Day 44
1 Samuel 5 - 8
Bible Time Period: Conquest and Judges
You led Israel triumphantly into the Promised Land. They failed to teach their children, and instead did what was right in their own eyes: Help me to keep my eyes on you and teach others what is truly right.
Prayer
Lord God, in Your covenant with Israel at Mt. Sinai, You gave the Israelites the Ark of the Covenant with its Mercy-Seat as Your dwelling place with Your covenant people Israel and Your throne of divine grace. The Virgin Mary became the Ark of the New Covenant in Christ. She became Your dwelling place in the Incarnation, and the Cross became the New Covenant throne of grace from which Your Son offered Your gift of redemption and eternal salvation to mankind. We are thankful for the many blessings that are ours in the New Covenant in Christ Jesus, but we are most thankful, Lord that Your dwelling place is now within the soul of each New Covenant believer through the power of the Holy Spirit. Please send Your Holy Spirit to guide us in our study of Israel’s disastrous loss of the Ark when it was captured by the Philistines. We pray in the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. (Agape Catholic Bible Study, 1 Samuel Lesson 2)
Lord God, in Your covenant with Israel at Mt. Sinai, You gave the Israelites the Ark of the Covenant with its Mercy-Seat as Your dwelling place with Your covenant people Israel and Your throne of divine grace. The Virgin Mary became the Ark of the New Covenant in Christ. She became Your dwelling place in the Incarnation, and the Cross became the New Covenant throne of grace from which Your Son offered Your gift of redemption and eternal salvation to mankind. We are thankful for the many blessings that are ours in the New Covenant in Christ Jesus, but we are most thankful, Lord that Your dwelling place is now within the soul of each New Covenant believer through the power of the Holy Spirit. Please send Your Holy Spirit to guide us in our study of Israel’s disastrous loss of the Ark when it was captured by the Philistines. We pray in the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. (Agape Catholic Bible Study, 1 Samuel Lesson 2)
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant was the mark of the Lord's intimate presence among his people.
The ark was carried before the army in battle. After the Israelites had entered the Promised Land, the ark was placed at Gilgal (Josh 4:19; 7:6). It was probably then moved with the Tabernacle to Shiloh (Joshua 18), then to Bethel (Judge 20:27), and then back to Shiloh (1 Samuel 3:3). During the struggle with the Philistines, the ark was captured during the battle of Aphek (1 Samuel 4:11) and was carried to Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron (1 Samuel 5:3-6). The Philistines suffered seven months of earthquakes (1 Samuel 5:3) and plague (1 Samuel 5:6, 9) as divine punishment, and they finally returned the ark to the Israelites...After that the ark was kept for a time at Kiriath-jearim in the home of Abinadab. After the ark had stayed at Kiriath-jearim for twenty years, David placed it prominently in a Tabernacle ( 2 Samuel 6) in his established capital at Jerusalem.
The task of enshrining the ark in the Temple was left to David's son Solomon (2 Chr 5:2-9). The ark remained in the Temple for approximately four hundred years, until the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 BC (Jer 3:16). The ark was not accounted among the spoils claimed by the Babylonians. 2 Macc 2:5 says that it was saved from destruction by Jeremiah and hidden on Mount Nebo. There it would stay, Jeremiah said, "until God gathers his people together again and shows his mercy." (2 Macc 2:7).
In Revelation 11:19 the ark appears in the heavenly temple, fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah. This vision of the ark leads immediatly into the vision of the "woman clothes with the sun" (Revelation 12:1).
Finally, the ark has been seen as a prefiguring of the Blessed Virgin Mary, called by the Church the "ark of the covenant." Where the ark in the Old Testament carried the Old Covenant, Mary, as the ark of God's New Covenant, carried the Messiah. The Blessed Mother was thus a sacred vessel wherein God's presence dwelled intimately with his people. (Catholic Bible Dictionary, General Editor Scott Hahn, page 69 -70)
The Ark of the Covenant was the mark of the Lord's intimate presence among his people.
