The Face Melting Ark

The Face-Melting Ark The Face-Melting Ark of the Covenant It was a day of celebration and King David was bringing the ark to Jerusalem. Uzzah was excited to be a part of this day, though he was sad to see the Ark go. For twenty years it had been in his household, the very ark of Yahweh, the Ark of the Covenant. The Philistines had captured it 20 years ago when the Israelites tried to use like a Spiritual Nuke outside God’s will. God allowed the Philistines to capture the Ark… but not to keep it. He cast down their idols before the ark. When they moved it, he gave the whole city “tumors” (literally, hemorrhoids). After months and many deaths, the Philistines sent it back on a cart… along with 5 gold statues of rats and 5 gold statues of the “tumors.” Gross. But when it rolled into town, people in the fields saw the ark, totally unveiled, unprotected, and God kills 70 of them. Brutal… and of course it freaks everyone out, so they keep the ark there. In the house of Abinadab, Uzzah’s father. But now, at last, David is King and he is bringing the ark to Jerusalem. Along the way the oxen stumble as they navigate past a threshing pit. Uzzah, who has lived with the ark of the Covenant for 20 years, perhaps he cared for it, he wanted to protect it, he wanted to ensure its safety. Perhaps after 20 years with the ark he felt comfortable, he felt casual, and he reached out to steady the ark in the cart. Just in case. 2 Samuel 6:6-7 6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. 7 The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God. I don’t know how Uzzah died, but since I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark as a child, I have to assume that his face melted away. Whatever it was, it was quick, it was dramatic, and it freaked people out. That’s hard to hear. We probably feel that God was being a bit irrational. David certainly was mad at God for this, he thought this was inappropriate… and freaked out and left the ark there for a bit. This is the Ark of the Covenant. It’s a fun subject because there are legends and stories all over, there are mysteries and rumors. But it is a terrifying subject, because whatever it is God is communicating through the Ark, it is measured in Death. Philistines for capturing, farmers for seeing it, Uzzah for touching it, maybe even with the best intentions. What does the Ark of the Covenant say about God? Why does it melt faces? Ark of the Covenant, God’s Hope Chest God is moving in, and the very first piece of furniture he orders is a hope chest. (See Exodus 25:10-16) This is a small chest, 50 X 30 X 30 inches. Made of Acacia wood, then every surface gilded with gold inside and out. Little feet with rings and poles through the rings, because the proper method of carrying this thing around will be by the poles on the shoulders of a particular group of men. (See Exodus 25:17-22) Then on top, a solid gold cover with two statues rising up out of it. These are cherubim, but they are never described to us, only that they face the empty space in the middle and their wings stretch out forward, emphasizing this hollow space in the middle. This is a beautiful box. We don’t know what the cherubim looked like, but apparently this Bezalel craftsmen was filled with the Spirit… and wisdom, and knowledge, and skill, so he must have known. Conservative estimates of the gold weight alone are about 177 pounds or 3.133 million dollars at current prices. So just at the human, physical level: the ark of the Covenant was a small expensive chest with two never-described statues on top. The Symbol of God's Presence But we hear “ark of the covenant” and of course we think of way more than a small expensive chest. We think of the stories, we think of the legends, we think of Indiana Jones, and, hopefully, we think of the presence of God. The Ark of the Covenant was God's footstool on earth and enshrined the symbols of His Covenant with His people. The Footstool of His Presence This ark is going to be the pivotal, the central piece of furniture in God’s moving in with the people of Israel. It is going to have the pride of place in the Tabernacle, in the Holy of Holies. In particular, everything about the cover is intended to create an empty space. How do you picture a God who has no physical form, has no body, is fundamentally “Other”? You create a space. The cherubims are facing something. Their wings are encircling “something”. The whole setup of this “cover” is to create a negative space, an empty space, which is then inhabited, invaded, filled. God's presence "standing" between the two cherubim. Mercy "seat". The "Throne" of God. (my understanding is the "throne" bit is mistranslation). The picture is actually not of God sitting between the angels, but standing. The ark of the covenant was God’s footstool on earth. Now we, of course, wonder what this looked like. At the very start, with Moses, we get some idea that there is some visual feedback, God moves the