Biblical Studies and Archaeology Community Group
The mission of this group is to provide a place to learn about ancient places and their history.Biblical studies may accompany archaeological discussions as they pertain to the Bible. Please refrain from any negativity as this should be place of positive reinforcement of our love for our Lord, Jesus Christ! May we all become God's ambassadors and embrace our...
The construction of the Ark is commanded by God to Moses while the Jews were still camped at Sinai (Ex. 25:10-22; 37:1-9). The Ark was a box with the dimensions of two-and-a-half cubits in length, by one-and-a-half cubits in heights, by one-and-a-half cubits in width (a cubit is about 18 inches). It was constructed of acacia wood, and was plated with pure gold, inside and out. On the bottom of the box, four gold rings were attached, through which two poles, also made of acacia and coated in gold, were put. The family of Kehath, of the tribe of Levi, would carry the ark on their shoulders using these poles.
One artist's rendition of what the Ark looked like.
Covering the box was the kapporet, a pure gold covering that was two-and-a-half by one-and-a-half cubits. Attached to the kapporet were two sculpted Cherubs, also made of pure gold. The two Cherubs faced one another, and their wings, which wrapped around their bodies, touched between them.
The contents of the Ark has been debated through the centuries. The general consensus is that the first tablets containing the Ten Commandments, which were broken by Moses, and the second tablets, which remained intact, were contained in the Ark (Bava Batra 14b). According to one opinion in the Talmud, both Tablets were together in the Ark; according to another, there were two Arks, and each contained one set of Tablets (Berakhot 8b).
The Ark was built by Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, who constructed the entire Tabernacle รข?? the portable Temple used in the desert and during the conquest of the land of Israel. The Tabernacle was the resting place for the Ark, and also contained other vessels that were used in the physical worship of God. The Biblical commentators argue over why God commanded Moses to build a Tabernacle in the first place: According to Rashi (Ex. 31:18), God realized after the sin of the Golden Calf that the Israelites needed an outlet for physical worship, and commanded that they build the Tabernacle as a way of expressing their own need for physical representation of God. According to Nachmanides (Ex. 25:1), however, the Jews were commanded to build the Tabernacle even before the sin of the Golden Calf; rather than filling a human need, the Tabernacle was God's method of achieving continuous revelation in the Israelites' camp. These two opinions as to whether the Tabernacles, and the Temples that followed them, were an a priori necessity or a necessary evil demonstrate the controversial role of physical worship in Judaism as a whole.
The above information by David Shyovitz in it's entirety was obtained from http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/ark.html
One artist's rendition of what the Ark looked like.
Covering the box was the kapporet, a pure gold covering that was two-and-a-half by one-and-a-half cubits. Attached to the kapporet were two sculpted Cherubs, also made of pure gold. The two Cherubs faced one another, and their wings, which wrapped around their bodies, touched between them.
The contents of the Ark has been debated through the centuries. The general consensus is that the first tablets containing the Ten Commandments, which were broken by Moses, and the second tablets, which remained intact, were contained in the Ark (Bava Batra 14b). According to one opinion in the Talmud, both Tablets were together in the Ark; according to another, there were two Arks, and each contained one set of Tablets (Berakhot 8b).
The Ark was built by Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, who constructed the entire Tabernacle รข?? the portable Temple used in the desert and during the conquest of the land of Israel. The Tabernacle was the resting place for the Ark, and also contained other vessels that were used in the physical worship of God. The Biblical commentators argue over why God commanded Moses to build a Tabernacle in the first place: According to Rashi (Ex. 31:18), God realized after the sin of the Golden Calf that the Israelites needed an outlet for physical worship, and commanded that they build the Tabernacle as a way of expressing their own need for physical representation of God. According to Nachmanides (Ex. 25:1), however, the Jews were commanded to build the Tabernacle even before the sin of the Golden Calf; rather than filling a human need, the Tabernacle was God's method of achieving continuous revelation in the Israelites' camp. These two opinions as to whether the Tabernacles, and the Temples that followed them, were an a priori necessity or a necessary evil demonstrate the controversial role of physical worship in Judaism as a whole.
The above information by David Shyovitz in it's entirety was obtained from http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/ark.html
I am not sure if the broken tablets were put in there but I guess we will find out when it is found.
And I am certain that one day they will find it. It might not be until Jesus Christ returns, but it will be found.
The Lampstand had 7 lamps and something similiar is described in Revelation as being in Heaven. Seven is used in scripture to signify the perfection of God's Spirit.
The alter of incense - Refered to in Revelation and the incense represents our prayers to God. The incense alter was to only be lit with the fire from the alter of sacrifice. This signifies Christ by showing how we only are able to come to God thru the shedding of blood to atone for our sins.
The alter of Sacrifice or atonement is more straight forward, however it is interesting that the first sacrifice made was consumed with fire from God. Then the priests were commanded to never let it go out. Much the same way that when we come to God thru Christ he lights a fire in us, but it is our job to keep it going.
The ark contained the law, Aaron's Rod and manna. These all are illusions to Christ. Aaron was the first high priest and Christ was the last. Jesus came to fulfill the law, and he is the bread of life. The lid of the ark held what was called the mercy seat. It shows us the mercy God had in store for us thru his Son.
When the Isrealites again turned their backs on God while he dwelled in Solomon's Temple, he left (I think this is described in 2 Chronicles but I will have to look it up). Later it was prophesied that Herod's temple would see the greatest glory of God. This is the temple where Christ was taken when he was 8 days old and the temple he taught in during his ministry.
Now we are the dwelling place of God's spirit, and what an awesome gift it is to be so blessed by God.
For example, 7 meaning perfection or completion. It is used in the story of creation, where on the 7th day, the world was "complete" or "perfect" so God created rest (as one has suggested in the shabbat discussion). When something is referred to in a quantity of 7, there is also an air of completeness or perfection in the context. For example, Jesus commanding that you not only forgive your neighbor 7 times, but 70 times 7 (or take it to a higher power).
12 has the context of continuity - the most significant example of that is the 12 tribes of Israel.
Three is a number that conjurs up stability - like a triangle.
40, well, it just means a whole bunch. Perhaps there is not a single number used more in The Bible than 40 - the days in the Great Flood, the years wandering in the desert, the list goes on.
When you try to apply a literal numerical meaning to a number that is in scripture, you are not seeing the whole picture. Remember that when the stories were being passed down through oral tradition, and even at the time that they were committed to parchment scrolls, the vast majority of people could not read and very few of them could count. Numbers had no significance as digits or values, but they represented something even more.
It's like I tell people that if you want to argue whether it took God 7 days to create the earth or it took God 4.2 billion years to create the earth, you're totally missing the point. For Biblical translation purposes, the significance of the number is more important than the number itself.
Although I find the study of numbers facinating, there are scholars that think that too much emphasis is placed on the symbolic value of the numbers and not the actual value. Utilizing historical criticism, however, one cannot discount the significance of the symbolic meaning of the numbers.
I hate to put this here, and you can delete it OK?
But why does LMKuhn76 find it necessary to continue to use sarcasm in a lot of her replies?
Just curious.