naturally keep that
law of God we may perhaps have kept some of it naturally, physically
but you see the hearts deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked and our hearts have sinned and our hearts have committed
every sin against every command which was shown in this tables
of the covenant and therefore mankind is guilty 100% and yet
there it was in the ark well the glorious fact is that of
course the Lord Jesus Christ he did keep that law he never
sinned he kept it perfectly and he kept it on our behalf yes
that law was in Christ perfect law and he kept it honourably
and so what a glorious truth it is to know that today sinners
as we are Christ came and died to atone for our sins and so
we have this picture then of this ark in the simplicity of
it and then we're told and over it were the cherubims of glory
shadowing the mercy seat. And they were looking inward
and downward. Downward to the mercy seat and
through the mercy seat to these tables of the covenant. to indicate
they were just and right and true, that they were there to,
as you might say, maintain the Holy Law of God, that it wasn't
to be dispensed with. They were looking at it, they
were watching over it, and yet there was a great significance,
therefore, that there was a necessity, the Law, must be kept. It was
not going to be passed over. And although the ceremonial law
was passed over when Christ died and ascended into glory, the
moral law, the law of the Ten Commandments was not done away
with. It is there and it's still there
today. And we still need today the greater
and glorious effect in our hearts, the application in our souls
of the atonement, the blood of Jesus Christ cleansing us from
all sin. Well it is therefore a very significant
situation that we have here in this picture and we're told the
Ark of the Covenant overlaid round about with gold. We're
coming into a moment wherein was the tables of the Covenant
and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat.
which we cannot now speak particularly it seemed therefore that the
glory of this position was so great and so wonderful that Paul
tells us we cannot now speak particularly with any great detail
well there we have then this ark in this place in the holiest
of holies and we're given some a picture of what the holiest
of holies was like it was a cube in shape same height, the same
breadth, the same depth and it was all internally faced with
gold it was a pure place naturally speaking and the great truth
was that it showed us a picture naturally it was a picture of
perfection and the only place of perfection of course is in
heaven and therefore it showed to us a little picture naturally
of heaven and we have therefore the high priests going into that
holy place once a year where they met the high priest met
with God as he descended over the mercy seat between the cherubims
and the Jewish people recognized it as the Shekinah it was a cloud
it was evident by the brightness that it was the majesty on high
hovering over the mercy seat must have been a very tremendously
awe-inspiring time for the High Priest as he ventured in to the
Holy of Holies and of course he dare not go in without that
symbol of blood he dare not go in without it and as he went
in it was sprinkled on the mercy seat and there was shown the
way of peace there was shown the way of access unto a holy
God but we see in this chapter we read together how this natural
position was done away with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ
because he only had to enter in once previously for all those
years some two and a half thousand years or so the high priest and
had to going every year every year not without blood and yet
the Lord Jesus Christ entered into the holy place and of course
the holy place is heaven itself not without blood but the blood
was his own his own shed blood so we have some little idea then
of how precious and how valuable the blood of Christ is what a
wonderful picture we should not therefore turn away from illustrations
like this because it should so enhance the picture and so encourage
us and so strengthen us and to bless us to realise that today
you and I are able to approach unto the Saviour who is ascending
now into glory that true heaven no need anymore for a tabernacle
or any need for a temple all done away in Christ and so we're
told and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid round about with gold
and we're told there were two things placed inside one was
the golden pot that had manna and then Aaron's rod that budded We might think, well, why was
it significant? Well, both had great significance. First of all, the pot of manna
was there to remind Israel that God had provided for them all
those 40 years in the wilderness with a very simple and yet a
very sufficient food to maintain them for all those years. but
it wasn't only to remind them of those 40 years in the wilderness
it was also to direct them to that food that spiritual food
which is to be found in Christ physical Israel needed physical
food spiritual Israel need spiritual food and that food that was provided
for Israel of old was the same every day and my friends spiritually
the church of God needs that same spiritual food every day
and what is that spiritual food? well the Lord Jesus Christ speaks
of it in the sixth chapter of John when he tells so clearly
except we eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God there
is no life in us so there is therefore that spiritual feeding
upon Christ drinking His blood and eating His flesh that's not
in a physical way obviously but it is in a spiritual way as we
rejoice in what Christ has done in His life in His death all
that He did to satisfy the Holy Law of God on our behalf well
think of that it wasn't just placed there just to remind Israel
it was placed there to remind Israel but there was a greater
and a more wonderful depth to be observed and to think today
that by the grace of God and because of His wonderful love
we today can spiritually feed upon Christ. Now, what is it
that does that? We began this morning by the
power of God. It's the same today in a spiritual
way. It's the power of God. And my
friends, all of us need to know the blessed power of God in enabling
us to feed upon Christ as that great and all-sufficient God. You see, in Him, there is all
that is required for life, for death, for eternity. In Him, the hope of glory. Because in Him, He kept the law. In Him, the hope of glory. in Him was that great and glorious
sacrifice given not like in the Old Testament days when there
was that the sacrifice had to be offered not only of course
on the Day of Atonement on that very special day but every day
night and morning the sacrifice had to be offered to remind people
of the way to God And my friends today, let us be reminded of
the way to God through the suffering saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no other way, no other
way that you can you and I can come into the presence of our
father in heaven because he is a holy, just and righteous God. And we, by nature, are unholy
