By Colin Campbell on Wednesday, 09 August 2017
Category: Meat For Men Daily Encouragement Blog

DESCRIPTIVE TITLES OF THE ARK OF THE COVENANT, No. 7.

5) THE HOLY ARK

We find this title in 2 Chronicles 35:3 where King Josiah told the Levites: “Put THE HOLY ARK in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build.”

Holiness is a major doctrine of both the Old and New Testaments. Holiness is not only limited to the Old Testament as some people think. It is just as strong in the New Testament.

1 Peter 1:15, 16: “But he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

Hebrews 12;14: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”

The tabernacle, and later the temple, was divided into three areas. The outer court, the holy place, and the Holy of Holies. Paul instructs the Corinthian believers in 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20: “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

The Greek word for “temple” is “naos” which was the heart of the temple. It means “the Holy of Holies,” the sacred place where God’s Shekinah glory dwelt.

During the wilderness journeys, the priests carried the ark on their shoulders, typifying in picture form the New Testament church which carries the ark of God in our bodies as we journey through his world as strangers and pilgrims.

We must never ever take the holiness of our God for granted. This is not to say we should try to establish our own holiness. We should seek to walk in an ever-closer relationship with the One who is our “wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” “Sanctification is the same word that is translated “holiness.”

Jesus Christ is our holiness. He desires to work out His holiness through us. This is such an important truth and the church in general has often failed to grasp the importance that the Scriptures place on it.

Some have tried to put a greater emphasis on holiness and ended up in cold, stereotype legalism. God’s true holiness rings with love, joy, peace, and freedom. If these attributes are not present our so-called holiness may not be holiness at all.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell