The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 43: The Ark of the Covenant (2023)

Episode Date: February 12, 2023

Fr. Mike provides us with a mental picture of the ark of the covenant and reminds that the small details of worship matter as we read Exodus 25-26, Leviticus 19, and Psalm 119:1-56 For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. This is day 43. Let's keep on trucking. We're moving ahead. We're reading from Exodus chapter, both chapters 25 and 26 today, learning about

not only the temple, learning about worship, learning about the Ark of the Covenant. That's Exodus 25 and 26. Also Leviticus chapter 19. And we'll be praying today, Psalm 119 verses 1 through 56. As always, I'm reading from the Revised 119, verses 1 through 56. As always, I'm reading from the Revised Standard Version, the Second Catholic Edition. I'm actually using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. You can get your own Great Adventure Bible from Ascension at ascensionpress.com or Amazon or wherever they sell Bibles. You know how to get stuff. You know how to get stuff online, for crying out loud.

If you want to get, speaking of online, a Bible in a year reading plan, you can download to your device, to your computer. You can print it out. You can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. Print that puppy out and then you can cross off. Like I mentioned yesterday, you can cross off each day as you move along and you'll be like, man, I'm on day 43 already. This is amazing.

I'm amazing. And that's right. You are amazing. You can also subscribe to this podcast by just clicking subscribe, but I'm grateful that you are joining me today and I cannot wait to journey with you through scripture. Exodus 25, 26, Leviticus 19, and as I said before, Psalm 79.

Let's keep on moving. Exodus chapter 25, offerings for the tabernacle. The Lord said to Moses, speak to the sons of Israel that they take for me an offering from every man whose heart makes him willing, you shall receive the offering for me. And this is the offering which you shall receive from them. Gold, silver, and bronze, blue and purple, and scarlet stuff, and fine twined linen, goat's hair, tanned ram's skins, goat skins, acacia wood, oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod, and for the breastpiece. And let them make me a sanctuary,

that I may dwell in their midst. According to all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, of all its furniture, so you shall make it. The Ark of the Covenant. They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, within and without shall you overlay it. And you shall make upon it a molding of gold round about, and you shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it. And you shall put into the ark the covenant which I shall give you. Then you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubim of gold. Of hammered work shall you make them on the two ends of the mercy seat.

Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another. Toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. And you shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark. And in the ark you shall put the covenant that I shall give you. There I will meet with you.

And from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the covenant, I will speak with you of all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel. The table for the bread of the presence. And you shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a molding of gold around it. And you shall make around it a frame of a handbreadth wide and a molding of gold around the frame. And you shall make for it four rings of gold and fasten the rings to the four corners of its four legs. Close to the frame the rings shall be, as holders for the rings to the four corners of its four legs. Close to the frame the rings shall be as holders for the poles to carry the table. You shall make the poles of

acacia wood and overlay them with gold and the table shall be carried with these. And you shall make its plates and dishes for incense and its flagons and bowls with which to pour libations. Of pure gold you shall make them, and you shall set the bread of the presence on the table before me always. The lampstand. And you shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The base and the shaft of the lampstand shall be made of hammered work. Its cups, its capitals, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it, and there shall be six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it, and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it. Three cups made like almonds, each with capital and flour on

one branch, and three cups made like almonds, each with capital and flour on the other branch. So for the six branches going out of the lampstand, and on the lampstand itself, four cups made like almonds with their capitals and flours, and a capital of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out from the lampstand.

Their capitals and their branches shall be of one piece with it, the whole of it, one piece of hammered work of pure gold. And you shall make of one piece with it, the whole of it, one piece of hammered work of pure gold. And you shall make the seven lamps for it, and the lamps shall be set up so as to give light upon the space in front of it, its snuffers, and their trays shall be of pure gold. Of a talent of pure gold shall it be made with all these utensils, and see that you make them after the pattern for them which is being shown you on the mountain.

The Tabernacle Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue and purple and scarlet stuff, with cherubim skillfully worked shall you make them. The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains shall have one measure. Five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set, and likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set, and likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outermost curtain on the second set. Fifty loops you shall make on

the one curtain, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set. The loops shall be opposite one another, and you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains one to the other with the clasps, that the tabernacle may be one whole. You shall also make curtains of goat's hair for a tent over the tabernacle. Eleven curtains shall you make. The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. The eleven curtains shall have the same measure. And you shall couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. And the sixth curtain you shall double over at the

front of the tent. And you shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outmost in one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which is outmost the second set. And you shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one whole. In the part that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half-curtains that remain shall hang over the back of the tabernacle, and the cubit on the one side, and the cubit on the other side, of what remains in the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and that side, to cover it. And you shall make for the tent a covering of tanned ram's skins and goat skins. The framework.

And you shall make upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood. Ten cubits shall be the length of a frame, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each frame. There shall be two tenons in each frame, for fitting together, so shall you do for all the frames of the tabernacle. You shall make the frames for the tabernacle twenty frames for the south side, and forty bases of silver you shall make under the twenty frames, two bases under one frame for its two tenons, and two bases under another frame for its two tenons. And for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, twenty frames, and their forty bases of silver, two bases under one frame, and two bases under another frame. And for the rear of the tabernacle westward, you shall make

six frames, and you shall make two frames for corners of the tabernacle in the rear. They shall be separate beneath, but joined at the top, at the first ring. Thus shall it be with both of them. They shall form the two corners, and there shall be eight frames with their bases of silver, sixteen bases, two bases under one frame, and two bases under another frame. And you shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle and five bars for the frames of the side of the tabernacle at the rear westward. The middle bar halfway up the frames shall pass through from end to end.

