2025/07/07

203. The Ark of the Covenant was Seen within the Temple of God in Heaven

"Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet" (Rev 11:15). At the end of Revelation 11, all the books of the New Testament were present. The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of Paul, which contain specific instructions to believers, are given a place to work fully alongside the four Gospels. The second half of Revelation is coming. "[T]here were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.'" (Ibid.). The Lord's reign means that the time has come for Jesus to achieve what he could not while he lived as a man on earth even though he was fully God. That includes judging the dead, rewarding God's servants, prophets, saints, and all who fear his name, and destroying the destroyers of the earth (cf. 11:18). These events first occur in the world of the Book of Revelation, which is a book of prophecy (cf. 1:3, 22:19). 

Revelation reads, "Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail" (Rev 11:19). "God's temple in heaven" is the body of Christ, as written in the Gospel of John: "But he spoke of the temple of his body" (Jn 2:21). What is the "ark of his covenant" within it? 

As the Gospel of Matthew writes, "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Mat 1:1), and as Jesus himself said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am" (Jn 8:58), his lineage is from David, a descendent of Abraham, that is, from the tribe of Judah. 

On the other hand, as the angel who visited Mary told her (cf. Lk 1:36), Mary was a relative of the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, who was from the daughters of Aaron (cf. 1:5), which means she, Jesus' mother, was of the tribe of Levi. In fact, Mary visited Elizabeth, who was pregnant, and stayed for three months to help Elizabeth, which shows how close they were. So, we can take that Jesus, who was born as her son, also had the blood of the tribe of Levi. 

Indeed, the "ark of his covenant" represented the Levite blood in Jesus' body, that is, the priesthood. Revelation describes the priesthood as follows, with the image of Jesus' mother: "And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" (Rev 12:1). 

The Letter to the Hebrews asserts that Jesus' priesthood transcends the Levit'ical priesthood (Heb 7:11) of the Old Testament, quoting Genesis 14 and using the phrase "a priest for ever, after the order of Melchiz'edek" (5:6, etc.) as a key phrase. When Abraham was still called Abram, he defeated the kings who had taken his nephew Lot captive and rescued him. The king of Sodom went out to meet Abram. At that time, Melchizedek, king of Salem, who was priest of God Most High, also came with bread and wine (cf. Gen 14:1-18). Melchizedek blessed Abram, and Abram gave him a tenth of everything (cf. 14:19-20). 

This episode can be contrasted with the events of Jesus' last Passover meal, based on the image of "bread and wine." At that time, Jesus commanded Peter and John to prepare the meal (cf. Lk 22:7). It is natural to think that they were the ones who brought "bread and wine." In Genesis, it was "Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High," who brought "bread and wine," while in the Gospel, it was the disciples whom Jesus had chosen and named Apostles (cf. Lk 6:12-16) who brought them. Jesus placed himself in the position of Abram, who gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything, and gave his body and blood to the Apostles, who had prepared the bread and wine. That is to say, Jesus gave everything he had to his Apostles. 

Furthermore, on the cross, Jesus publicly conferred the priesthood on the Apostles by binding an Apostle to his mother, who was to be the only one to fully share in his birth and death, with the bond of parenthood (cf. Jn 19:26-27). Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the source of the experience of priests, who bring forth the Eucharist, sharing in its birth and death, cooperating with the Holy Spirit. Jesus commanded the Apostles to ask anything of the Father in his name (cf. 16:23-24). Therefor, priests ask especially that bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. This is modelled on the attitude of Jesus' mother when Jesus performed the sign of turning water into wine (cf. 2:1-12). In this way, the Apostles were bound to Jesus' priesthood with an unbreakable bond. 

All above is prophesied at the beginning of Revelation: "Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen" (Rev 1:4-6) 

Maria K. M.