25. A Man Who Stole My Ark

25. A Man Who Stole My Ark - for Notes

25. A Man Who Stole My Ark -PP

God said through Amos and repeated by James, “I will restore the Tabernacle of David.” What does this mean?

I do not use the word “stole My Ark” simply for effect, rather, this way of seeing is, in fact, the primary reason why God said that David was a man after His own heart. At the same time, there is no New Testament verse closer to God’s definition of His and David’s heart than Hebrews 10:19-22 – full assurance of faith.

God wants us to grasp the sheer recklessness of David’s faith in God and the intentions of David’s DESIRE.

Four Topics. We are looking at four specific things in this session, but we will come at them all wrapped together. More than that, we will limit ourselves to these four things.

The first topic is the account of David bringing the Ark into Jerusalem. Second is the meaning of that action in the gospel – having a bold proclamation of entrance. The third topic is the account of David’s tent and the activities taking place there. Fourth is the meaning of that tent in our present lives.

The Tabernacle of David is the Holy of Holies, living inside of God, with no more need for rehearsing “the way in.”

Nicene “Salvation.” Here is Nicene “salvation” in one nasty expression. “Have the right ticket in hand so that you can go to heaven and not to hell after you are dead.” All meaningful argument between Christian sects is the definition of the “right ticket.” Any gospel line that adds to the definition of the “right ticket” finds a place in Christian thinking, and any line that does not is simply ignored.

The meaning for us of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, and even more so, in David’s tent, has little place in Christian thinking and is rarely even referenced.

This is why David’s act of piracy is so very important to us.

“Fools Rush In.” As the poet, Alexander Pope, said, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”

Here is the God-part of our Salvation. “Let us approach [everything inside the Holiest] with a true heart.” And so we take Pope’s meaning in both ways at once.

David was a fool, and every time he got in trouble, he ran straight into the Holy of Holies and placed all his problem upon God. At the same time, this foolish man brought dozens of all sorts into the Holy of Holies with him, including at least one Philistine who had attached himself to David when he was in Gath.

Shysters and Pied Pipers. David’s recklessness would have given Moses a fit.

But then we have the other side of Pope’s meaning, the primary one that people understand. You see, for each true ‘David’ seizing hold of all of God as his own, there are ten thousand shysters and Pied Pipers lining up to grab anything of God they can so that they can turn and use it to mesmerize and control God’s people. These are fools with no fear of or regard for God.

There are many today who are teaching a similar word to what I teach, and I rejoice in each one who is true. But I also know well the thousands pushing the superior ‘Christ.’

Recklessness AND Fear. You who continue to hear the Lord Jesus speaking to you through what I share do so, I hope, for two reasons.

The first reason is that I take you recklessly and unafraid into all of God your Father filling you full. And the second reason is that I fear God to the core of my soul, and the thought of using ‘God’ to put my hand on you is horrifyingly blinding to me.
It is with this exact thought, then, that we place this line – So David… brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness. Let’s consider the whole picture.

“Put out His Hand.” David gathered all Israel together… to bring the ark of God from Kirjath Jearim. …So they carried the ark of God on a new cart… Then David and all Israel played music before God with all their might, with singing… And when they came to Chidon’s threshing floor, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen stumbled. Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzza, and He struck him because he put his hand to the ark; and he died there before God. And David became angry because of the Lord’s outbreak against Uzza… David was afraid of God that day, saying, “How can I bring the ark of God to me?”

After the Due Order. Here, then, is the telling line. – “The Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him about the proper order.” Or, in the King James, “after the due order.” This is the central issue; that is, first, where are we going, and second, how do we get there?

Sam Fife used this line, then, as the foundation for his teaching that God’s order for the Church is a hierarchy of ministry based on 1 Corinthians 11:2-16.

Except – although Brother Sam, I believe, had one foot inside the Holy of Holies, neither he nor the ministry after him ever took us as a people into the Holiest.

Our Entrance. And so we discover that Sam Fife’s “After the Due Order” was just the same false structure of a hierarchy of ministry, using the same questionable passage as in all Nicene sects.

A ministry who is not living inside the Holy of Holies, inside all the fullness of a meek and lowly God-with-me, cannot teach anyone God’s “proper way” of entrance. Very simply, here is God’s “proper way” of entrance. …into the Holiest inside the blood of Jesus consecrating for us a newly sacrificed as well as a living way through the veil, that is, through His flesh… (Jesus our scapegoat.)

Yet David’s tent most definitely gives us a view of Church.

Melchizedek and the Gentiles. God’s “proper way” for David is this – No one may carry the ark of God but the Levites.

