This is the third book

Noah's Ark, Ark of The Covenant & The & Cross

In Scripture there are many things which are seemly insignificant, yet so important in the understanding of our God and life.There are a number of different types of animals mentioned, 'The Lion of the Tribe of Judah', 'The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world' and a colt the foal of an ass on which Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.I understand the colour of this animal's coat was white, in those days it indicated that the one riding came in peace, yes our Jesus rode on it as He is The Prince of Peace.It was also a beast of burden, so Jesus came in humility and carried our burden of sin.With birds there are pigeons, doves and eagles mentioned in the Bible.There are also metals referred to in the Royal Oracles, we have of reference to gold, silver also brass.There is also wood referred to in the Royal Oracles and I am going to note the woods gopher, acacia and olive, we will now consider interesting points in connection with these three

Some folks discount the stories in the Old Testament as not being factual, but so many of them have been proved to be correct through archaeology.Some people think that the story of the flood in Noah's day, the crossing of the Red Sea, Daniel's Fiery Furnace and the Lion's Den are just nice tales for use by Sunday School Teachers, that is not so.From all these things we can learn important lessons about our God and ourselves.Even with some of the miracles of Jesus a number of people try to explain them away.But as we accept the Word of God as being so, it is inspired and then know who our Lord Jesus is, then we fully accept that the records are correct.In this writing I am recording some very interesting information in connection with gopher timber used to build Noah's Ark, the acacia wood from which the Ark of The Covenant was made and an olive tree, wood from which was taken to make the cross on which Jesus was crucified

Noah's Ark

(Genesis c6 v14-22)

A news item I took from the Birmingham Post on the 22nd February 1974 reads as follows:

Noah's Ark 'clue' from satellite

A speck on a photograph taken from an American space satellite may

be a picture of Noah's Ark, Senator Frank S Moss said yesterday.

He told a meeting at the American Congress on surveying and mapping

that photographs from the Earth Technology Satellite supported evidence

that an object about 14,000ft up Iran's Mount Araratis the Ark.

"The photograph taken from 450 miles above the earth, show a formation

which appears to be foreign to other materials found on the mountain", said

Senator Mosswho is chairman of the Senate Space Committee.

"It's about the right size andshape to be the Ark, Skylab photographs being

processed now are expected to improve the A.R.T.S. pictures of the area.

Senator Moss said the location of the ark-like object was ina canyon

filled with ice and was consistent with other sightings

In the late 1960's when I worked as a representative for Wheatley Davis Limited, a company manufacturing cardboard boxes, cartons and cases.One of my customers in Birmingham was a brass founder, it took me a long time to open the account with this company for supplies of cardboard cases, that was good as I kept it until the firm closed down in the 1980's.In the 1970's my wife Amy and myself knew two of the directors of this company, they were both Christians and David organized an expedition to Mount Ararat, to investigate the possibility of Noah's Ark still being in existence

During training David fell off his horse, broke a leg which put an end to him personally going on the adventure, the rest of the team went ahead.From what I now remember, in visiting Ararat there were political problems to be overcome, risks about safety and the visit could only be effectively take place during a short period of the year because of weather conditions.During the expedition photographs were taken of the 'foreign' object, measurements recorded and after considerable difficulties a piece of the gopher wood was obtained from this vessel for examination

From what could be observed on the photographs this object was the same shape and structure as Noah's Ark.This flat vessel was just made to float, its size about 450ft long and 75 ft wide.A piece of wood obtained from this vessel was carbon datedto the period of Noah's Ark by a university in England, I actually held in my own hand some of this wood.Noah's Ark was a flat vessel with three decks, constructed just to float on water, it endured a deluge lasting forty days and nights.Please call to mind that in November, 2000 we had considerable flooding in England & Wales when it rained for only a few days, just imagine the amount of water that would have fallen after a down pour for forty days and nights

Noah's Ark was made of gopher wood, it was pitched both sides and has been preserved in ice by nature ever since, the relic is on Mount Ararat as reported in The Birmingham Post

I find all this very interesting, but what can we observe from it?Firstly that the records in Scripture are correct as they are The Word of God.The last major flood in times of old was in the experiences of Noah and his family, the people of the world were very wicked indeed, the record shows. "There were giants on earth in those days, when the sons of God came to the daughters of men, they bore children.The same became mighty men of old, men of renown" Genesis c6 v4. The peoples of the world were very wicked indeed, resulting in the judgment of God upon mankind.Our God did provide a way of escape for the Godly, this means of salvation from God's judgment was by Noah's Ark.Those in the Ark through their obedience were safe, I understand that millions lost their lives during this flood and the remains of the Ark, which was built by Noah, seem to be still in existence today

