24. The Ark Seen in Vision; or, God's Presence with His Church
Chapter 24 - The Ark Seen in Vision; or, God’s Presence with His Church
ONCE only is the ark again mentioned in the sacred canon. The passage occurs amid the wondrous statements of the Apocalypse. "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." Revelation 11:19. It is unquestionable that this language is wholly figurative. We are no more to understand that the seer literally beheld a material temple, and the literal Mosaic ark, than that he gazed on actual monsters, with real horns and crowns. The expressions are altogether symbolical; and the imagery is borrowed from the old Levitical institutes, of which John from his youth had been accustomed to hear.
We are not about now to attempt any critical exposition of a verse that stands forth to our view in the midst of a sacred treatise so confessedly obscure. Instead of bewildering ourselves with the conflicting statements of commentators, it will be our aim simply to extract the general principles, which all admit to be enwrapped in the few words under our notice. To whatever precise epoch or event they apply, the general outline of their meaning, and the truth they teach, are clearly perceptible. Assuming what is generally conceded, that by "the temple of God" is understood His church, (that is to say, the Christian church---for the veil is rent, and the interior of the edifice open to the view,) and applying to the "ark of the testament" that symbolic meaning which we have kept constantly before us,---we are presented with the idea of God’s presence in His church; and, in connection with it, we read of "lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail," emblems of the judgments which God has in store for the enemies of that church. In accordance with this, we read in the immediate context, "We give thee thanks, Oh Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come, because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned;" Revelation 11:17. And again, "Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ." Revelation 12:10. The same emblematic scene is kept up through the ensuing descriptions, and still teaches the same fundamental truth, of which the vision’s minor details are but the developments and illustrations. "And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: and the temple was filled with smoke from THE GLORY of God and from His power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. Whatever the idea we attach to each several plague, we are at no loss to understand the whole as a succession of judgments that should overtake the adversaries of God, the opponents of His truth, and the oppressors of His people.
It would be easy, though here it would be out of place, to follow the thread of church history as it winds along the mazes of the past, and to find, step by step, as we trace the clue, how every weapon formed against the spiritual Zion has failed to prosper---nay, has often been made to fall back upon those who devised and wielded it. The God of the ark is still in the midst of His people. His ear is not heavy, that it cannot hear; nor His arm shortened, that it cannot save. As in the ancient days, as in the years of old, when He arises, His enemies are scattered, and they that hate Him flee before Him. What has been well said of our own country may be proved, with a yet wider range of illustration, in reference to the church of Christ,---"While God was so conspicuous in her history in the light of the blessings which He showered down, His presence was also singularly transparent in the judgments which, like chartered emissaries, walked the world around." The lightning flash may have glared fearfully upon the eye, the thunder-peal reverberated solemnly upon the ear, the earthquake-throe have paled the cheek, the devastating hail have struck terror into the heart, and the portentous voices filled the soul with apprehension; but no harm could betide the celestial edifice, no judgment reach the sealed ones. Not against them, but in their behalf, were these glittering tokens displayed, these deadly vials outpoured, these desolating plagues sent forth. From time to time, the godly have had to suffer in the defense of the faith. But to them the stake has been as a chariot of fire in which to take their homeward flight, and the block has been as the threshold of heaven; while "the blood of the martyrs has been the seed of the church." Neither to Christian individuals nor to Christian communities does persecution (truly so called) come as a judgment. Man may design it as such; but in the hand of God the curse is turned into a blessing; and by the decree of God the persecutor only draws down sure vengeance on himself. The forked arrows of God’s wrath are not for His people, but for His foes. The temple is safe, because in it is the presence of Him who commissions and controls each flying dart.
Reader, gaze awhile at the temple-vision, and realize its various accompaniments. Listen to the sights and sounds that portend "destruction from the presence of the Lord." Even now "His judgments are in the earth;" but you may yet "learn righteousness." One day it may be too late. When the last trump shall sound---when the sign of the Son of man shall appear in heaven "as the lightning that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven shineth unto the other part"---when "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up"---when the voice of the Judge is heard upon the great white throne pronouncing your final doom, then will your lot be irrevocable. Not so at present.
Look again at that temple of God: it is "opened,"---opened as an asylum wherein you may be safe. Remain without, and you perish. Enter in, and you will be eternally secure. Can you hesitate? Why, oh! why do you stand aloof? That ark is indeed the symbol of God’s presence---His presence, whom you have deeply and daily offended by your neglect and disobedience. But forget not that a sacrifice has been offered, an atonement made. Look to Christ as the Lamb of God, and your sins shall be forgiven. Look to Christ as the Savior, and banish your distrustful fears. Look to Christ as your Intercessor, for through Him you may have access by the Spirit even unto the Father. Hasten to take refuge beside the horns of the altar; then shall the ark of God’s strength, the glory of His presence, be to you, not the radiating point of fiery indignation, but the pledge of your present safety and your future triumph.