Ark of the Testimony – Journeys (1)

The “Ark of the Testimony” (seen in Ex.25:16, Jsh.4:16, e.g.) was the most important object in God’s portable tabernacle which Moses/Israelites constructed.  The Hebrew term for “ark” is aróne, Strongs h727; “testimony” is aydúth h5715.  The Ark was also known as the “Ark of the Covenant” (h1285, Nu.10:33, e.g.), the “Ark of the Lord” (h3068, Jsh.3:13), and the “Ark of God” (h430, 1Sm.3:3).

Christ was the God and good Shepherd of ancient Israel.  His glory dwelt above the Ark, upon the mercy seat between the cherubim (cf. Ex.25:22, Ps.80:1, Jn.10:11.  see the topic “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”.)  The Ark represented the Lord’s Presence and Name!  2Sm.6:2 “The ark of God which is called by the Name, the very name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned above the cherubim.”

This two-part topic traces the journeys of the Ark of the Testimony/Covenant through the history of ancient Israel.  Part 1 covers the time from its construction in the aftermath of Israel’s exodus from Egypt…until the capture of the Ark by the enemy Philistines circa (c) 1100 BC.

Using Rev. Martin Anstey’s The Romance of Bible Chronology, v.2, Israel’s exodus from Egypt occurred c 1612 BC and the sacred tabernacle tent & sanctuary was erected c 1611 BC.

Ex.19:1 “In the third month after the sons of Israel went out from Egypt, they came to the wilderness of Sinai.”  While Moses was up on Mt Sinai for 40 days (Ex.24:18), the Lord gave him instructions for the tabernacle (mishkán h4908), its furnishings, and the Ark.  (also see “God Tabernacles With Humans”.)

Ex.25:1, 10-21 “The Lord spoke to Moses, ‘They [Israelites] shall construct an ark of acacia wood. Overlay it with pure gold. You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, and two cherubim of gold at the two ends of the mercy seat, their wings spread upward. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I shall give you.”

The dimensions of the Ark were about 45 in. wide, 27 in. deep, 27 in. high.  It was a gilded rectangular chest.  The Ark had rings on the sides through which two long poles were inserted to carry it from site to site.  (The Lord said the descendants of Levi’s son Koháth were to carry it, Nu.4:4-6 & 7:9).

Continuing with Ex.25:22, “There I will meet with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony”.  The Lord Christ would seat Himself atop the mercy seat, from where He would command Moses and Israel’s high priests of His principles & ways.

It was called the “Ark of the Testimony” because God’s own testimony of moral principles against sin, written on tablets, was placed inside.  Gill Exposition Ex.25:16 “This was put into the ark…which may signify the law was in the heart of Christ.”  The law reflected the character of Christ, ‘seated’ above.

Ex.31:18 “When He [the Lord] finished speaking with him [Moses], He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, inscribed with the finger of God.”  These principles were the Ten Words (h1697 dabarim), called the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue.

Moses recounted in De.10:4 LXX NETS, “He wrote on the tablets the Ten Words (g3056 lógos, Greek), which the Lord spoke to you in the mountain out of the midst of the fire [Ex.20:1-18], and the Lord gave them to me”.  Also cf. De.4:13 LXX, where the Greek term for “words” is g4487 rhéma.  The Decalogue was both logos and rhema.  In addition…a jar of manna (Ex.16:32-34), Aaron’s rod (Nu.17:10), and later God’s book of the law (De.31:26, 2Ch.34:14-15) were placed in or by the Ark.

The Ark with the mercy seat resided in the Holy of Holies room of the tabernacle (Ex.26:34).  Aaron the high priest was authorized to enter that compartment only once each year, on the Day of Atonement.  There he would sprinkle blood on the mercy seat of the Ark, to atone for Israel’s sins (Le.16:2, 14-17).  The Ark with the mercy seat signified God’s judgment and mercy.

Ex.30:26 initially Moses was to mix holy anointing oil and “anoint the tabernacle and the ark of the testimony”.  Ex.40:17-21 the Ark was brought into the completed tabernacle at Sinai 11 ½ months out of Egypt.  v.34-35 the Holy Spirit glory cloud filled the tabernacle on the occasion!  v.36-38 “In all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up, the sons of Israel would set out.”  They weren’t to leave a site until the Shekínah glory lifted; Nu.9:21-22 “Whether it was after two days, a month, or a year.”

For much of ancient Israel’s BC history (subsequent to Egypt), the Ark and the tabernacle were together at the same site/location.  But they weren’t together during all that period of time, as we’ll see.

Nu.10:11-13, 33 in the 2^nd month of the 2^nd year, they departed Sinai with the ark for a 3-days’ journey to the Parán Wilderness.  Nu.11:3, 34-35 their first stops after Sinai were Taberáh/Kibróth-hattaváh and Hazeróth.  De.1:1-3, 19 it was an 11-day march by way of Mt Seir from Horéb/Sinai to the Kadésh-barnéa spring/oasis in Paran (Ge.14:6-7 spring of judgment, Nu.12:16, 13:3, 26, 32:8).  De.1:46 “They remained in Kadesh many days.”  Nu.14:33-34 they won’t enter the Promised Land until the 40^th year!

Nu.20:1-2, 13-14, 27:14, 33:36 in the 40^th year, they camped at Meribáh Kadésh (not an oasis!) in the Wilderness of Zin.  Nu.33 lists in order their 40–45 encampments made during the 40-year journey to the promised Land of Canáan.  Moses died just before they entered-in (De.34:5).

