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Exodus 25:10 “And they shall make an ark of gotcha2tim 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.”

The meaning of gotcha2tim is “sticks of wood from the same as acacia which means scourging thorns.” Acacia is from an unused root which means “to pierce”. It is also from another word which means “to flog, goad or to scourge”.   The wood used, points to what Jesus would suffer. John 19:18 “Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.” John 19:34 “but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” Revelation 1:7 “Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.”

One soldier may have done the piercing but we are all guilty of doing the same when we don’t believe; and blaspheme him when we use his name in vain. Isaiah 53:5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
 
Although the Israelites didn’t know Jesus by that name, he was with them everywhere they went. The whole ark made of wood represented Jesus and the protection he had around them just as the protection of the Ark Noah was instructed to build. Revelation 11:19 “And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament:”

 According to the dictionary, a cubit is equal to about 18 to 22 inches. This measurement is made from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow. From the lowest to the highest , the length would be between 54 to 66 inches, depending on who was doing the measuring. A cubit did’t mean a thing to me so I could, not imagine how big the Ark would be. The length would be the height of a man. You figure the rest of the arithmetic out.  Knowing this makes it all seem more real. We are all different heights. How tall was Jesus? Each of us could fit safely in that ark if it was to be so physically! Spiritually Jesus is the Ark of our covenant with God. We all fit.

God’s covenant with man began with Noah after the flood. Genesis 9:11: “And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you.” That includes all mankind who has God as their Father and Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Verse 13 “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.” Among all the problems we face in these evil times, God still reminds us that His covenant with man still stands.

When rain and the sun are hand in hand we are sure to see a rainbow. Some have reported as to having seen two rainbows; a double blessing. Of course we have the superstition that we can find gold at the end of it. Spiritually it is true because we do find the golden treasure of Jesus in the covenant.

God calls Abram to get out of his own country into a land He would show him. Read all of Genesis chapters 12-14. God again made a covenant with Abram in Genesis 18; “In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying , “Unto your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.”

Until the war in Iraq began, all the other wars fought in the little lands around that area, meant nothing to me. I was safe, so I thought. Then came the attack on the United States. That was a different story and a warning.

We live in an amazing age.  God’s promises are closer to becoming reality.  God’s WORD is always true.

In Genesis 17 is the story of Abram at the age of ninety when God promised him a son , Isaac.  This is when God changed his name to Abraham---“for the father of all nations have I made you.” (That includes us.”  Abram tried to take things in his own hand, by Sara’s insistence and bore a son to his concubine Hagar. He was called Ishmael. Because of Abraham’s refusal to wait for God to produce a son for him, that is why all the wars in the Middle East have been fought and still going on.  They are personal wars between Isaac and Ishmael and their descendent's over the land to this day.  They will go on until God’s promise that Isaac’s seed will possess it forever. And again God made a covenant with Abraham. Genesis 17:7 “And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto you and to your seed after you. This is a continuing covenant.

This time, the covenant requires blood verse 10 “This is my covenant…..Every man child among you shall be circumcised. Males uncircumcised (Verse 14) …shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” This was a physical circumcision before Christ. After Christ, those who believe that the blood of Jesus saves us will become a Jew in spirit. Romans 3:29 “But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart (not of the flesh), in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men but of God.”

God never left us without a covenant. It is always between at least two people. The Israelites broke the covenant when they followed after false idols. Christ is greater than the Levitical system. The old tabernacle was just an “example and shadow of heavenly things. Hebrews 8:5a. Hebrews 8:6 tells about the new and better covenant; “But now, has he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant which was established upon better promises.” Hebrews holds a lot of gems for us to search for.

 There is too much more to write about of the Ark of the Covenant. I will end this with the items that the Ark holds to this day; if it can be found. There are many theories as to what has happened to it. No trace of it has been found. One theory is that God had it hidden until it is time to rebuild the temple. When it is found, that is a sign to start building. From reading and listening to different prophesy programs, I have heard that everything is ready to do so when God gives the signal. The time is up to God alone. We can't even begin to guess.   Even a red heifer has been found.  The significance of the heifer will be explained in a latter writing as the Holy Spirit leads me.

Hebrews 9:3-5 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that had budded, and the tables of the covenant (the ten commandments). And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat: of which we cannot now speak particularly.”

God bless you as you read and study more about this.  The study is endless.

Amen LivingByFaith!

Sister, we've been missing your beautiful writing. It's nice to see you back on the forum.

YES, we do have a never-ending Bible study from a source that's impossible to exhaust. There is alway something new to learn, even if you've read a portion of Scripture many times.

Sister, thanks for giving us a beautiful study to start the day with.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Philippians 4:8 NASB  Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.