Biblical Commentaries: from May 20 to 26, 2024

The Value of God’s Work (Ark) for Human Beings

• When the people walked in the desert towards Canaan, the Lord made a pact with them, which we call the Old Covenant or Old Testament. There the Lord gave them the tabernacle and inside it was the ark of the covenant, or ark of testimony, which was a sign of this covenant between God and the Hebrews. Inside the ark, there were three elements testified to this alliance.

i) Exodus 16:33: The Manna that prophetically represented the Son Jesus, life;

ii) Exodus 25:21: The tables of the law, which prophetically represented the Father, the truth;

iii) Numbers 17:10: Aaron's rod that blossomed, which prophetically represented the Holy Spirit, the way.

• The New Testament or New Covenant also has three witnesses: “For there are three who testify in heaven: the Father, the Word (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one” (1 John 5:7). When Solomon finishes building the temple, he introduces the ark into the prepared place, which would be the Holy of Holies, but the text we read in I Kings 8:9 says that inside the ark there were only the Tablets of the Law. The Word does not clarify the reason why Aaron's rod and the Manna were not there. However, some suggestions are that these two elements may have been taken by the Philistines when the Ark was taken (I Sam 4:17-22 and I Sam 5:1-2). It may be that they opened the ark to see what was inside and found a branch with flowers and fruits, a vessel with Manna, and the tablets of the law. The first two elements did make no sense and do not make sense to those who do not have experienced the revealed Word. They may have probably thrown it away. However, they kept the tables of the law because it was considered something precious, important or to be an object of study later. Even because it was related to religiosity, and they respected that.

Understanding Samuel’s text:

• The Philistines typify the world. Those who are not part of the Lord's covenant. What is the value, what is the meaning, what is the understanding and interest that the world has or does not have concerning Jesus or the Holy Spirit? None! The world does not understand the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus. The world does not have the Holy Spirit. However, keep the law as a relic. He has a vague notion that there is a God and a chosen people, but he does not know them. The world reads the Bible, as the Philistines read the tables of the law, it is a law that concerns only those over whom the God of heaven rules, and it is true.

Understanding the text of Kings:

• Now, in the text of I Kings 8:9, the ark is introduced into Solomon's temple, without the Manna and Aaron's rod. What is the meaning? Solomon's temple was built to practice Old Testament worship. In the Old Testament, the Lamb of God (Jesus Christ) was still the promise, and the Holy Spirit would be poured out after his resurrection. So the worship was only to God the Father. They had no understanding of the figure of a Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as we read above in I John 5:7). Furthermore, the non-introduction of Manna into the temple symbolized that Israel would not receive Jesus as the Lamb of God. And the non-insertion of Aaron's rod symbolized that these people would also not receive the Holy Spirit. The ark was lost to Israel over the centuries, but it is under the custody of the faithful church, and within this (spiritual) ark, the three elements are kept. The alliance with the church only has meaning and value with the presence of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When the church is raptured, the ark will rise together and will be in heaven (Rev 11:19), when everyone will contemplate the triune and wonderful work proposed by God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, made available to man to save him and before the which all will be judged.

II Kings 18:4 “... and he broke into pieces the metal serpent that Moses had made...”

• The Word teaches that the idol is nothing (I Cor 8:4), simply because it represents a god that does not exist. The danger is that sacrifices (worship) given to idols are received by demons and this is an abomination (I Cor 10:19-20). The Old Testament prophet used by God to bring the law was Moses, and one of the most important points of the Law is that only the Lord is worthy of being adored and worshiped. Therefore man must not make “a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Ex 20:4). But it was this same Moses who made a metal serpent and hung it on a pole in the middle of the camp of Israel when he walked in the desert (Nu 21:9). Furthermore, he made two cherubim of gold and placed them on the mercy seat in the Tabernacle (Ex. 37:7). How can it be? Regarding idolatry, it is necessary to understand that it is closely linked to disobedience. The Lord told Moses that man should not make any image, as we read in Exodus 20:4, for the purpose of worship. Disobedience to this commandment is idolatry. However, when Moses made the metal serpent or cherubim for the tabernacle, he was obeying the will of the Lord, and there is no idolatry in obedience (Ex 25:18 and Nu 21:8). Moses was fulfilling a revelation from the Lord. The idol is nothing, but it demonstrates an attitude of rebellion and stubbornness against the revelation of the Lord, and this is idolatry and iniquity (1 Sam 15:23). As for the text of II Re 18:4, the situation changed, because the serpent was made to respond to a situation during the walk in the desert and should have been destroyed, however, seven centuries passed and the people preserved it and transformed it into an object of worship. Only under Hezekiah's government was the serpent destroyed. The people began to call the image of the serpent Neustan, which means: “a mere piece of bronze”, that is, they knew that the image was nothing, yet they burned incense to it.