and unjust. But we can come in. to the holy
presence of God through our mediator the Lord Jesus Christ I'll ponder
meditate, think upon the glory of this situation and then to
realise what food it is because it directs us it must direct
us to our salvation directs us to realise that without it we
are eternally lost but through the shedding of blood without
shedding of blood there's no forgiveness there's no remission
of sin but it's through the shed blood of the Saviour there is
and so today may our hope be built on nothing less than Jesus'
blood and righteousness there is the true hope of the Church
of God there must be our true hope and what a mercy then today
if the power of God has shone into our hearts the glorious
light of the gospel to reveal to us the necessity of being
born again in the Spirit of God the necessity of feeding upon
Christ what a blessing it is if the Holy Spirit has shown
us the wonderful favour of this and there's been an application
of his word of his work of his life of his death to our souls
so that today we can go on our way rejoicing in what Christ
has done well there wasn't only this pot of manna but there was
also Aaron's rod that budded you may think well It was rather
mysterious that Moses should be instructed to put Aaron's
rod here. But you see, Aaron's rod was
no ordinary rod. Looking at it naturally, it would
have been. It would have just been some hard wood. It may have been acacia, we don't
know. But the Lord used that rod to demonstrate his wonderful
power. And we need to go back, as I
said earlier, to Israel coming out of Egypt. And when Moses
and Aaron went before Pharaoh, Aaron's rod was used wonderfully. You see, it was thrown on the
ground before Pharaoh, and it turned into a serpent. then of course they took it by
the tail and it became a rod but the very interesting position
was then that Pharaoh then got his magicians to come and they
threw their rods on the ground and they became serpents you
might say they were demons you look at the Church of God
and we are surrounded as it were with demons today doing every
effort to turn us away from God doing everything to try and instruct
us that there is no God but what happened? what happened? Aaron's rod swallowed all those
other rods all those other demons were destroyed now that's the
glory of the Gospel Because you see, the death of
the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, destroys, has destroyed, the
work of Satan. What a wonderful testimony, what
a wonderful example it is for us to observe that. To realise,
yes, God is in control. We might be surrounded by demons,
they were very afraid, of all these serpents. You see, God
came and Aaron's rod, that serpent swallowed up all those serpents. God is able to deliver us from
the most difficult situation when everything perhaps may seem
to be against us. We may appear to be surrounded
by the devil and all his foes. see the Lord can consume them
so they disappear and then we have to go on then you see to
this time when Israel were traveling through the wilderness and there
were those that rose up against Moses and against Aaron they
thought they could fulfill the office that they were doing and
so Moses instructed to obtain a rod from all the tribes they
laid them up and in the morning to go and see what had happened
well the 11 rods were just as they were just a piece of dead
wood but Aaron's rod. It flowered, it grew, it flowered. It brought forth fruits, almonds. What a wonderful demonstration
there of the power of God. See God is able to do that which
man cannot do. And how it shows to us also the
kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ. he must reign, he will reign
he does reign and because he reigns there is that wonderful
fruitfulness that wonderful glory in Christ as we ponder and meditate
on his work his finished work what does it produce in the Church
of God as the Lord leads us into these paths to view the Saviour
and all that He's done it brings joy and peace into our souls
because that which we could not do we could not make ourselves
spiritually alive the Lord does and what a mercy the Lord has
done it in our lives what does it do therefore? what does it
show us? surely it shows us the power of God and we need to realise
again and again the power of God nothing that you and I can
do not at all not naturally not spiritually not mentally but
God does God has done and we have these accounts we have this
wonderful picture in the Word of God of the Tabernacle and
the Ark of the Covenant and what it represents and what a good
thing it will be today if you and I can appreciate in some
small measure the significance of what was there and there it
was for years sometimes I think well try and picture Israel on
that great day of atonement coming around the tabernacle
that great day when they believed that through the
shed blood and the entering into the holy place that would be
accepted on their behalf to atone for their sins today no doubt
they look forward to year by year and we're thankful for it
well today do we look forward to the glorious atonement of
our sins and to recognise not like it
was in those days when it was the blood of an animal which
symbolised that which was necessary to achieve the forgiveness of
their sin but now today we have the evidence of a great and glorious
Saviour who came and offered Himself Himself as that one sacrifice
for sin forever to take away all our sin and to realise that
by His grace we are complete in Him not outside in him because
in him the law is holy the law is kept not through what we've
done but through what Christ has done and therefore we are
brought to that place we are when we are made fit to enter
in to glory at last not on our anything that we've warranted
or anything that you and I've earned but it's through what
Christ has done well what a blessing it is today that we have the
evidence of Christ's glorious life on this earth and all that
he did and then his wonderful sinatonic death and then his
ascension his resurrection and then his ascension into glory
and the glory of that wonderful conquest but let us not pass
by the significance of the Old Testament pictures that we have
directing us gloriously to the Lord Jesus Christ and his wonderful
work it is worth pondering you go back through the Old Testament
and you will find the Ark is mentioned many, many times. It was central to the worship
of Israel of old. And my friends, today, is Christ
central in our worship? Is He central in our religion? As Israel looked forward to that
day, do we look forward again and again to times when the Saviour
comes and reveals Himself unto us as our sin atoning sacrifice
what a blessing it is therefore if we understand and know something
of the power of God which shines into our hearts and reveals a
precious sin atoning Saviour so that we have by His grace
A good hope that he has loved us with everlasting love and
with loving kindness has drawn us. So to him be the glory both
now and forever. Amen.