{"id":264,"date":"2020-08-20T13:31:50","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T13:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/?p=264"},"modified":"2020-08-20T13:39:35","modified_gmt":"2020-08-20T13:39:35","slug":"when-god-put-himself-in-a-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/?p=264","title":{"rendered":"When God Put Himself in a Box"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>We often say \u201cdon\u2019t put God in a box\u201d but, ironically, He put Himself in\none for over 800 years! What we mean by that phrase is to take the limits off\nof God and give Him freedom to work as He sees fit. God didn\u2019t confine Himself\ninside a box completely, but for centuries most of how God expressed Himself\nand manifested His presence, power, and glory revolved around a small, single box!\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God gave Moses the blueprint for the Tabernacle and all its furnishings on\nMount Sinai (Ex. 25-31). The Ark of the Covenant was built in Exodus 37 in\naround 1447 B.C. It was housed in the Tabernacle of Moses for centuries and moved\naround during Israel\u2019s trek through the wilderness and the conquest of Canaan.\nDuring the times of the Judges, it settled in Shiloh and in Gibeah, then it was\nrelocated to the Tabernacle of David in Jerusalem. Finally, it was permanently\nset in Solomon\u2019s Temple where it remained during the reign of the kings of\nIsrael. Solomon\u2019s Temple was destroyed in 586 B.C. So, for roughly 861 years,\nmost of what God said and did in the earth was connected to this golden box (but\nit was no ordinary box).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;The Ark of the Covenant was the most\nsacred piece of furniture on earth and Israel\u2019s most prized possession. It was\na visible icon of the invisible God. There are nearly 200 references to the Ark\nin the Bible proving its prominent role in Israel\u2019s history. The Ark\nrepresented God\u2019s tangible presence among His people and was, in essence, God\u2019s\nthrone on earth. It was the centerpiece of Jewish life and the epicenter of\nIsrael\u2019s religion and worship. A pillar of cloud by day and fire by night\nhovered over it to signify God\u2019s <em>\u201cShekinah<\/em><em>\u201d<\/em> glory\u2014a Hebrew term that means \u201cthe One who dwells.\u201d In\ntransport or battle, the Ark was carried on the priest\u2019s shoulders in either\nthe front or center of the tribes (Num. 10:33-36, Josh. 3:13-17; 6:6-20). The\nwhole nation of Israel revolved\naround the Ark and the twelve tribes camped around the Tabernacle (three tribes\non each side). This is symbolic of how God desires and deserves to be the center\nof our lives and put first as our number one priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ark was rather small, but it packed a big punch! It was a small box, but a big God was behind it (little is much if God is in it). Dynamite comes in small packages. The dimensions are given in Exodus 25:10, NLT<strong>\u2014<\/strong><sup> <\/sup><em>\u201cHave the people make an Ark of acacia wood\u2014a sacred chest 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high.\u201d <\/em>Think of how God\u2019s power and glory manifested through this small box:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>As priests carried the\nArk into the Jordan River, the waters rolled back, and the Israelites walked\nthrough on dry ground\u2014Josh. 3:13-17.<\/li><li>The Israelites marched\naround Jericho for seven days with the Ark in front and then shouted and God crushed\nthe massive walls like matchsticks\u2014Josh. 6:6-20.<\/li><li>With the Ark leading the\nway, Israel conquered thirty-one kings during the conquest of Canaan\u2014Josh. 12:1-24.\n<\/li><li>When the Philistines\nstole the Ark, they put it in their temple with their pagan idol, Dagon. Dagon fell\nprostrate on his face before the Ark. They set him back up, but the next day he\nfell down again with his hands and head severed. That was God\u2019s way\nof saying, \u201cI AM the one true God and will not dwell in the same temple with\nidols\u201d\u20141 Sam. 5:1-5.<\/li><li>While the Ark was in\nPhilistine custody for seven months, God smote them with severe plagues\u20141 Sam.\n5:6-12. (The same Ark that brought blessing to Israel brought curses on the\nheathen.)<\/li><li>In Bethshemesh, 50,070 people were slain when they\nfoolishly opened the lid of the Ark\u20141 Sam. 6:12-20.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Small box, big God! <em>\u201cAnd it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, <strong>Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered<\/strong>; and let them that hate thee flee before thee\u201d <\/em>(Num. 10:35). As long as Israel was true to God, they were invincible; when they strayed, they were vulnerable. The same is true for us. The Ark is a fitting type of Christ since the fullness of God dwelled in Him (Col. 1:19; 2:9). However, it can also be a type of the Church. Just as that sacred chest held the book of the Law, the Ten Commandments, a golden bowl of manna, and Aaron\u2019s rod that budded, so we contain God\u2019s Word and the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit. One major difference is the Ark was only God\u2019s temporarily dwelling place; we are God\u2019s eternal dwelling place via the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:16, 1 Cor. 3:16). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So,\nwhatever happened to the Ark? After the destruction of Solomon\u2019s Temple in 586\nB.C., it vanished from biblical history. We do know neither Indiana Jones nor\nthe Nazis found it as depicted in the movie <em>Raiders of the Lost Ark<\/em>.\nJewish tradition says Jeremiah or King Josiah hid it in a cave to prevent\ndesecration. Others believe the Babylonians looted it. The last time it is\nmentioned is in heaven (Rev. 11:19), but is that the same Ark or a heavenly\nprototype of an earthly replica? Did God cherish the Ark so much He raptured\nit? Its fate remains a mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeremiah prophesied of a time when the Ark wouldn\u2019t matter anymore,<em> \u201cThen it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days,\u201d says the Lord, \u201cthat they will say no more, <strong>\u2018The ark of the covenant of the Lord.\u2019 It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it<\/strong>\u201d<\/em> (Jer. 3:16, NKJV). In other words, the Ark is obsolete. Why? Because we are the arks of the New Covenant. God did miraculous things through a box in Old Testament times and He can also do great things through us now. So, don\u2019t put God in a box. He doesn\u2019t live in a box anymore; He lives in YOU! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We often say \u201cdon\u2019t put God in a box\u201d but, ironically, He put Himself in one for over 800 years! What we mean by that phrase is to take the limits off of God and give Him freedom to work as He sees fit. God didn\u2019t confine Himself inside a box completely, but for centuries [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=264"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":269,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions\/269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}