Out of the foreshadow into the light
Some of my mates are really into Star Trek and Doctor Who. I’m not really into sci-fi movies myself. I am a big fan, however, of Steven Spielberg’s ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy. Perhaps I should look into this filmmaker’s earlier trilogy, the Indiana Jones adventures, the first of which was ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’; all the more so as the Ark referred to is the Ark of the Covenant, which has pivotal significance to my Christian faith.
This Ark of the Covenant is not to be confused with Noah’s Ark! It was, in fact, a wooden trunk or chest overlaid in gold and in which was placed the stone tablets of God’s law, better known as the Ten Commandments. The lid was similarly ornate and was known as the Mercy Seat or Seat of the Atonement. What in heaven’s name has this got to do with anything for us living in the 21st century?
Many symbolisms and events depicted in the Bible’s Old Testament foreshadow that which is brought into clear view in the person of Jesus in the New Testament. There is a definite continuity between the two Testaments as when a butterfly emerges from the chrysalis.
Now here is why I believe that this Ark of the Covenant has something to say to each of us today: The Israelite people, working to God’s instructions, placed the Ark behind a separating curtain in the most holy place in their Temple. It represented God’s close, yet heavenly, presence amongst them. No-one was permitted to touch it on pain of death and only the designated High Priest was permitted to go near it and that only once a year. This fearsome and awesome event happened on the Day of Atonement when the priest brought a sacrifice to cover the sins (i.e. wrong-doings) of the people.
Today, each one of us breaks God’s law, his commandments, represented by the stone tablets inside that Ark. There is a popular belief that if we keep more of the commandments than we disobey, that will hopefully satisfy God. The trouble with that notion is God’s Law is a single entity and so although I may not commit murder, if I commit adultery I am still a lawbreaker; if I don’t steal from the local supermarket but do tell a lie, I am still a lawbreaker. How can I atone or make up for these failings? Religious penance, doing good and kindly acts or simply trying to do better, will not give us God’s assurance of his forgiveness.
Returning to the Ark, the Mercy Seat was positioned above the tablets of God’s law. For those who will put their trust in Jesus, he is the Mercy Seat or atonement which is over and above God’s law. This is because he is able to assure us of God’s forgiveness and love in a way that our trying to keep the law of God can never do. Though I haven’t kept God’s law, Jesus did so perfectly. I cannot do anything to wipe the slate clean before God but Jesus presents his own clean slate before God on my behalf. This is the Christian Good News in a nutshell.
I understand that Indiana Jones went to great lengths to find the Ark. Someone should have told him the difference between a symbol and the reality, which is Jesus!