Bringing Back the Ark Part 1 "How the Ark was Lost"
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3 And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? 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.
Introduction
Introduction
Thank Harvey and Jackie for the Fish Fry yesterday.
One service today.
(Explain the significance of the Ark of the Covenant)
Jehovah’s throne and presence was always associated with His Word.
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.
(Show picture of Ark)
Example of how the ark was used:
33 And they departed from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them in the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them.
34 And the cloud of the Lord was upon them by day, when they went out of the camp.
35 And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered; And let them that hate thee flee before thee.
The ark was a guarantee of God’s presence with them.
3 And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.
4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.
At Jericho the Ark went around the city seven times, and then seven times on the seventh day, and when they shouted in the presence of the ark, the walls fell down.
The Ark today is the Word.
(Singers and musicians went first, then the priests carrying the ark)
It’s a very Scriptural order for a religious service. The first thing, the music, then the Word, then the battle. So, it’s all ordered of the Lord. 56-0621 - "The Law Having A Shadow"
Its no wonder that whenever the Israelites got in a real battle, they wanted the ark to be there.
1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Eben-ezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek.
2 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.
3 And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? 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.
No mention of consulting Samuel.
4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
Who were Hophni and Phinehas?
Eli was the longtime high priest at Shiloh, where the ark was kept. He was a good man, who only failed in one area, dealing with his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas.
Hophni means “pugilist” or fighter.
Phinehas means “mouth of a serpent”.
12 Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord.
Literally “worthless sons”.
The first charge against them was a misuse of the priests portion of the sacrifice. Today we would say they mishandled funds. This was the first time so called men of God abused their power with finances, but it wouldn’t be the last.
16 And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force.
17 Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.
Their actions caused people to stay home from church.
Not everyone stayed home.
3 And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there.
He went anyway, and He got what he needed. It was still God’s house.
The second charge against them was fornication.
22 Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
23 And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people.
24 Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the Lord’s people to transgress.
25 If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them.
Leaving these worthless men in charge of the house of God was the worst thing that Eli could do. It was cruel, both to the people and to the boys, who could have been corrected.
Oddly enough, Samuel, who saw all this happen, makes the same mistake with his sons, and Israel made a terrible mistake because of it.
A man of God had warned Eli what would happen.
27 And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house?
28 And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?
29 Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?
That’s a tough sermon, it gets worse.
34 And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them.
35 And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.
A prophecy of Christ.
The people needed the ark to win their battle with the Philistines.
5 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.
6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp.
The Word had come into the camp, but it was carried in the wrong hands.
7 And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.
8 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.
9 Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.
10 And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
How could this happen? Without the ark they lost 4000, with the ark they lost thirty thousand.
They had the Word. They had the Spirit, but the Word must be handled correctly. Those who carry it must be in obedience to the Word themselves.
He must have some men somewhere, who can handle the Word correctly. This is His method.
Bro. Branham remarked on the cry for revival:
And remember, that, in the midst of all this cry, God cannot send a revival till He’s got men in shape to take it.
We cannot have a revival until we get men, God-called men, God-trained men, that’s not trained up in the schools of theology and of education, but rugged men of faith, that God has brought up in the school of His rugged training.
Men who are not afraid to face the fire! Men who has come in the Presence of God; and knows His power, and knows His omnipotence, and knows His healing power!
Some men that’s trained to know the living God! It’s all right to train them by the Word, but, “The letter killeth; the Spirit giveth Life.”
And before we can have this revival, God has to call out and train men, God-trained men, to carry this Message. And they don’t care what the opposition is. They are willing to go to the fiery furnace in defeat, or to the lions’ den, or wherever it may be.
They’re ready to go, because they been in the Presence of God, and know that He is. Whether it’s to victory or defeat, they still stand the same. That’s the kind of training God does to men. 58-1005E - "God-Called Man"
This Message is to be carried on the shoulders of God called, Word living men.
He charged Bro. Pearry Green like Paul did Timothy “carry the Word”
God bless you, Brother Pearry. Carry the Word of God! 65-1121 - "What House Will You Build Me?"
What does it mean to carry the Word? How do you carry it?
We’re going to get to David’s new cart in a couple weeks but I had to include this here:
David’s anointing was all right, but in doing it he got enthused and stepped over the boundary line. What did he do? He stepped over the boundary line. Instead of putting the ark in its original position, he carried it on a new cart and not over the hearts of the Levites.
It was supposed to be carried on the shoulder of the Levites, which is over the heart. The Word is not in the mind, It’s in the heart! “Not on a new cart.”
Represented something new, David did there, spoke of every denomination there’d ever be. God’s Word is not to be carried by state presbyters or bishops, and so forth, of denominations.
It’s the Baptism of the Holy Ghost in the heart of man, and not in some ecclesiastical move. The Holy Spirit is a treasure of God’s love in the heart of men and women to obey.
Was on the shoulders of His ministers, His ministers was the Levites. Put it up over their left shoulder and packed that ark like that, because it was up over their heart. They had the burden of the Word on their heart. Amen!
Now you got the burden of your denomination on your heart, the burden of your congregation: whether you’re going to build this, or do that, or do something else.
The burden of how many more you’re going to get to your denomination; instead of the burden of the Word of the Lord, that that people will see only the Word of God and nothing else. 65-1127B - "Trying To Do God A Service Without It Being God's Will"
God give us men burdened by the Word.
11 And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.
This fulfilled prophecy.
12 And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head.
13 And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.
He knew who his sons were.
14 And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli.
15 Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see.
16 And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?
17 And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.
18 And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.
This marked a transition from Aaron’s lineage.
19 And his daughter in law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her.
20 And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.
21 And she named the child I-chabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband.
22 And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.
This would not be the end of the story. The Word will not return void, it will come to its proper place.
17 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.
Conclusion.
Conclusion.
Later we’ll find what happened to the ark. We don’t want to lose God’s presence. We must live a life worthy of this Message. How?
The only way, the only way that you can live a life that’s worthy of the Gospel, is let the Gospel Itself, every bit of the Gospel, come into you and reflect His promises back, make them vindicated. Let God live in you, to vindicate the promises of this day. 63-0630E - "Is Your Life Worthy Of The Gospel?"
Sing- All I Want to See is Jesus