Yet the writer of Hebrews places the order of Melchizedek as above Levi and as fully replacing the Levitical order in the Church.

More than that, even though most of the singers whom David placed inside of the Holy of Holies were Levites, when James quoted Amos, James clearly understood the reference to a Philistine among those inside of God. So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name (Acts 15:17).

Worship in the Holiest. I want to approach this whole thing now from an entirely different direction to get at the main point.

The Tabernacle of David finds its fulfillment in our lives in two ways, that is, in both ‘sides’ of Salvation. The first is personal, our living inside of God and God inside of us. And the second is together, the Church living as a Community of Christ, loving one another.
To see a significant part of my take on the glory of Tabernacle-of-David worship in the Church, read all of Chapter 19 “Ministry by the Spirit” in Symmorphy V: Life. Note that this portion is out from Hebrews 10:19-22.

Christ Community. The question that David’s Tabernacle raises for us is – What does it mean for us to live together inside of God and inside of His worship?

We can then place the entirety of Psalm 133 as a further expression of living inside David’s Tent.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing – Life forevermore.

Shekinah Glory. I realize we are mixing metaphors badly, but that is God’s fault, for He does it all the time J.

I can testify from years of experience that there is a worship and an anointing inside of “Third Feast” community that is completely unknown in any other expression of church.

There is a partly accurate understanding of the restoration of David’s Tabernacle that places the singing of praises twenty-four/seven, by alternating groups of worshippers. The closest I came to such a thing was during Jane Miller’s time at Blueberry, and, of truth, that is when I saw the Shekinah glory of God upon the congregation.

Standing by Night. And, in fact, here is Psalm 134, the final “Psalm of Ascents,” that is, the entrance into the Holiest.

Behold, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord. The Lord who made heaven and earth bless you from Zion!

Worshipping God as a congregation together inside the full knowing of all the meaning of the Holy of Holies is an experience I have never known. Yet those many wondrous worship experiences I tasted allow me to testify that there is no greater human experience. As the writer of Hebrews says, “Let us carry on into all fullness.”

Unbelief. You see, we had one small problem. None of the Spirit glory we knew brought anyone into the Holy of Holies.

We did not enter entirely because of UNBELIEF. We were crowded in the Holy Place, up against the Veil, yes, but with the absurd imagination that the Veil was solidly there, a Veil we had not yet “pierced.”

Please understand, this topic is the entirety of the argument of the Book of Hebrews, something we did not truly know. I am progressing well with Hebrews in The Jesus Secret II and am anticipating reading through it when finished. I have great hope that I will know Hebrews for the first time.

A Living Spirit Word. Living 24/7 inside of the Tabernacle of David is living inside the full faith awareness that we dwell always and move through always and are coming out from always a Living, Energeoing, and Personal Spirit Word.

No thought that God lies or that Jesus fails or that I have a life of my own is ever found inside this tent of knowing.

Giving thanks that my weak and lowly form is God-with-me, revealing Himself through our shared travail fills the expression of our mouths. Giving thanks inside of and for the sake of all is what tunes our humanity into full harmony with the singing of God.

From The Jesus Secret II. We not only live inside of the singing of God; we are God’s singing and song.

From the Jesus Secret II: Hebrews. God has already brought me forth as His son, all the way into glory, along with many other sons. Jesus declares God’s name through our voices as we gather together. Jesus sings praises to God through our lips.

Rest (from Webster’s 1926): I rest myself entirely inside of Jesus as my active Savior and as all that Salvation is. I repose myself and am refreshed inside of Jesus; I sleep inside of Him. Inside of Jesus, I cease all of my own attempts to connect with God.

I cease all my effort to live ‘the Christian life,’ here, inside of Jesus, knowing that He alone lives His life as me. I live quietly inside of Jesus, in all tranquility. Jesus is my rest; Jesus is the place of my rest.

I rest in silence inside of Jesus concerning myself, for Jesus bears all responsibility for me. When I stumble, I never speak of myself as separate from Jesus, for He shares my every stumbling step with me. I am quiet; I hold my peace. I never speak of myself as anything of myself, for I am only that which Jesus is speaking. I lie down inside of Jesus, I sink into Him as into a garment, as into the covers of my bed. I am free from all that would separate me from God. I trust in Jesus.

Giving an Account: I live my life in the presence of my Father, the One to Whom I always give account. My account is always the Lord Jesus Christ, that what He is, I am. My account to God every moment is all that God speaks made personal as me. Every Word God speaks pierces through my spirit and my soul and penetrates even to the joints of my body, energeoing in me as all that God intends.

