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Topic:
Thoughts
And Things Of The Bible -- Ark
Noah's Ark: A building of gopher-wood, and covered with pitch,
300 cubits long, 50 cubits broad, and 30 cubits high (Gen. 6:14-16); an
oblong floating house of three stories, with a door in the side and a
window in the roof. It was 100 years in building (Gen. 5:32; 7:6). It
was intended to preserve certain persons and animals from the deluge
which God was about to bring over the earth. It contained eight persons
(Gen. 7:13; 2 Pet. 2:5), and of all "clean" animals seven
pairs, and of "unclean" one pair, and of birds seven pairs of
each sort (Gen. 7:2, 3). It was in the form of an oblong square, with
flat bottom and sloping roof. Traditions of the Deluge, by which the
race of man was swept from the earth, and of the ark of Noah have been
found existing among all nations.
Ark Of Moses: The ark of bulrushes in which the infant Moses
was laid (Ex. 2:3) is called in the Hebrew teebah , a word derived from
the Egyptian teb , meaning "a chest." It was daubed with slime
and with pitch. The bulrushes of which it was made were the papyrus
reed. The sacred ark is designated by a different Hebrew word, 'aron' ,
which is the common name for a chest or coffer used for any purpose
(Gen. 50:26; 2 Kings 12:9, 10).
Ark Of God: Noah's ark is distinguished from all others by
such titles as the "ark of God" (1 Sam. 3:3), "ark of the
covenant" (Josh. 3:6; Heb. 9:4), "ark of the testimony"
(Ex. 25:22). It was made of acacia or shittim wood, a cubit and a half
broad and high and two cubits long, and covered all over with the purest
gold. Its upper surface or lid, the mercy-seat, was surrounded with a
rim of gold; and on each of the two sides were two gold rings, in which
were placed two gold-covered poles by which the ark could be carried
(Num. 7:9; 10:21; 4:5,19, 20; 1 Kings 8:3, 6). Over the ark, at the two
extremities, were two cherubim, with their faces turned toward each
other (Lev. 16:2; Num. 7:89). Their outspread wings over the top of the
ark formed the throne of God, while the ark itself was his footstool
(Ex. 25:10-22; 37:1-9). The ark was deposited in the "holy of
holies," and was so placed that one end of the poles by which it
was carried touched the veil which separated the two apartments of the
tabernacle (1 Kings 8:8). The two tables of stone which constituted the
"testimony" or evidence of God's covenant with the people
(Deut. 31:26), the "pot of manna" (Ex. 16:33), and
"Aaron's rod that budded" (Num. 17:10), were laid up in the
ark (Heb. 9:4). The ark and the sanctuary were "the beauty of
Israel" (Lam. 2:1). During the journeys of the Israelites the ark
was carried by the priests in advance of the host (Num. 4:5, 6;
10:33-36; Ps. 68:1; 132:8). It was borne by the priests into the bed of
the Jordan, which separated, opening a pathway for the whole of the host
to pass over (Josh. 3:15, 16; 4:7, 10, 11, 17, 18). It was borne in the
procession round Jericho (Josh. 6:4, 6, 8, 11, 12). When carried it was
always wrapped in the veil, the badgers' skins, and blue cloth, and
carefully concealed even from the eyes of the Levites who carried it.
After the settlement of Israel in Palestine the ark remained in the
tabernacle at Gilgal for a season, and was then removed to Shiloh till
the time of Eli, between 300 and 400 years (Jer. 7:12), when it was
carried into the field of battle so as to secure, as they supposed,
victory to the Hebrews, and was taken by the Philistines (1 Sam.
4:3-11), who sent it back after retaining it seven months (1 Sam. 5:7,
8). It remained then at Kirjath-jearim (7:1,2) till the time of David
(twenty years), who wished to remove it to Jerusalem; but the proper
mode of removing it having been neglected, Uzzah was smitten with death
for putting "forth his hand to the ark of God," and in
consequence of this it was left in the house of Obed-edom in Gath-rimmon
for three months (2 Sam. 6:1-11), at the end of which time David removed
it in a grand procession to Jerusalem, where it was kept till a place
was prepared for it (12-19). It was afterwards deposited by Solomon in
the temple (1 Kings 8:6-9). When the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and
plundered the temple, the ark was probably taken away by Nebuchadnezzar
and destroyed, as no trace of it is afterwards to be found. The absence
of the ark from the second temple was one of the points in which it was
inferior to the first temple.
Derived from Easton's and Smith's Bible Dictionaries
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