The ark was carried before the army in battle. After the Israelites had entered the Promised Land, the ark was placed at Gilgal (Josh 4:19; 7:6). It was probably then moved with the Tabernacle to Shiloh (Joshua 18), then to Bethel (Judge 20:27), and then back to Shiloh (1 Samuel 3:3). During the struggle with the Philistines, the ark was captured during the battle of Aphek (1 Samuel 4:11) and was carried to Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron (1 Samuel 5:3-6). The Philistines suffered seven months of earthquakes (1 Samuel 5:3) and plague (1 Samuel 5:6, 9) as divine punishment, and they finally returned the ark to the Israelites...After that the ark was kept for a time at Kiriath-jearim in the home of Abinadab. After the ark had stayed at Kiriath-jearim for twenty years, David placed it prominently in a Tabernacle ( 2 Samuel 6) in his established capital at Jerusalem.
The task of enshrining the ark in the Temple was left to David's son Solomon (2 Chr 5:2-9). The ark remained in the Temple for approximately four hundred years, until the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 BC (Jer 3:16). The ark was not accounted among the spoils claimed by the Babylonians. 2 Macc 2:5 says that it was saved from destruction by Jeremiah and hidden on Mount Nebo. There it would stay, Jeremiah said, "until God gathers his people together again and shows his mercy." (2 Macc 2:7).
In Revelation 11:19 the ark appears in the heavenly temple, fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah. This vision of the ark leads immediatly into the vision of the "woman clothes with the sun" (Revelation 12:1).
Finally, the ark has been seen as a prefiguring of the Blessed Virgin Mary, called by the Church the "ark of the covenant." Where the ark in the Old Testament carried the Old Covenant, Mary, as the ark of God's New Covenant, carried the Messiah. The Blessed Mother was thus a sacred vessel wherein God's presence dwelled intimately with his people. (Catholic Bible Dictionary, General Editor Scott Hahn, page 69 -70)
Covenant Defined
A kinship bond between two parties, with conditions or obligations, established by an oath or its equivalent. A covenant is the master-theme of the Bible, which records the various ways throughout history that God has drawn humanity into a familial relationship with himself through divine oaths.
A kinship bond between two parties, with conditions or obligations, established by an oath or its equivalent. A covenant is the master-theme of the Bible, which records the various ways throughout history that God has drawn humanity into a familial relationship with himself through divine oaths.
For Catholics, the fact that the source and summit of the Christian life, the Eucharist, is identified by Christ as "the New Covenant" (Luke 22:20) demonstrates the importance of covenant to God's plan for salvation. (Catholic Bible Dictionary, General Editor, Scott Hahn, page 168)
Eight Covenants
1 – Covenant with Adam for fertility and dominion over the
earth. Sign, Tree of Life. Scripture
Genesis 1:28-30; 2:15-17
2 – Covenant with Noah that the earth will never again be
destroyed by flood waters. From then on
water will be a sign of salvation. Sign,
the rainbow. Scripture Genesis 6:18;
9:9-17.
3 – Covenant with Abraham is three fold and continues with
Isaac, Jacob and descendants that they will become a nation. Sign, circumcision
on the 8th day. Scripture Genesis 12:3, 15:1-18, 17:1-27, 18:18
4 – Covenant with
Moses and Israel the Sinai Covenant establishing divine liturgy and covenant
sacraments. Sign the Ark of the
Covenant, Tabernacle and Ten Commandments.
Scripture Exodus 19 – 24; 34:10.
5 – Covenant with Aaron and Sons for perpetual ministerial
priesthood of the Levites. Sign, salt. Scripture Exodus 40:15; Leviticus 2:13; Numbers
18:19.
6 – Covenant with Phinehas of perpetual priesthood in
Covenant of Peace. Sign, Seamless robe and miter. Scripture Numbers 25:11-15.
7 – Covenant with David and descendants a dynasty and throne
forever secure. Sign,
Throne/Temple. Scripture 2 Samuel
7:11-17, 23:5.
8 - Jesus the
fulfillment of all the covenantal promises.
Sign the Cross the true “Tree of Life.”
Scripture Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20; 1 Corinithians 11:25
Today's Reading
1 Samuel 5 - 8
Commentary
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Art
Ark of the Covenant in front of the Philistines - Giovanni Battista Franco
Ark of the Covenant in front of the Philistines - Giovanni Battista Franco
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