I give thanks for every circumstance of my life; I place the Lord Jesus upon every present moment and every past memory. I place the Lord Jesus upon every interaction with others through my entire life. I give thanks inside of and for the sake of all. I speak good grace into every person I have ever known. I speak the same word that is Jesus; I give Jesus to my Father as my account of all my days. Jesus is all I am.

The Ark Is Coming up the Road. “The Ark is coming up the road.” When we sang that song in the move, we meant that the revelation of God is coming to us.

One way we see it now is that we are waiting inside the Holiest for our brethren, for they ARE the Ark of the Covenant already, but do not know it. We could say that “the Ark is coming” is our joyful welcome.

The entrance of many, many brethren into the knowledge that their whole lives have always been Father-with-them, connected always by Jesus, is the Jerusalem which is above, coming now upon the earth. It is glory.

Uzza and Uzziah. We want to compare two men, then, Uzza and Uzziah.

Uzziah was a king of Judah, descendent from David, who went into the Holy of Holies the same as David did, except that he went in for false reasons, so that he might appear before others as a “man of God.” Uzziah represents all the shysters who seek to use God for their own appearance before others. “I am a holy reflection of Christ” is a face so many feel compelled to wear towards others, even though it has nothing to do with God.

Uzza, on the other hand, is just a regular guy caught in the wrong place, doing what people do that results in death.

God in the Flesh. Uzza puts out his hand to keep God from hitting the dirt. Or, we could say it this way, “I am dirt, so I can’t say that I am just like the Lord Jesus now, that would be dishonest.” If God wanted to hit the dirt, how was that Uzza’s problem?

And this is the affliction so many of our brethren carry. They imagine that the accusations of the evil one coming through anointed preachers are the truth of their lives.

They imagine that it is wrong to allow God to share their human weakness with them, that God cannot be manifest in the flesh. And so they put out their hand to fix themselves by crying, “I am fallen short of God.”

Why Piracy Is Required. As I continue writing my life story, I am beginning to think that God has, in fact, set the path of my life for His purpose.

I see the greater and greater increase of His desperation inside of me so that, the very moment I saw CHRIST MY LIFE, I seized it for myself and I NEVER let it go. I HATED all the words of accusation found in anointed preaching and false argument and I went to war against all voices speaking against Christ my life. I suspect that I will discover that the count of the enemies of God slain by my piracy are many.

If you have found LIFE, then SEIZE it with ALL ferocity.

Reading for Next Time. The next session is “A Man Who Loves My Church.” Although we will include David’s physical life in Jerusalem, our primary focus will be from his Psalms.

I will not write the next session, however, until I am at my daughter’s home in Canada, and so I will not know what passages for you to read until I have written it. I will let you know.

Here, however, is one of the deepest songs in my heart. If I forget thee, Oh Jerusalem, then let my right hand forget her cunning. And let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I prefer thee not above my chief joy.

Let’s Pray Together. I want to call God’s people into their place from the viewpoint of “the Ark is coming up the road,” that is, their joyful entrance into the City of David, that is, the fulfillment of the meaning of Tabernacles in the life of the Church. “The Ark is coming” is our joyful welcome to them.

“Lord Jesus, we stand inside of You right now, welcoming with all joy our brethren who are discovering Christ as them.

“Lord Jesus, we see all their outward foolishness, all their sins, all their pollution with the world, GONE, long ago into the cross of Christ. We see them pure and holy, made utterly clean by Your Blood. We see You carrying them into our joy.

We Are Welcoming You. “But most of all, Lord Jesus, we see them as You, living now as them, speaking every nuance of their humanity and every circumstance of their lives out from Father’s wondrous thoughts and expression of Himself.

“As we welcome our brethren into the Feast with all joy, Lord Jesus, we are welcoming You, that You would grace us with Your presence as them.

“Lord Jesus, because we see the Blood, their ignorance of God is forever gone; because we see the Cross, they are safe inside of God. And because we see Your Resurrection; they are every word You are forevermore.”

Enter into Joy. “Our dear brothers and sisters, precious beyond measure, enter into God with gladness and with all joyful dancing. Your time of sorrow is gone; there is no more separation from Your Father. God shares and has always shared your humanity with you.

“Dear brothers and sisters, enter into the knowledge of a meek and lowly God filling you full with all that He is. “Dear believer in Jesus, you are and have always been the Ark of God’s Covenant, for Jesus is already written as every Word God speaks all through the pathways of your heart.

“Dear believer in Jesus, enter now into the joy of your Lord.”