Our God is holy, righteous and just.The penalty of death for sin had to be paid because of God's justice, this was the experience of mankind through the flood in Noah's time.The LORD God Almighty can only be just, He cannot break His divine laws, He is not a law breaker but Godly Noah and his family were saved through God's mercy expressed by the Ark.At the time of Noah a new era was introduced, a different civilization was opened up, before Noah the period was known as the 'Antediluvian Civilization', many of us know these different periods as 'Dispensations'.The first one was the 'Dispensation of Innocence', this was broken by disobedience of mankind by Adam & Eve.During that time God had a very special relationship with those He had created, in the language of Scripture there are those nice words when God, ''Walked with Adam & Eve in the garden in the cool of the day''.As the laws of God were broken so this great creator being, because of His holiness had to come into a different relationship with those He created, hence a new era, a different dispensation.More is continually being found out about these old civilizations, it is interesting to observe the standards of living archived in them, more than what one would have first understood from the word 'antediluvian'

We are now living in the 'Dispensation of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ', this was proceeded by the 'Dispensation of Law' introduced through Moses.The present dispensation commenced at that great turning point in the history of mankind, when our Lord Jesus, God's only begotten Son was crucified, His Father God said 'Amen' to His work of The Cross and on the third day He rose in the power of the resurrection.Our Lord Jesus is right now, at this moment seated at the right hand of the majesty on high, this a place of honour.Jesus is crowned with resplendent glory, this surpassing everything we can understand.Our Lord Jesus Christ is at this very moment interceding for His people, this being a great honour for us, and He is coming again, this being an absolute certainty.The present dispensation will end and the Kingdom of God will be introduced in its fullest sense, this we pray for in The Lord's Prayer

Noah's Ark speaks of God's righteousness, judgment & mercy

The Ark of The Covenant

(Exodus c25 v10-22)

The Ark of The Covenant was made by Moses of acacia wood and gold as directed by God.The Ark was to house the two original tablets of stone on which God Himself wrote with His finger the Ten Commandments, it was also to contain Aaron's Rod that Budded and the Golden Pot of Manna.On top of the Ark was the Mercy Seat of solid gold which is thought to be about 9 inches thick

The Ark was 45ins long, 27ins wide & 27ins deep, four rings were made and fixed to the corners, rods of acacia wood were permanently left in position for transportation.The Ark was lined inside and covered on the outside with gold.Into the Ark was placed the two tablets of stone on which were written the Ten Commandments, this writing done by God Himself on Mount Sinai, also in the Ark was Aaron's Rod that Budded and the Golden Pot of Manna.At this point it would be interesting to ask, 'However did Moses carry the original tablets of stone from Mount Sinai?

The following words have been drawn from ancient writings, these I find rather interesting:

'As Moses came down from Mount Sinia he found that the Children of Israel were

worshipping a golden calf.At once Moses saw the writing vanish from the tablets

and at the same time became awareof theirenormous weight.For while the celestial

writing was upon them they carried their own weight and did not burden Moses, but

with the disappearance of the writing all this changed, Moses dropped the stones'

The lid of the Ark, correctly known as the Mercy Seat was made of pure gold, golden cherubims were fixed in position on top.When everything had been completed according to the instructions given by God, He said, 'And there I will commune with thee'.Let us now consider what all this could mean

As already mentioned the Arkof The Covenant contained the original commandment tablets, this being God's standard of righteousness and glory, His commands must be obeyed.As these laws were broken, the penalty had to be paid, we know, 'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord'.God is holy and righteous, His laws as they are perfect do not change, they still hold good today, as broken the penalty must be paid, that of death both spiritual and physical.We sin and break the law of God the Ten Commandments and must take the consequences.The only person who could pay the price, which was acceptable to God, was His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.Jesus said,'Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill'.Our Lord Jesus effectively did this, even to the point of death and beyond.OurSaviour, the obedient Son of God is the only one who can correctly, completely, continuously keep all the Ten Commandments.He was God's Son and was obedient to His Father.So our Lord Jesus paid the penalty for our sin, not His own as He had none, He was and continues to be the impeccable Christ

The Ark was covered with gold.This metal is heavy, dense, pure, ductile and beautiful, some metals like platinum and titanium are more valuable but do not possess the same beauty as gold.God's Word is compared to gold on account of its inestimable worth (Psalm c19 v10), as are tried Godly saints (Job c23 v10), true Godly love (Rev c1 v13), true Godly riches and purity (Rev c3 v18) and sound evangelical doctrine & obedience (1 Corinthians c3 v12) are all compared to this precious metal

