Destined to Reign (24 page)

In the new covenant, God will never lift His protection over us.

The bronze serpent on the pole is a picture of Jesus on the cross. Now, why did Jesus liken Himself to a serpent when He is not like one in any way? He is beautiful, matchless, flawless and altogether lovely. You see, on the cross, Jesus became cursed with the curses that we deserved for our sins. He who knew no sin became sin. On the cross, Jesus became a serpent — a picture of a cursed creature — so that you and I could go free.

By His sacrifice on the cross, the guilty creature that brought death in the garden of Eden became a symbol of His grace. Isn’t it like God to turn something that is so ugly into something that is so beautiful? That’s what happens when you let His grace come into your life. He takes all the ugly things in you and makes them beautiful.

Now, why a bronze serpent? Why didn’t Moses just put a real snake on the pole? Because that would have spoiled the typology. Jesus did not come in “sinful flesh”. He came in the “
likeness
of sinful flesh”
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. There is a huge difference. Jesus knew no sin and in Him is no sin. Hence, He cannot be depicted as a real serpent. He was depicted as a bronze figure which was made in the
likeness
of a serpent.

But why
bronze
? Throughout the Bible, bronze speaks of judgment. For example, the altar of burnt offering for the animal sacrifices was made of acacia wood and overlaid with bronze. Its utensils and grate were made of bronze
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. So to see Jesus as the bronze serpent is to see a picture of God’s judgment falling upon Jesus at the cross.

God does not want us to look at ourselves, our afflictions, or even our sicknesses and diseases. Just one look at Jesus on the cross, bearing all our sins, curses and judgment, and you and I will live. The bronze serpent was raised on a pole, and Moses would have lifted it to a high place so that all the children of Israel could see it. In the same way, God lifted Jesus up on the cross for the whole world to see Him. Whosoever looks on Jesus and sees their sins, curses and sicknesses punished on His body shall be saved. They shall be healed. They shall live! The Bible does not say to look at Moses (the law). It says to look at Jesus, and not just the Jesus who walked among us, but the Jesus who was crucified as a bronze serpent on our behalf. Jesus Christ and Him Crucified — that is our solution.

Don’t look at yourself, your afflictions or your disease. Look at Jesus and you will live.

My friend, stop being preoccupied with yourself and your self-efforts, and disqualifying yourself. Start being occupied with Jesus and His finished work. Begin to search the Scriptures for all the things concerning Himself and feel your heart burning within you as the Holy Spirit unveils to you just how beautiful He is.

You have a wonderful Savior. Look away from your own wounds and hurts, and look to Jesus, who will save you!

Chapter 16: The Secret Of David

Have you ever wondered why God called David “a man after My own heart”
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? What was David’s secret? What was it about David that God would bless him so much, making him king over all Israel?

I have heard some people say that God called David a man after His own heart because he was quick to repent. However, there were other people in the Bible who were quick to repent, so this would not have set David apart. Moreover, God called David a man after His own heart
before
he committed his sin with Bathsheba, so it cannot be because of his quick repentance.

David’s secret is the key to the fullness of God’s blessings in your life.

There must be something unique about David which caused him to stand out. Would you like to know what his secret was? I believe with all my heart that this secret is the key to the fullness of God’s blessings in your life.

Turn with me to Psalm 132, where you will find David’s secret. David wrote this psalm when King Saul was hunting him down. Saul was jealous of David and afraid that he would one day become king in his place, so Saul pursued David into the wilderness. Against this backdrop, David wrote:

Psalm 132:1–5

1
Lord, remember David and all his afflictions;
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how he swore to the Lord, and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:
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“Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house, or go up to the comfort of my bed;
4
I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids,
5
until I
…

David was making a vow to God in the wilderness that he would neither sleep nor rest until he did something. Now, hold your horses. Before I show you what he vowed to God, I want to show you something that he himself said about how God saw him:

1 Chronicles 28:4, KJV

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Howbeit the Lord God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for He hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father
He liked me
to make me king over all Israel:

David said, “God liked me.” Oh, I love that! I love the way the old King James Version captures what he said: “God liked me to make me king over all Israel.” Do you know that even in Israel today, when they say, “I like you,” they use the same Hebrew word here, which is
ratsah
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? “I
ratsah
you” means “I like you”.

What Made David A Man After God’s Own Heart?

Would you like to find out why God
liked
David? What made him so special? I believe that God liked David because he got hold of something that was of the greatest importance to God’s heart. He got hold of a divine thought and objective in God’s heart. This was revealed in the vow he made to God in the wilderness in Psalm 132 — “I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids,
until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob
.”
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What was David talking about? To get a better picture, read on. David says in the same psalm, “Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength.”
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David was talking about bringing the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem! I’ve included an illustration of the ark of the covenant below:

The Ark Of The Covenant

This was what David was after, and because he placed such importance on bringing back the ark, God considered him a man after His own heart.