cloud that’s been leading them, and it takes up position above the ark, in this space, standing upon this footstool. But that is never mentioned again, and my assumption is that most of the time it was by faith that the people and the priests understood that God’s special presence, a phrase we use is “Shekinah glory”, inhabited this space, stood upon this footstool. The reality is almost no one gets to see the ark of the covenant. When it gets packed up it gets covered in the veil that separates the holy of holies, then a bunch of skins, then a blue cloth. People who see it die, the high priest enters in once a year and splashes the blood of the atonement sacrifice on it. But all of the people were to understand, and understand that they are taking this on faith, that the presence of Yahweh was taking up residence in a very special way, standing upon the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark becomes the powerful symbol of God’s presence dwelling with His people, His footstool on earth. Infinite cosmic power! Tiny little living space. The "Container" of the Covenant This is further illustrated by what is inside the box. What’s inside the box? It’s not a red-snapper. Inside are symbols of God's presence: First, the first thing commanded to be placed inside are the tablets of the Covenant. Now I always thought the first five were on the first and the latter five on the second. Probably not. Instead, even back then, in the tradition of covenant they had the practice of providing copies, each party gets a copy. What a powerful symbol then, that the King’s copy, God’s copy, and the people’s copy, are protected and stored together, even as God then dwells there with His people. This covenant is then at the very heart of God’s presence with His people. Later, at the end of their wanderings in the desert, they add the manna. A symbol of God’s faithful provision for His people through the wilderness. And they add the budded staff of Aaron. This is God’s sign that He has chosen Aaron and his descendants as His priesthood, the mediators of the Covenant, God’s ongoing provision for the ways in which God’s people are going to fail to hold up their end of the bargain. These priests, and these priests alone, are going to be able to enter the Holy of Holiest carrying the blood of atonement, and sprinkle this blood on the “atonement cover” of the ark and in front of it, and kind of purchase another year of forgiveness of the people’s sins. Three symbols of God’s presence. All of this points to the Otherness of God, His Holiness, and His presence with the people. The Problem of Holiness And this is a problem. Here it is: Did you know there were also three other symbols in the ark of the covenant? Three symbols of humanity’s unholiness, their sin and their rejection of God? Inside the ark is the manna, the bread of heaven... which the people get tired of eating weeks into their 40 years of wandering. They kind of reject this provision of God. The budding staff of Aaron... which budded as a divine miracle of choosing when the people wanted to reject Aaron and his family as priests. The people reject God’s mediation of the Covenant of God, always looking to do it their own way, to have control. And the tablets of the 10 commandments... and when the people heard the voice of God uttering the Ten, they were terrified and moved and camped further away. Because they knew that as much as these were symbols of morality, descriptions that reflect the character of God, they were also a condemnation of their own lives, sin and death. The ark contained symbols of God’s Holy Presence and Covenant with the people… and the people’s rejection and sin. The Meaning of the Ark So what is the meaning of the Ark of the Covenant? I could preach a series on this. Studying the Ark of the Covenant has been a blast. There are all these theories of where it is now, who has it, what happened to it? Templars, or Ethiopia, or Indiana Jones’ warehouse. There is this fascinating phrase “atonement cover” and this practice of the priest entering the holy of holies once a year with the blood of sacrifice. The covenant continues to be soaked in blood, things continue to die in order that the people might live, but it’s all so temporary, buying one year of forgiveness of sins at a time. Or all the ways in which Jesus fulfills the Ark of the Covenant, He is the Bread of Life, He fulfills and completes the Law of the tablets, He is the budded staff of Aaron, the ultimate high-priest bringing resurrection, new life and new growth. This is all good stuff, write all that down somewhere. But when it comes to the Ark of the Covenant, that isn’t where Scripture dwells. I looked for what got repeated over and over again. It isn’t the value of the Ark, it isn’t the beauty of the Ark, it isn’t the Messianic metaphor of the Ark. The Ark of the Covenant communicates the absolute and awful Holiness of Yahweh’s intimate presence. God is moving in. And as we pass through