In the Ark of The Covenantwas placed the original copies of the Ten Commandments, a stone has no life in itself so speaks of death and what was written on these stones declares God's standard of right-ness.Above the stones was placed 'Aaron's Rod that Budded'.Aaron was the first High Priest, the rod indicated life and his authority.A normal cut rod has no new life in itself, but this rod which was from an almond tree did, it budded, was placed over the tablets of stone and under the Mercy Seat, it speaks of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Great High Priest.The blossom from this type of almond tree was beautiful, fragrant and yielded fruit.These things point first of all to our Lord Jesus, also teaching how our lives should be in Him, in our lives there should be beauty, yes the beauty of Christ, fragrance, the fragrance of The Master and fruit, 'by their fruits ye shall know them'

Also in this same Ark was the Golden Pot of Manna.It was to remind the folk that their God would provide for them.During the wilderness journey they had manna for food, water from a rock, foot wear and clothing that did not wear out and everything else for their journey to the Promised Land.The manna food was white, round as a coriander seed and tasted like wafers made of honey.The Children of Israel ate this in the wilderness, but first of all they were instructed to, 'Lay it before the Lord', to give thanks

Coriander seed was white, so this speaks of purity through Christ, it was round not rough so teaching of perfection in Christ Jesus and tasted like wafers made ofhoney, very delicate and nourishing so denoting the sincerity and life sustaining power of our Lord Jesus Christ.The manna had to be collected every day except on the Sabbath, on the previous day enough had to be gathered for two days and it would keep fresh for the morrow.This signifies discipline in our Personal Devotional Lives, we should feed daily on the 'bread' from heaven, Godly manna is the Word of God, yes and our lives should be 'Layed before the Lord', for His service

As the Children of Israel ate this manna in the wilderness, they said disrespectively, 'Whatis it?'.As we become Christians our manna is The Word of God, we know what it is, therefore do not ask , 'What is it?'.If we dare ask that question it would suggest that our Personal Devotional Life is not in order.Remember our Jesus once said, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of The Father'.The unbeliever sees nothing attractive in the person of our Lord Jesus, for him, 'There is no beauty that we should desire of Him'.But believers on the other hand see in Christ, Every beauty that we should desire of Him

God gave instructions that the Ark was to be carried by rods which were permanently positioned in the rings which were fixed to the Ark, this teaches an important lesson.The people of God do not have their citizenship in this world, not we don't, our citizenship is in heaven, so we should always be ready to move to our heavenly home.Where we are now is not our permanent dwelling place, there is a better one waiting for us, a mansion.Our lives should be encircled around the things of our God, this being correctly expressed in our daily living with our families, at work, with our neighbours and friends.But in saying that may no one come up with that silly quote, 'So earthly minded but no earthly use'.The truth is more likely to be, 'So earthly minded that we are of no heavenly use'

In 1 Chronicles c15 v2 the folk were instructed that ONLY Levites were to carry the Ark of The Covenant.During the days of David this Ark was moved on one occasion without complying to these instructions given by The LORD, what happened?The Ark shook, Uzzah tried to steady it with his hand and he died.This teaches that the work of our God must be done God's way, not the way of the world, neither the Philistine's way nor the way of the flesh.Or indeed the way of the lottery and certainly not for political correctness within the church, those are not in God's spiritual economy either in the Old or New Testaments.The Kingdom of our God cannot be extended by like for like, there is only one waythis by The Cross.Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth and the light, no man cometh unto The Father but by Me'.In our lives there should always be obedience

The Ark of The Covenant was made before Solomon's Temple was built, it was first of all housed in the tabernacle, this was moved from place to place as the nomadic Children of Israel moved about in the wilderness,then finally it rested in Solomon's Temple.As the Ark was placed within the Holiest of All, it was covered with a mysterious cloud, this was known as the 'Shekinah Glory', as Israel were disobedient the glory of The LORD departed, then that state was known as 'Ichabod'.The enormous, dynamic power of The LORD was expressed by His presence above The Ark of The Covenant, yes and we can all call to mind records of this tremendous power.As the Ark was moved from place to place it had the first covering placed on it, then a protective cover of badgers skin, after that a overlay of a blue material (Numbers cv4 v5 & 6).In ancient times rulers were clothed with blue, it was a rich and magnificent colour emblematic of purity and heavenly graces.Just for a few moments dwell on the One whomet with His people over The Ark of The Covenant, The KING of kings and LORD of all.Then the Ark had to be carried by priests as instructed by The LORD

Some years ago the BBC did a documentary about a group of Ethiopians who maintain they have the relic of the original Ark of The Covenant.Indeed details were given how it was transported from Jerusalem to Ethiopia and is now at Axum.This ancient edifice, whatever it might be, is secure in a constantly guarded building and only one person is allowed inside every year

