Bible Study

Just for your thoughts.
1 Chronicles book
Bible Lesson 10

Scripture for meditation: 1
Chronicles 15:25, 26, 28, 29.
In these four verses, the phrase “The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord” appears four times.
This Ark of the Covenant was kept in the Most Holy Place of the temple. It represented the presence of God among His people.
Inside this Ark were three sacred items:
Aaron’s budding rod
The golden pot of manna
The two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, which God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai
This chest containing those three items was called the Ark of the Covenant of God.
What I want to emphasize here is this:
The Ark of the Covenant symbolizes the covenant that God made with the people of Israel. The Ten Commandments given by God were the sign of that covenant. In Exodus 25:16, it is called the “Tablets of the Covenant Law” in English.
That is why the chest that contained the covenant tablets was called the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.
God gave this Ark as a symbol of His promise and of His dwelling among His people.
However, when we trace the history of this Ark, we find that from the day it was made, it was present in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple for only about 600 years in total.
Finally, during the time of King Nebuchadnezzar, when the Temple built by Solomon was destroyed, the Ark of the Covenant disappeared.
When the Temple was later rebuilt in 586 B.C., the Ark was not placed in it again. For about 656 years, the Ark was no longer seen in the Jerusalem Temple.
Eventually, in A.D. 70, that very Temple itself was completely destroyed.
What I want to stress here is this:
The people of Israel may have lost the Ark of the Covenant that God gave them — but the God who made the covenant with them was still with them.
The symbol may have been lost, but the One who gave the symbol never changed. He continued to dwell among them.
Even today, no one has been able to erase Israel from the map of the world.
In the same way, through baptism, we enter into a covenant with God and become children of the New Covenant (Hebrews 9:15).
Baptism is an outward sign, but within it lies the covenant and promise of God.
The God who made this covenant with us — the Creator of heaven and earth — remains our God forever. Understanding this truth is deeply important.
Our God is a Covenant-Keeping God.
The word “covenant” is profound — it is not something man made with God, but something God Himself initiated.
Jesus Christ will take us to heaven — that promise itself is His covenant.
God has made a covenant with us, and we, like the Israelites, are the people of the covenant.
What a great joy and blessing this is!
If each day we remind ourselves, “I am a child of the covenant,” the joy that fills our hearts is immeasurable.
We are bound to live truthfully and faithfully to the Lord who gave us such joy.

Note:
Baptism is an outward sign, but hidden within it is the Covenant and Promise of God.
When God has made a covenant with us, no power in the world can cancel that covenant.
As Paul said, “Nothing can separate us from the love of God.”
May God Himself give us new light and revelation about this divine covenant.

Ezekiel Shanmugavel
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