Exodus, into the wanderings through the wilderness, into the war to capture the Promised Land, living in and defending the Promised Land, through all of that: God has moved in, and the Ark of the Covenant communicates the absolute and awful Holiness of Yahweh’s intimate presence. And when that Holiness, that Otherness, comes into contact with unholy, unprepared human beings, when God’s people become casual in any way about that Holiness, bad things happen. Casual Presence of God The story about Uzzah is hard to hear, it is challenging, it raises questions. Not just there, but over and over and over again, God is saying something, through the ark of the covenant, a stark reality about His presence. It isn’t open for discussion. It really isn’t about exceptions. It isn’t about motivations or reasons. God is holy. He is other. His presence is Holy. His presence is “other”. The ark of the Covenant, this incredible symbol of His glory, His presence, it has to communicate in stark and radical ways the actual Holiness of God. Not to be touched, ever. Not to be seen, except through very careful, very purified, soaked in atonement blood, rare moments by the highest representatives of God on earth. The Ark of the Covenant communicates the absolute and awful Holiness of Yahweh’s intimate presence. God is saying something that is simply true about himself! It isn’t optional. His actions in defending the holiness of the ark, it is because He is absolutely Holy, absolutely Other. And we can’t know Him unless we know that about Him. Look, ultimately to destroy the body of someone because they touched the symbol of God seems harsh, but God can take care of Uzzah, He works that out, and it’ll be just and perfect, however that goes down. But what if this is true about God, I think it is. What if when all is stripped away, when the veils are all removed and torn away, when it isn’t a box that symbolizes God’s presence, when it isn’t a cloud, when it isn’t a shadow, but it is the full reality of God’s presence with us. What if that presence simply scours away, annihilates anything that isn’t also Holy as He is Holy. Not like God’s choice, like He is just mad, but simply the fundamental reality of God’s nature. Wouldn’t He need to communicate that in radical ways? And then take extreme, dramatic steps to make arrangements for people to actually be Holy and Perfect if He ever wanted someone to be in His full presence? What do I know of Holy? What do I know of holy? Before I ever jump to "atonement" and grace…, what do I know of holy? There is so much gospel here at the ark, in the ark, so much good news, and you know it and you hear it just around the corner… but I’m going to let it sit there, just around the corner. Soak in this, the absolute, the awful, the terrifying, the cosmic, the fundamental, at the root of Creation, the HOLINESS of God. I like this word “OTHER”. It’s basically what Holy means, set apart, radically “Other”. What do I know of Holy? I live in Colorado and I can lose sight of the mountains. It isn’t that they aren’t there, it isn’t even that I don’t see them… I can grow casual. Comfortable. And they are all still there… I have just lost the joy of them, the majesty, the awe. There is a “holiness”, an “otherness” there. Like Uzziah, we grow casual, we seek intimacy without a full appreciation of the Holiness of God, the Otherness of God. Of course we do. We lose the holy in the everyday. It isn't that God is a changing target, it is that He is Other, He is Holy. And that makes it all the more incredible that we can also be Intimate with Him, that we can know Him and be known. We can be intimate with God; but never casual. To lose sight of the holiness of God is to lose the joy and wonder of His intimate presence. What do I know of Holy? This is the purpose of so much of our ritual, our practice, our Sabbaths, our prayer times; to teach us Holiness. But they can become empty and practiced and routine. How do we fill them? How do we make ourselves feel and discover the Holiness of God? How do we comprehend his size and scope, His majesty, His Presence? We don’t. We can’t manufacture anything, imagine anything. We can make time. We can give attention. We can make space. And ask that God moves in. Now in our worship, today on His Holy Day, this week, find ways to make time and attention and space for the Holy, the Other, Presence of God. Because He says that He is and will be present with you in a way He never was with the people of Israel, even in the Ark of the Covenant. Jeremiah looks forward to this day, Jeremiah 3:16 16 In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. You thought the Ark was God’s Presence? That was a shadow. The very Presence of the Holy God, all of that Otherness, all of that Holiness, seeks to move in to you, to inhabit us, that you and us together, in worship and prayer and life, We walk in the Shekinah glory, we are the footstool of God on earth, we are the testimony of His Covenant.