Jsh.3:3-ff after 40 years, priests with the Ark went before Israel as they finally crossed the Jordan River, c 1572 BC.  Jsh.4:19 “The people came up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgál on the eastern edge of Jericho.”  The Ark is at Gilgal in the Promised Land.  Jsh.6:1-20 in their conquest of Jericho, Israelite warriors marched behind the Ark, circling Jericho for 7 days.  Jsh.14:6 Joshua’s HQ location is Gilgal.

Then Jsh.18:1, “The sons of Israel assembled at Shilóh and set up the tent of meeting there.”  God’s tent of meeting/tabernacle and Ark were moved from Gilgal to Shiloh.  Centuries later the Lord recounted in Je.7:12, “…My place which was in Shiloh, where I made My Name dwell at the first”.  Christ ‘dwelled’ atop the Ark at Shiloh.  Jsh.22:9 Israel had “gathered together at Shiloh.”  (Jsh.24:1, 25 the LXX and Arabic versions have “Shiloh”.)  Joshua’s HQ became Shiloh; it means ‘place of rest’.

Jg.2:6-9 Joshua died c 1547 BC.  (see “Chronology – the Exodus to Samuel”.)  Jg.2:1 LXX “The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal…to Bethél, to the house of Israel.”  Jg.2:5 Israel sacrificed there (Bethel/‘Bochím’, where they ‘wept’).  The Divine Captain of God’s host had earlier appeared to Joshua while Israel was camped at Gilgal (Jsh.5:10-15), prior to Shiloh.  Shortly before Joshua’s death, the Ark and tabernacle where sacrifices were made were moved from Shiloh to nearby Bethel (the Luz of Ge.28:19, Jg.1:23).  Cambridge Bible Jg.2:1 “A transference of the sanctuary [to Bethel] (Jdg 2:5b).”

{Sidelight: Jg.17–21 these ending chapters of Judges are a flashback to side events which occurred earlier in the book, but weren’t inserted then (to not interrupt the timeflow).  Henry Commentary Jg.17:1 “What is related in…the rest of the chapters to the end of this book, was done soon after the death of Joshua.”  Pulpit Commentary “Two detached histories [Jg.17–21], which fill up the rest of the book, are long prior to Samson [Jg.13–16].”  In Jg.20:28, Aaron’s grandson Phineás the high priest is still alive (cf. Nu.25:7)!  Gill Exposition Jg.17:1 and Barnes Notes connect Jg.17:1 & Jg.18:1-2 “Dan” to Jg.1:34 “Dan”.  Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 5:2-3 places Jg.17–21 before Othniél’s early judgeship of Jg.3.  Jg.3:8-11 the warrior Othniel judged Israel 40 years, c 1524 BC – 1484 BC.  Caleb’s nephew Othniel acceded a few years after the time of the “elders who outlived Joshua” (Jg.2:7), c 1547 – 1532 BC.}

Jg.18:31 echoes the tabernacle had been at Shiloh earlier.  Jg.20:18 LXX “They went to Bethel and inquired of God.”  Not long after Joshua’s death, the Ark was at Bethel.  Pulpit Commentary Jg.20:18 “At this time the ark of God, with the tabernacle, was at Bethel, only 7–8 miles from Shiloh.”

Jg.20:27 “The sons of Israel inquired of the Lord, for the ark of the covenant of God was there [Bethel] in those days.”  Ellicott Commentary Jg.20:27 “At Bethel.”  Again, Bethel was near to Shiloh.  Jg.21:19 an annual pilgrim feast was held at Shiloh, “on the north side of Bethel”.  Situated in the tribal territory of Ephráim, Shiloh-Bethel became the Ark & tabernacle location (after Gilgal).  350 years elapse….

Jg.16:30-31 Samson the warrior-judge died, c 1142 BC.  Eli and Samuel then conclude the long period of the judges.  1Sm.1:1-3 Elkanáh (Samuel’s father) annually went to Shiloh to sacrifice to the Lord.

The Ark is again at Shiloh.  Ellicott Commentary 1Sm.1:3 “Shiloh was the religious center of Israel during the whole period of the judges. On rare occasions the sacred tent, and the holy furniture, seems to have been temporarily moved to such places as Mizpáh and Bethel, but its regular home was Shiloh.”  1Sm.3:3, 21 the Ark is at Shiloh, where the Lord revealed Himself to young Samuel.

In the latter years of Eli the high priest & judge, Israel had become very backslidden.  1Sm.4:1-5 the Ark is carried into the battle of Ebenézer against the Philistines, c 1102 BC.  v.17-18 the heathen Philistines sack Shiloh, and capture the Ark.  Eli dies when he hears the news.  v.22 “The glory is departed from Israel, for the ark of God is taken.”

The Ark would never return to Moses’ tabernacle!

Cambridge Bible 1Sm.1:3 “It [Shiloh] ceased to be the national sanctuary. Samuel sacrificed at Mizpeh, at Ramáh, at Gilgal, never, so far as we read, at Shiloh.”  Barnes Notes Ps.78:60 “The place of worship was finally and forever removed from the tribe of Ephraim, within whose limits Shiloh was.”

The Ark had resided in the Holy of Holies innermost room (Ex.26:34) of Moses’ tabernacle for 500 years!  From c 1611 BC – 1102 BC (except when it was in transport or taken into battle.  cf. Nu.10:35 “Rise up, O Lord! And let Thy enemies be scattered.”)

