Conquest, and the Tabernacle of the Congregation
Let us examine the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and its aspects that shed light on the conquest area of our redemption.
We have discussed, in the preceding chapters, how the Courtyard of the Tabernacle speaks of the salvation area of redemption and the Holy Place portrays the area of sanctification. In the present chapter we shall be observing how the Most Holy Place and its various furnishings depict the growth in holiness and ultimate victory in Christ of the conquering believer.
The veil before the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle of the Congregation represents the place of greatest holiness and victory. The veil that separated the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place typifies the third death and resurrection in God.
And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. (Exodus 26:33)
The gate leading into the Courtyard, the door leading into the Holy Place, and the veil leading into the Most Holy Place were all formed from blue (Heaven), scarlet (the blood atonement), and fine twisted white (righteousness) linen. The colors were worked into the linen in a beautiful manner just as the three deaths and three resurrections are worked into our personality in a beautiful and detailed manner.
The veil differed in appearance from the gate and the door in that figures of cherubim were included in the design of the veil. The cherubim signify that when we begin to enter deeply into consecration the power of Heaven becomes increasingly involved, as we witness in the Books of Daniel, Zechariah, Acts, and Revelation. Paul refers to the "elect angels" in his writing. An angel from Heaven strengthened Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane.
And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made: And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver. (Exodus 26:31,32)
The four pillars, from which the veil was suspended had no ornamental tops (capitals), as did the five pillars holding up the door of the Holy Place. The absence of the capitals indicates that the conquering saints have cast their crowns at the feet of the Lord Jesus.
"Casting our crowns at the feet of Jesus" is a way of stating we are ready to be obedient to His slightest will. It is one thing to have the crown of life and righteousness. It is another matter to be ready to cast our crown at Jesus’ feet.
The two large sections of the linen curtain and the goats’ hair tent, the two inner coverings of the Tabernacle building, were clasped together over the veil. There is a line of demarcation between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, signifying that our ministry in the Body of Christ is one level of glory while the Presence of God Himself is an even greater glory.
We are missing the mark when we make a god of our ministry or of our church activities and affiliations. It is possible for us to know the Church and still not know the Lord of the Church; to know Bethel but not El-Bethel.
There is a point in our growth at which we become involved in the development and ministry of the Church. Through the death of consecration God leads us to a further point, at which we understand that only He Himself is to be our chief interest.
As Moses of old we are to become so occupied with our adoration of the Lord that the many problems that absorb our attention now become of secondary importance. The Lord Himself sends us the necessary help from the heavenly Sanctuary when we spend time worshiping Him on His throne of glory.
Moses was the shepherd of several million unsettled and complaining people. After his experience with the Lord on Mount Sinai it appears that Moses devoted much—perhaps most—of his time worshiping God in the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle.
The people of Israel met God at the bronze Altar that stood before the door of the Tabernacle but Moses worshiped God before the Ark of the Covenant. Moses’ face became transfigured as a result of his exposure to God on Sinai and in the Most Holy Place. Moses had to wear a veil on his face because of the radiance that blinded the people who looked at him.
Moses always took off the veil when he spoke to God. Through so much contact with the Lord, Moses became part of the Consuming Fire. The veil on the face of Moses served the same purpose as the veil that concealed the Most Holy Place—it protected Israel from the consuming Presence and it concealed the Glory of God from the eyes of the unsanctified.
We are to press on to the place where we become so preoccupied with the Glory of God that we no longer can be brought down into the swamps of unbelief, criticizing, murmuring, doubting.
Before the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified there was only one man on earth (with the exception of Moses) who was allowed to pass beyond the veil and into the Most Holy Place. On the annual Day of Atonement the High Priest entered before the Ark and sprinkled blood on the Mercy Seat for his own sins and for the sins of the people.
When Christ was crucified the veil in Herod’s Temple was torn asunder (Mark 15:38), portraying the fact that every believer in Christ now can come before the throne of God with boldness, presenting his needs and desires before the Presence of the Holy One of Israel.
There is no greater contrast between the old covenant and the new covenant than that of the full access into the Most Holy Place now available to every person, young and old, rich and poor, through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The veil was the third hanging of the Tabernacle. The other two hangings were the gate leading into the Courtyard and the door leading into the Holy Place.
The veil speaks of the third death, the death of our self, the denying of ourselves for Christ’s sake and the Gospel’s. The veil parallels the River Jordan in symbolic meaning. The "Jordan" must be "crossed" by us before we can enter our land of promise.
The Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat portray the third resurrection—our resurrection into the fullness of the holiness and power of God Almighty.
The number four of the four posts that supported the veil reminds us of the harvest-rain outpouring of the Holy Spirit that will attend the closing days of the present wicked age. Four is the number of the feast of Pentecost (Leviticus 23:16).
The Holy Spirit has reinforced this symbolism by placing fifty gold clasps (taches) and fifty bronze clasps over the veil. The gold and the bronze reveal that the latter-day outpouring of the Holy Spirit will bring both the Glory and the judgment of God on the earth. The number fifty is associated with the feast of Pentecost (Leviticus 23:16) in that the word itself—Pentecost —is derived from a Greek word meaning fifty. Pentecost is the fiftieth-day feast.
The two sets of fifty clasps portray the double portion of God’s Spirit that will mark the transition from the Church Age to the Kingdom Age.
The number four of the four posts speaks also of the four major stages of the setting up of the Kingdom of God on the earth. The Kingdom of God is the rule of God through Christ brought into the creation.
The first stage was the birth, ministry, and crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ—the King of the Kingdom of God.
The second stage began with the resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus and is progressing with the principal effect of that resurrection and ascension, which is the forming of Christ in the members of the Body of Christ.
The third stage will be the work of the Servant of the Lord, who is Christ—Head and Body, throughout the thousand-year Kingdom Age.
The fourth stage of the setting up of the Kingdom of God on the earth is the coming down from Heaven of the perfected Church, the Wife of the Lamb, the new Jerusalem.
Each of the three hangings, the gate, the door, and the veil, was one hundred square cubits in area. The sum is three hundred square cubits. Noah’s Ark was three hundred cubits in length.
It is our understanding that the development of the Kingdom of God, as represented by the Tabernacle of the Congregation, consists of three "days." During the three "days," those who are willing to accept God’s salvation will be saved.
As in Noah’s Ark, there will be a lower, middle, and upper story, so to speak, of those who are saved. By this we mean that some people will reap Christ thirtyfold, some will reap Christ sixtyfold, and some will reap Christ a hundredfold. All who reap Christ will be saved.
When the three "stories" have been completed, and the length of three hundred cubits has been attained (following the symbolism of the Ark of Noah and the three hangings of the Tabernacle), the destruction of the present heaven and the earth will take place.
The Church today stands at the door of the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. What we see in the immediate future is the rapid maturing of the Body of Christ until the last enemy, death itself, can be challenged successfully. Then our Lord Jesus Christ will appear from Heaven, and the saints on earth at that time—like so many Enochs—will pass the death-barrier safely in terrific power and majesty.
However, the saints on earth will not be raised before the saints whose "sleeping" bodies are awaiting the royal summons.
It is our point of view also, based on the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, that the Father and the Son will enter the members of the mature Body of Christ, in fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles, just prior to the visible return of Christ from Heaven. The Lord Jesus will appear from beneath as well as from above, leaving the enemy no place of dominion in the heavenlies or on the earth.
The Lord God Almighty will roar out of Zion. (Isaiah 42:13; Joel 3:16). When He does the iron rod of righteousness will be imposed on the peoples of the earth. This will begin the third stage in the setting up of the Kingdom of God on the earth.
The glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus, and the resurrection and ascension of the Church, will be triumphs of holiness and power. Perceiving the resurrection and ascension of the Church as the result of victorious faith in Christ is a most important outlook for the disciples. If we view the resurrection and ascension of the dead and living saints as demonstrations of spiritual maturity and power we will press forward in Christ so we may be part of that first resurrection.
