Bring Back the Ark Subtitled: The Shekinah Glory

Transcription

1 Bring Back the Ark Subtitled: The Shekinah Glory Text: I Chronicles 15:25 So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obededom with joy. 15:26 And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams. 15:27 And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers: David also had upon him an ephod of linen. 15:28 Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps. 15:29 And it came to pass, as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looking out at a window saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised him in her heart. 1. Shekinah Glory is the invisible manifestation of the presence of God. Although the word is not found in the Bible, it occurs frequently in later Jewish writing. It refers to the instances when god showed Himself visibly, as, for example, on Mount Sinai (exodus 24:9-18) and he Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle and Solomon s temple. The Shekinah was a luminous could that rested above the altar in place of worship and lit up the room. When the Babylonians destroyed the Temple, the Shekinak glory vanished. There was no Shekinah in the temples rebuilt later under Zerubbabel and Herod. 2. The Ark of the Covenant is a sacred portable chest which along with its two related items, the Mercy Seat and Cherubim was the most important sacred object of the Israelites during the wilderness period. It was known as the Ark of the lord (Josh. 6:11), the Ark of God (1 Sam. 3:3), and the Ark of the Testimony (a synonym of the covenant; Exodus. The Ark of the Covenant was the only article of furniture in the innermost room, or Holy of Holies, of Moses tabernacle and of Solomon s Temple. From between the two cherubim that were on ark of testimony, God spoke to Moses. Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, but only with sacrificial blood that he sprinkled on the mercy seat for the atonement of sin. (Leviticus) 3. (Kir-jath-je-a-rim - means city of forests - a fortified city that originally belonged to the Gibeonites.)

2 David in his first attempt to bring back the Ark did not consult God concerning preparations for the removal of the ark. You see the ark was recaptured form the Philistines by the men of Kir-jath-je-arim. You see Church, wise and good men are often guilty of oversights, of which they will correct as soon as they become aware of them. Consequently, David does not try to justify what had been done without consulting God, nor did he lay the blame on others; but he quickly acknowledged his own guilt without blaming others. Yes God should have been consulted even before Priest and the people. My Christian friends, it is good advice to notice the assistance of God and His Divine Providence, even in things which fall within the compass of our natural powers. Why, because without God s help, we could not make a single step. If we perform our religious duties to any degree correctness, we must acknowledge that it was God that helped us. Brothers and sisters, if we were left to ourselves, we will have been guilty of many fatal errors. Furthermore, every thing in which we engage must be done in total dependence upon the mercy of God through the sacrifice of our Redeemer, Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My brothers and sisters, have your eyes seen the vision, that is the vision of the return of the Shekinah Glory of God into our Houses of Worship? Have your ears heard the sound of the shouting, the singing and the playing of musical instruments? Do you realize that even in this day and time, the ark is coming up the road? My friends, vaguely did we know that the coming of the ark stood for the coming of a revival of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. You see, the real vision and understanding of the significance of the return of the ark has been dawning upon us, as the church of Jesus Christ is beginning to wake up to their need. They are rising up to go forth and bring back the ark the Shekina glory and presence of God s Holy Spirit into the Temple.

3 Now when King David ascended to the throne, the Ark of the Covenant was missing because it had been earlier captured by the Philistines and held for approximately twenty years, but it had been recaptured again by the men of Kir-jath-je-a-rim. I Samuel 7:1 And the men of Kirjathjearim came, and fetched up the ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord. I Samuel 7:2 And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. David, being a man after God s Heart, recognized that there was in the tabernacle a strangely vacant spot that nothing else could ever fill. The mighty presence of God s Shekina glory was absent and nothing could ever take its place. You see my friends the glory had departed through disobedience and sin. Yes throughout the reign of Saul (a type of those who have lost the anointing) little or nothing had been said about the ark, and no effort was made to fetch it again unto its rightful place. It is also very doubtful whether King Saul had even enough spirituality to seriously miss its loss. Like Saul s generation, it has been or is in our own day. For generations, we have talked and read with bated breath, in suspense and awe of the olden days of our forefathers when the presence and power of the Holy Spirit rested upon the church in the Apostolic Day; The Day of Pentecost. Acts 2:12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 2:13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 2:15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

4 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 2:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Church, we have many Saul like people who have lost the anointing, and the vision of what it means to see God dwelling in power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit. Yes the Holy Spirit, the Shekinah Glory dwelling in the midst of the people, the Glory and awesome power of the Almighty God in the midst their congregations. It is sad to say that many have never mentioned or proposed a really united effort of going all out in prayer to God asking Him to bring back the ark where in times past He dwelt between the two golden cherubim mounted on top of the golden cover of the Mercy Seat. Many have declared that it cannot or will not happen today. But, praise the Lord, David is coming to the throne, the beloved of God, a remnant with the real anointing and the zeal and the faith of God unspoiled in their heart. Saints, the first cry of David s heart after coming into power is that the ark should be brought back and established in its rightful place the tabernacle of the Most High God, in the hearts of mankind and in the sanctuaries not by hands. As I close I remind you, that each and every church in the land, each member, every tabernacle and temple, be it great or small, need the power of the Holy Spirit and the glory of God today. The Ark can bring once again rest in the midst of the people, if we will go out and bring it in the right way. The Ark is coming up the Road and the very presence of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit rest upon it.

5 Exodus 37:1 And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it: 37:2 And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about. 37:3 And he cast for it four rings of gold, to be set by the four corners of it; even two rings upon the one side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it. 37:4 And he made staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold. 37:5 And he put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. 37:6 And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof. 37:7 And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat; 37:8 One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 37:9 And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims. 37:10 And he made the table of shittim wood: two cubits was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof: 37:11 And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made thereunto a crown of gold round about. 37:12 Also he made thereunto a border of an handbreadth round about; and made a crown of gold for the border thereof round about. 37:13 And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings upon the four corners that were in the four feet thereof. 37:14 Over against the border were the rings, the places for the staves to bear the table. 37:15 And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold, to bear the table. Note: