Growing up without a TV had a definite impact on my life. One of them being that I get to watch many of the classic movies everyone talks about for the very first time as an adult. Last summer this happened to be the Indiana Jones series. So the movie adventure began, I was excited to watch these classic movies! At the end of the second one, the one with the ark of the covenant, I was asked, “so what is the ark of the covenant anyway”? Well I may not have watched TV much but I had definitely gone to Sunday School and have read the Bible so an easy question you would think right? All I could come up with however was a physical description, that it held the tablets with the ten commandments written on them and a jar of manna, oh and that it was carried by the priests and set up in the tabernacle’s holy of holies. I was kind of troubled that all I could think about was the basic facts and history about it because I couldn’t stop thinking about II Timothy 3:16, that all scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching. I couldn’t help wonder though, how can we learn from the ark of the covenant? How can studying the scriptures about it draw me closer to God?
The Indiana Jones movie adventure led me to an exploratory journey of my own. One through the ancient yet living and relevant scriptures. The first step, breaking out the good ol’ handy concordance and looking up every scripture reference to the ark of the covenant. Then each scripture became my daily Bible reading for the next few weeks. God did open my eyes to see His truth through these scripture accounts which led to His spirit teaching me, correcting me, rebuking me and training me in the way of righteousness as II Timothy 3:16 states! It was awesome! I’ve since moved to other studies but would like to revisit these scriptures and delve further into the observation, study, interpretation and application of God’s word through a study of the scriptures about the ark of the covenant. Will you join me on this quest? We may not be searching for the artifacts and treasures buried in the earth but searching the scriptures for THE treasure – for God – is so much better. As Amos 5:8 commands us so gloriously:
“Seek Him Who made the Pleiades and Orion, Who turns the shadow of death or deep darkness into morning and darkens the day into night, Who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the earth-the Lord is His name-“
No musty artifact or “treasure” can compare to the Creator of all time and space, of galaxies and constellations, of the ecosystems and life itself – Who stills the raging waters with a single command. As the hymn goes,
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.”
Proclaim His Whisper 