The Ark now will reside elsewhere, apart from God’s tabernacle, for 110 years (til c 991 BC).  During these 110 years, the Holy of Holies compartment of Moses’ tabernacle was entirely empty!

1Sm.5:1-7 the Philistines took the captured Ark of God from Ebenezer to their city of Ashdód, to the temple of their pagan god Dagón.  But the idol of Dagon was then found fallen down before the Ark…and broken!  The Lord afflicted the Ashdodites with tumors and mice (LXX).  v.8-9 so the Philistines took the Ark to their city of Gath.  But the Lord afflicted them there with tumors.  v.10-12 so they took the Ark to Ekrón.  The hand of God was heavy upon them in Ekron; many men died or were smitten with tumors.  At that point the Philistines didn’t know what to do with the Ark, they cried out to heaven!

This topic is continued and concluded in “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys (2)”.

 

 

 

Tent/Tabernacle of David (1)

At the Jerusalem Council of around 49 AD, in Ac.15:13-18 the apostle James quoted an Old Testament (OT) prophecy of God. “After these things I [God] will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David, which is fallen….”  What was the tent of David?  This is about the tent or tabernacle of David.

Two ‘tabernacles’ existed simultaneously in ancient Israel for around 40 years, from circa (c) 1030 BC to c 991 BC.  (cf. 1Ch.15:1, 1Ch.16:37-40.)  The tabernacle of Moses was at Gibeón, and the tabernacle or tent of David was at the “city of David” in Jerusalem during that time.

The tent enclosure David pitched in Jerusalem provided a home for the ark of God for those 40 years.  Until his son Solomon completed the temple (c 991 BC), and the ark was brought into it (1Ki.7:51–8:1).

The ark of God was the most important object in God’s tabernacle Moses had built.  Christ, the God and good Shepherd of Israel, ‘dwelt’ above the ark between the cherubim (cf. Ex.25:22, Ps.80:1, Jn.10:11).  The ark resided in the Holy of Holies innermost room (Ex.26:34) of Moses’ tabernacle for 500 years.  From c 1611 BC – c 1102 BC (except when the Israelites took the ark with them into battle).

Then in the final days of Eli the high priest of Israel, c 1102 BC, the Philistines captured the ark of God (in battle) from Moses’ tabernacle at Shilóh, 1Sm.4:10-13, 18.  It would never return to Moses’ tabernacle!  The ark resided elsewhere, apart from Moses’ tabernacle, for 110 years (until c 991 BC).  During those 110 years, the Holy of Holies compartment of Moses’ tabernacle was entirely empty!

After King David subdued the Philistines, he wanted God’s ark brought up to Jerusalem (c 1030 BC).  1Ch.15:1 “In the city of David [on Mt Zión] he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.”  That Hebrew term for “tent” is óhel, Strongs h168.  The Greek Septúagint term is skené g4633.

Unlike Moses’ tabernacle, the tent of David wasn’t a structure.  So the tent of David is never referred to as a mishkán h4908, Hebrew, in the OT.  David’s enclosure was just a tent.  Whereas Moses’ tabernacle was a mishkan wooden frame structure (with curtains and a tent roof).

2Sm.6:17 “They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in the tent [h168, Septuagint g4633] David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt and peace offerings before the Lord.”  Voluntarily.  Other than these dedicatory offerings, David didn’t sacrifice animals at his tent on Mt Zion.  No recurring animal sacrifices were done at David’s tent!  Moses’ tabernacle was for animal sacrifice, 1Ch.16:39-40.  Later, King Solomon did a one-time sacrifice at the tent of David and fed the people, 1Ki.3:15.  No more there.  (Solomon sacrificed at Moses’ tabernacle in Gibeon, and the Lord appeared to him, 1Ki.3:4-5.)

Ps.76:2 “His [God’s] abode [den/shelter h5520 soke] is in Salem, His dwelling place in Zion.”  While David reigned in Jeru-Salem, Christ’s “abode” was above the cherubim of the ark in David’s tent on Mt Zion.  David built his palace on Mt Zion.  (see the topic, “Zion in the Bible”.)  The ark represented the presence of God!  However, for all of David’s reign, God’s tabernacle (mishkan) of Moses and its furnishings was at Gibeon, not Zion.  (Note: Ps.76:2 may also apply to Mt Zion of the heavenly Jerusalem, cf. He.12:22 & Ga.4:26.  And Ps.76:2 “Salem” can tie back to Melchisedek in Ge.14:18.)

In the tabernacle Moses erected, the innermost Holy of Holies place (behind the second veil) early-on contained three items: #1 the ark with the Decalogue law, God’s testimony on tablets, inside (Ex.25:21, Ex.31:18, De.4:13); #2 Aaron’s rod that budded (Nu.17:10); #3 a memorial jar of manna (Ex.16:32-34).  ref He.9:1-5.  Later, the Book of the Law was also placed beside the ark (De.31:26, 2Ch.34:14-15).

But David brought only the ark into the tent.  The ark still contained God’s law of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments…even during Solomon’s reign (1Ki.8:1, 9; 2Ch.5:10)!  But gone from Moses’ Holy of Holies in Gibeon was Aaron’s rod that budded; it signified priestly Aaronide eminence in the Levitical order of ancient Israel.  Gone was the memorial jar of manna from their wilderness experience.  We may presume that Aaron’s rod and the jar of manna were lost when the Philistines captured the ark.

