Exposition of the Laws of Moses, Exegesis 1 · Part 4
EXERCITAT. IIII. Of the Arke. A Ceremoniall Appendix of Command 2.
Exod. 25.17. And thou ſhalt make a MercieMercy ſeate of pure Gold, &c. verſ. 22. and there I will meete with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the Mercy ſeat, betwixt the two Cherubims which are upon the Arke of the Teſtimony.
THe Arke was that place from which the Lord gave his anſwers to his people,The divers names given to the Arke. foreign adytum quaſi Oraculum vel loquutorium dictum quod deus indo reſponſa daret. & therefore it is called Debhir, his ſpeaking place, 1 King. 6.23. and it was a type of Chriſt, by whom God ſpeaketh to his Church, and it was called his ſtrength, Pſal. 132.8. and 78.61. and his glory, 1 Sam. 4.20. and the King of Glory, Pſal. 24.7. and the place of the ſoles of his feete, Eſay. 43.7. and his footeſtoole, Pſal. 99.5.
Queſt. How is it both called the place of the ſoles of his feete, and his glory?
Anſw. Becauſe all which is in God is glorious, there is no baſe thing in him. If the feete of thoſe who preach the Goſpel be beautiful, Rom. 10.15. much more all that is in him is beautifull and glorious.
The Arke called the propitiatorie.The Arke is called the propitiatory, Rom. 3.25. 1 Ioh. 2.2. which covereth our ſinnes, and it covereth the Tables of the Law that it ſhould not riſe up againſt us to condemne us,foreign divinitas, gloria divina inter homines habitans a foreign habitare. Shecina, or the majeſtie of God dwelt upon this Arke, it was called ſhecina, from Shacan, habitare, and it ſignified Chriſt dwelling with men, Reve. 21.3. Zach. 2.10.
The Cherubims ſtood upon the mercieſeat with their faces looking downeward towards the propitiatory, and Peter alludeth to this, 1 Pet. 1.12. which things the Angels deſire to looke unto, Why the Cherubims looked downeward.the Angels looke downe to the propitiatory, but they looke not one towards another; For then they ſhould have had their faces towards ſhecina, the glorious majeſtie which they could not endure to behold; and here is our comfort, that we may behold God in Chriſt, when the vaile of his fleſh is put betwixt us and him to cover his majeſtie, for otherwayes he were a conſuming fire and we could not behold him.
The Lord commanded them to bow before the Arke,The people were commanded to worſhip before the Arke. and to worſhip at his footeſtoole, Pſal. 99.5. the reaſon was; becauſe the divine majeſtie dwelt there.
The Lord dwelt in the cloud, in the pillar of fire, in the rocke, and in the buſh, Deut. 33.16. for the good will of him who dwelt in the buſh. So the Lord is with his ſacrament, ſo the Lord appeared in majeſtie, and ſo he dwelt amongſt us in the fleſh here. They were not to bow before him when he appeared in his types, as in the cloud, in the buſh, and in the fyre; neyther when hee manifeſteth himſelfe in his Sacraments,They worſhipped before the Arke becauſe the glory of the Lord dwelleth there. but when hee manifeſted himſelfe in the fleſh, and united our nature hypoſtatically to his God-head, here wee are to worſhip him: and ſo when he appeared in glory and majeſtie above the Arke betwixt the Cherubims, they were bound to worſhip him, and when he appeared in the Temple, Eſay. 6.
The Lord had a threefold Arke, firſt,A threefold Arke a fluctuant Arke, as that Arke of Noah. Secondly, an ambulatory Arke which was the Arke in the Wilderneſſe, and before the Temple was builded, and thirdly, the fixed Arke in the Temple.
The fluctuant Arke of Noah ſignified the toſſed and troubled eſtate of the Church in the world here,foreign What the Arke of Noah ſignified. it is repreſented alſo by the ſhip in which Chriſt and his Apoſtles were; this ſhip was mightily toſſed, and Chriſt was ſleeping in the meanetime in the ſhip, the Diſciples cryed out and bad Chriſt awake, for they were ready to periſh, and Chriſt awoke and calmed the ſtorme; the fluctuant Arke is like the Church toſſed to and fro, and Chriſt in the meane time ſeemeth to be ſleeping, yet he hath a care that the barke periſh not.
The ſecond Arke was that which Moyſes made,foreign arca and it was the ambulatory Arke, this Arke remained in the Tabernacle from the dayes of Moyſes untill the dayes of Eli, The places whereunto the Arke was caried after it was ſeparated from the Tabernacle.and then they brought it out againſt the Philiſtims, where it was taken by them, 1 Sam. 4.11. After that the Philiſtims had taken it, they caried it to their five Cities, Aſhdod, Gath, Ekron, Eskalon and Gaza, 1 Sam. 5. and there it remained in the countrie of the Philiſtims ſeven monthes, 1 Sam. 6.1. but when the Lord plagued them, they ſent it away upon a new cart to Bethſhem…ſh, but the Lord ſmote the men of Bethſhemeſh alſo, becauſe they looked into the Arke, therefore they ſent for the men of Keriath-jearim to fetch the Arke, So they brought it to Keriath-jearim where it remained in the houſe of Aminadab, in the hill, 1 Sam. 7.1. and from them it was caried into the houſe of Obed-Edom the Gittite, 1 Chron. 13. and from thence to Davids houſe at Ieruſalem, where hee made a Tent for it, the Arke was never in Gibea, for that was in the Tribe of Benjamin; neyther did Aminadab dwell in Gibea, but Kiriath-jearim, which was in the Tribe of Iuda; this error that it was in Gibea aroſe of this becauſe they tranſlated gibhgna, foreign mons, appellative hic ſumitur & non proprie.Gibea, a proper name, whereas it ſhould be tranſlated A hill, appellativè, and Aminadab dwelt in this hill, 2 Sam. 6, 2.3.
The Arke is ſayd to reſt in the Temple.The third Arke was Salomons Arke which he ſetled in the Temple of Ieruſalem, the ſame in ſubſtance, but wandring before; it had more Cherubims than it had when it was in the Tabernacle, there were but two Cherubims in the Tabernacle, but foure in the Temple. And now it is ſayd to reſt, 1 Chron. 23.25. The Lord God hath given reſt to his people, and in regard of the unſtayedneſſe of it before Moyſes ſayd to the people, yee are not yet come to your reſt, Deut. 12.9.
Why the ſtaves were not taken from the Arke in the Temple.But it is to be obſerved, that when it was ſetled in the Temple, the ſtaves which caried it were not taken away; although they were hid and did not appeare, as they did when the Coathites caried it, yet the ends of the ſtaves were ſeene out in the holy place before the Oracle, 1 King, 8.8. this was done to let the Iewes underſtand, that if they abuſed this Arke, the Teſtimonie of his preſence, and put their truſt onelyonly in it; that the ſtaves were readie to be pulled out againe to carry it from them.
Concluſion. The Concluſion of this, although the Arke was the pledge of Gods preſence to the Iewes, and ſanctified the places where it came, as Salomon ſayd, The places are holy whereinto the Arke of the Lord hath come, 2 Chro. 8.11. yet it was but the furniture of a worldly ſanctuary, Heb. 9.1. and under the Goſpel to be done away, that men ſhould ſay no more the Arke of the covenant of the Lord: at that time they ſhall call Ieruſalem the throne of the Lord, Ier. 3.16. the Church then ſhall be his Arke, and he ſhal ſit upon it, becauſe it ſhall be ſanctified, & all ſhal have acceſſe to the holieſt.