If we view the resurrection and ascension of the Church as a flight of immature believers to escape trouble or persecution or tribulation or the Antichrist, we may (and practical experience indicates this actually happens) settle back into the rut of spiritual indifference, waiting to be transformed suddenly from a lukewarm church-attender into a member of the royal priesthood, at the appearing of the Lord.
The above attitude is not scriptural. It will lead to one of three results: (1) the Lord will judge us and we will be chastened; (2) all our works will be burned and we will be saved by fire, void of reward, fruit, or dominion; or (3) we will be put into outer darkness.
The Lord Jesus spoke sternly concerning those who do not prepare themselves for their Lord’s return.
Today the saints are moving past the Lampstand, speaking symbolically of pressing past the manifestation of the Spirit, and are approaching the Altar of Incense. This means we are learning to pray and worship in the Spirit of God.
Praying and praising makes us so desirous of the Presence of Christ that we begin to look with increasing militancy of spirit at sin and death; for the sin and death still resident in our bodies are the last stronghold of the enemy in us. This militant attitude toward sin and death is exactly what Christ is creating in us.
When the saints finally cry out from hearts that are pure in holy adoration and longing, Come, Lord Jesus!, then the Father will be moved to set into motion the final climactic events that will send the Lord Jesus back to the Bride who ardently awaits His glorious appearing.
The army of God is at the brink of Jordan. The Ark (Christ) passed through death and resurrection two thousand years ago (2,000 cubits—see Joshua 3:4). Now the army, the Body of Christ, is attaining the last stages of preparation.
As soon as the Body begins to march it cannot be stopped. The "priests bearing the Ark" will move forward and the waters of death will part. The army will march through death itself "dryshod." No power or authority in Heaven or on the earth can in any manner resist the Body of Christ because the Holy Spirit of God is proceeding onward to the climax of the work of redemption.
Reader, what does your heart say to this? If something in you comes alive, hearing the trumpet call of the Lord Jesus, gird up the loins of your spirit. Prepare yourself to follow the Lord into the fullness of the promised redemption. We who are alive at the end-time will participate in the restoration of the creation. Many who are last will be first in the Kingdom.
He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
The Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle. Beyond the veil was the Most Holy Place. It was half the size of the Holy Place, being a cube about fifteen feet on all three sides. The walls were gold-covered acacia wood. The ceiling was fine white linen fashioned with cherubim. The floor was the desert ground.
The Ark of the Covenant, a gold-covered chest containing its carrying poles in their receptacles perpetually ready for the march, was located in the Most Holy Place. The solid-gold Mercy Seat (properly, Lid of Atonement, of Appeasement, or Reconciliation) served as a lid on the top of the Ark of the Covenant.
Beaten from the same mass of gold as the Mercy Seat were the two covering Cherubim of Glory, one on each end of the Mercy Seat and facing inward. Their wings overshadowed the Mercy Seat.
The most important element of the Most Holy Place was the Lord Himself. It is difficult to appreciate this fact fully, but it is true that God, the Creator, actually resided between the wings of the golden Cherubim of Glory.
We often refer to a church building as being a "house of God." However, this is little more than a figure of speech. The most Holy Place of the Tabernacle actually was the house of God. God dwelled there in Person.
Under the new covenant, the true house of God is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the fulfillment of the symbolism of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. Also, the heart of each Christian is being made a true house of God in preparation for our full union with Christ.
The completed Kingdom of God will bring the ultimate fulfillment of all that the Tabernacle depicts in type.
At this point in our book, the focus of our attention is the Presence of God in the Most Holy Place, between the Cherubim of Glory.
And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. (Exodus 25:8)
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. 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. (Exodus 25:21,22)
Notice the name of this room—the Most Holy Place. It was a most holy area. The Courtyard of the Tabernacle was a holy place. The Holy Place of the Tabernacle was yet more holy. The Most Holy Place was the holiest of all.
So it is with the Christian discipleship. The Holy Spirit always is moving us toward a higher level of holiness. The true disciple always is increasing in holiness. Holiness is the environment in which God lives, moves, and has His Being. It is impossible to walk with the Lord in spiritual uncleanness. Apart from holiness no one can see the Lord.
To be holy means there is nothing in our motivations, imaginations, attitudes, speech, or actions that is not found in the Father.
We have seen that the Holy Place of the Tabernacle represents the activities of the Holy Spirit in the Church of Christ as He keeps on bringing us from a less holy state to a more holy state.
The Most Holy Place portrays the experience of perfect holiness. The Most Holy Place speaks of the goal of the Christian discipleship. The goal of the Christian walk, ministry, and development is the state of holiness such that we can be received of God and know Him as our Father (II Corinthians 6:17,18).
The Most Holy Place typifies the place of the fullness of the indwelling of God in Christ and our absorption into this holy union. It is the realm of Presence, fellowship, victory, inheritance, power, authority, priesthood, service, and the fullness of the Substance, Nature, and image of Christ.
It is the area of transformation, the re-creation of our substance, character, ways of imagining, thinking, speaking, acting. In the Most Holy Place the Divine gold formed in us is refined several times until it is transparently pure (Revelation 21:18); for we must abide eternally in the Bosom of Him concerning whose radiant glory Moses exclaimed, "I do exceedingly fear and quake."
The Most Holy Place is the arena where God’s will is proved. You may recall that the ordaining of the priesthood was tested by placing representative rods before the Ark in the Most Holy Place. The rods were exposed to no light except the Fire of God’s holy Presence.
In due time the rod of Aaron, whom God had chosen as priest, gave forth buds, blossoms, and almonds.
So it is that we must place all the decisions of our life in the Presence of the Fire of God. In due time God’s choice will begin to bring forth signs of life. This is not natural life, for Aaron’s rod was not a cutting placed in water. It was supernatural life sprouting from a dead stick that had been hardened and aged so it could serve as a staff.
The Ark of the Covenant.
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. 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. 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. And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. (Exodus 25:10-16)
The Ark of the Covenant was a chest made of acacia wood, about three feet nine inches wide, two feet three inches high, and two feet three inches deep. It was covered inside and outside with refined gold.
Unlike the other holy furnishings of the Tabernacle, the carrying poles always remained in place in the supporting receptacles that were "in the four corners thereof." Every time the Tabernacle was set up the carrying poles were withdrawn from the bronze Altar, the Table of Showbread, and the Altar of Incense. However, the carrying poles remained in the Ark. They were partially drawn out when the Ark was placed in the Temple of Solomon (I Kings 8:8).
Inside the Ark were the two tables of stone on which were written the Ten Commandments. Also in the Ark were the memorial jar of manna and Aaron’s rod that budded and bore fruit. Alongside of the Ark was placed a copy of the writings of Moses (Deuteronomy 31:26).
When Israel was on the march the Ark, with its covering Mercy Seat, was carried by poles on the shoulders of the Kohathite Levites. The Ark and Mercy Seat first were wrapped in the veil, then the porpoise-skin protective cover was placed over the whole. Finally the exterior covering of blue cloth proclaimed the Presence of the God of Heaven.
A wandering shepherd who might stand and observe the procession go by would see only the blue cloth and the gold overlay of the carrying poles.
As we have said, the Tabernacle reveals to us that if we would press on toward Christ (the Ark of the Covenant) we must progress toward increased holiness of conduct. Christ dwells in the Most Holy Place. The fact that the poles never were removed from the rings on the corners of the Ark shows us that we always must be ready to move with the Spirit.
There always is movement in God. We always are pressing into Him. Our maturing in God will not cease at the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. We shall be drawing ever closer to the Lord throughout eternity. After many billions of eons we still shall be in the process of being transformed into His image.
Consider His greatness: He knew your name and all about you before He created the heavens and the earth. (Ephesians 1:4; II Timothy 1:9).
