What Does The Ark Of The Covenant Represent?

Jeremiah 3:16

16 When you multiply and increase in the land, in those days—this is the Lord’s declaration—no one will say again, “The ark of the Lord’s covenant.” It will never come to mind, and no one will remember or miss it. Another one will not be made.

The ark of the covenant is gone because Jesus is the fulfillment of its use. 

1. The ark means protection

Genesis 6:17-18

17 “Understand that I am bringing a flood—floodwaters on the earth to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives.

2. The covenant means redemption [deliverance from sin]

Luke 22:19-20

19 And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

The ark of the covenant’s cover was called the mercy seat which the priest [Aaron at the time] would go inside the curtain [the room called: the Holy of Holies] and sprinkle some of the bull’s blood for himself and afterward for the people that their sins can be atoned [have their sins forgiven]. 

God’s presence was above the mercy seat when Moses would come to speak to the LORD [Numbers 7:89]. 

So far you can see that the priest would have to bring blood to make atonement for himself and the people’s sins when entering the Holy of Holies. The room that he was entering was so holy because God would meet them there when He would speak to them. 

That is why sin cannot exist in heaven next to a holy God. To approach, the Living God was so serious that you would have to take the necessary steps that God prescribed so that you can live and not die in His presence [Leviticus 16:13]. Even the angels [Seraphim], the ones with six wings who cover themselves from head to foot with four of their wings since they are always in God’s presence.  

Isaiah 6:1-3

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphim were standing above him; they each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another:

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies;
his glory fills the whole earth.

The items contained inside the ark of the covenant were the following: 

1. The two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments
2. Aaron’s staff
3. Manna [bread from heaven]

Let’s bring everything together and see what God was showing us through the ark of the covenant. 

1. God’s presence 
2. The atonement of sins through sacrificial blood
3. God is our shepherd who leads us [the staff]
4. God is our provider [manna] and our salvation

Translated to:

1. Jesus is God [John 1:1] Jesus is called Emmanuel, God is with us [Matthew 1:22-23] 
2. Jesus is called the Word of God [Revelation 19:13]
3. Jesus is our shepherd [John 10:11]
4. Jesus is the savior of mankind [the bread of life, John 6:32-33] 

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The ark of the covenant and everything inside of it represented who God is and what He was going to do. God Himself was going to come in the person of Jesus Christ to save us.

The ark of the covenant foreshadowed this:

When a person puts their faith in Jesus Christ they will be protected from God’s judgment that was based on their sins. Christ rescued us by paying our debt [sins] in full on the cross. Jesus promised that those who put their faith in Him, will not see death [hell] but will have eternal life [to be with Jesus in heaven] after we take off this earthly body. 

Jesus is our ark of the covenant. Noah, Moses, and the people of Israel were all saved by the ark. Salvation is found in no one else but in Jesus Christ [Acts 4:12]. God was the Savior of the Old Testament and is the Savior of the New Testament. There has always been one Savior, God who came in the person of Jesus. 

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Verse By Verse Through Revelation (20:6-10)

6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

Blessed and holy refers to those who have had their sins forgiven through faith in Jesus, and are happy.

shares in the first resurrection will be for the believers [Christians] who are coming back to life with their resurrected body that is imperishable [1 Corinthians 15:53]. 

The second death has no power over them revealing that our new bodies will be a spiritual body [1 Corinthians 15:44] that has been made by the Lord to be eternal [1 Corinthians 15:54-55].

Every Christian who will be raptured before the wrath of God and those who believe afterward who are killed in the Great Tribulation by rejecting the mark of the beast will reign with Christ Jesus for a thousand years. 

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7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison

With the completion of Jesus’ millennial reign, Satan will be set free for a short period of time.

While the pure light of righteousness [Jesus Christ] reigns on the earth as King of kings, the god of this age [Satan] who is pure darkness cannot rule or have a place alongside Him because light eliminates the darkness.

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8 and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea.

and will go out to deceive the nations During Christ’s reign on earth, people will still reject the Living God even though they have proof of His existence. Those whose hearts are hardened towards Christ are easily given to Satan’s deception after his release. 

Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Gog and Magog are first seen in the Book of Ezekiel Chapter 38. Gog is the prince or leader and Magog is the land. God will allow Gog and his allies to come against Israel for the sole purpose of bringing judgment against Gog and his hordes. 