(Whenever…Christians are now God’s priesthood in the order of Melchisedek.  Aaronite priests are obsolete.  And Christ is our living bread of life.  The church eats of the “hidden manna”, Re.2:17.)

Les McFall The Chronology of Saul and David “The actual time from the death of Eli to the deposition of the ark in Jerusalem by David was 68 years.”  After the Philistines sent back the ark (1Sm.6:21–7:1), it sat in Abinadáb’s house at Kiriáth-jearím for near 70 years (c 1101 – c 1030 BC).  Until 1Ch.13:5-7.

David & Uzzáh attempted to retrieve the ark of God from Abinadab’s house.  That attempt was aborted because the ark wasn’t transported in the manner the Lord had prescribed (2Sm.6:1-12, 1Ch.15:11-15).  Then the ark resided in Obéd-edóm’s house for 3 months.  The Lord blessed Obed-edom’s household while the ark was there, before David brought it up to Jerusalem (1030 BC)!  The concept of God’s ark being at a person’s home wasn’t new with David.  (also see the topic “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys”.)

Why didn’t David just return the ark to God’s tabernacle at Gibeon, rather than bringing it to his palace on Mt Zion?  Zadók the priest served at Moses’ tabernacle in Gibeon (1Ch.16:39); but the ark upon which to sprinkle blood on the annual Day of Atonement was gone.  Yet David and the leaders of Israel all agreed to bring the ark up to the “city of David” at Jerusalem (1Ch.13:1-4, 12-13), not to Gibeon.

Following are 8 possible reasons why King David set up the “tent of David” at his palace on Zion:

#1 The priesthood had become corrupt in the days of Eli the high priest & his sons (1Sm.2:12-17, 22-26, 4:10-22), when Moses’ tabernacle was at Shiloh in the territory of the tribe of Ephráim, c 1102 BC.  David wanted the ark of God and His Presence in Jerusalem, but without the priestly corruption which had existed at Moses’ tabernacle in Shiloh (back when Samuel the prophet was in his 30s).

#2 David wanted to safeguard the ark by locating it farther away from Philistine territory.  Abinadab’s town of Kiriath-jearim or Baaláh (Jsh.15:9) was west of Jerusalem, on the border of Judah, near the tribal areas allotted to Benjamin & Dan.  Dr. Ralph Wilson David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem “Another reason may have been that since the Israelites had destroyed the Philistines’ idols [2Sm.5:21-22], David wanted to protect the ark, lodged only a few miles from their territory, from a reprisal.”

#3 Prior to Gibeon (but after Shiloh), Moses’ tabernacle had been at the priestly town of Nob…before David became king, when King Saul was chasing him.  David escaped to Nob (and ate of the priests’ showbread from the Holy Place), 1Sm.21–22.  Saul later had the residents of Nob killed!  1Sm.22:22 David felt responsible or guilty for their deaths, and avoided more association with Moses’ tabernacle.

#4 David wanted to increase knowledge of God in the Land among the people.  So he allowed for two sets of priests at two places of worship…at Moses’ tabernacle in Gibeon and at the tent/ark in Jerusalem.

#5 Again, the ark had recently been in a personal dwelling (for 70 years!), not in Moses’ tabernacle.  During the lifetime of David, the ark had never been with Moses’ tabernacle!  David wanted the blessing that had come to the household of Obed-edom to come to him and the people in Jerusalem!

#6 The Lord had had David build a sacrificial altar on Mt Moriáh at the threshing floor of Ornán (or Araunáh) the Jebusite (1Ch.21:18, 26-30; 2Ch.3:1).  Since God accepted David’s burnt offerings at that altar and ended the pestilence, David felt no need to go to the great altar at Gibeon to seek the Lord.

#7 God told David that his son Solomon would build a temple/house for God (1Ch.22:5-10).  David received the revelation of the pattern for Solomon’s temple (1Ch.28:11-21, 29:1-25), and began the preparations.  But the Lord didn’t permit David to construct the temple (1Ch.22:5-10).  Since Solomon would erect a stationary building for the ark (on nearby Mt Moriah, 2Ch.3:1), David saw no need to temporarily return the ark to Moses’ portable tabernacle at Gibeon.  (ref the internet article, “The Movement of the Ark and the Tent of God”.)

#8 After Saul’s demise, David as king saw it necessary to further unite the 12 tribes of Israel.  The ark of God was the most revered object from the days of Moses.  Bringing the ark to David’s palace on Mt Zion would make Jerusalem both the government capital and the religious center of the Holy Land.

{Sidelight: Some Bible readers speculate that David’s birth was illegitimate, that he wasn’t authorized to fully participate at Moses’ tabernacle.  So David didn’t want the ark in Gibeon.  Verses they use as backup: 1Sm.16:1-11 Jesse omitted his son David from Samuel’s important sacrifice; De.23:2-3 none illegitimate nor Ammonites could enter the assembly of the Lord; Jg.11:1-2 Jephtháh; 1Ch.2:13-17 & 2Sm.17:25 David’s two sisters had an Ammonite father, Nahásh (not Jesse); Ps.51:5 “In sin did my mother conceive me”; Ps.22:6-10, Ps.69:7-8, 19-20 his reproach was possibly due to his mother’s sin.

