God so Loved the World that He Gave His Son: The greatest Spiritual battle ever fought – part forty seven-b
Well… here we are ready to continue with the story that was started last week. If you haven’t had a chance to read last week’s blog post, now would be a good time to read it. Here is the portion of Scripture that really caught our attention:
Numbers 7:3-9 (NLT2)
3 Together they brought six large wagons and twelve oxen. There was a wagon for every two leaders and an ox for each leader. They presented these to the LORD in front of the Tabernacle. 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, 5 “Receive their gifts, and use these oxen and wagons for transporting the Tabernacle. Distribute them among the Levites according to the work they have to do.” 6 So Moses took the wagons and oxen and presented them to the Levites. 7 He gave two wagons and four oxen to the Gershonite division for their work, 8 and he gave four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarite division for their work. All their work was done under the leadership of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. 9 But he gave none of the wagons or oxen to the Kohathite division, since they were required to carry the sacred objects of the Tabernacle on their shoulders.
As I was wrapping up last week’s post, I posed the following question to the Lord: Okay Lord… You have our attention now. What do You want us to see here? The Lord proved to us that He speaks to us through His Word! Even through the Old Testament! Here is what He gave us:
- God, through Moses, laid out a detailed plan for how the Tabernacle was to be transported. The Gershonite division and the Merarite division were allowed to use the ox carts to transport the items that were assigned to them. However, the Kohathite division was required to transport the “Most Sacred Objects” on their shoulders, using the poles that were provided. The Most Sacred Objects included the Ark of the Covenant, the Table where the Bread of the Presence is displayed, the Gold Incense Altar, the Lampstand and all of the accessories associated with the most Sacred Objects.(Read Numbers 4:1-15)
So how does this apply to the New Testament you ask? Do you remember when King David was transporting the Ark of the Covenant on an ox cart? Here’s the account of that from 2 Samuel:
2 Samuel 6:1-7 (NLT2)
1 Then David again gathered all the elite troops in Israel, 30,000 in all. 2 He led them to Baalah of Judah to bring back the Ark of God, which bears the name of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. 3 They placed the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it from Abinadab’s house, which was on a hill. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab’s sons, were guiding the cart as it left the house, 4 carrying the Ark of God. Ahio walked in front of the Ark. 5 David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the LORD, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments—lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. 6 But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand and steadied the Ark of God. 7 Then the LORD’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him dead because of this. So Uzzah died right there beside the Ark of God.
I’m sure that King David knew better than to transport the Ark of the Covenant on an ox cart!He grew up as a Jewish boy learning the Tora (The Old Testament Books of Moses). It was certainly important for Uzzah! He paid the ultimate price for the disobedience!
It causes me to wonder… how many other instances there are where I have read something in the Old Testament and never realized that Holy Spirit would speak to me about it if I would only listen! We have been discussing God’s plan for carrying burdens. Peter tells us to cast our burdens and anxiety on Him (Jesus)!
1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)
7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Well… that opens up a whole new, very important, area for discussion. We’ll have to wait till next week to discover what Holy Spirit has for us regarding the Old Testament Sacred Objects and Jesus.