Most Holy Call to Pray (CTP, 1st May, 2021)
Topic: Becoming an Ark of God
Minister: Rev. Kayode Oyegoke
It is a great privilege to hear the voice (sound) of the High Priest. Our Lord Jesus can speak from different points, and He may not yet relate with the hearer in His fullness. The fullness of Jesus’ personality is His high priestly ministry which is purely heavenly (Heb. 4:14). Our Lord Jesus had to go into the heavens to operate as our great High Priest. He could not stay on earth because there was no tabernacle on earth that was heavenly.
“For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us…” (Heb. 9:24). Jesus has entered into the heavens. He is presently appearing in the presence of God for us. Jesus is not using earthly things to carry out the obligations of His high priestly ministry. In the days of our Lord Jesus, the earth already had a tabernacle and there were priests who served in it (Heb. 8:3-4). Therefore, it was necessary to raise a priest who will handle the heavenly tabernacle. Jesus is the High Priest of high heavens and the Church should be ready for Him. We should be ready to tune in to heavens so that we can hear our Lord Jesus speak from there.
A speaking ministry is a priestly function (Heb. 12:25). The High Priest approaches His duty by words. Jesus is a priest of words; He does things by saying words. Therefore, we should be attentive to the things that the Lord is speaking. The pattern of “speaking” is also seen in the Old Testament. The major purpose of Moses’ tabernacle is for God to speak from within it. God began to speak to the children of Israel after the tabernacle had been raised (Lev. 1:1-2). Any tabernacle that cannot sound words is not a true tabernacle. God will only raise a tabernacle so that He can speak from within it.
Moses had a deal with God (through intercession) that He would dwell among the people of Israel. However, God decided to stay in a tent because the children of Israel lacked the capacity to carry Him. God moved into the tent as soon as it was raised and began to speak from the Most Holy Place, where the ark was kept. God will not speak if the tabernacle has no ark resident in it. This is because God sits on the mercy seat and that is where He speaks from.
Whenever God wants to change address or location, He will look for a people whom He can speak to. He will keep speaking the pattern of His intended house till He downloads all the resources for the house into the people. God first began to speak from Mount Sinai, which was not built by any man but by God Himself. He gave the instructions meant for raising the tabernacle from Sinai. He was speaking His departure from Mount Sinai to the tabernacle that Moses would build.
God has an ancient need. However, He first needs a people who can understand His language. Sadly, many believers are unlearned in the spirit and unable to see into God’s agenda. God is looking for men who are passionate about His agenda, who will love and do all His will. It is not every man who can do all the will of God because it is not an easy task. To do the will of God is to submit oneself to be broken and remoulded by God, so that He can live in you.
After the book of Judges, God began to speak again. This was when Eli (the high priest) could no longer see clearly. Anytime God is speaking for the purpose of raising a building, we should be careful because it means that He is about to relocate from His present location. For a long time, God had wanted to leave this present heaven. Solomon built a house for God using physical materials (1 Kings 8:27). However, the material that would be used for the house that God desires is obedience. We would be raised to become an ark that is overlaid with gold by our obedience in the spirit.
When God is giving instructions to a company of people concerning a building work, angels know that He is about to depart. Angels know when God is talking like He did on Mount Sinai and also to David. God spoke so much to David concerning the building of a temple that he became so consumed, and vowed that he won’t rest until he gives God a house (Psa. 132:4-5). Then God decided to give him the blueprint of the house. David wanted God to rest, and that is the will of God.
The first point of call for a man who will do God’s will is that such a man would place God’s interest above his own. Such is a man who wants God’s joy. God would begin to wonder why such a man is so mindful of Him. That kind of man is a wonder to angels, because he is thinking of God’s need. God is mindful of man because He wants him as a resting place. However, a man who will give God rest must also be mindful of God (Psa. 8:4, Romans 8:6). Such is a man whose thought life is consumed by God. A man must be drunk for God, if he would give Him rest. That kind of man knows that God is not resting. Such a man knows that Moses, heavens and its angels have not given God rest. Therefore, he would be willing to be used and raised by God as His resting place.
Whosoever will give God rest will not even care about his own personal needs. A man who will give God rest is not one who is consumed by the need to acquire earthly things; but consumed with a desire to become God’s resting place. A man who is only concerned about his physical needs is one with a poverty mentality. Those whose thoughts are inclined to true riches are those who are seeking first the kingdom of God. A truly rich man is one who thinks about God’s need.
Anyone who understands the plan of God will not deviate from it. The plan is to make God rest. The standard of God’s resting place is holy and high. The biblical messages that pertains to how our physical needs can be met, was a conversation that Satan dragged God into. Adam was not created with the need of food, shelter and clothing; those needs came into the earth through his fall. Cares of this earthly life were not present in the beginning when God made man; they are anomalies that came into the earth through the fall of man. That was not God’s original plan concerning how men should live. Man was not created to focus on solving his own carnal needs; the original reason for creating man is to meet God’s need.
After the fall in Genesis, man fell into a world that requires him to spend his entire lifetime investing on the cares or needs of this present life. However, Jesus refers to a man who lives like that as one with an evil eye; and such calls for a wrong worship (Matt. 6:22-24). True worship is looking up to God and thinking about how to meet His need. If God leaves a carnal man alone, he will never think about the need of God all his life. This shows that many men do not understand why they were created.
