Book 2 of Musings Make Way for the Ark

To speak in a figure, the Ark of the Covenant is being brought to Zion

This means the Glory of God is returning to His Church. We must be careful not to attempt to add our own reasoning to that which God is doing, but just be very prayerful and very obedient.

Everyone who knows the Bible will remember the story. The Ark fell into the hands of the Philistines during a battle. Then the Ark was returned to Israel, but not to its place in the Tabernacle of the Congregation.

David, who had a heart for God, made moving the Ark from the house of Abinidab to Zion, the city of David, a high priority. Zion was a suburb of Jerusalem.

The Ark of the Covenant was placed on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. There was great rejoicing on the part of David and all Israel.

Uzzah touched the Ark in order to steady it, and was struck dead. This incident took place at the threshing floor of Nacon. Threshing floors are a type of judgment.

David was angry and afraid, and took the Ark to the house of Obed-Edom. After a period of time, David went to bring the Ark to Zion. This time the Ark was carried by Levites and not in a cart.

During both attempts to move the Ark there was much praise and worship. During the second attempt David prepared a place for the Ark and pitched a tent for it. He chose Levites to carry the Ark and involved the Levites in music and worship. As soon as the Levites had taken six steps David offered a bull and a fattened calf. Also he included army commanders.

It appears that much more care went into the second attempt. Probably the most significant difference was that the Ark was carried by Levites, according to the Law of Moses. No mention was made in the Law of the Ark being carried in a new cart.

When we speak of the Ark being brought to Zion, what do we mean in terms of today?

We mean the Presence of God, particularly in the realm of spiritual judgment and war, is being restored to those who are seeking the Lord and walking with Him each day.

Originally the Ark was in the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle in Shiloh. After the Ark was removed and brought into battle by the two wicked sons of Eli, the Tabernacle without the Ark in the Holy of Holies was set up at the high place in Gibeon, an area a few miles north of Jerusalem.

As soon as David brought the Ark to Zion he placed it in a tent, and included an altar on which sacrifice could be made. David split the Levitical worship team into two groups. Some offered worship at Zion and others at Gibeon. Later the Ark was restored to the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Solomon.

I have written previously about the symbolic significance of the temporary separation of the Ark from the rest of the Tabernacle. The indication is that the Church of Jesus Christ will be divided temporarily into a warlike remnant, and then the remainder of the Church. I do not believe the remnant will be brought back into the remainder of the Church, as one whole, until the coming down from Heaven of the new Jerusalem to be established for eternity on the new earth.

Be that as it may, the emphasis of the present article is how we should respond to the fact that God is ready to restore His Presence to us.

I think the emphasis is on the poles. Unlike the other furnishings of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the poles were not removed from the Ark of the Covenant when the Israelites made camp. This tells us that God's work is never stationary.

One of the great differences between religion and Christ is that religion takes a position and sets up its defenses. Christ is always skipping on the mountains of spices. Christ always is dynamic, always growing, always bringing us from splendor to splendor.

The new cart speaks of an institutional attempt to advance the Kingdom of God. The poles point toward anointed people as the vehicle.

Denominations are notorious for putting institutions ahead of people.

Most-perhaps all-of the denominations of today, from Catholic to Charismatic, began in the fire of God. After a generation or two, administrators rose up who were not part of the men of God in whom the movement was born.

The administrator may be a strong Christian, devout, leading a blameless life. But he is a new cart. He sets out to organize the work of God. He studies the percentages. He examines the mission fields. He plots how money should be allocated.

The administrator climbs aboard his aircraft with his laptop computer in one hand and his blueprints in the other. He is ready to build the Kingdom of God.

Perhaps he has not seen the seraphs with their faces and their feet covered at the fiery Presence of the Lord. Perhaps he has not heard the terrible "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His Glory.

Perhaps he has not felt the shaking of the doorposts and the thresholds or seen the temple filled with smoke.

But the prophet has seen, heard, and felt these things, and he cries out in repentance. He is ready for the Lord to send him into a painful situation.

He said, "Go and tell this people: 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.' Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."

If you consider the above commission, it does not sound as though Isaiah is going to make much of an impact on the local community. He probably won't have much of a crowd on Sunday morning.

The goal of the administrator is to build his organization, so he thinks in terms of numbers of people. He is a good businessman. There is no foolishness about him.

But he is a new cart. The classic struggle is between the elder and the prophet. The elder usually wins out, while the prophet is stoned.

The businessman does not know of the travail of the prophet as God wrestles with him night and day. The prophet becomes the witness of God. God speaks in his soul and the fire burns. Such are the poles of the Ark.

God is ready to come to Zion today. However, God's emphases sometimes are not the same as those of the administrator. God is speaking of judgment, of repentance, of stern obedience to the Father. Christ is standing at the door of our hearts, seeking admittance that He may dine with us.

The prophetic remnant cry "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts. The whole earth is full of His Glory!"

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isaiah 6:1-3)

The prophetic remnant cry "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts. The whole earth is full of His Glory!" But King Uzziah, presumptuous flesh, has to die first.

When the local church is directed by the prophetic remnant it will not always be "seeker friendly" or even comprehensible to the community. The administrator cannot understand this. How is he going to increase the assembly in numbers when the people are more intent on pleasing God than they are on pleasing the community?

There is a chasm between the two emphases. There can be no compromise. We cannot look to Christ for everything we do, and at the same plot how we are going to add numbers to the assembly. Either we are going to grasp God, or else we are going to build a business.

Of course we must be businesslike and straightforward in our dealings. We must respond diligently to all governmental statutes. Of course we must be sensitive to our surroundings. Of course we must be disciplined and do all things decently in order. We are not to be conducting our private devotions before the congregation.

God is not silly. He is reasonable and practical.

Is there a place for the administrator? Certainly, and he is to be diligent in his responsibilities.

Is there a place for the prophet? Of course, and he is to stay close to God at all times.

What, then, are we saying?

We are saying that God is ready to bring additional Glory to His churches. But the Glory will not come riding on a new cart. The Glory will be carried by God's anointed leaders who are intent on doing His will.

If our goal is to build a huge organization we are going to use modern marketing techniques and make every effort to make proselytes to our way of thinking.

If our goal is to work with the Lord, we are going to encourage the ministries and gifts of the Spirit as they help us understand exactly what God is saying to us; as they labor to bring every believer to the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Our assigned task is not to build a religious institution. Our task is to listen to the Lord as He tells us what His current will is and how He is going to perform it.

We are to be sternly obedient, listening carefully to the Lord Jesus every moment of every day and night, taking nothing for granted.

God will pass by the monument builders of today and work with those who are listening to Jesus. These are the poles, and they are moving with the Lord Jesus back to Zion.

God has unprecedented wonders in store for those of today who will stop building their own kingdoms and listen to what God is saying.

Christ will build His own Church if we will listen and be uncompromisingly obedient!

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. (Matthew 16:18)