I won’t detail this line of thinking, but refer you to the following articles: What About David’s Mother; Ryan Johnson Overcoming An Illegitimate Identity; Professor Who Was King David An Illegitimate Son Of Jesse?; bjorkbloggen King David Said In Sin Did My Mother Conceive Me; Dean Smith King David’s Big Dark Secret and Why Did King David Set Up the Tabernacle of David?

However, David did enter Moses’ tabernacle at Nob!  And in hunger he and his men ate the priests’ showbread which had been in the Holy Place (1Sm.21:1-6).  So it seems David didn’t consider himself forbidden, at least not from the premises of Moses’ tabernacle.  Jesus said of David in Mt.12:3-4, “He entered the house [tabernacle] of God, and they ate the consecrated bread which wasn’t lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him”.  Interpret the questionable view of David’s illegitimate birth as you will.}

Above are 8 (or 9) possible reasons why David pitched a tent on Mt Zion for the ark of God.  Perhaps several are applicable.  It was in David’s heart to later build a permanent structure in Jerusalem for the ark (1Ch.17:1-ff).  However, the Lord said Solomon would build the temple (in Jerusalem, 2Ch.3:1).

But was it God’s will for David to first pitch a tent for the ark in Jerusalem?  David had consulted with all the leaders about bringing the ark from Kiriath-jearim.  1Ch.13:1-3 “David said to all the assembly of Israel. ‘If it seems good to you, and if it is from the Lord our God, let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we didn’t seek it in the days of Saul.”  R. Wilson op. cit. “Bringing back the ark becomes a national event.”  But was the “tent of David” idea “from the Lord”?

Ps.78:68 “He [the Lord] chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He [the Lord] loved.”  This Psalm 78 was written by Asáph, who ministered before the ark at David’s tent on Mt Zion (1Ch.16:4-5, 37).  Mt Zion and the tent/tabernacle of David on it was God’s choice!  Pulpit Commentary Ps.78:68 “God, no doubt, inspired David with the thought of fixing his residence in ‘the stronghold of Zion’ (2Sam 5:9), and of bringing up the ark of the covenant into it (2Sam 6:12-17).”

The physical tent David pitched disappeared from history (after 991 BC).  David’s united kingdom of Israel was eventually divided, in the days of Solomon’s son Rehoboám.  The two nations of Israel and Judah would later both go into captivity, to Assyria and Babylon respectively.  But before captivity….

Approximately 240 years after Solomon moved the ark from David’s tent (and moved Moses’ tabernacle from Gibeon, 2Ch.5:5) into the finished temple of Solomon on Mt Moriah (c 991 BC)…the Lord gave Amos a remarkable prophecy to the house of Israel.

Am.9:11-12 Septuagint/LXX “In that day I [the Lord] will raise up the tent [skene g4633] of David that is fallen, and will rebuild it.”  (Here the Hebrew text term is sukkáh h5521, booth.  A booth was a temporary dwelling, not intended for reuse in other locations.)  The Lord said the day would come when He would again raise-up a “tent of David”, which David’s physical tent foreshadowed.

The tent David pitched for the ark…the Lord associated it with the future.  So David’s special tent, housing the ark with the mercy seat (2Sm.6:2) and the Decalogue, must have been according to God’s will!  The Lord approved.  (That is, as long as they transported the ark to the tent in God’s rightful manner.  Again, 2Sm.6:3-11 is the account of David’s initial failed attempt, transporting it incorrectly.)

Furthermore, not long after Amos, Isaiah also prophesied about the tent of David.  Is.16:5 LXX “A throne will be established in loving kindness. One will sit on it in truth, in the tent [skene g4633] of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.”  (The Hebrew here for “tent” is ohel h168.)

This verse too applied to the future…to Christ and His church and His government!  Benson Commentary Is.16:5 “He [Isaiah] was carried forward to a contemplation of the kingdom of Christ.”  JFB Commentary “Language so divinely framed as to apply to ‘the latter days’ under King Messiah.”  Gill Exposition “This was typical of the church of God, where Christ sits and reigns as King, see Amos 9:11.”  Bob Sorge Why Sion Is So Important “Jesus is the rightful heir to the throne of Zion.”  The typological tent of David was pitched on Zion.

This topic is continued and concluded in “Tent/Tabernacle of David (2)”.  There we’ll look in the New Testament at the realization of the OT type.

Day of Atonement (2) – in Revelation

This Part 2 is a continuation of “Day of Atonement (1) – Sacrificial Blood”.  This topic’s foundational verses are addressed in Part 1.  Only the initial paragraphs from (1) are repeated here in (2).

In ancient Israel, the weekly 7^th day sabbath and the annual Day of Atonement (approximately Oct 1) were the only full sabbath days.  The Day of Atonement was the holiest day.  The Septúagint/LXX identifies the Day of Atonement as a double sabbath.  Le.23:26-32 LXX “On the 10^th day of the 7^th month is the day of atonement, holy to you. It is a perpetual precept throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a sabbath [Strongs g4521, Greek] of sabbaths [g4521].”  Le.16:29-31 LXX “On this day he [high priest] shall make atonement for you to cleanse you from all your sins before the Lord, and you shall be clean. It is a sabbath [g4521] of sabbaths [g4521] to you, and you shall afflict your souls [fast].”

Unlike God’s pilgrim temple feasts, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kíppur h3725, Hebrew) was kept in all their dwellings.  Jewish Virtual Library “The most important day of the year. It was said that even if all the other festivals were to be abrogated, the Day of Atonement…would remain.”  It was the Lord’s day.  And this annual double-sabbath was the only recurring day of fasting commanded by God.

