The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 172

HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 6.-The Ark of the Covenant. The ark was the heart of the temple. For it the shrine was erected. • It was regarded as the throne of Jehovah. Hence the reverence with which it was approached. In itself the ark was not very re- marko.ble. It was a chest 2½ cubits long, and 1½ cubits deep and broad, made of wood covered with gold ; the lid, called II the mercy-seat," being of pure gold, having the cherubim at its ends. For it~ construction see Exod. xxv., where it is placed first as the most important of all the ftu-niture of the tabernacle. Describe its connection with the people's entrance to Canaan, leading them through the Jordan, and heading the procession round Jericho. A superstitious sanctity was atto.ched to it later. The outward symbol was supposed to have the efficacy which belonged only to that which it symbolized. It was carried into battle (1 Sam. iv.) under this delusion, but the ark could not save a people from whom God had withdrawn. Their superstition was rebuked by the defeat of the army, and the capture by the Philistines of the ark itself. Show how often in Church history the sign has been substituted for the thing signified, to the injmy of God's cause. Though the superstitious belief in the ark was always rebuked, its sanctity was vindicated: by its avenging progress through the cities of Philistia, and by the punishment of Uzzah. Moreover, a blessing came with it to those who received it aright, e.g., to the house of Obed-Edom. The ark had been brought up to Jerusalem by David amid national rejoicing and placed in a tent prepared for it ; now it found its abiding pla.ce in Solomon's temple. Throwing on the ark the light of the Epistle to the Hebrews, let us remind ourselves of certain religious truths to which it bore silent witness. These will be suggested hy the contents of the ark, by its covering, by the mode of approaching it, and by its uses in worship. I. Tm;; ARK SUGGESTED THAT THE COVENANT RESTED ON LAW. The safe custody of the ma.terial tables of stone implied the moral observance of the precepts inscribed on them. "There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone," &c. (If we are to understand Heh. ix. 4 as asserting that Aaron's rod and the pot of If:lanna were actually inside the e.rk, they had probably disappeared by Solomon's tune.) The term" a covenant" is only used by way of accommotlation, when applied to the relation between man and God. Such a " covenant" is merely a promise, which God makes dependent on the fulfilment of certain conditions ; e.g., the promise after the flood is called a "covenant." So the covenant of Sinai wns a promise on God's part, conditioned by the observance of the ten commandments on man's part. This was proclaimed by the presence of the tables of the law in the ark of the covenant. Show from Scripture and experience that bliss is conditionell by obedience. There is nothing lawless either in morals or in natm·e. II. THE A.RX PROCLAIMED THAT MERCY CAME BETWEEN MAN AND THE BROKEN LAW. "The mercy-seat'' covered "tlie tables."• The value of mercy was typified by tho 172 THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS, [cu. vm. 1-GB.