The Ark of His Testament | Part 4 (Application)
The Sapphire Review Vol. 1 | No. 10 • July 30, 2024
→ Part 1: There Is An Ark In Heaven
→ Part 2: There Is Something Inside The Ark
→ Part 3: There Is An Authority
And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
In the first part of this series we saw that there is a physical ark in heaven. In the second part we saw that this ark contains the ten commandments. In the third part we saw that God’s authority is behind these commandments in heaven, and that the authority and jurisdiction of the heavenly cannot be overruled by anything earthly.
In this part, we will conclude the series by observing that there is an application for us today.
1. There is an ark in heaven
2. There is something inside the ark
3. There is an authority
4. There is an application today
THAT THERE IS AN APPLICATION TODAY
In reading the books of Moses, we discover that there were three distinct covenants that God made through Moses in the wilderness, not just one. It is also important to note that covenants are built upon laws or, at the very least, a collection of terms. Therefore, if there are different covenants, there must be different laws or terms behind each of them. If the laws and the terms were the same then there would be no point in a different covenant.
So, whenever we see the mention of a new covenant, we can also know that a new law or terms are being represented. We must also remember that laws can be built upon other laws. This point was explained further in Part 3 of this series. The ten commandments, for example, serve as the foundational law/covenant that all other laws/covenants are built upon.
We see language in line with this concept in the book of 1 John where he is building the new upon the foundation of the old:
Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
Additionally, during His sermon on the mount, Jesus builds new upon the foundation of the old by moving beyond the letter of the commandments to the heart of them.1
DISTINCT COVENANTS/LAWS
Covenant #1:
The first covenant involves the ten commandments.2 The first step in establishing this covenant was for God to audibly speak these commandments to the Israelites.3 Even Moses trembled with fear at this experience.4 The words of the ten commandments, which God spoke, were then added to tables of stone as the “words of the covenant.”5 Lastly, we see in Deuteronomy 5:22 that, as it pertains to the words of this covenant, God “added no more.”
Covenant #2:
After God spoke the ten commandments before all the Israelites, He then gave Moses additional laws which Moses wrote down in a “book of the covenant.”6 As we learned in Part 2, this book was sprinkled with the “blood of the covenant”7 before Moses went up to receive the tables of stone.
Covenant #3:
We read about the third covenant in Deuteronomy 29:1. This covenant was made in the land of Moab, after the Israelites had departed from Horeb / Mt. Sinai. Here again we find the use of the phrase “the words of the covenant.” This time, however, they do not refer to the ten commandments but rather other laws which God gave Moses to write down on a scroll.
Covenant Repositories:
[Beside the ark]: When Moses had finished writing all the precepts that God had given him beyond of the ten commandments they were referred to, in a general sense, as the “book of the law.” Moses then instructed the Levites to place this book of the law beside the ark of the covenant.8
[Inside the ark]: The ark was called the “ark of the covenant” because contained within it were the “tables of the covenant” or the ten commandments.9
[In heaven]: We have seen an undeniable distinction made between the “book of the law” and the ten commandments. This distinction is highlighted further by the ten commandments also residing inside of the ark which is in heaven. The ten commandments remain, while the book of the law is long gone. Not only this, but the “handwritten ordinances” (including feast keeping) which came through the hand of Moses, were nailed to the cross at Christ’s death.10
HIS COMMANDMENTS
If the testament/covenant which is in heaven, is “his [God’s] testament,”11 then the law behind the covenant must also be his law. If it is his law then the commandments which form that law must also be his commandments.
A man once came to Jesus asking Him what he must do to have eternal life. Jesus instructs him to “keep the commandments” and follows this statement by giving an example of five of the ten commandments.12
John describes the law of the ten commandments as being the basis for how we identify sin in 1 John 3:4.
Now that we understand the ten commandments as also being “his [God’s] commandments”, a brief look at how “his commandments” are referred to in the New Testament would be helpful.
His commandments are:
Transgressed to uphold men’s tradition13
Significant and valued, while the circumcision of the flesh from the law of Moses is nothing14
How we abide in His love, as did Jesus15
How we know that we know Him16
How we show our true love for Him17
Associated with the remnant whom Satan attacks in the last days18
The way to obtain the right to the tree of life and entrance into new Jerusalem19
Solomon, after living his entire life, amassing great wealth, and indulging in the pleasures that earth had to offer, concluded that the whole duty of man is to “fear God, and keep his commandments.”20
APPLICABILITY
Are the ten commandments in heaven for God? Certainly not, for God cannot sin nor be tempted by evil.21 However, God’s law is a reflection of His character:
Are the commandments then only in place for the angels in heaven? This also cannot be, for our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, is currently ministering on our behalf in the heavenly temple before the ark which contains these precious commandments.46
The ten commandments in heaven sit under the mercy seat of the heavenly ark. This mercy seat is the place where final atonement is made by Jesus, as the anti-type, for all the sins of humanity before His second coming. We see the type for this work being described in Leviticus 16 regarding the Day of Atonement.
Two definitions are important to understand here:
Atonement – In theology, the expiation of sin made by the obedience and personal sufferings of Christ.
Expiation – The act of atoning for a crime; the act of making satisfaction for an offense, by which the guilt is done away, and the obligation of the offended person to punish the crime is canceled; atonement; satisfaction.
The expiation of our sins, or the removal of the guilt of the offense associated with them, comes through Jesus Christ alone. While He is ministering before the ark in heaven and performing this final work of atonement, there must be a law that His work is based upon. If there is no law, there would be no offense. If there is no offense, there would be no guilt. If there is no guilt, there would be no need for atonement. That law resides right before Him, under the mercy seat, as the ten commandments.
CONCLUSION
The ten commandments in heaven serve as the law that all of humanity is measured against and found to be guilty, for “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”47
God, his temple, and his commandments existed before Moses, or they could not have served as a pattern. God, his temple, and his commandments are shown by John to be standing at the end of this age in which we now live. The ministerial work of Jesus is being conducted before the ten commandments in heaven. The authority, legality, and applicability of God’s commandments (not Moses’) applies to everyone living as His people since the beginning of time and will continue until God Himself ever changes that which He has written in heaven - the highest and most supreme court in all of creation.
The contention over His commandments really comes down to a matter of people not wanting to remember the sabbath day, on the day commanded by God, and to keep it holy.48 I pray that through the writings in this series, God will equip us all to be able to share this truth more effectively with others. Additionally, I pray that the thick veil would be removed from the eyes and hearts of those who currently reject the sabbath on the basis of what is nothing more than the tradition of men being held up over the commands of God.49
Let us conclude with the words of Paul on this matter:
Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
and always remember that it is only by the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit within us that we can walk in obedience to God’s commands.50
God Bless,
Charles