Luke wrote in Ac.27:9, “Sailing was now dangerous, since the fast was already past”.  The Day of Atonement was then being observed within the Roman Empire.  Cambridge Bible “The fast here meant is that of the great Day of Atonement.”  Ellicott Commentary “The date may have been fixed on St Luke’s memory by St Paul’s observance of the Fast.”  The fact that Luke refers to it indicates the Day of Atonement was being kept by Jews, and probably by many Christians too, outside the Holy Land.  Adam Becker The Ways That Never Parted, p.268 “Gentile Christians from Syria-Palestine continued to celebrate Yom Kippur together with their Jewish neighbors until at least the 4^th century, as sermons by Origen and Chrýsostom prove.”  The Day of Atonement was a well-known occasion.

Some think John (a Jewish Christian) had been fasting when he received the book of Revelation.  John eats a scroll (Re.10:9-10), but no food is indicated.  Franklin Hall Glorified Fasting “The Revelation of Jesus Christ was given to John on the rugged Isle of Pátmos, where he’d been placed to starve to death. John converted his intended starvation into one of the greatest consecration fasts. Revelation of this kind almost always came to a prophet on an empty stomach.”  Also seen in Revelation, is atonement.

The Lord had instructed Moses/Israel in Le.25:8-10, “You shall sound the trumpet [LXX g4536] abroad on the 10^th day of the 7^th month, on the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet. You shall thus set apart the 50^th year as holy, and proclaim liberty throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof. It shall be a jubilee for you.”  The Day marked the jubilee special event.  (Part of this verse was inscribed on the Liberty Bell at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA in 1752 AD.)

I awakened the sabbath morning of May 7, 2016 with Isaiah 58 impressed on my mind.  The chapter is about a proper fast.  Is.58 was traditionally read in the synagogue on the Day of Atonement!  The Lord instructed the prophet Isaiah in Is.58:1, “Shout aloud, don’t hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to My people their transgression.”  Proclaim it loudly, like the sound of a ram’s horn, a shofár (h7782).  In Is.58:1, the Greek LXX trumpet is g4536 Strongs.  Is.58:1 refers to the Day of Atonement.

God continued in Is.58:2-3, “Yet they [Israel] seek Me daily. ‘Why have we fasted’, they say, ‘and You don’t see? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You don’t notice?”  Though they afflicted their souls on Yom Kippur (Le.16:29, 23:27, Nu.29:7), their fast was insincere.  Pulpit Commentary Is.58:3 “The fast spoken of is probably that of the great Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement was, like the sabbath, a day on which no work was to be done (Le.16:29).”  Ellicott Commentary Is.58:3 “Only one fast, the Day of Atonement, was prescribed by the Law.”  Benson Commentary Is.58:3 “Wherefore have we afflicted our soul’ – defrauded our appetites with fasting.”  To fast was to afflict one’s soul.

The Lord continued in Is.58:6, “Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen…?”  The Day of Atonement was set by the Lord.  Pulpit Commentary Is.58:6 “This passage stands like a homily for the Day of Atonement.”  God ordained it, not man.  It was the Lord’s day, quite unlike any other day!

We read in Le.25:9 and Is.58:1-ff that the trumpet sounded on the Day of Atonement (especially in the jubilee year).  It was the only double-sabbath day of the Lord.  It is present in the book of Revelation.

Re.1:9-11 “I, John…was on the island of Patmos. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet [g4536], saying, ‘Write in a book what you see.”  Notice the similarity to Le.25:9 and Is.58:1.  It was on this holiest day of the year, the Lord’s Day of Atonement fast, when the trumpet was loudly sounded (Le.25:9).  John hears Jesus’ voice loud like a trumpet on the Lord’s Day (Re.1:10), and Isaiah was to raise aloud his voice like a trumpet on this fast day (Is.58:1).

John told Jesus’ message to the seven churches of Asia Minor in Re.2–3.  Then John writes in Re.4:1-2, “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice, which I had heard like a trumpet [g4536], said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things. A throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.”  John sees the heavenly sanctuary!

There was only one day of each year when man was permitted entrance to the Most Holy Place of God’s tabernacle/temple sanctuary.  (ref Part 1.)  On the Day of Atonement the high priest was allowed to approach the Lord who dwelt between the chérubim atop the ark.  That Day the trumpet sounded; the priest saw the ark.  John wrote in Re.11:19, “The sanctuary of God was opened in heaven, the ark of His covenant appeared in His sanctuary”.  John too saw the ark (containing the Decalogue) on that Day.

God had said in Is.58:13, “If you will turn away your foot from the sabbath, from doing your interests on My holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord”.  Ellicott Commentary Is.58:13 “The sabbath is as holy ground.”  Matthew Poole Commentary Is.58:13 “Whether we understand it of the occasional sabbath in solemn humiliations or otherwise set apart for sacred services, which is called a sabbath, Le.16:31 [Day of Atonement].”  The sabbath fast of Yom Kippur was the most sacred day.

Matthew Henry Commentary Is.58:14 “Even in Old Testament times the sabbath was called the Lord’s Day, and is fitly called so still; and for a further reason, it is the Lord Christ’s day, Re.1:10.”  Matthew Henry identified “the Lord’s Day” of Re.1:10 as a sabbath.