II Kings 18:1-3 - II Kings 21:1-2 - II Kings 22:1 (Good and bad kings)

• Salvation is a personal experience of man with God. It is true that we suffer genetic influence in the formation of our character, we tend to be like our parents. But children should not shift the blame for their poor decisions to their parents. See:

II Kings 18:1-3 – Hezekiah: He was one of the best kings of Judah. ​​He was the son of Ahaz, who was not a good king (II Kings 16:2);

II Kings 21:1-2 – Manasseh: He was the son of Hezekiah and in no way imitated him, destroying all the work that his father had done to restore the spiritual life of Judah. ​​Manasseh upset the Lord so much that He decided to do the same to Judah as he had done with Israel (II Kings 23:26-27 and II Kings 24:3);

II Kings 22:1 – Josiah: Another example of this we find in this man. Being the son of the worst man to reign over Judah, he was crowned at eight years old and chose to serve the Lord. The Word says that no king converted with all his heart, neither before nor after him (II Kings 23:25). So, whether a person decides to serve the Lord or decides not to serve the Lord is an act of their own choice and should not hold their parents or others responsible if they have been faithful or unfaithful to the Lord.

The Book of Chronicles

• In the books of Kings, we saw the fall of Israel. First Israel itself was invaded by Shalmaneser during the reign of Hosea and, at the end of the second book of the chronicles we find the destruction of the kingdom of Judah. ​​The ten tribes that made up the kingdom of Israel were transported to Assyria (II Kings 17:3 -6) and other people were brought to live in the lands of Israel (II Kings 17:24). Judah remained for some time, and good kings still reign in Jerusalem: Hezekiah and Josiah were the last kings faithful to the Lord. Josiah is killed in battle against Pharaoh-Neco, of Egypt and the kings who succeed him, without exception, hate the Lord. Nebopolasar, king of Babylon, begins incursions against Judah, at the hands of his son, Nebuchadnezzar, taking the people captive to the kingdom through three deportations (his name does not appear in the Bible, but in historical books).

• The first deportation was during the reign of Jehoiachin, when Nebuchadnezzar took the royal family captive and all the treasures of the house of the Lord, all the princes, brave men and craftsmen, who could be useful in Babylon, leaving only the poor people of the land (II Kings 24:12-16).

• The second deportation was during the reign of Zedekiah, after a siege lasting a year and a half. Judah's army was scattered and the king was arrested by Nebuchadnezzar. His sons were killed before Zedekiah and his eyes were pierced and he was imprisoned in chains and transported to Babylon. On this occasion, the temple is burned after being completely looted (II Kings 25:1-7).

• The third deportation took place next, at the hands of Nebuzaradan, head of the Babylonian guard, where the rest of the people were taken to Babylon, leaving only a few to work the land and the rest of the gold and silver. Utensils from the Lord's house are also taken (II Kings 25:11-21). Here the history of the kingdom of Judah ends and the Babylonian captivity begins, which lasted about seventy years.

• According to scholars, the Book of Chronicles was written by Ezra, and an interesting detail is that the last two verses of the book of II Chronicles (II Chron 36:22-23) are the first verses of the book of Ezra (Ezra 1:1 -3). Ezra was tasked by King Cyrus of Persia, who had conquered Babylon, to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple of the Lord, as well as to take the people who were captives back to their homeland. The return of the people was carried out under the leadership of Zerubbabel and approximately fifty thousand (50,000) people returned to Israel. The book of Chronicles was written to the people who were returning and would rebuild not only the temple. But the nation of Israel.

• First, the author makes an orderly exposition of how the nation of Israel was formed, starting with the genealogy, from Adam to David, and it is the most complete description gathered in a single narration (I Chronicle Chapters 1 to 9). The people who were returning from captivity needed to know how the nation was formed by God and know about its glory in the times of David and Solomon. Knowing that because the kings turned away from the Lord and led the people to sin, God also rejected the nation and allowed it to be destroyed. The Book of Chronicles only reports the facts related to the kingdom of Judah. ​​Regarding Israel, it only mentions the kings, to place the reader in time, however, the subject is Judah. ​​It is the history of these people that mattered to those who returned. The other part of Israel never came together again as a people and nation. The history of the kings of Israel begins in the book of Samuel and narrates the entire government and fall of Saul and David's ascension to the throne. In Chronicles, the author only narrates the moment of the death of Saul and Jonathan (his son) and the transfer of the kingdom to David (chapter 10). Note the emphasis given in this verse regarding being faithful to the Lord: “And he (Saul) did not seek the Lord, so he killed him and transferred the kingdom to David, the son of Jesse” (1 Chronicles 10:14). The people needed to understand that the Lord wanted a faithful and obedient people. It is worth reading chapter 9 of Nehemiah because it contains what we explained above. The generation that was returning from captivity must have a different mentality from that which inhabited the land until the time of captivity. And this generation really loved the Lord and served him with all their heart, renewing the covenant with God, as we can read in Nehemiah 9:36 to Nehemiah 10:29.