The LORD God Almighty no longer dwells in a building made by hands, but he resides in the lives of all those who have committed their lives to Him, this in and through the work on The Cross of our Lord Jesus, by His Spirit.Now this is the record we have in Scripture and we must fully understand it.However nice the 'feeling' might be in a building that is used for worship, whatever history is associated with it because of its age, please remember the building is only a convenience for folks to gather in.Please read Acts c7 v48, then 1 Corinthians c6 v19 and from us should come the life, beauty, & fragrance of The Master.As any of us have to take our stand for Godliness, right-ness and holiness it can be very difficult indeed but in the final analysis the truth will be worked out.No one can state anything untrue against our God and His people without having to give an account of himself, unless of course repentance is sought.The words of the hymn, 'Gentle Jesus meek and mild' can very often be misunderstood

Christians now meet for worship in the name of Jesus, this above all else, the Bible says, 'Unto Him shall the gathering of the peoples be', the 'him' is the Shiloh which is a title for our Lord Jesus Christ, yes in worship our LordJesus is with us and it is His and our Father's God's desire that we should worship Him in spirit and in truth.In ancient times as The Ark of The Covenant was in position and everything in order, the LORD God said, 'And there I will meet with thee'.Jesus Himself said of the dispensation we are living in now,'Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst'.For us all in our Personals Devotional Lives and in our corporate worship is it 'Shekinah' or 'Ickabod?'

I was recently told that is was probably an acacia tree on which Judas Iscariot committed suicide.It is an interesting point that the Ark of The Covenant was made of the same wood and it contained the original stone tablets on which God wrote the Ten Commandments which speaks of God's standard of right-ness, the one law reads, 'Thou shalt not kill'.Judas in both his thoughts and actions broke the Law of God and Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver and went to The Cross.The judgment for all the sins of mankind were carried by our dear Lord Jesus Christ

Noah's Ark & The Ark of The Covenant speak of God's

righteousness, judgment & mercy

The Cross of Christ

(Matthew c27 v27-54

There has been debate regarding the structure of ancient crosses and the actual type of wood used from which the cross our Lord Jesus was crucified was made.Some say Jesus was crucified on an olive tree, others think it was the trunk of an olive tree in its natural position with a cross member being fixed to it.But I keep to what has been understood for centuries that two pieces of wood were taken, fixed together and our beloved Lord was crucified thereon.Our Lord Jesus Christ was with His Father God, The LORD God Almighty when the world was created.Men for the crucifixion of Jesus used wood which came from the power of God in creation, they made a cross and on it they crucified the Lord of light and glory - what irony.The actual wood could have been from an olive tree, but please tell me what does the type of wood or the actual structure of the cross matter?

Our Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten of The Father was crucified for my, for our salvation, no other sacrifice could be acceptable to The LORD God Almighty.Our Lord Jesus was without sin, but He became sin for us, that truth must be fully understood in my life and yours.The law of God, the Ten Commandments were established by our God as a standard of righteousness and glory, we humans just cannot keep them ourselves, they are continually broken in the lives of every one of us and the divine penalty of death has to be paid.Our Lord Jesus paid that penaltyon The Cross for us in about 33AD, it is ONLY through the work of Jesus on The Cross that we can have forgiveness of our sins and peace with God.All this expresses righteousness, judgment and mercy of our God in Christ Jesus His Son, just reflect on the salvation through Noah's Ark, the Mercy Seat in the time of Moses and The Cross work of Christ, the teaching throughout Scripture is consistent

Just one point before I rest my hand,it is ironic that our Lord Jesus, the One who was with The Father when the world was created, this included the trees in whatever form they then took, should allow one of these to be taken, made into a cross and Jesus His Son, the Lord of light and glory was crucified on it - I say no more but just give thanks

In completing this script on the flood in Noah's time, the Mercy Seat during the experience of Moses and the Cross of Christ, I finish by making one very important observation

The Ten Commandments still hold good today.

We cannot becomeChristiansby keeping the Law of God,

But in being Christians we should endeavour to keep it.

This can only be done throughthepersonofour

Lord Jesus Christ and His work on The Cross

The Ten Commandments are God's standard of righteousness in its fullest sense, they also express His glory.The great LORD God Almighty desires the obedience of those He has created; to help us ten ruleswere written by His finger on the mountian, they must be important.Before your breath is taken away by all that has been stated in this script, just dwell on the words of the Holy Oracles, - 'All have sinned and come short of the glory of God'

Noah's Ark, The Ark of The Covenant & The Cross work of our dear

Lord Jesus Christ speak of God's righteousness, judgment & mercy

This is the third book