It is impossible for us even to begin to conceive of the fullness of the Glory of the Lord. How long would it take for us to visit and measure all the stars in all the galaxies? Yet, this would be a small feat indeed compared with drawing near and beginning to conceive of the Creator of all these. Nevertheless, it is our destiny to be changed from glory to glory into His image.
The Ark of the Covenant was constructed of wood and then covered with gold. The Ark represents, first of all, our Lord Jesus Christ. It typifies also our perfection in Him. In addition, we see revealed in the Ark of the Covenant the mature Body of Christ, now grown up into the Head.
Finally, the Ark speaks to us of the warlike Nature and actions of the Lord Jesus Christ as He establishes the rule of God in the earth. The Ark bears on itself the fullness of the holiness and power of the Almighty God. It is the place of the Presence of God, the God of battles.
The wood of the Ark of the Covenant represents the humanity of the Lord Jesus and the gold portrays His Divine Nature. He is both Son of Man and Son of God. His Divinity is terribly perfect. He is very God of very God.
Christ is the Word from the beginning, the Creator of all things. His meekness before His Father as He wrought redemption for us must never deceive us as to His awful majesty. He is God. John, one of the Lord’s closest friends on earth, fell as one dead when he beheld the Lord Jesus in His Glory.
It is inspiring to contemplate the Divinity of the Lord and also His humanity. He was born of a woman and was tested in all points as we are. Yet He conquered.
Of all the mighty potentates in the heavens, the angels, the seraphim, the cherubim, and doubtless other personages of awesome wisdom and dignity, the One who occupies the highest throne in the universe is a man—one of our race. We can lift up our heads at the thought. The body that walked along the shores of the Sea of Galilee is now seated on the throne of authority and power that none other can approach. Very God of very God is also man born of woman. Truly this is a mystery far surpassing any other.
Just as the gold-covered Ark portrays the Lord Jesus Christ, it reveals also the perfected saint, the conqueror in Christ. At the appearing of the Lord Jesus our mortal body will be made eternally alive by the indwelling of the Spirit of God. Then the resurrected mortal body will be clothed with our new house from Heaven.
Here is the gold coming down and overlaying the wood of our mortal frame. The covering of the wood on the inside of the Ark is happening now as our inner man is being re-created—transmuted into Divine Substance by the permeation of the Divine Virtue.
Our old body will never be seen again. It will be present in our glorified body just as the ancient leaves and organisms are preserved in the rock. The good news of the Gospel is that we shall not perish but that we, including our body, shall be raised and clothed with eternal life.
In the Ark were the two tables of stone on which were inscribed the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s rod that budded and bore fruit, and the jar of memorial manna. These three elements must be present in every believer before he or she is ready to be clothed with the glorified body of extraordinary capabilities.
The tables of stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments, which were the testimony for which the Ark was named, represent the Word of God that has been fashioned in us under the new covenant. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. We are the flesh being made the Word of God.
We Christians are being made living epistles. The new covenant is being written on the tables of our hearts. Absolute holiness and righteousness is the final result of the Spirit of God working in each saint.
Aaron’s rod that budded speaks of the Holy Spirit who is in us. We possess the resurrection life that flows from our death in Christ. We are learning to live by the eternal wisdom and strength of the Spirit.
As we come into the bond of Christ’s sufferings we are experiencing the uplifting, invincible power of the Spirit of God directing us in the will of God. We are declared to be sons of God by the power working in us. First there come buds, and then blossoms, and finally the fruit of the Spirit. We must keep on sowing to the Spirit so that of the Spirit we may reap eternal life.
The Divine Life that resurrected Aaron’s rod declared that God had chosen the house of Aaron to stand before Him as a royal priesthood. It is at this point that an essential issue of the Kingdom of God is brought into focus.
For two thousand years, self-seeking, self-serving men and women have dominated the large Christian organizations. Throughout the same period of time there have been unknown saints who truly were called of God and who served Him in the Spirit. Neither the churches nor the world have recognized the true priesthood, the priesthood God has chosen.
Today the Pentecostal believers are at a crossroad. Some have decided to take the gifts and spiritual understanding that have come to us during the twentieth century and by these bring the Kingdom of God into the world. This is the False Prophet of which the Book of Revelation speaks. The False Prophet comes out of the "earth," that is to say, out of the soul of self-centered people (Revelation 13:11).
A much smaller group of believers is hearing from the Lord Jesus, from Him whose eyes are as a flame of fire. These are the believers whom God has chosen to be as Esther, in the last days; to be as the "lad" who guided the hands of Samson (the Church) to the "pillars" that support the kingdom of Satan.
The Lord is not exhorting this holy remnant to "go forth and bring the Kingdom into the earth." Rather, He is facing them with the personal cross of self-denial, with the fires of judgment on the works of the flesh. He is teaching them humility, not arrogance. He is leading them back to the old paths of cross-carrying obedience to the Lord.
This is the remnant God has chosen. Meanwhile, the Christian churches are as Vashti. They are making a banquet of their own, although doing so "in the royal house that belonged to king Ahasuerus" (Esther 1:9). They are so full of their own ways that when the Lord calls to them they refuse to come.
The remnant is as Esther, coming before the Presence of Jesus with fear and trembling. Truly, Esther has been called to the Kingdom in the present hour because of the destruction facing God’s people, both Jews and Christians.
The church leaders are as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, seeking to rule the congregation of the Lord. They "leap" as the mountains of Bashan. The holy remnant are as Aaron. They do not vaunt themselves, scheming and plotting in order to gain power and prestige. Rather, they wait on the Lord until they bud, blossom, and bring forth fruit.
The memorial jar of manna speaks of the Substance of Christ, the body and blood that nourish the born- again inner man. Each day of our life we come to realize to a greater degree that in our natural man dwells no good thing, no wisdom, no strength, no righteousness.
The Divine Virtue in us sustains us as we are being brought daily into conformity with the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The Virtue is from God Himself. It is the daily portion of Christ, the "hidden manna," given us in order to provide strength during our wilderness sojourn. As our days so is our strength from the Lord.
Day after day the Lord knocks down our old nature by circumstances beyond our control. Day after day the Lord feeds us with His body and blood. We learn to live by Him as He lives by the Father. We drink His blood and eat His flesh. This is the true Bread from Heaven. Christ is our manna, and by His strength we are able to overcome the evil that comes against us each day.
The saint must possess in himself the holiness of the Word of God, resurrection life from the Holy Spirit, and the Divine Substance. Day after day, month after month, year after year, the three aspects of the Personality of God are being perfected in us.
As soon as the fullness of inner preparation has been accomplished, the gold of the glorified bodies of the saints will descend from Heaven by the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. His reward is with Him, the just recompense of each believer is before Him at His appearing.
Every Christian will receive the things done in his body. Each will be rewarded according to his faithfulness in serving the Lord.
The conquerors, those who have overcome the world, Satan, and their own fleshly nature and self-will, will receive the gold of their house from Heaven that will overlay their mortal frame. They then will be part of the spiritual fulfillment of the Ark of the Covenant.
The Church of Christ, along with the Head, Christ, is the fulfillment of the Ark of the Covenant. The Body of Christ is coming to maturity as the individual members come to maturity. This fulfillment of the Ark of the Covenant is the "Mount Zion" of the Prophets. When the Head and Body of Christ flow together, at the appearing of the Lord Jesus, the Servant of the Lord, Christ, the Anointed Deliverer, will commence His ministry.
Oppressive darkness will cover the peoples of the earth. At the darkest hour, as Isaiah informs us (Chapter 60), the fullness of the Spirit of God will arise upon the Body of Christ. The Head will descend in awful majesty. The nations of the earth will tremble as the army of God, described in prophecy by Joel and Habakkuk, marches through the land. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father.
The Ark is the sixth of the holy furnishings of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. It portrays the coming of the Church into the fullness of the image of Christ, just as man was created in the image of God on the sixth day of creation. The Wife of the Lamb will be perfected during the sixth phase of redemption, the Day of Atonement (thousand-year Kingdom Age; Year of Jubilee).
