Date of message: 26 July 2003 Issue
104
Subject: The Arks Of God

Shalom, Boker-tov (good morning),

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ ," Ephesians 1: 3.
Paul reminded the Christians in the city of Ephesus of their rich inheritance from God the Father because of what our Lord Jesus had achieved for us on the cross. It was an expensive death for the Son of God but for us, all it takes is an act of simple faith to believe in Him and that His death on the cross paid the price demanded by God as payment for our sins.
In the Old Testament, we read of three distinct arks made for various purposes and which have tremendous meaning for our lives.

" In Genesis chapters 6 till 8 we have the Ark of Noah that God called him to build to save himself, his own family and a pair of every land-based creature on the earth.
" Jochebed made an ark, placed baby Moses in it and floated him down the River Nile to escape the sword of Pharoah after he had issued a decree to exterminate all male Jewish babies. Exodus 2: 1 -3.
" God instructed Moses to build an ark and place the two tablets of the covenant, Aaron's rod and the golden pot of manna. Exodus 25: 10 - 22; Exodus 37: 1 - 9.

Although the English word translation for all of them showed 'ark' they are different words in the Hebrew. In the arks of Noah and Moses, the Hebrew word is 'tebah' (pronounced as 'tay-baw') while the Hebrew for Ark of the Covenant is 'arown' (pronounced as 'aw-rone'). 'Tebah' means 'vessel' which Noah built and basket 'vessel' in which Moses was placed while 'arown' stands for a money chest or a coffin.

The arks of Noah and Moses were constructed differently but they essentially were for similar purposes - that of holding the contents above water and to sustain the occupants. The pieces were held together with pitch, a tar-like compound that would make the vessel water-proof. Interestingly enough, the Hebrew word for pitch is to 'cover' or 'kaphar' (comes from the same root as 'atone').
And so Noah was given the picture that once he and his family were inside the ark, they would be covered (shielded) from the external threats. As long as they were in the ark they would be safe even if they fell down as the ark was being tossed by the strong winds and the currents. In the case of baby Moses, his mother Jochebed trusted the LORD to protect her son and so she placed him in the basket (ark).

In both instances, the occupants were saved. The external environments were turbulent but nothing happened to them as they were protected by the LORD. The ark spoke of the Lord Jesus in types and representations. It is the Lord Jesus Himself who would be able to protect us from the externals. Once we have placed our lives in Him, He will shield us from all external threats and bring us through.
Like the arks of Noah and Moses, the Ark of the Covenant also typifies the work of Jesus for us; the difference being that the ark here was the coffin that was used to bury the Law since Jesus came to fulfill the Law and set us free from its requirements. God the Father did not want to be reminded of the Law once it is inside the Ark, once it is buried in Christ Jesus.

Both the Ark of Noah and the Ark of the Covenant are no longer with us today. The Ark of Noah was sighted from outer space, embedded on the side of one of the mountains in the Ararat mountain range of Turkey by astronaut James Irwin on one of his Apollo missions. However, when he returned to Earth and led a team of mountain climbers to reach the site, he could not proceed further as he realized that the climb was impossible since the ark was actually embedded in a thick layer of snow and ice over the centuries and the ascent was too steep. On the other hand, the Ark of the Covenant was looted from the Temple of Solomon when the Babylonians captured Jerusalem and annexed Judah to the mighty Kingdom of Babylon during King Nebuchadnezzar's reign. The Ark was never found.

I asked the Lord once why both items were not retrievable or found even with the latest technology and He told me this, "Son, why do you need the representations when the real Person had been revealed and He is more than sufficient for you? I do not want anyone to find those items and start to use them as objects of worship. Rather all should be worshipping My Beloved Son Jesus your Savior."
Choose Life and put your faith in our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. Received Him into your heart and He will give you eternal life. By believing in Jesus and receiving His Holy Spirit into our lives, God confers on us the position of sons and daughters in His Family, special positions reserved only for those whom He loves dearly (John 1:12).

The Lord cannot lie. For Him, whatever He speaks come to pass and He had promised us in the Bible that those who have put their trust in Him will not be condemned but have passed from death into life (Romans 8:1).
Pray this simple prayer and invite Him into your heart and immediately you will experience the peace of Jesus coming your way.
Our heavenly Father, our Daddy God, thank you that You love us right from the very beginning even before we were born. You always have our best interest at heart and it is because of this great love for us You sent Your Beloved Son Jesus to die for all our sins so that we can enjoy all Your blessings.
Lord Jesus, thank you that You loved us so much that You were willing to become that Sacrificial Lamb for us. Thank you that because of Your death, the judicial righteousness of the Father had been satisfied. And now, because You rose from the dead, we who believe in You as our Lord and Savior will no longer have to die but we receive Your eternal life. Thank you for coming into my heart and making my heart Your home.

Thank you that I am now a child of God the Father and as His child, I am now eternally forgiven, greatly blessed, highly favored, deeply loved and completely protected in the Lord and in the most precious name of Jesus Christ, Yeshua Ha' Mashiah, I pray. Amen.

If you have prayed this prayer for the first time, welcome to the Family of the Father (and it is a very large universal family). It is important that you are not alone facing your personal challenges but that you can obtain good help wherever you are. Why not take the time to find your own local Christian family (local church) and worship the Father together? You will be greatly encouraged when you meet together to worship the Father, for fellowship and for the study of the Word of Christ.
Start receiving the blessings of the Father as you walk with Him in faith. It is your inheritance in Christ and He wants you to start enjoying these blessings right now. You do not need to wait until you reach heaven and there is more from where they come from.
The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace. Numbers 6: 24 -26

Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov
Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee

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