INSIDE THE ARK

Hebrews 9:1 (NASB) Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary.

2 For there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread; this is called the holy place.

3 And behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies,

4 having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron's rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant.

5 And above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat; but of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

6 Now when these things have been thus prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship,

7 but into the second only the high priest enters, once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

8 The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed, while the outer tabernacle is still standing,

While building the tabernacle, Moses followed the pattern given to him by God.

Hebrews 8, speaks of the better covenant which was always the goal.

Hebrews 8:5 (NASB) who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, "SEE," He says, "THAT YOU MAKE all things ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN."

6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.

7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.

8 For finding fault with them, He says, "BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH;

9 NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD.

10 "FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM UPON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

Jeremiah 31:33 (NASB) "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Inside the Ark of the Covenant were the second tablets of Law, Aaron's rod that budded, and a golden pot of manna. These things speak of the person the Christ. Aaron's rod that budded speaks of life and fruit from the dead, the pot of manna speaks of the Bread of Life - which is Jesus, and the tablets of Law speak of the Law which can only be kept in Christ. No other person has ever been able to keep the Law.

God does not give us a list of things which He will give us. He gave us Christ who is those things. He is our peace, wisdom, righteousness, etc. He is the total supply of everything that anyone could need.

God supplied manna for the Israelites to eat while in the desert.

Exodus 16:16 (NASB) "This is what the LORD has commanded, 'Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.'"

You couldn't stockpile it, just like god's grace is sufficient for the day, you can't stockpile it. One omer of manna is just about what one man could eat in one day. (Two liters or about two quarts)

Exodus 16:32 (NASB) Then Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded, 'Let an omerful of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.'"

Psalms 78:24 (NASB) And He rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven.

The people of Israel began grumbling and complaining about what God was doing and they did this in the sight of the Lord. By doing this in His sight, they were in direct rebellion against Him.

In present days, we gripe and grumble amongst ourselves about our circumstances in order to receive pity from one another. We are living in the Holy of Holies, in the presence of God and doing this in direct rebellion to Him. Grumbling is done against God because we think that we will get ourselves out of this by ourselves. In other words, it is our will not His. We must be God.

Exodus 16:1 (NASB) Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt.

2 And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

3 And the sons of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the LORD'S hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.

Remember that the manna was given only under the cloud. If they wandered out from God's covering, the had to feed themselves. The manna was all that they needed. It provided all of the vitamins they required, but it was boring to have the same thing every day. They began thinking about the onions, garlic and other seasonings which they had in Egypt. Does the Christian life ever seem boring to you? Do you sometimes long for the spice of the secular world. You will never be satisfied with your new diet if you continue to go back to the old ways. One thing about remembering is that you usually remember the good things and forget the bad. You will always remember the spice of the world without remembering the bondage. The smell of onions and garlic have a way of clinging to your clothes. We you venture back into the secular world, you have the smell of the world on your breathe and in your clothes.

There are three interpretations for the word manna. In Hebrew, it means "what is it?". In Chaldean, it means "it is a portion" In English, it means "bread".

Jesus explains about manna in John 6:31.

Jesus is the spiritual manna which gives us eternal life.

John 6:48 (NASB) "I am the bread of life.

49 "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

50 "This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.

51 "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh."

52 The Jews therefore began to argue with one another, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?"

53 Jesus therefore said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.

54 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

55 "For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.

56 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

57 "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.

58 "This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate, and died, he who eats this bread shall live forever."

59 These things He said in the synagogue, as He taught in Capernaum.

60 Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard this said, "This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?"

Just like the manna, Jesus is a sufficient portion - enough for all , no lack. He is a Suitable portion for all, young and old, weak and strong, male and female. He is a sustaining and sure portion, always there and He meets all of your needs. We must feed on the manna, Christ daily.

Revelation 2:17 (NASB) 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.'

The word manna means, "What is it?" in Hebrew. Each time we come to Jesus, thinking that we understand some part of Him, we are confounded again by His dept. Our little brains cannot understand the infinite.

Manna was white and tasted sweet When the dew evaporated the manna remained. The manna was gathered, ground and baked.

Numbers 11:7 (NASB) Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium.

8 The people would go about and gather it and grind it between two millstones or beat it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make cakes with it; and its taste was as the taste of cakes baked with oil.