Ezekiel 38:22-23

22 I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and burning sulfur on him, as well as his troops and the many peoples who are with him. 23 I will display my greatness and holiness, and will reveal myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’

Magog is located far north of Israel as Gog prince of Rosh [could be Russia] and his allies being from Muslim countries will join forces to destroy Israel for their resources [Israel today, has natural gas worth more than oil].

I believe [my personal opinion] that this war will take place before the Antichrist comes to power as he will take full control without any major rivals to confront.

The Gog and Magog of Revelation are not the same as the one mentioned in Ezekiel 38. Because the one in Ezekiel, Israel will bury the dead bodies. In Revelation 20, after the war of Gog and Magog, Satan is thrown into the Lake of Fire, and the end of the world will occur. Judgment of everyone will commence.

The reason Gog and Magog are mentioned in the Book of Revelation is to reference a huge army that consists of many nations [like Ezekiel 38] whom Satan is going to gather for his last attempt to defeat the Lord.

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9 They came up across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the encampment of the saints, the beloved city. Then fire came down from heaven and consumed them.

Satan’s new army will be gathered from the farthest countries from Jerusalem and will come to fight against believers in Jesus Christ. 

Jesus will not come down to fight Satan as He did with the Antichrist. The reason is that with the Antichrist, He was coming down to reign on the earth but that has been fulfilled. But now, the devil’s army will meet their end with fire from heaven, illustrating their final destination, the Lake of Fire. 

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10 The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

After the final battle, the devil is judged for abandoning God and for all of his deceptions from heaven [one-third of the angels] to the earth and is thrown into the lake of Fire for all eternity.

The Lake of Fire is shown to be eternal because of the phrase, tormented day and night forever and ever.

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Is The Wrath Of The Antichrist And The Wrath Of God Both Considered God’s Wrath?

This brother in Christ is the one who brought me to Jesus Christ. I will always be eternally grateful to him for telling me about Jesus. 

We had a really great discussion about the rapture and its timing. He believes that the wrath of the Antichrist is different from that of God’s and Christians will be spared from God’s wrath but not necessarily the Antichrist’s. Respectfully, I disagree with that position. I think it is pretty clear in Scripture that the wrath [persecution] of the Antichrist towards believers and God’s plagues [Seals, Bowls, and the Trumpets] are both God’s wrath on mankind.

Below is our exchange.

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A????,

You’ve taken on a heavy topic brother! I encourage you to keep it up. This really motivates deeper study. I agree 100% that Christians will not face God’s wrath, neither on earth nor ever in hell.

Where my view might differ from yours is in the question of what exactly constitutes the wrath of God during the Great Tribulation and when exactly (during the Great Tribulation) that wrath begins. It seems to me that not all of the Great Tribulation is purely the wrath of God. Some of it is the wrath of Satan or the Antichrist against God’s people (12:12,17; 13:7; 20:4). Other parts are God’s wrath against the ungodly and against Satan himself (16:1; 18:8; 20:10).

So I think it’s possible for Christians to go through a part of the Great Tribulation yet not face God’s wrath.

Let’s keep the dialog going.

Your friend and brother,

An???

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This was my response…

I appreciate the reply.

Luke 21:34-36

34 “Be on your guard, so that your minds are not dulled from carousing, drunkenness, and worries of life, or that day will come on you unexpectedly 35 like a trap. For it will come on all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 But be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to stand before the Son of Man.”

If you notice in Luke 21 [to escape all these things], it encompasses everything that is seen in Revelation from Chapter 6 and onward which suggests that those who are living a spiritual life in obedience to God’s Word are confirming that their faith in Christ is genuine and thus will be spared from the coming wrath of God [1 Thes. 1:10, 4:16-17, 5:9]

The seals reveal the Antichrist and his conquest [Revelation 6] and in Matthew 24:15-16 which says, 15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand), 16 “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. It shows that the Great Tribulation starts when the Antichrist puts his image in the corner of the third temple and claims to be God [2 Thes. 2:4] which tells the reader to flee for their lives which constitutes the start or the beginning of God’s wrath.

God’s wrath is poured out through many ways. For some examples: Ruthless men from Babylon, to punish the Israelites for their sins. God Himself throws hailstones at Israel’s enemies to destroy them.

God’s wrath is seen through both, human hands and His own.

I think that the Holy Scripture is pretty clear that the wrath of God starts with the seals [Antichrist coming out in the first seals] and forward.