Whereas John refers to Sunday as the “first of the week” (Jn.20:1, 19)…not “the Lord’s day” of Re.1:10.  The Lord’s Day…“My holy day”…was a sabbath.  (also see the topics, “Sabbath 7^th Day” and “Sabbath Day Became Sunday in Rome”.)

Wikipedia “The shofar is blown in synagogues at the end of every Yom Kippur. The Rabbis created the practice of the Shofar’s sounding every Yom Kippur rather than just on the Jubilee (once in 50 years).”

Yet that Lord’s Day sabbath of Re.1:10 may have been an actual Jubilee Day of Atonement!

The prophet Ezekiel recorded years by counting from their captivity and/or the jubilee year.  Each new jubilee cycle was proclaimed by a trumpet sounding on the 10^th day of the 7^th month…Yom Kippur.

Ezekiel wrote in Ezk.1:1-2, “In the 30^th year…I was by the river Chebár among the exiles. In the 5^th year of King Jehoiachín’s exile, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar.”  ref 2Ki.24:10-16.  The river Chebar in N. Mesopotámia flows into the Euphrates.  King Jehoiachin/Jeconiáh/Coniah and Judah were taken captive by Babylon in 597 BC.  Jewish Virtual Library “In the winter of 597 BCE Nebuchadnézzar exiled him.”  The 5^th year of exile was 592 BC.

Later Ezk.40:1-3, “In the 25^th year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the 10^th of the month in the 14^th year after the city was taken, on that same day the hand of the Lord was upon me. In the visions of God He brought me into the Land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain.”  The previous civil year ended as the new year began near the autumnal equinox (Sep 20), see Ex.23:16 & Ex.34:22.  New Year’s Day was Rosh Hashánah, the 1^st day of the 7^th month Tíshri.  The 10^th of the month was the Day of Atonement (followed by the Feast of Ingathering/Booths).  Jerusalem was destroyed in 587-586 BC.

God gave Ezekiel visions on that jubilee Day of Atonement!  The year was 573-572 BC.  Ezekiel was fasting.  The “30^th year” prior to Ezk.1:1 was the previous jubilee of 622 BC.  Barnes Notes Ezk.40:1 “If that was a jubilee year, which is highly probable, this vision also falls in a jubilee year. The jubilee year began with the month of Tishri, a sufficient reason for speaking of the time as ‘the beginning of the year.’ The 10^th day of this month was the day of atonement, Le.16:29-30.”  The civil year (not the sacred year) began on Tishri 1.  Geneva Study Bible Ezk.40:1 “This is to be understood as September.”  Rodger C. Young The Jubilee and Sabbatical Cycles “The prophet Ezekiel, aware that the Day of Atonement in his 25^th year of captivity would mark the beginning of a year of Jubilee….”  Jacob Milgrom Ezekiel’s Hope “The probable reference of the ‘25^th year’ to the jubilee year, which begins in the fall (Le.25:9).”  622 – 50 = 572.

Chronology of Jubilees “It can more firmly be established that Ezekiel could have received his vision of a new Temple around the time of a 50^th year of a 50-year cycle. Essentially, the year 572 BC hypothetically did correspond with around the time of a jubilee year.”  Yom Kippur proclaimed jubilee.

rootsweb.ancestry.com Ezekiel 1:1-2 & Ezekiel 40:1 “The final year or the Jubilee year which began on the 10^th day of the 7^th month on the 49^th year and then concluded with the 50^th year. Now one should be able to see that if the 5^th year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity was in fact the 30^th year of the Jubilee count and that 20 years passes that it would then be the 50^th year or the Jubilee year in which King Jehoiachin’s 25^th year of captivity came to pass as the scripture gives note.”  Ezekiel noted it.

The remainder of the book of Ezekiel, chapters 40–48, consists of the awe-inspiring visions God gave beginning on that Day of Atonement fast!  Pulpit Commentary Ezk.40:1 “Of the prophet’s [Ezekiel’s] utterances, it was beyond question the grandest and most momentous.”  Given him on that Lord’s Day.

Similarly, it seems the awesome visions which John recorded in Revelation came on the Day of Atonement, centuries later!  The day wasn’t just some Sunday.  Continuing in Ezk.40 are verses which compare with Revelation.  Ezk.40:2 & Re.21:10 both Ezekiel and John envisioned a very high mountain.  Ezk.40:3 & Re.11:1 both Ezekiel and John envisioned a measuring rod.

Also on Yom Kippur, God executed His judgment of His people, sealing the verdict.  Again Re.4:1 “I saw a door standing open in heaven.”  That was between the Holy Place and Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement.  v.2 John sees the throne inside the Most Holy Place on that Day.

Re.8:1-3 “When He [Jesus the Lamb] broke the 7^th seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him to offer with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne.”  (He.9:3-5 describes the earthly sanctuary type of the heavenly. “There was a sanctuary called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar/[censer] of incense and the ark of the covenant. Above it were the cherubim….”)

Continuing with Re.8:4-5, “The smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God. And the angel took the censer and he filled it with the fire of the altar and threw it to the earth [Land].”  The high priest took a golden censer into the Holy of Holies only on the annual day of atonement.

Following is Isaac Newton’s commentary tying Re.8:1-5 to the Day of Atonement…William Whitla Sir Isaac Newton’s Daniel and the Apocalypse, p. 314-315: “The 7^th seal was therefore opened on the day of expiation [day of atonement], and then ‘there was silence in heaven for half an hour. And an angel (High-Priest) stood at the altar having a golden censer; and there was given him incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints, upon the golden altar which was before the throne.’ The custom was….while he offered the incense, the people prayed without in silence, which is the silence in heaven for half an hour. When the High-Priest had laid the incense on the Altar, he carried a Censer of it burning in his hand, into the most holy place be­fore the Ark. ‘And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.”

