22. The Ark Lost; or, God's Presence Foreited

Chapter 22 - The Ark Lost; or, God’s Presence Foreited THE notices of the ark, and even t the mere allusions to it, during its continuance of above four hundred years in the temple, are no more than occasional and scanty. Although Solomon had been warned, that the glory of his magnificent erection could consist only with the obedience of the wor­shippers,---although the threatening had gone forth, "If ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes, which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them, and this house which I have hallowed for my name will I cast out of my sight,"---yet in his old age he was himself chargeable with rebellion against Jehovah. Not in his day, however, nor for a long time after, was "the holy and beautiful house burned up with fire," and its "pleasant things laid waste." In Solomon’s case we may observe, that amid all his declen­sion, he went not to the full length of some among his successors in forgetfulness of what that temple contained most precious and most sacred. So far did he carry his veneration for the ark, that he respected even the site which it had previously occupied; for "he brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her; for he said, "My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the Lord hath come." Better would it have been, if he had carried out the idea to a fuller extent, and had felt that every place in God’s earth was too sacred to permit the forming of an idolatrous connection.

After the death of Solomon, the rending of the kingdom was not unconnected with the history of the ark. It was the temple which exalted Jerusalem to the ecclesiastical, as the palace raised it to the civil supremacy, as metropolis of Canaan; and to Jeroboam, as a native of Zereda, this was especially galling. He knew that with his tribe---that, namely, of Ephraim---the ark had once found a home; and he grudged to Mount Moriah the constant gathering of the people at the great yearly festivals. Hence, on establishing a rival throne at Shechem, it was his policy to set up at Bethel and at Dan a rival worship, by the con­struction of two golden calves; and a rival priesthood, by the admission to sacerdotal func­tions of men belonging to any tribe, if only they sanctified themselves according to the prescribed mode of Aaronic consecration. The Levites consequently "left their suburbs and possession, and came to Judah and Jeru­salem, and after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came to Jerusalem to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers." The page of Israel’s history thenceforth bore the dark traces of idolatry, impiety, and crime; while to Judah’s chronicles we must turn for the further narrative of the ark. The temple annals form a checkered scene. Often were gold and silver taken from it by the strong arm of the invader, or by the rapacious grasp of some impious prince, or by the trembling hand of some poor and timorous monarch who could not, from his own exchequer, defray the tribute of the oppressor or the purchase price of peace. But never was the sacred ark en­dangered, so long as the temple itself stood. He who continued to make the latter the scene of His residence, continued to make the former the object of His care.

We are not sure but that the ark may have been carried out against the enemy on the memorable occasion of Jehoshaphat’s expe­dition against the confederate armies of Moab and Ammon. The circumstances of the whole case were peculiar. The express design of the foe was to take "the houses of God into possession; and the men of Judah were told by a message from heaven, "the battle is not yours, but God’s; ye shall not need to fight in this battle; set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, Oh Judah and Jerusalem." Among the Levites present on this occasion, the Kohathites are instinctly mentioned. The procession was strictly religious, and not military. When the order of march was set in array, singers were appointed unto the Lord, "that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth forever." On arriving at the watchtower, the hostile army was found utterly destroyed. Three days were spent in gather­ing the spoil, and the fourth in solemn thanks­giving; for "there they blessed the Lord," instead of adjourning to His sanctuary, as---for a public service---we should have expected. Then they returned, "and they came to Jeru­salem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord"---as though it might have been to bring back that which had been the pledge of their victory in the wilder­ness, and the shrine of their worship in the valley of Berachah. This, however, is not sus­ceptible of more definite proof; and we there­fore pass on.

Many a king there was who neglected the ark, like Ahaz, who "shut up the doors of the house of the Lord;" but there were seasons of revival, when rulers, like Hezekiah, would go up into the temple, and spread a letter "before the Lord," and direct a prayer to Him who dwelt" between the cherubims." The measure of the people’s iniquity seemed almost full, when the daring hand of Manasseh set up a graven image in the house of the Lord; but a parting gleam of sunlight streaked the hori­zon, when Josiah showed himself zealous for the Lord, repaired and purified the temple, re-established the passover-feast, and "said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders." The cause of this precept we cannot now ascertain; but it evidently implies that, for a greater or less space of time, the ark---having been removed from the Holy of Holies, probably on account of the temple-profanation committed by pre­ceding kings---had been carried about from place to place by the sons of Kohath. Very brief was the period during which it again occupied the Most Holy. Two successive in­roads, made by the king of Babylon, were pre­monitions of the final overthrow which awaited the city and the temple. In the meanwhile, prophets lifted up their voice of warning.

Jeremiah spoke to the men of Jerusalem in the name of the Lord, and said, "Because ye have done all these works, therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, as I have done to Shiloh." And Ezekiel, among the captives by the river of Chebar, had a prophetic vision, wherein he saw the profanation of the holy courts---the insult paid to the ark by the fire worshippers, who turned their back upon it that they might do homage to the rising sun---the removal of the She­chinah-cloud from the inner sanctuary to the threshold, from the threshold to the eastern gate, and from the midst of the city to the Mount of Olives, lingering, in sign of unwil­lingness to depart, yet moving further and further in token that the judgment was inevit­able. At length the set time came; the temple was given over to destruction; and the ark thenceforward disappeared. The Divine presence having been removed, the symbol had become valueless. And hence we are told that "the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in His anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and re­membered not His footstool in the day of His anger!" Well might the exiles take up the strain of lamentation: "Thou seest that our sanctuary is laid waste, our altar broken down, our temple destroyed, our psaltery is laid on the ground, our song is put to silence, our rejoic­ing is at an end, the light of our candlestick is put out, the ark of our covenant is spoiled." 2 Esdras 10:21, 22. The question here arises, Are we in any danger of incurring Israel’s doom, and forfeit­ing the presence of our God? We are at no loss to give a reply. However strong may be our views of final perseverance, however firmly we may be convinced that He who has begun a good work will carry it on, still, with Scripture for our guide, we cannot deny that there is peril. If there can be no falling away from grace, yet there may be apostasy from the profession of the truth. And it becomes us to ponder those accents of warning which show how much intellectual apprehension there may be of the Divine presence, which may prove but evanescent and delusive, in the case of those who too confidently boast, "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we!" It should arouse us to "stand in awe, and sin not," when we read the solemn cautions of the inspired page: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God de­stroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made par­takers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance." Such a monition is given by the apostle even to those of whom he writes, "But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accom­pany salvation, though we thus speak." Without, therefore, perverting these words by giving way to discouragement or distrust, let us turn them to the designed account, and let us "show diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end." Whenever Jesus draws near, let our prayer be, "Abide with us;" and let us sedulously watch against whatsoever might constrain Him to depart.