What will occur when the Body of Christ approaches spiritual maturity? The Lord Jesus will return. The Headstone will descend with shouts of "Grace, grace to it" (Zechariah 4:7). Then the forces of darkness will tremble before the onslaught of righteousness as the Lord Jesus rides forth at the head of His army.
Moving toward the Ark: Psalms Twenty-four. Let us turn now to the twenty-fourth Psalm. Most of us know the gentle Shepherd of the twenty-third Psalm. Do we know the Conqueror of the twenty-fourth Psalm?
The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. (Psalms 24:1)
As we move past the Altar of Incense, enter behind the veil, and stand before the Ark of the Covenant, the place of the fullness of the purpose of the Lord God of Heaven, we become increasingly aware of the Lord’s ownership of the earth and the people of the world. The earth and the nations are the inheritance of the Lord Jesus. As we press into coheirship with Him, the burden for the deliverance of the earth and its people becomes our daily bread.
The Lord never has turned the earth over to the forces of darkness. The earth belongs to those who are meek before God. The adversary is a thief and a liar and comes only to steal and destroy. The earth and its inhabitants belong to Christ and His saints.
For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. (Psalms 24:2)
We find in the account of the creation (Genesis, Chapter One) that the waters existed before the dry earth. When the waters were gathered together the dry land appeared. No matter how the waves have roared and the rivers have churned since that time, the earth and its inhabitants have survived, Yet the water always is around us, reminding us of the days of Noah.
We could wish that the Lord had founded the earth and its people on granite rock. All through our pilgrimage on the earth we are aware we are established on nothing more dependable than a flood. Until our life is founded on Christ we are pulled one way and then the other depending on the powerful currents in which we find ourselves.
Earth and its peoples are at the mercy of each "storm." Wars and disasters of all kinds come and go. Let us keep firmly in mind, however, that it was the Lord God, not Satan, who established the earth and its peoples. Satan and his angels are intruders into the domain of mankind.
No matter how the waves of conflict and destruction rage about us the earth and its people will survive. It is the Lord God who caused the dry land to appear and who created mankind on the earth.
The future deliverance and blessing of mankind through Christ is as certain as the Person and dependability of the Lord God. He has founded the earth and its inhabitants. He has established them. Let the waters rage as they will, the Lord will preserve the world and give it to His Christ. Let the atom bombs fall as they may, mankind will survive.
In the new heaven and earth reign of Christ there is "no more sea" (Revelation 21:1). The storms of spiritual and natural turmoil will have subsided and peace will reign throughout the universe. The basis for the security of people will still be the Word of God, just as is true today.
Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. (Psalms 24:3-5)
The ascent to Zion, the "hill" of the Lord, His holy place, is the Christian pilgrimage toward the Person and holiness of God in Christ. Who is it that will be able to press through to God’s fullness? Who is it that will be able to move past the Altar of Incense and arrive at the Ark of the Covenant?
"He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart." It is the believer who behaves in a righteous and holy manner, showing mercy toward people and humility toward God, who will be blessed by God. To each person who makes the effort to live righteously the Lord will appear, bringing with Him increased ability to live righteously.
He who conducts himself in a righteous and holy manner will be able to become even more holy and righteous during the Day of the Lord. To those who have will be given more and they will possess abundance. Those who choose to live in uncleanness will receive more uncleanness, and they will perish in their lawlessness.
As soon as the present Divinely ordained opportunities have been withdrawn, the holy will remain holy and the filthy will remain filthy. The way of the Lord will be made straight.
When we are moving toward Christ, toward the Ark of the Covenant, we are moving from the less holy to the more holy. Each day of our pilgrimage we are moving toward increased righteousness, holiness, and obedience of conduct. In so doing we become eligible for the blessings of the Lord and for the strength to overcome the enemies of the Lord Jesus.
This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah. (Psalms 24:6)
Clean hands, purity of heart, a truthful spirit, integrity of character—this is the description of the true seeker of God. There is a need for holy people to seek the face of Christ. It is not enough to be holy and it is not enough to seek the face of Christ. The two must go together—holiness and seeking. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16).
Now we come to the purpose of God. As we move toward holiness and righteousness in these days, seeking the face of Christ with unrelenting zeal, the Spirit of God sounds the alarm of war in the spirit realm. We hear the trumpet of God. We have known the Lord Jesus as the gentle Shepherd. Now it is time to learn of Him as the Lord of Hosts, of Armies. There is a tremendous conflict facing us—the battle of the ages. Who is on the Lord’s side?
It is time for the army of the Lord to be prepared for the crossing of Jordan. The necessary strength-giving food must be provided so the Lord’s people can enter combat. "Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals, for in three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, that the Lord your God giveth you to possess it" (Joshua 1:11).
The Day of the Lord is at hand. The army of the Lord is getting ready for the battle. Are we hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit as He prepares us for what lies ahead?
Will you be faithful during your trials and testings so you can ride with the Lord in the day of battle? You must be faithful as well as being called and chosen. His name is Faithful and True. The army in Heaven is ready. The army in the earth is being prepared rapidly.
It is time for the Lord Jesus to return and receive His rightful position as King of all kings and Lord of all lords. He is a terrible King. Let the inhabitants of the earth tremble.
Before He presents Himself as King to the earth He first will present Himself as King and Lord to the members of His Body. The following four verses describe what happens in us if we will allow the Lord Jesus to have His way with us.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in. (Psalms 24:7)
The "gates," the "everlasting doors," are the hearts of men. Christ stands today before the eternal doors of our hearts. Will we open them wide so that He may come in? "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him and we will come to him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:23).
If we will open the gates of our hearts to Christ today, He will come in to us and will dine with us. Will you make room in your life for Jesus, crowning Him as Lord of your own life? Or will you choose to deny Him entrance, enthroning the abominations of the world in His rightful place?
The question comes, "Who is this King of Glory who desires to enter our heart?"
Who is this King of Glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. (Psalms 24:8)
When the Lord Jesus enters our personality He sets up a camp of war. He marches to war against the sin and self-will in our life.
When He, through our cooperation, puts all His enemies who are in us under His feet, He then has made us ready to march with Him against His enemies in other people. We cannot reign with Him until first He achieves dominion over us.
The coming Day of the Lord must have its rise now in our own heart. The Day of the Lord is that condition in which Christ is Lord over all. Every one of His enemies has been placed under His feet. Will you allow Him to accomplish that total victory in you? When you do, you will become part of the Ark of the Covenant, the Ark that leads the way into battle.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in. (Psalms 24:9)
Again, the Spirit of God exhorts us to open our personality to Christ. The promise to us is that if we will do this, God’s Warrior and Conqueror, the Lord Jesus Christ, will enter us and put His enemies under His feet.
As soon as the Lord enters us in this manner we will have a foretaste of the coming thousand-year Kingdom Age. There will be nothing left in us that hurts or destroys the work of God. We will be in the rest of God and possess the peace of God.
Who is this King of Glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of Glory. Selah. (Psalms 24:10)
The Lord Jesus comes to us at one point in our Christian experience as the Good Shepherd. He leads us beside the quiet waters. Then, as we become older and stronger in the Lord, He begins to reveal Himself to us as the Lord of Armies. He still takes care of us as the gentle Shepherd. In addition He prepares us for the conflict of the ages.
We learn to endure hardness as a good soldier of Christ. Our spirit becomes wise and tough, disciplined, ready to endure all things in His name. There is a tremendous work of judgment and deliverance yet to be accomplished in the earth. The destruction of the ungodly that is to come will be administered through the saints.
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the LORD cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jude 14,15)
Notice that the verse above is speaking of the ungodly in the churches!
The Church of Christ operates at many levels. In some places the Church is making disciples from among the nations. In other places believers in Christ are experiencing for the first time Divine healing, speaking in tongues, singing in the Spirit, and intense worship of God in the assemblies.