But in Re.8:5, the angel overturns the golden censer, to pour out God’s judgments upon the Land!  The Lord chooses to ignore prayers of Judah, and refuses the atonement.  Ellicott Commentary Re.8:5 “As in the parallel vision in Ezk.10:2 when the man clothed with linen is bidden to ‘go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill his hand with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the doomed city’; so here the ashes fall—the judgments are at hand.”  The doomed city in Ezk.10:2 also is Jerusalem (ref Ezk.8–11).  Jerusalem previously was destroyed in 586 BC.

Again, the ark in the Holiest Place was seen by man only on the Day of Atonement.  Re.11:19 – John Tudor Church of England Quarterly Review “The temple of God is then opened, and the ark of his testament seen, 11:19; and the voice issues from the throne, 16:17; both expressions equally denoting the holy of holies, which was only en­tered once a year….All the imagery in this poem was taken from the Day of Atonement—the golden censer, the incense, the deep affliction, the temple opened, and the ark seen indicating the opening of the veil on the day of atone­ment.”  Now let’s go to Re.15….

Re.15:5 “The tabernacle of the testimony is opened.”  God’s testimony was the Decalogue (Ex.31:18).  It was written on two tablets and contained in the ark, which was in the Holy of Holies.  The Lord’s judgment is based upon His commandments and principles.

Re.15:6 angels therein are clothed with linen (g3043).  Only on the Day of Atonement could the high priest enter the Holiest Place clothed in linen holy garments (Le.16:4, 23, 32 LXX), not his everyday priestly attire.  Matthew Poole Commentary Re.15:6 “These angels came in the habit of high priests.”

Blood was carried into the Most Holy Place.  The high priest sprinkled the blood of atonement seven times on the altar of incense before the Lord (Le.16:19).  But in Re.15:7, angels representative of the high priest have seven bowls filled with the blood-red wine of…the wrath of God (cf. Re.14:10)!

Re.15:8 “And the sanctuary was filled with smoke.”  A cloud or smoke-screen had protected, in a sense, the high priest in the sanctuary, lest he die (Le.16:12-13).  This event occurred only on Yom Kippur.

Then in Re.16, God executes His verdict/judgment.  Rosh Hashanah and the Days of Awe Lead to the Time of Judgment “Yom Kippur. That’s when the judgment falls.”  The bowls containing God’s blood-red wrath…are poured out upon the Land!  Re.16:3-5 two angels pour out their bowls; the sea, rivers, springs became blood!  Josephus Wars of the Jews 3:10:9 “The lake [of Gennesarét] is all bloody, and full of dead bodies.”  That was the Sea of Galilee during the Roman-Jewish War of 66–70 AD.

Peter J. Leithart Atonement Inverted (9/25/2015) “Though the Jews who killed Christians think they are doing service to God, this offering is rejected, and the blood is instead poured out on the land.  Instead of cleansing the land, this rejected atonement pollutes it.”

This inversion atones for the innocent blood shed in the Land.  Re.16:6-7 “For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved.”  Blood for blood.  The blood of martyrs is figuratively poured back upon the guilty Land, defiled with blood.

In Mt.23, Jesus had prophesied woes upon the Jewish leaders who opposed Him.  Mt.23:33-37 “You serpents, you brood of vipers. Upon you shall come the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on the earth [Land]. Truly I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets.”  The Lord declared His judgment upon those responsible for the blood of righteous Israelites & Jewish Christians.  It happened.

Le.24:17 “If a man takes the life of any human being, he shall surely be put to death.”  The lifeblood of man atones for the blood of man.

Atonement makes possible the reconciliation of man, and even God’s creation, to God.  It involves His judgment.  Nu.35:33-34 “You shall not pollute the Land in which you are; for blood pollutes the Land and no expiation can be made for the Land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. You shall not defile the Land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell.”

Leithart op. cit. “Here [in Re.16], the blood of the saints is poured out on the land, and calls up an avenger of blood who will bring the blood of the killers to return on their own heads.”

Centuries earlier, the Lord had denied the atonement for the northern kingdom of Israel.  He sent them into captivity to Assyria in 721 BC.  Later, the Lord denied the atonement for the southern kingdom of Judah.  He sent them into captivity to Babylon; Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC.  Likewise, the Lord denied the atonement for Judah after Jesus was crucified.  Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD.  For more on this aspect of God’s justice, see the topic “Babylon the Great’ in Revelation”.

In conclusion…the book of Revelation, the judgment of God and the wrath of the Lamb (Re.6:16-17, Lk.23:28-30) may seem severe.  But God is just and fair.

The good news for Israel is…Israel and the Jewish people can be re-grafted in!  The apostle Paul wrote in Ro.11:21-26, “Behold the kindness and severity of God. If they [Israel] don’t continue in their unbelief…God is able to graft them in again. And thus all Israel shall be saved.”

“All Israel” includes the Jews.  Paul didn’t know dates…but in God’s good time.  The Lord loves the Jewish people.  As discussed in Part 1, Christ’s atoning blood applies to all peoples, through faith (Ro.3:23-25).  And the final chapters of Revelation are the silver lining after the storm.  Praise the Lord!