And Zacharias said unto the angel, “Whereby shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.” And the angel answering said unto him, “I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.” And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple. And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.
Luke 1:18-22
presence of God
Blessed By The Presence
“And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obededom, and all his household.” 2 Samuel 6:11 (KJB)
When God is present in an individual’s life that individual is blessed by God. When that person is blessed by God their whole family is also blessed by Him.
The ark of the covenant was the presence of God as Israel journeyed through the wilderness for forty years. Is still, during David’s reign, as David conquers Jerusalem, and calls it the “City of David”.
I do not know about you but I enjoy, appreciated, and I am thankful everyday for the blessings of God. What we must love though is not the blessings, but the Blesser.
Kind David, in a hurry, decided to move the ark to Jerusalem, and did not seek out the proper mode of transportation. He chose rather to move it the same way it was moved the last time it was moved; and that was the Philistine way – on a cart pulled by cows (1 Samuel 6:4-12). God’s people must always seek to do things in God’s prescribed order. Because of David’s grave error Uzzah died.
Until David discovered the God-way of moving the ark Obed-Edom and his family were greatly blessed by God’s presence.
The ark is a material object made of wood and gold, with the mercy seat resting atop it made of solid gold. The wood represents the perfect, sinless, guiltless man, and the gold is a picture of His Deity. It is an Old Testament picture or type of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And HIs presence among His people.
When Jesus came and gave Himself a sacrifice for the sins of the world, paying our sin debt to God, He has made it possible for Adamkind to be in the very presence of God, and He with us. Every moment of every day He is present with us.
Be blessed by the presence of God in your life through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of God, who is God the Son.
The Holy and the Most Holy Place
“And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made: and thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver. And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the Testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the Most Holy. And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy place.” Exodus 26:31-34 (KJV)
GOD was giving Moses instructions on the proper worship of Himself, and His holiness. To approach God any other way than God’s way is a terminal endeavor. You will die. You will perish, and still not see God.
The ark of the Testimony above is a representation, or symbol of the presence of God. This pattern was given to Moses, and is a pattern from heaven itself (Hebrews 8:5; 9:22-28). In the tabernacle of the wilderness only the priests had access into the holy place, and only the High Priest had access to the Most Holy place, and that only one day in the year, and not without blood.
As we consider this today we have one access to GOD, and that is through the cross of Jesus Christ of whom the ark of the Testimony represents. It was His own blood that was shed. It was while Jesus was on the cross that the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom showing that GOD had made the way for all who will believe to come to the very throne of grace to find mercy in our time of need (See Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38 and Hebrews 4:16).
May the GOD of all glory give you peace through His Son Jesus today.
The Fire and Hammer 