The growing edge of holiness and revelation is moving past these activities, although each of them needs to be, as the circumstances indicate, practiced continually by all of us. We need to come to greater maturity in every area of Christ.
Yet there remains a further challenge to us, a mark toward which we are to be pressing, a light now appearing on the horizon. The point farthest out is that of the Ark of the Covenant—our death of self-denial and obedience, an increased knowledge of the Father, and the coming of Christ to us in greater fullness.
Behold, the Judge, the Lord Jesus, stands at the door of the Church. The Altar of Incense of the Tabernacle typifies the area into which the advance guard of the Church is moving, the level of increased prayer and praise to God and obedience to His will. The veil represents our death in Christ. We set aside our own lives in favor of the purpose of God as He establishes His Kingdom on the earth.
Just behind the veil is the Ark of the Covenant, the appearing of God’s Warrior-King from Heaven. Do you see how close we are now to the coming of Christ? Do you see how the maturing of the Body of Christ is related to the coming of Christ?
Sometimes it is maintained that the Lord Jesus is coming to His Body as a thief. Such is not the case. Paul writes, "Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief" (I Thessalonians 5:4).
Christ is coming as a thief to the world and to the lukewarm believers, taking the sinners in the churches by surprise. But the Bride will be on tiptoe, ready to participate with her King in the setting up of the Kingdom of God.
We Christians experience trials, pressures, problems, tribulations, persecutions, during our discipleship. This has been true throughout Church history and is just as true today. God works closely with Christian people in the furnace of affliction and trouble. God has no need to withdraw us from the battlefield unless He wishes to do so for His own reasons.
Consider the Ninety-first Psalm. Consider Israel in Goshen. Consider the Apostles of the first century and the early church. God did not remove them from tribulation. He guarded each believer carefully and accomplished His purposes in him in the midst of fiery tribulation.
God assists us where we are. An ignorance of this principle of the Divine working causes the saints to complain about their sufferings rather than to work cooperatively with the Holy Spirit as He perfects them by trials.
A saint who has been taught he is not required to suffer will not bear his cross after the Lord Jesus. He will not make the preparations in his own life that will prove to be necessary if he is to triumphantly "meet the Lord in the air." Anyone who teaches otherwise is a false prophet and is deceiving God’s people.
When the Lord Jesus appears, just as Paul teaches, the trumpet of the Lord will sound. The dead in Christ will stand on their feet in resurrection life, and then rise to meet the Lord in the air. The living saints will be changed into an immortal state and will be raised with them to meet the Lord as He descends from Heaven.
The nations of the earth will witness the resurrection and ascension of God’s saints. How could it be otherwise? The sound of the Lord’s trumpet will shake the earth, just as it did at Sinai. The Lord Jesus is not going to come with a whisper and sneak His Church away. As the lightning shines from the east to the west so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. The wicked of the earth will cry out for the mountains and rocks to cover and hide them from the face of the avenging Lamb. Then it will be too late.
The Lord and His prepared saints, those who have proved to be faithful under testing and discipline, will descend as a striking force, moving with incredible speed and power. The rulers of the earth will attempt to resist the invasion of the Lord and His army but they will be dashed to pieces by the onslaught.
This is how the Lord Jesus will gain possession of His rightful inheritance—the nations and the farthest reaches of the earth. God has promised the earth to the meek of mankind, and through the Lord Jesus the meek will inherit the earth.
On and on the army of saints will advance until wickedness has been destroyed from the earth and righteousness fills the whole world. The Judge has appeared and His warrior-saints are ruling with Him. What a time of recompense! What a day of glory! What a manifestation of the power of God!
The Day of the Lord is the manifestation of the fullness of the overcoming strength that Christ is creating in His followers. The resurrection and ascension of the saints, as described in I Thessalonians, is the climactic act in the program of redemption—a step that will require unwavering faith on the part of the participants.
Resurrection faith is being created now. One aspect of that faith is our ability to stand as a rock in steadfast faithfulness during difficult trials of our belief in the goodness of God and in the dependability of Christ.
If we are willing to pay the price of obedience to death, no matter how severely our faith is tried, we will be ready to take the next step, which is to receive the transformation of our body and to see Him and work with Him at His glorious appearing.
Are you willing to proceed onward with Christ in total consecration? If you will agree to do so (and He never will force you), your treasures in Heaven are as sure as the Word of Christ. Following Christ requires all the strength and courage we possess; but the rewards are surpassingly glorious.
The Lord Jesus stands at the door of your life today. He is the Lord, strong and mighty in battle. Will you open the eternal doors of your heart and allow the Lord Jesus to rule in you? If you will, He shall lead you into battle against the work of the enemy in your own life and—as He directs—in the lives of others.
Finally, you will ride with Him during the tremendous days that are ahead.
"So shall we ever be with the Lord."
The army of the Lord follows the Ark. The tenth chapter of Numbers describes the organization of the tribes of Israel into the army of the Lord. It is an Old Testament type of the organization of the Body of Christ into the army of the Lord.
The Ark of the Covenant was carried on the shoulders of the Kohathite Levites in the center of the line of march; except when there were special needs, such as for the direction in which to travel or for spearheading an attack. When these needs occurred, the Ark moved out in front.
The Ark of the Covenant at the head of Israel represents the Lord Jesus Christ at the head of His army when He returns to judge the world.
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. (Numbers 10:33)
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. And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the many thousands of Israel. (Numbers 10:35,36)
As soon as the ministry of Joshua had been established, and the army of the Lord actually was ready to cross Jordan and enter the land of promise, the Ark of the Lord came into increased prominence.
As soon as the Church actually is ready to destroy the forces of wickedness from the earth, having been willing to participate in the death to self that God requires, and otherwise prepared to undergo the resurrection of the body, the Lord Jesus will move from His headquarters in Heaven and take His place at the head of His army. Together they will descend to the earth to assume the rulership of the nations.
And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host; 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. 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. (Joshua 3:2-4)
A space was maintained between the army and the Ark "that ye may know the way by which ye must go."
The Lord Jesus was ready two thousand years ago to assume control of the earth. He could have gathered multitudes around Himself, given them all power to heal the sick and cast out devils, and power also to destroy all resistance. The warrior angels, fighting under Christ’s command, would have made all resistance hopeless.
Christ could have established the Kingdom of God at that time. However, there would not have been a personal transformation of the people whom He was using to bring in His kingdom.
The members of the Church would not have been transformed by the elements of Divine grace. They would have been good, diligent, conscientious believers, obeying Christ in all matters. But they would not have been fashioned internally and externally into His image.
They would not have been like Him, of Him, indwelt by Him, bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. It has required two thousand years of travail of the Christian Church in order for the Body of Christ to be born and to be of the Substance and Nature of Christ (Micah 5:2). This is the reason for the interval of time between the first and second appearings of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ was born in a manger, the Word made flesh for all to see. Soon He will descend from Heaven to the world but in the Church. The difference between the Church and the world is that the Lord is coming to the world but to, with, and in the Church. It is the coming of the Lord in the Church that is the point of major significance and the reason for the numerous lessons we must learn and the deaths to sin and self we must die.
We have stated that the Lord Jesus first will overcome the works of the enemy in His Church, and then through the Church will extend the Day of the Lord to the farthest reaches of the earth.
Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen [nations], and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD. (Psalms 149:5-9)
It can be understood from the above passage that the judgment of God on the earth will be administered by the saints. The saints have the honor of executing on the wicked of the earth the judgment of God written in the Scriptures.
Not only will the saints escape the wrath of God, but if they live victoriously in Christ they will be the ones who administer the judgment of God on the earth during the Day of the Lord.
I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. (Daniel 7:21,22)
After the worldwide revival that will precede the return of the Lord Jesus, the devil through his people will make war against the saints and overcome the testimony. Christ will destroy those evil forces with the brightness of His appearing, and His saints will receive the power to execute judgment and will possess the Kingdom of God.
"This honor have all his saints."
And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? (Joel 2:11)
And saviours [deliverers] shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s. (Obadiah 21)
And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. (Micah 5:8)
. . . when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. (Habakkuk 3:16)
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. . . . (Romans 16:20)
Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? . . . (I Corinthians 6:2)
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the LORD Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; (II Thessalonians 1:6-9)
And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 4:3)
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the LORD cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jude 14,15)
And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. (Revelation 2:26,27)
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (Revelation 19:14)
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power [authority], but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6)
Summary of the meaning of the Ark. The Ark of the Covenant represents, as we have said, our Lord Jesus Christ. The wood of the chest shows that He truly is the Son of Man. The pure gold covering on the outside and the inside reveals the Divinity of Christ. He is very God of very God. He is both Son of Man and Son of God.
The ever-present carrying poles of the Ark portray the fact that the Presence of God is always moving and that we always are to press into a greater fullness. There never is to be the smugness of complacency and superiority in the personality of the Church because there always is so much more to receive and accomplish in the Lord.
The Ark is the sixth of the seven holy furnishings of the Tabernacle, revealing to us that we will have reached the Ark when we are in the image of Christ; for mankind was created in God’s image on the sixth day.
The Ark is the portrayal of our individual perfecting in that the gold of the Ark portrays both the forming of Christ in us and the Divine "house from heaven" that will "swallow up" our mortal body so we are filled with the fullness of the Holiness and Life of God Almighty. Thus we shall be covered with Divinity on the inside and the outside.
The Ark is the fullness of Christ—Head and Body. Christ will abide eternally in His fullness in the perfected Body while God the Father abides eternally in His fullness in Christ. We are made one in the Son and, through the Son, in the Father.
The Ark signifies the coming of the Lord of Armies of the Twenty-fourth Psalm. We are to "lift up" the eternal doors of our heart. As we do, the Lord strong and mighty in battle will enter us and bring every part of our personality, including our imaginations, into captivity to Christ.
Submission to the lordship of Christ is the beginning of the Day of the Lord in us and the establishing of a personal kingdom age in us. When the personal Day of the Lord and personal kingdom age have been created in us, we then will be prepared to join with Christ in the spreading of the worldwide Day of the Lord and the worldwide thousand-year Kingdom Age of righteousness and peace.
Such is the design for the establishing of the Kingdom of God on earth.
The Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat (Lid of Reconciliation) was the seventh of the seven holy furnishings of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. It was the most holy element of the Tabernacle. The Mercy Seat represents God Himself.
The Lid of Reconciliation (Mercy Seat) signifies the fullness of Divine Person, Divine Substance, Divine purpose, Divine ways, Divine Word, Divine authority and power, Divine wrath, Divine mercy. The Mercy Seat typifies the fullness of All that God Is. It is the place of the Shechinah, the Glory of the Holy One of Israel.
The Mercy Seat is to the old covenant what the concepts of John, Chapter 17 are to the new covenant. It is the area in which God and man, through Christ, come into such holy union that we immediately must "take off our shoes" in order to approach the holy Fire.
If it were not for the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ we would have as much chance of surviving before the Mercy Seat as we would if we were cast into the center of the sun.
The Mercy Seat was one piece with the Ark of the Covenant, revealing to us that the Body of Christ is being created one in Christ in God just as Christ is one in God. Truly, the Father loves the Church, the Body of Christ, the Wife of the Lamb, as He loves His only begotten Son.
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. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. 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. 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. 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. 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. (Exodus 25:17-22)
The Mercy Seat, the Propitiatory (Hebrew kap-PO-reth ), the place of appeasement, atonement, mercy, pardon, covering, reconciliation, was three feet, nine inches long, and two feet, three inches wide—just fitting on top of the Ark of the Covenant. The Cherubim of Glory, looking toward each other, covered the Mercy Seat with their outstretched wings.
The Mercy Seat and two covering cherubim were beaten from one mass of pure gold. Although the art of casting metal was known to the Israelites and utilized by them in the manufacture of some of the elements of the Tabernacle, the Mercy Seat and cherubim were beaten from pure gold—a prolonged and difficult process.
The beating into shape of the Mercy Seat typifies that even the Divine Christ was "beaten" into perfection through the hammering of suffering. We ourselves also will not be "cast" into the image of Christ in one sudden Divine operation. Rather, we are being "beaten into shape," into the image of Christ, by the grace of God working through the many trials and circumstances into which the Spirit of God is leading us.
Wood cannot be hammered into shape. Wood can be sawed, carved, planed, and molded into shape; but wood cannot be beaten into shape with a hammer.
So it is that the problems of our life do not beat our old nature into a shape pleasing to God. God’s fire destroys the wood of our nature, unless it is overlaid with the Divine "bronze" and "gold."
It is the Divine Substance of Christ in us that is made perfect through suffering. The "wood" of our humanity serves as a support for the structure. It is the Gold of God’s Person that is perfected in us.
The Word of God always must be refined in the fire. Our grasp of the Word of God merely is mental until the Word is refined in us in the furnace of affliction. Then the Word of God becomes bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, substance of our substance, being of our being, person of our person. Oneness with the Word of God is the end result of the working of the new covenant.
The Mercy Seat of God’s Presence is being beaten into shape in the Church of Christ. The Church is becoming an integral, eternal part of the Glory of God. Since the concept of the Mercy Seat is that of appeasement, of mercy, of pardon, of reconciliation, we understand that the Church is the means and the place through which the nations of the earth can be received of God.
Truly, the Church is being created the light of the world.
When the new Jerusalem, the Wife of the Lamb, descends in absolute perfection from the new heaven, God will wipe away all tears. Not the tears of the Church but of the nations of saved peoples of the earth. The Church is the means through which God will wipe away the tears of mankind and reconcile people to Himself. "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."
Deep in the personality of every Christian there is being hammered into shape an area overlaid with pure gold. It is the eternal dwelling place of Christ and God in Him. The two covering cherubim, judgment and mercy, cover this sacred realm with their wings. The area is holy. It is a place of complete and perfect holiness and Divinity. It is filled with Divine Presence.
The hammering on the Mercy Seat and on the Lampstand reveal to us that we must share the sufferings of Christ if we would experience the glory of His resurrection. It is through suffering that the death and resurrection of conquest, the third area of redemption, are fashioned in us.
The Mercy Seat was not a seat on which God rested but rather a location of His Person. God dwells between the cherubim. He is full of fire and life, always in motion and we in motion with Him.
The "rest" that God finds in us and we in Him is not the cessation of work due to tiredness but the rest of love, of blessing, of joy, of strength, of continual renewal, of re-creation, of victory over every situation that would detract from our joy in the Person of Christ.
We rest from our own works, our own efforts, and are carried along in God through His eternal Spirit.
The fullness of possession of the Glory of God in Christ that the Mercy Seat typifies is part of the "all things" of Revelation 21:7. If we are inspired enough to give all our attention to the work of Christ in us we will inherit the fullness of God in Christ. So glorious is this reward, so incomprehensible in its staggering riches, that anyone who sees the vision leaves all, takes up his cross, and follows the Lord Jesus Christ through every situation—joyous and painful.
Either that or he is as foolish as Esau and trades his birthright as a son of God for the "lentil soup" of the present age.
When first we glimpse the Glory of God in the face of Christ, part of our personality dies and is reborn in the image of the Glory of the Lord. If we use this bit of Divine strength that has been born in us to press forward in Christ we begin to see a little more of the Glory of the Lord.
As we behold more of the Glory, we die further and receive additional resurrection life. If we employ this added strength to press still further into Christ we die to a yet greater extent, being raised in greater spiritual strength. Day after day the process of death and life continues. The end result is that we are transformed into the image of the Glory of the Lord—that which we have been beholding and reflecting.
It is "command upon command, command upon command; rule upon rule, rule upon rule; here a little and there a little." This is the manner in which our flesh is being transmuted into the refined gold of the Word of God.
