Heaven's Rain (taken from Priscilla Shire's study on Elijah)
Centuries before Elijah's prophetic
Centuries before Elijah's prophetic
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Heaven's Rain (taken from Priscilla Shire's study on Elijah)
Centuries before Elijah's prophetic
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BACKGROUND
What is the Ark of the Covenant? God made a covenant (a conditional covenant) with the children of Israel through His servant Moses. He promised good to them and their children for generations if they obeyed Him and His laws; but He always warned of despair, punishment, and dispersion if they were to disobey. As a sign of His covenant He had the Israelites make a box according to His own design, in which to place the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments. This box, or chest, was called an “ark” and was made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. The Ark was to be housed in the inner sanctum of the tabernacle in the desert (also referred to as the Tabernacle of Moses or the Tent of Meeting) and eventually in the Temple when it was built in Jerusalem. This chest is known as the Ark of the Covenant. Journey of the Ark addresses what happened when the philistines returned the ark and Israel sent to Abnidab https://globalchristiancenter.com/christian-living/lesser-known-bible-people/31309-the-house-of-abinadab-and-the-ark-of-god https://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/abinadab.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AAbinadab CONTINUE SEARCHING THESE REFERENCES https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?qs_version=NIV&quicksearch=Ark+of+the+Covenant&startnumber=26 https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?qs_version=NIV&quicksearch=ark&begin=5&end=5 During Moses
Samuel
Up to this time in Scripture, we see that the arc of the covenant was present to lead the Israelites and where they "inquired of God." But my favorite references are those that indicate that they "sat before God", for an afternoon or evening. Their times with God were intentional and full of expectation that they would be heard and that God would answer. "The people went to Bethel, where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly" Judges 21:2. This particular incident in Israelite history is not one of my favorites and is actually a hard read and study. Although during this time in their history, going before God was probably more reverential and even fearful; but on this side of grace, where God calls us friends, sitting before God is more like keeping company with Him. I love the idea of sitting before God and pouring my heart out in praise, weeping and conversing about His word and things impressed upon my heart. I desire to be more aware of His presence and desire to be with me as well. I know that He speaks to me through His word but expressing my heart through prayer, going before Him, lifting my head and bowing my heart, is a time of expectation of knowing that I have been heard and that God will answer. House of Eli - "Eli's sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord" (1 Samuel 2:12) - "The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your priestly house, so that no one in it will reach old age, and you will see distress in my dwelling." (1 Samuel 2:31) Additional Backdrop: Judges 2:16-23 16 Then the Lord raised up judges,[a] who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord’s commands. 18 Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. 19 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. 20 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.” 23 The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua. Judges 3:1, 5 1These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experieneced any of the wars in Canaan - 5 The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
SaulDavid Solomon References for further study: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ark_of_the_Covenant https://theisraelbible.com/journey-aron-ark-covenant/ Harmony Index
Harmony Narative
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