When God made Adam, His original intention was to make him become an ark. The ark of God is the typical or actual tabernacle that is housed by the Most Holy Place. The ark of God is the real temple while the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and Most Holy Place are expansions around it.
It can only take a man who has become an ark to commune with the ark of God. Aaron was only granted access into the Most Holy Place once in a year because he had not yet become an ark (Lev. 16:2). That was why he could not commune with the ark of God in the Most Holy Place. It was the blood that was speaking for Aaron (Exo. 30:10). On the other hand, Moses could go into the Most Holy Place at any time; and God could commune with him because he had become an ark.
The house of the ark of God used to be in Shiloh with Ephraim, the son of Rachel. However, God moved from Rachael (i.e., Ephraim) to another son of hers (Benjamin). But Rachael disappointed God because of her idols. Ephraim joined himself with an idol (Hos. 4:17). There was also another idol in Benjamin which was more dangerous -- the idol of self. This idol showed up through Saul. The same nature of Esau played out in Saul: the nature of someone who is not interested in the spiritual agenda of God (Gen. 25:32).
David discovered that he could not get God until he falls in love with the ark of God. “Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest; Thou, and the ark of Thy strength.” (Psalm 132:8). God cannot be found in the Outer Court, Holy Place or the Most Holy Place; He is only seated on the ark of God. That was why David was passionate about locating the ark; he knew he would thereby get God. In all of this, God was watching the heart of David. David was never discouraged; he pressed on until he took the ark of God.
David made sure that the ark of God stayed in his lineage. David was wiser than Solomon; because he was the one who made the generational plan to retain the ark of God by considering the building of the temple. David gave this plan to Solomon. That was what Saul was foolish about; he wanted a kingdom without worship (obedience) to God. It is selfishness when a man wants a kingdom without God. Such a man is one whom God refuses.
Jesus’ ascension into the heavens as the High Priest is not just a thing to be told as a story. Some believers think that Jesus is just there in heaven waiting for them to die physically and come to meet with Him. Satan has used physical death as a veil to cover God’s program and agenda. Due to ignorance, the Church often use going to heaven after natural death to interpret and cover great blessings that she ought to enjoy. However, Jesus is presently in heaven for a purpose: to speak to us. He wants to interact with His Church.
Satan, with evil spirits, is out to make sure that everyone who is born again is trapped in religion. This is so that Christians will not understand what is the hope of His calling. A Christian can only know the hope of His calling, or why he is born again, when the eyes of his understanding are opened (Eph. 1:18). New Birth is a calling unto salvation. However, some Christians only focus on evangelism (1 Cor. 1:26). Evangelism is not the most important thing in Christianity; it is only a part of the agenda. The calling in Christianity is to be conformed to the image of the Son (Romans 8:29). However, Satan wants Christians to be religiously busy so that they won’t attain the purpose of God.
God wants to make us arks. In order for this to happen, we must fall in love with the ark of God. We can become anything in the temple as much as we love it. If you want to become an ark, then you must pierce through the preceding veils to stay and commune with the ark. When you commune with the ark of God, you will hear instructions. The secret of rest is upon the ark of God.
David purchased the eternal throne by his conversation (how he lived). David was not interested in the physical throne of Israel. When Absalom rebelled, David left that throne for him and ran into the bush (2 Sam. 15:1-14). David was above that earthly dominion of Israel because he had seen an eternal dominion, and understood it. Scriptures said that David behaved more wisely in all his ways (1 Sam. 18:14). He had an attitude that God could not reject; he never gave up on getting the ark of God.
God will reward any man who has passion for the ark of God, even if he ends up not getting it. Getting the ark of God is far more than our desire for it. The issue of getting the ark of God is not of him that desires or goes for it, but of the Lord who shows mercy (Romans 9:16). The ark of the New Testament is the Son of God (Heb. 1:2-3). Our Lord Jesus Christ is the person who carries God the Father around. The Son of God is Jesus who has attained Eternal Life; He is also referred to as the quickening spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). God wants to vacate this present heavens. He has been dwelling amidst the four Cherubs who surrounds the throne since ages past. Even when our Lord Jesus died and resurrected, God did not change His dwelling pattern. This is because of His expectation that Jesus will raise many more sons of the same capacity as Himself (Heb. 2:10/5:8-9). It is only when this is achieved that God can change His abode.
God the Father raised our Lord Jesus from the dead and took Him up so that He can hear and speak to us. The purpose of the whole book of Hebrews is to speak God’s dwelling place into manifestation (Heb. 1:1-2). “But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” (Heb. 3:6). “Holding firm” speaks of our adherence to the things that our Lord Jesus is saying. Our High Priest does not use physical materials in raising a building; He uses words. As we obey the words that come to us, we would gradually become a house for God. God raised and set Jesus at His right hand with an intent of making men become a house for God. The goal of becoming God’s habitation is more precious than our academic or professional studies in the natural. It is good to get some education; but much more, God has given us a lifetime to learn and know Him. We become what we learn. Therefore, if we learn God, we will eventually become like Him.