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (II Corinthians 3:18)
The servant of the Lord keeps on dying and being raised into further strength in the rest of God. Dying and living. Dying and living. Dying and living. We always have the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead (II Corinthians 1:9).
All of the flaws in our will are corrected in the process: the disobedience, presumption, personal ambition, double-mindedness, suggestibility, man-pleasing, pride, fear, self-preservation, unbelief, timidity, rebellion.
No man can see God and live. As the Mercy Seat is beaten into shape in us there must come a death to all that is of self. We are bringing down into death the sins of the flesh—a process that began in the Holy Place.
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are being weakened in their ability to harm us. There is an ever-deepening death and resurrection taking place in us: death to what is not of Christ in the source of our motives and will; death to the "I," to the center of our whole ambition to be and to live.
Sins of the flesh are relatively external to our "I." "It is no more I that do it," Paul explains, "but sin that dwelleth in me."
Through the Holy Spirit we can achieve victory over the sins of the flesh. But what about our right to be a person at all? Will we deny that right for the sake of Christ and the Gospel? Will we let the "I" die?
The accompanying resurrection is as supremely glorious as the death is penetrating and total. Whereas the resurrection of the Holy Place is resurrection to holiness and power, the resurrection of the Most Holy Place is resurrection to the fullness of God’s own Being.
Will I allow God to tamper with my legitimate self, my individual ways, even if they are not sinful? Will I allow God to judge my person? Will I forsake what I am, as He directs, and go in the direction toward which He nudges me without requiring an explanation from Him?
Will I leave the known and walk into the unknown, becoming unsure of my own identity in the process?
At stake is eternal kingship and priesthood in God. Involved is the protracted death to my will and the protracted resurrection to strict, unwavering obedience to the will of God.
At the appearing of our Lord Jesus from Heaven there will occur the instantaneous resurrection of our mortal body and the receiving of our house from Heaven. What kind of house will we receive? The house we receive as a reward will be a reaping of what we have sown. If we have sown to our flesh, living in the appetites and lusts of our body, our house will be corrupt. If we have sown to the Holy Spirit, our house from Heaven will be fashioned from eternal life. Whatever we sow we surely will reap!
No man can see God and live. Therefore God brings what we are down to death so that the new, eternal being that is raised and clothed with glory can behold God and live. We have been called to live, not die, in the Presence of the Almighty God.
Billions upon unnumbered billions of eons will not be time enough for our change into all that God is. Therefore we have before us the prospect of endless growth in Him. He is so holy, so righteous, so mighty, so unimaginable in scope, that when we are brought by the Lord Jesus into the terrible Presence we will be thankful we do have all eternity to come to know Him.
Jesus is making it possible for us to become capable of living in the August Presence of the Father.
Through the processes of death into what God is bringing us (and we must never blame people or circumstances—it is God who is working in us) we are coming to the end of our will to be somebody or do something. It is not that our will becomes weak or indecisive. Rather it is that we allow God to prevent or modify the fulfillment of our desires as He will.
It would be easier for our soul if we could lose all interest in life and become passive. But passivity in the things of God leads to destruction. Instead, we are required to remain fervent in will and in prayer. Only then can the death that God requires be properly worked out in us.
We are being resurrected into the fullness of the holiness and power of the Presence and fellowship of God in Christ. We are learning to dwell in Christ and to have Christ dwell in us. Abiding in the Presence of such awful Divinity and Majesty has a transforming effect on all that we are and do.
No person rushes into death to all that he is, without fear and trembling. God has created us with an instinct for self-preservation. If we allow God to have His way in our life we lose nothing except the things and relationships that keep us in bondage. Everything of eternal value is purified by the fire and raised again to be our possession throughout eternity.
The Glory of God through Christ is given to us freely. To keep and increase our portion we must be subject to Christ-appointed seasons of delayed gratification and painful circumstances. There is no other way. The cross and the crown go together.
Unless we are willing to suffer we cannot reign with Him. The extent of our glorification at His appearing is related directly to our willingness to accept and work through in faith, trust, and hope the trials that are sent our way by the Lord.
We are coheirs with Christ. God is bringing many sons to glory and He will do it His own way. His job is to call, to justify, to sanctify, to glorify. Our task is to lay hold on the faith that results in obedience and faithfulness; for this is the kind of faith that overcomes the world.
A willingness to rejoice in hope makes the obedience and faithfulness more acceptable to the Lord and more effective in results.
For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. (Hebrews 2:10)
God the Father is bringing many sons to glory, to the Mercy Seat. The Lord Jesus Christ is unique in many aspects. He is the Creator-Word from the beginning. He is the atoning Lamb of God. He is the Captain of our salvation. These things we can never be. Yet the Word of God states He is One among many sons, many brothers.
Christ was made perfect through suffering. In view of the greatness and perfection of the Lord Jesus, such a statement is incomprehensible to us. It is true, nevertheless, that the Nature of the Lord Jesus Christ was refined through suffering. The sufferings of Christ are described in the Eighteenth Psalm, the Twenty- second Psalm, the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, the four Gospel accounts, and in other passages of Scripture.
Searching what, or what manner of time the spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. (I Peter 1:11)
Christ was brought so low and into so much pain and terror that His obedience to the Father was tested. He passed all tests to the Father’s satisfaction. In the process He was perfected. He left the earth a better Person than when He entered.
For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, (Hebrews 2:11)
The above verse is very significant. It states that Christians are of the same Divine Substance as the Lord Jesus Christ. He is of God and we are of God. He was tested and made perfect through suffering and we are being tested and made perfect though suffering.
If we merely were good people, accepting all the doctrines of the Scriptures as we make our way toward Heaven, the Lord Jesus could call us servants or even friends. But to call someone "brother" lifts the person to equality with one’s self.
If we were not born of God we never could be called brothers of Christ. He is the Son of Man and Son of God. We are children of men and children of God. We are being created like Him in every respect.
If we possessed only the refined qualities of animals, as scientists inform us, Christ could call us servants and friends, perhaps, but never brothers.
It is said that a dog is man’s best friend. Many of us have animal pets that are friendly toward us, and in some cases animals serve mankind as servants. But we do not call the animal "brother." The animal was not born of the same kind of parent as we.
Man and dogs are classified scientifically as mammalia because of some common characteristics, such as nourishing their young with milk from the mother. When a person is born again the similarities between him and the remainder of the animal kingdom cease to have much significance.
By being born again man is lifted to God. He becomes an integral, eternal part of the Creator. The animal returns to the dust of the ground. By partaking of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ we are becoming one in the Divine Substance.
In the natural creation the law of the seed prevails. Dogs mate with dogs. Cats mate with cats. Horses mate with horses. Apes mate with apes. Oak trees beget oak trees. Such is the procreative pattern—like begets like.
The Lord Jesus Christ is Divine, the Creator-Word from eternity. The Wife of Christ will be of His Being—like Him in every respect. Christ will not be given in marriage by the Father to a lesser creature. The living Word of God can be wedded only to another living Word of God. If it were otherwise, God’s creation would be disrupted. He has called many sons to glory—to the Mercy Seat.
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17)
Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. (Hebrews 2:12)
Christ associates Himself with His brother and takes the greatest pleasure in doing so. When the members of the Body of Christ adore God in Spirit-filled praises, the Lord Jesus Christ joins in the worship and lifts up His voice also in Spirit-filled adoration and praise to the Almighty. Christ—Head and Body, the Servant of the Lord, renders Divine worship to the Father.
Christ declares the Name of God, the Personality of God, to His brothers. He came down to our level so He may lift us to His level. He bridged the gap. If He had not done so it would have been eternally impossible for mankind to realize its potential as children of God and lords of the universe. We all would have perished because of our rebellious, disobedient, self-seeking, sinful nature.
And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. (Hebrews 2:13)
In the Gospel of John, Jesus refers to "those that thou gavest me" (John 17:12). Again, "the men that thou gavest me out of the world" (John 17:6).