9 And when the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall with it.

The manna was kind of like sesame seeds. It was gathered and then ground between two stones. Have you ever been caught between a rock and a hard place? Jesus was and He sweat great drops of blood on the night before His crucifixion. The Lord told Moses to gather it and put it before Him as a remembrance.

Numbers 16:1 (NASB) Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took action,

2 and they rose up before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown.

3 And they assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?"

4 When Moses heard this, he fell on his face;

5 and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, "Tomorrow morning the LORD will show who is His, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; even the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself.

6 "Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company,

7 and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of the LORD tomorrow; and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!"

8 Then Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi,

9 is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;

10 and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking for the priesthood also?

11 "Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD; but as for Aaron, who is he that you grumble against him?"

12 Then Moses sent a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, "We will not come up.

13 "Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us?

14 "Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!"

15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, "Do not regard their offering! I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them."

16 And Moses said to Korah, "You and all your company be present before the LORD tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron.

17 "And each of you take his firepan and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the LORD, two hundred and fifty firepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan."

18 So they each took his own censer and put fire on it, and laid incense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron.

19 Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.

20 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

21 "Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly."

The rebellion was not against Aaron and Moses, but against the person who put them there. It was open rebellion against the Lord. Idle talk builds and builds until it manifests itself in actions. They finally assembled together against Moses and Aaron. They contended that they were just as holy as Aaron and Moses. This was true, but God had chosen Moses and Aaron, not them. They were not of the correct tribe, or family. They were of the tribe of Rueben, not Levi and not of the family of Aaron. There were very few people who could minister to the Lord. Moses fell on his face because he knew what they were doing. They didn't, but he did.

They all came with their censors with coals of fire, but there was one big difference - Aaron got his coals from the altar where the sin offering had burned down to coals. Aaron's fire originally came from the Lord, but their fires came from fires that they had started. God will only accept what comes from Him. He will not accept our works. That is why we cannot work our way into heaven and that is why He had to send Jesus as our savior. They were saying, we don't need what God provided. We have the same thing ourselves.

You can have a church which looks like it is being blessed, but if it relies on programs instead of revelations of the Lord to get people there. It is trying to do it on it's own and not with God.

When they came with their censors, the earth opened up and swallowed them. The earth which was cursed when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, swallowed them. God told Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from them before He did it.

Numbers 16:27 (NASB) So they got back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents, along with their wives and their sons and their little ones.

28 And Moses said, "By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not my doing.

29 "If these men die the death of all men, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me.

30 "But if the LORD brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the LORD."

31 Then it came about as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground that was under them split open;

32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah, with their possessions.

33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.

34 And all Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, "The earth may swallow us up!"

If they hadn't separated themselves from these men, they received the same punishment. When the Lord tells you separate yourself, you best do it. When the Lord tells you to do something, you had best do it. The next morning, everyone was accusing Moses and Aaron of causing the death of the Lord's people.

Numbers 16:41 (NASB) But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You are the ones who have caused the death of the LORD'S people."

42 It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared.

43 Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting,

44 and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

45 "Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly." Then they fell on their faces.

46 And Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the LORD, the plague has begun!"

47 Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.

48 And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked.

49 But those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who died on account of Korah.

God will withhold His judgment if His folks are too close to the ones being judged. Jesus our High priests is standing between the living and the dead. The Lord wanted to settle the issued of who was the leader, once and for all.

Numbers 17:1 (NASB) Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "Speak to the sons of Israel, and get from them a rod for each father's household: twelve rods, from all their leaders according to their fathers' households. You shall write each name on his rod,

3 and write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers' households.

4 "You shall then deposit them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you.

5 "And it will come about that the rod of the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I shall lessen from upon Myself the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you."

6 Moses therefore spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers' households, twelve rods, with the rod of Aaron among their rods.

7 So Moses deposited the rods before the LORD in the tent of the testimony.

8 Now it came about on the next day that Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.

9 Moses then brought out all the rods from the presence of the LORD to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.

10 But the LORD said to Moses, "Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me, so that they should not die."

11 Thus Moses did; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did.

The staffs was like a scepter, a symbol of authority. Their genealogies were carved into their staffs. It was a symbol of authority. When Stanley, the explorer went into the jungle, he was given the chief's staff after they were joined in covenant. Because of this staff, he was given all he needed, just as if he had been the chief himself.

