At that time the Lord said to [Moses], “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden chest. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the chest.” (Deuteronomy 10:1-2, NIV 1984).
My Musings – Moses did exactly what the Lord commanded Him to do. “So, I made the ark out of acacia wood and chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. The Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments he had proclaimed to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. Then I came back down the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made, as the Lord commanded me, and they are there now.” (Deuteronomy 10:3-5, NIV 1984).
The ark, called the ark of the covenant, played a prominent role in Israel’s history up to the time of King Josiah. “Josiah celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem. He said to the Levites, who instructed all Israel and who had been consecrated to the Lord: ‘Put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon, son of David king of Israel built.'” (2 Chronicles 35:1, 3, NIV 1984). This is the last time its location is mentioned in the Canon.
Thereafter, its whereabouts are unknown, but has been the subject of much mystery and speculation. It could have been taken or destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon when he captured Jerusalem and he raided and burned the temple to the ground. Or it could have been removed and hidden prior to that time. It is referred to in the intertestamental period in the non-canonical book of 2 Maccabees. In that book it is said that the prophet Jeremiah removed the ark of the covenant and the moveable tabernacle that the temple had replaced. He took them to the mountain where Moses was allowed to see the promised land before he died. It was there that Jeremiah hid and sealed them in a cave, keeping its location secret.
But since its mention in 2 Chronicles, it has been lost to history. But not lost to the future. “Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant.” (Revelation 11:19, NIV 1984). When is “then?” During the last days. Specifically, after the “seventh angel sounded his trumpet. [God’s] wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great— and for destroying those who destroy the earth.'” (Revelation 11:15, 18, NIV 1984).
My Advice – The age of grace will have ended. And for those on whom His wrath remains, the Law, chiseled on stone tablets (that we all broke), will once again be the basis of judgement. How will these people fare?
Crime – “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23, NIV 1984).
And Punishment – “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23, NIV 1984).
And those who responded to God’s grace?
Same Crime –“There is no difference [in the crime], for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [but they] are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.” (Romans 3:22-26, NIV 1984).
But a Reward – “[They] have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:22-23, NIV 1984).
It is a matter of individual choice. Be judged by the Law (carved on stone tablets) or by the blood (“engraved you on the palms of [His nail-scarred] hands.” – Isaiah 49:16, NIV 1984). Should be a no-brainer.
The Brew Is A Musing 