The concept of calling and election runs throughout the Scriptures. The Scripture indicates that we did not choose Christ but that He chose us. Christ works in the people whom God has given Him until they can be presented without shame to the Father.
Christ has no greater joy than to be able to present a new young brother to the Father. His joy knows no bounds when He does this. He is delighted with His brother just as Joseph was delighted with Benjamin.
Christ became flesh and was made a merciful and faithful high priest over His brothers. He came to earth so He could understand our temptations. Through death He was able to destroy the devil, who has us in chains. Now Christ is feeding us with Himself so we may be able to return with Him to His highest level of environment—the throne of the Father. He desires that we be with Him eternally where He is.
In order to bring us "home," Christ must transform us totally.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, . . . . (II Corinthians 5:17,18).
We must be transformed in order to be like the Lord Jesus in every respect. Such a change cannot take place overnight. We must bear patiently with the Holy Spirit as He examines all our characteristics and then selects the most effective means of cutting away the dead flesh and replacing it with the Divine Substance.
The process of Divine transformation is so far above our understanding, so far above our ability to accomplish, that our task becomes one of cooperating with the Holy Spirit and holding steady while He operates. We do not enjoy many aspects of the re-creation process, but this is to be expected. We do not enjoy having a surgeon operate on a broken bone either. We are not called to be amused in this life but to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
If we serve Christ faithfully we will have our seasons of enjoyment. When all the facts are known we shall discover we enjoyed a better life serving the Lord than was true for sinful and disobedient people. Our crowning joy is the gaining of the everlasting Glory of the Lord.
Every person suffers in this life. The suffering of worldly people leads to death. The suffering of the Christian leads to glory if he responds to his suffering by seeking the Lord and obeying the will of God.
The Ark of the Covenant was crowned with the Mercy Seat and the two covering cherubim. As we are fashioned into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, and are established in our place in the perfected Body of Christ, then the Mercy Seat, the Glory of the Lord, descends on us. The fullness of the Divine holiness and power, wrath and mercy, and all the other attributes of God will be an inseparable part of our new personality forever.
The Most Holy Place: the Oracle. The Most Holy Place was the cubical room behind the veil, on the western end of the Tabernacle building. In it were placed the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat. God Himself resided in the Most Holy Place, and it was here that Moses communed with God. The Most Holy Place was ten cubits (fifteen feet) on each side. A cube has three equal dimensions, denoting the perfection of the Godhead.
God is drawing us to perfect unity in Himself. God is not expecting perfection from our human efforts. He understands far better than we the frailties and wickedness of our spirit, soul, and body. He knows our human mind is the enemy of the Holy Spirit.
When we receive Christ we become God’s workmanship. He shall perfect us.
God commanded Abraham, "Walk before me and be perfect." David cried out to God for perfection. Paul was pressing toward the mark of perfection.
There is a place of perfection in God. We have not attained that mark as yet, but the Spirit of God invites us on and on and on. Let us press on to perfection. There will be many who will press on to the perfection that God requires and that is of God’s Nature and way. God’s standard of perfection is Christ who is being formed in us.
In order for the members of an assembly to be inspired to press on to the fullness of Christ there must be a "Most Holy Place," the fiery Presence of the Lord, in the assembly. This must be true in every Christian assembly or work.
The Most Holy Place, as we are employing the term, consists of one or more Christians who are given wholly to the will of Christ. They are walking in strict obedience to the Lord and the prophetic fire and burden rests on them. Every Christian effort must have one or more disciples who are practicing holiness and obedience, and these consecrated people must be spending time in prayer.
When there is such a "Most Holy Place" in the local assembly there will be a glow of the Spirit, the awe of God, the Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ on the assembly and its enterprises. If there is no believer walking in strict holiness, obedience, and prayer before the Lord, there may be an assortment of worthy activities but the awe of God will not be present.
When we say "walking in strict holiness and obedience" we do not mean the believer has arrived at spiritual perfection. We mean, rather, that the believer is abiding in Christ at the level to which Christ has brought him or her.
It is possible for every Christian church to have such a member or members, and preferable that every member of the assembly be walking in absolute obedience to Christ.
If there is no saint given over wholly to Christ, the "Most Holy Place" is missing from the "Tabernacle" and the supernatural fiery Presence and burden, the Divine strength, and the Divine fruitfulness, will not be present to the desired degree.
Solomon’s Temple possessed the "cube," the Most Holy Place."
And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar. (I Kings 6:20)
The purpose of the oracle "Most Holy Place" is to receive the Ark of the Covenant, the Glory of God in Christ.
The fiery Presence will abide eternally in the perfected Church, the new Jerusalem. The city is the Bride of the Lamb, the eternal dwelling place of God and the Lamb. Therefore the city is cubical in proportion, representing perfection. The holy city is the mature Body of Christ.
And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. (Revelation 21:16)
The holy city, the new Jerusalem, is holy. Each victorious saint is having holiness created now in the inner part of his or her personality. In due time that holiness will spread until the Church of Christ is immersed in the holiness and power of God.
Those who allow the Holy Spirit to create such a work in them now will reap an incalculable harvest of righteousness in the days to come.
We, after Christ, are the first of the new creation of God. We are a kind of "firstfruits of his creatures," as James says. We are pioneering a trail for generations to come. This is why it is so difficult along the way.
If we hold steady and endure the things that must be endured in the Lord, the day will come when we will witness the results of the travail of our soul. Our fruit will "shake as the trees of Lebanon" for quality, size, quantity, and grandeur (Psalms 72:16). Our spiritual seed will inherit the fullness of the blessings of the Lord our God, and we ourselves will shine as the stars for eternity.
Lighted by the Shechinah. We have mentioned before that there were three lights in the Tabernacle:
The first light was the sunlight that lighted the Courtyard. Christ was crucified on a hillside, not in a church building. Salvation takes place openly on the earth for all to see and receive.
The second light came from the Lampstand of the Holy Place. The fact that the light from the Lampstand was concealed in the Holy Place portrays the fact that the activities of the Christian Church, the Body of Christ, are not to be directed or understood by the human mind of unregenerate man.
We Christians are to look for the revelation and guidance of the Holy Spirit in all matters, from the least to the greatest. Only then will the efforts of the Church proceed to unify and mature the one Body of Christ. Left to the mind of man, the Church rapidly disintegrates into disunity, powerlessness, uncleanness, and spiritual confusion.
The light from the Lampstand, the second of the three lights, portrays the gifts and ministries given to the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. The gifts and ministries are glimmers of light shining in an area of murky darkness, and we see as "through a glass darkly."
The Lampstand leads us to the more perfect Light, the Shechinah of the God of Israel, which is guarded by the veil.
The third light of the Tabernacle of the Congregation was that of the Shechinah (Divine Presence) of God Almighty. The more perfect light, mentioned in I Corinthians, Chapter 13, is the Glory of God in the face of Christ. It is the more perfect understanding of the will and Person of God.
The Shechinah shines from between the Cherubim of Glory. The cherubim represent the fullness of the holiness and power, the wrath and mercy, of the Lord God of Heaven. Out from the Fire of His holiness and power blazes the glorious Light of the Presence—the Glory of the God of Israel.
When we pass beyond the veil, through the death of consecration that God requires, we have fashioned in us the holiness and power of God. From this area in us God meets us and we behold Him face to face. We are coming to know as we are known.
When we cross the river of death to self, the manna will cease and we will eat "the old corn of the land." This is a figurative way of stating that once we reach the perfection of redemption—and it will require the appearing of the Lord Jesus to put the finishing touches on our perfection—we will possess the fullness of the Presence of God shining from the Divine throne that has been created in us.
The Shechinah, which is the Glory of God in the face of Christ, will prove to be the light of the world throughout the coming age of the Kingdom of God. The Christian Church is destined to be the light of the world in a more substantial manner than we may have imagined.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (I Corinthians 13:12)
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (II Corinthians 3:18)
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (II Corinthians 4:6)
This is the light of the new Jerusalem.
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