They were all dead sticks, cut generations before. Aaron's rod budded and bore fruit. It had to be Aaron's because he was chosen by God - the same way it has to be Jesus because He was chosen by God. He is priest forever. This speaks of life from the dead. Jesus is the Root from dry ground. Rods representing all of the other people of God were at the same place, but the only one that budded was the rod of Aaron. Aaron was the high priest then and the people questioned his authority. Christ is our high priest today and people ask, how can He say that He is the only way, the door? Who does He think He is? why doesn't He say - I am a way or part of the truth. How can He exclude all others? He can say this because He was dead and rose and blossomed and produced fruit. He is the chosen of God, the real High Priest.

The almonds were decorations on the lamp stand. The almond tree is the first of trees in the east to show it's white blooms in the spring.

The unbroken tablets of the Law which were in the Ark of the Covenant were the second set. Moses came down from the mountain with the first set and found the people worshipping the golden calf and having sex orgies. In disgust, he threw them down and broke them. Even before man got the law, he had broken it. Three thousand people died when the Law was given and when the Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost, three thousand people were saved.

Exodus 32:19 (NASB) And it came about, as soon as Moses came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses' anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain.

Deuteronomy 9:8 (NASB) "Even at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you.

9 "When I went up to the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD had made with you, then I remained on the mountain forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water.

10 "And the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone written by the finger of God; and on them were all the words which the LORD had spoken with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.

11 "And it came about at the end of forty days and nights that the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.

12 "Then the LORD said to me, 'Arise, go down from here quickly, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made a molten image for themselves.'

13 "The LORD spoke further to me, saying, 'I have seen this people, and indeed, it is a stubborn people.

14 'Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.'

15 "So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.

16 "And I saw that you had indeed sinned against the LORD your God. You had made for yourselves a molten calf; you had turned aside quickly from the way which the LORD had commanded you.

17 "And I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my hands, and smashed them before your eyes.

The tablets were probably not as big as you see in the movies. There were only ten words, not ten sentences. The Law was ten words etched in stone and He wrote them twice.

Isaiah 48:3 (NASB) "I declared the former things long ago And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.

4 "Because I know that you are obstinate, And your neck is an iron sinew, And your forehead bronze,

5 Therefore I declared them to you long ago, Before they took place I proclaimed them to you, Lest you should say, 'My idol has done them, And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.'

6 "You have heard; look at all this. And you, will you not declare it? I proclaim to you new things from this time, Even hidden things which you have not known.

7 "They are created now and not long ago; And before today you have not heard them, Lest you should say, 'Behold, I knew them.'

God declared what he was going to do and did it. He did it in this fashion, because the people were stubborn and would say that the idols had done it. This is the way God works. He will tell you something, then He will give you an example and then He will do it.

Psalms 40:8 (NASB) I delight to do Thy will, O my God; Thy Law is within my heart."

1 Samuel 6:19 (NASB) And He struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter.

No one can stand in presence of God except Jesus or their sins will be judged according to the law and the wages of sin is death.

Jesus is the only man who could keep the law. Jesus beat the devil with the devil's own weapon, the broken law, by keeping the law. Death could not hold Jesus because He had not sinned. The wages of sin is death, but Jesus had not sinned, so death could not hold Him. The law even killed the Christ when He was made sin for us. Because He kept the law, He was given a Name above all other names and was crowned King.

Hebrews 9:12 (NASB) and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

2 Corinthians 5:19 (NASB) namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Hebrews 10:1 (NASB) For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near.

2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?

3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.

4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Hebrews 10:12 (NASB) but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,

The law revealed sin. When the avenging angel passed over Egypt, he passed over the houses with blood on the door posts - only.

Exodus 12:13 (NASB) 'And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land because of one violation. This was when he struck the rock instead of speaking to it as God told him.

Romans 8:7 (NASB) because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so;

Consider the Law:

It reveals sin. Romans 3:20 (NASB) because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

It cannot justify. Galatians 2:16 (NASB) nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified.

It leads to Christ. Galatians 3:24 (NASB) Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith.

It is eternal. Luke 16:17 (NASB) "But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.

It was made weak through the flesh. Romans 8:3 (NASB) For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

It was fulfilled in Christ. Matthew 5:17 (NASB) "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.

Christ is the end of the law. Romans 10:4 (NASB) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

We are not under the law. Romans 6:14 (NASB) For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.

The pot of manna, the rod that budded and the tablets of the law speak of Jesus as the prophet, the priest and the King. Amen.