Now, in the days of the old covenant, God dwelled between the two cherubim, which are on the ark of the covenant
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. This was the throne of God. Whenever the children of Israel brought the ark to battle and Israel was in alignment with God, God would give them victory over their enemies.

Let me tell you just how important the ark of the covenant was, in case the only other time you’ve heard of the ark was when you watched the movie
Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark
. By the way, if you saw the movie, let me just say that it was not an accurate depiction of the ark — there were no spirits living inside the ark as the movie portrayed!

Now, during the Old Testament days, which was the holiest country to God when He looked at the earth? It was Israel. Which was the holiest city in all of Israel? Jerusalem. Which was the holiest place in all of Jerusalem? It was the temple on the temple mount. In the temple precinct, there was the Outer Court, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. Which was the holiest place in the temple? Obviously, it was the Holy of Holies.

In the temple, you would find furniture such as the menorah, altar of incense and table of showbread in the Holy Place. But behind the veil was the Holy of Holies, and only one piece of furniture could be found there — the ark of the covenant. This means that the ark of the covenant was the holiest object on earth at that point in time. It was the centerpiece of God, at the center of the universe and in the center of God’s heart.

In the Old Testament, God said that He would speak to the high priest “from between the two cherubim”
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. This place was actually the “mercy seat”. The mercy seat was also the place where the high priest would place the blood of the animal sacrifice, every year on the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement was the only time in the entire year when the high priest could go through the veil into the Holy of Holies.

Are you still with me? Hang on tight, we’re coming to the exciting part!

Typology Of The Ark Of The Covenant

In the previous chapter, I shared with you about the road to Emmaus where Jesus expounded on all the Scriptures, beginning at Moses and all the prophets, the things concerning Himself. Are you ready for some unveiling of Jesus in the Old Testament that will make your heart burn within you? Let’s dive right in.

The ark was so important to God that He gave the Israelites very specific instructions on how it was to be constructed
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. Even though we can only skim the surface, every detail of the ark allows us to get a clearer picture of Jesus since there are no insignificant details in the Bible. From the start, I want you to know that the ark of the covenant points to the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the centerpiece of God’s heart and as you read on, I know that you will fall in love with Him more and more!

For now, look at the illustration I provided earlier. We’re about to look more closely at some components of the ark of the covenant. The box portion of the ark is made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. Wood in the Bible speaks of humanity
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. Acacia wood is known in Israel as incorruptible wood, so this speaks of Jesus’ incorruptible humanity. Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh as a man, but there was no sin in Him. Gold in the Bible speaks of divinity and deity
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. So the wood overlaid with gold speaks of the person of Jesus — He was completely human and at the same time completely God.

What Is In The Ark Of The Covenant?

Let’s look at the lid of the box. The entire lid was made from a solid slab of gold and it covered the box. In Hebrew, the lid is called the
kapporeth
, which means “mercy seat”
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. Let’s see what the mercy seat was used to cover from view.

Three items were kept in the ark of the covenant. The first was the stone tablets on which God wrote the Ten Commandments. The tablets speak of our rebellion and inability to keep God’s laws perfectly. The second was Aaron’s rod. Aaron’s rod was not just any ordinary rod. It was placed overnight in the tabernacle and not only did it shoot forth branches, it also bore fruit and flowers
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. Do you know why God did that? It was because the people were complaining against God’s appointment of Aaron as the high priest, so God caused Aaron’s rod to bud supernaturally to show the people that it was He who had appointed Aaron. Aaron’s rod thus speaks of man’s rebellion against God’s appointed leadership.

The final item in the ark was the golden pot of manna. The Bible calls manna “angels’ food”
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and when the children of Israel ate it while they were in the wilderness, none of them were sick for 40 years. Yet, they called it “worthless bread”
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. So the golden pot of manna speaks of man’s rebellion against God’s provision.

Can you see that every item in the ark speaks of our sins and rebellion against God? But what did God do with our sins and rebellion? He put them all into the ark of the covenant and covered them with the mercy seat where the blood of the animal sacrifices was placed. By doing this, He was saying that He did not want to see man’s sins and rebellion. When He looks down, He cannot see man’s sins and rebellion because they are all covered by the blood on the mercy seat!

God cannot see your sins when they are covered by the blood.

Let me say it one more time to make sure that you did not miss it: God
cannot
see your sins when they are covered by the blood. That is why in the Old Testament, Israel rejoiced every time their high priest went into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement and placed the blood of the animal sacrifice on the mercy seat. When the blood was on the mercy seat, God could not see the rejection of His laws in the Ten Commandments. He could not see the rejection of His appointed priesthood in Aaron’s rod. And He could not see the rejection of His provision in the golden pot of manna. He could not see the people’s sins and rebellion. He only saw the blood on the mercy seat!