A “not my will but thine” morning: I’ll use Psalms 31:1-3a and 8:1.

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and laid me down in Jeremiah 3. The Mind of the Spirit engaged the spirit of my mind at verse 16:

Jeremiah 3:16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.

This got my attention, since I’ve been thinking about the Ark a lot lately. The prophecy is that at some future time from Jeremiah’s days, God would extend a call to the “backsliding children” to repent. We may presume that those who are “one of a city, and two of a family” who are brought to Zion are among the remnant that repents (Jeremiah 3:14). These will be given “pastors according to [His] heart, which will feed them with knowledge and understanding” (Jeremiah 3:15). It is in the days of the fulfillment of this prophecy that God says the people will no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of the LORD,” for it will not come to mind, for the people will not remember it, nor will they visit it, “neither shall that be done any more” (Jeremiah 3:16).

The prophecy continues: at the time of its fulfillment, Jerusalem will be called the throne of the LORD, all nations will be gathered to the ancient city, and neither shall they walk any more after “the imagination of their evil heart” (Jeremiah 3:17). Judah and Israel will be reunited, with Israel being gathered “out of the land of the north” to return to the Promised Land (Jeremiah 3:18).

Much of this prophecy corresponds to the return of the Jews to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity, under the decree of Cyrus (Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10; Ezra 1:1). This would be the time of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah. Other elements of the prophecy correspond more closely to the prophecies of Isaiah and Micah concerning the “last days” (Isaiah 2; Micah 4). The emphasis on this being a time when the people will no longer walk after the “imagination of their evil heart” makes us think of Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks, which concludes: “to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy” (Daniel 9:24).

There is a guiding principle in prophetic Scripture called double fulfillment (also called partial fulfillment), in which a single prophecy is fulfilled in multiple events separated by sometimes very large spans of history. One example is Isaiah 61:1-3. One reading the passage would understandably assume that all the prophecy is fulfilled in a single historical event or period. However, Jesus showed that the prophecy is fulfilled in phases. The proclamation of the “acceptable year of the LORD” is separated from the “day of vengeance of our God” by the time span between His first and Second coming (Luke 4:17-21). Two thousand years have already passed between the two events named in Isaiah’s prophecy that are separated by nothing more than a comma and a coordinating conjunction.

The span between the beginning of the fulfillment of “the acceptable year of the LORD” and the beginning fulfillment of “the day of vengeance of our God” (Isaiah 61:2) is over 2000 years and counting. I believe Jeremiah 3:15-18 is partially fulfilled in each of the periods I indicated above, then fully at the return of the LORD and the gathering of Israel to Him in the Millennial, and finally in the eternal Kingdom on the New Earth (Revelation 19-21).*

The fact is, the ark of the covenant is a hot topic today. We are thinking about it and asking for it. Nevertheless, the prophecies concerning the Lost Ark are in fulfillment today. But for the New Testament believer, neither the Temple nor the ark of the Old Covenant (Old Testament) has any genuine spiritual significance for the Church (Hebrews 4-8). Consider Hebrews 8:2, where we are told Jesus is now “A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” The Church is the House of GOD today (1 Timothy 3:15). The believer is the Temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). The believer is a lively stone, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets (Ephesians 2:20), building a habitation for GOD by His Spirit (Ephesians 2:22), a spiritual habitation for GOD: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). This is the “true tabernacle” of God (Hebrews 8:2). It is fulfilled in the true Church, where we do not seek the “ark of the covenant” of the Old Testament, or ask for it. For us, it “does not come to mind.

Along the still waters, I reflected on all of this and realized that many believers today are focused on the wrong Temple, the wrong Ark, and the wrong “Covenant.” We need to be focused on the “true tabernacle,” and the “true priesthood.” Those who look for the Old Testament Tabernacle and the revival of the Old Testament Ark as if these portend the return of Israel to Christ, the turning of Israel to Christ, are mistaken. These things will happen, but they portend the continued rebellion of Israel, refusing to bow to Jesus Christ, the LORD. It is antichrist to deny that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (2 John 7).

Selah!

In the valley, at the Cross, I hear Jesus pointing me to the Cross that ended the law of carnal commandments, that spoiled principalities, and powers, and dominions, exalting JESUS over all (Ephesians 1:12-20). We are to live “looking unto Jesus,” not to the Old Testament Ark or Temple. The ultimate defilement of that Temple, by the man of sin who stands in the Holy Place, reveals that GOD is not in that temple, or with that Ark, nor is He receiving the sacrifices offered there where the man of sin, “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (1 Thessalonians 2:4). The Man of sin will never enter the tabernacle made without hands. Jesus spoke: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Where we enter into the holiest through the veil, not of the earthly tabernacle, but “By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” (Hebrews 10:20).

At the table, Jesus, my High Priest, anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup with His grace. Goodness and mercy followed us into the harvest. We find true revival in the true Temple, and the true oracle of God, the place of His dwelling in Heaven, at the right hand of the Majesty on High (into which we are invited to come boldly—Hebrews 4:16), and on earth, in His dwelling place—the heart of the believer:

Ephesians 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Praying for revival! 🙏

Going live asap:

https://rumble.com/v7602ba-shepherds-pasture.html

[*The return of the Jews to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity, under the decree of Cyrus (Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10; Ezra 1:1). This would be the time of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah. Not one mention of the Ark is found in the Scriptures giving the account of this period. No one even asks about it.

While the “last days” prophecies of Isaiah and Micah speak of the House of God being restored, no mention is found regarding the ark of the covenant (Isaiah 2; Micah 4).

Daniel 9:24 speaks of the sacrifice and oblation being interrupted, indicating that the Temple is rebuilt and the sacrificial system is resumed. However, there is no mention of the ark of the covenant. Yet, some Jews, among the Hassidic, do seek the ark, and some Christians today do speak of it. That suggests to me the time of fulfillment of Daniel 9:27 does not correspond to the prophecy of Jeremiah 3:15-18, and forces us to push its fulfillment to a yet future time after the fulfillment of Isaiah 2 and Micah 4. The fullest fulfillment of Jeremiah 3:15-18 occurs after what we call the “Tribulation Temple” of Daniel 9:27.]