lördag 2 Apr 2011, 1:01

ARK
As we know, the word "ark" showed many times in the Bible, but they all not mean the same thing. I'd share some information on different arks mentioned or invisible in the Bible.
一、Ark of Noah（Gen6:13~14）
According to Gen.6:, the ‘Deity decided to destroy the human race by means of a great flood, excepting only the family of the righteous Noah.
God said to Noah, 'I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood;……【Gen6:13、14】
In this way, God told Noah how he was to build the ark .Then God added:” But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark-you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you.”(Gen6:18)
As Noah did everything just as God commanded him, when the flood went by only the family of Noah survived.
Having seen the earth had been filled with violence because of the human, God decided to destroy both them and the earth. But thanks for the family of Noah, their righteousness and obedience, not only they survived but God also established his covenant with them and every living creature on earth. (Gen9:9~10)
The family of Noah became a new start of human race, through whom God fill the earth with people once again.
What information the story has showed us obviously is :above all, God ‘s judgment is serious and awful, but it is in which that he maintained his love and mercy to his people.
Besides, there is no doubt when the floodwaters came on the earth the ark is the only place where one could save his life.
So to say, the ark is considered to be the only salvation that God prepared to every living thing on the earth at that time.
二、Ark of Moses（Exo2:3~6）Exodus
What is the ark of Moses? We can imagine it as a miniature of the ark of Noah. But it is so small that it can only contain a baby. It is made of papyrus , coated with tar and pitch. As it is known to us, after being hidden for three months Moses had to be placed in such a basket and be put among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. Pharaoh's daughter went down to the Nile to bathe , and saw the basket among the reeds. She opened it and saw baby Moses crying in it, and finally adopted him as a son.The basket is supposed to be sealed according to her opening it. Just as the ark of Noah. After Moses had grown up，he began to recognize his real identity and was eventually been used to lead the Israel out from Egypt. This is one of the most important events in the history of the Israel which should be known and kept in mind by each member. For it indicates God’s steadfast love and his almighty salvation. It is from the small ark which held and protected the little Moses that we see the beginning of God’s magic preparing. This is the ark of Moses, the safety in the Nile, the survival in the kill, much more, it is a ark loading the hope, the future of all the Is’raelites and God’s salvation to them, in which God showed his love and selection again.
三、Ark of the Covenant
Also called “the ark of God”, ”the ark of the Lord”, “the ark of the testimony”.
The gold-covered ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.
It is said in the Bible that the ark of the Lord 's covenant was brought by the priests to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put beneath the wings of the cherubim. （1Kings8:6；2Chro5:7It is where that God meets his people and reveal his purpose to them.As a result, the ark is thought to represent God’s presence and leading his people. It played an important role in many significant events in the history of the Israelites.
Whenever the ark was lifted up to lead the Israelites forward in their wanderings in the wilderness, similarly whenever the ark was set down in a new camp, whenever the ark was housed in ‘Solomon’s temple(1kgs.6:23~28,8:6~7).
What seems to be imagined here is a throne whereby the deity sits invisibly above the ark, on the out –stretched wings of cherubim, with the ark itself serving as God’s footstool.
Anyway, to some extent, the ark of the covenant did make it possible that God dwelled among his people and did his forgiveness and salvation.
Just as Noah and Moses ’s ark, the ark of Covenant is another way for that generation of God’s saving his people from death and sin.
四、Ark for us in the New Testament¬——Jesus Christ
Now, what should be noticed is: ”is there an ark for us?” if not, ”how could we?”
As the Bible told us, there is one but one ark for these days, Jesus Christ, which is the only salvation God prepared for us human race. Believe in him, get on the ark, and you will survive. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.'（Acts4:12）
I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be （Gen9:13）God set his rainbow in the clouds as the sign of the covenant between him and the earth. Jesus made a new covenant in his blood. Moses brought the Israelites out of Egypt. Immanuel come to rescue us from wickedness. the ark contained a staff the law and manna. Jesus said :” I am the way and the truth and the life.” （John14:6）
Jesus, our lord, is the ark for this generation. Just like the ark of Noah, be selected in him and we can be rescued from death and sins. Just like the ark of Moses, it is in him that there is hope and salvation for us. Just like the ark of the Covenant, he brings us the permanent new covenant and God’s presence.Finally , in a word, Jesus Christ, our rock, our fortress, our ‘refuge, all the more so is our greatest and nicest ark!
God's blessing with us !