You shall overlay the frames with gold and shall make their rings of gold for holders for the bars, and you shall overlay the bars with gold, and you shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it which has been shown you on the mountain, the veil and the screen. And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet stuff and fine twined linen. In skilled work shall it be made with cherubim. And you shall hang it upon four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, upon four bases of silver. And you shall hang the veil from the clasps and bring the ark of the covenant in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the holy place from the most holy. You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the covenant in the

most holy place, and you shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle opposite the table, and you shall put the table on the north side. And you shall make a screen for the door of the tent of blue and purple and scarlet stuff and fine twined linen embroidered with needlework. And you shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five bases of bronze for them. The book of Leviticus chapter 19, ritual and moral holiness. And the Lord said to Moses, say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, you shall be holy for I, the Lord, your God am holy.

Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God. Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the Lord your God. When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, or on the next day, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned with fire. If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It will not be

accepted, and everyone who eats of it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned a holy thing of the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from his people. When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field to its very border, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner. I am the Lord your God. You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another, and you shall not swear

by my name falsely, and so profane another. And you shall not swear by my name falsely and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning. You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind. But you shall fear your God. I am the Lord. You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand forth against the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord. You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind, nor shall you sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall there come upon you a garment of cloth made of two kinds of stuff. If a man lies carnally with a woman who

is a slave betrothed to another man and yet not ransomed or given her freedom, an inquiry shall be held. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free. But he shall bring a guilt offering for himself to the Lord, to the door of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him, with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed. And the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him. When you come into the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you. It must not be eaten. And in the fourth year, all their fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. But in the fifth year, you may eat of their fruit, that they may yield more richly for you.

I am the Lord your God. You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not practice augury or witchcraft. You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh on account of the dead or tattoo any marks upon you. I am the Lord. Do not profane your daughter by making her a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry and the land become full of wickedness. You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord. Do not turn to mediums or wizards.

Do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God. You shall rise up before the hoary head and honor the face of an old man. And you shall fear your God. I am the Lord. When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you are strangers in the land of Egypt.

I am the Lord your God. You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah and a just hin. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. You shall observe all my statutes and all my ordinances and do them. I am the Lord. Psalm 119 verses verses 1-56 Psalm 119, the glories of God's law. Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.

Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong but walk in his ways. You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. Oh, that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes. Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. I will praise you with an upright heart. When I learn your righteous ordinances, I will observe your statutes. O forsake me not utterly.

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you. Let me not wander from your commandments. I have laid up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord. Teach me your statutes. With my lips I declare all the ordinances of your mouth.

In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes. I will not forget your word. Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and observe your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. I am a sojourner on earth. Hide not your commandments from me.

My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times. You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones who wander from your commandments. Take away from me their scorn and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies. Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes. Your testimonies are my delight. They are my counselors. My soul clings to the dust. Revive me according to your word. When I told of my ways, you answered me. Teach me your statutes. Make me understand the

way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. My soul melts away for sorrow. Strengthen me according to your word. Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law. I have chosen the way of faithfulness. I set your ordinances before me. I cling to your testimonies, O Lord. Let me not be put to shame. I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my understanding. Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to your testimonies and not to gain. Turn my eyes from looking at vanities

and give me life in your ways. Confirm to your servant your promise, which is for those who fear you. Turn away the reproach which I dread, for your ordinances are good. Behold, I long for your precepts, and your righteousness give me life. Let your mercy come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise. Then I shall have an answer for those who taunt me, for I trust in your word. And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your ordinances. I will keep your law continually forever and ever, and I shall walk at liberty, for I have sought your precepts.

I will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame, for I find my delights in your commandments, which I love. I revere your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes. Remember your words, your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort and my affliction, that your promise gives me life. Godless men utterly deride me, but I do not turn away from your law. When I think of your ordinances from of old, I take comfort, O Lord. Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked who forsake your law. Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.

I remember your name in the night, O Lord, we give you praise. We give you thanks right now, Lord God. We praise you not only for your future deliverance for us, we also praise you for what you've done for us in the past. We praise you for all the good that you've brought into our lives. The fact that you have made us into your children through the gift of your Holy Spirit given to us at baptism. We thank you for the gift of worship.

We thank you for revealing your heart to us and how we are to approach you, Lord God, because without your revealing how we are to approach you, Lord God, because without your revealing how we are to approach you, we would be lost. We would have no idea how you desire us to come to you. We would have no idea how you desire us to live truly in freedom and in holiness, because you are holy. You call us to be holy and you make it possible by your grace for us to be holy. Help us to choose holiness today. Help us to choose you today and help us to glorify you today. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So we had a bunch of readings today,

obviously, as we do every day. But today, I don't know if you noticed, it's a little hard to get through some of the descriptions of the tabernacle, the descriptions of the Ark of the Covenant, the descriptions of the veil and the screen, the lampstand, all these things. And yet they are so important. When I say it's difficult to get through them, it's just because sometimes it's difficult to have a mental picture of what scripture is describing. And so, for example, on the lampstand, just a brief example, the lampstand, as I was describing it, I mean, as Moses, as God was describing it to Moses, and here it's written down in Exodus 26, 25, it might be hard to picture it. This is okay. So there's a base of the lampstand and there's three cups on one side of it made like almonds,

capital and flour on one branch and it made like almonds, capital and flour on one branch and three cups like almonds with each capital and flour in the other branch, six branches going out of the lampstand. What's that look like? Well, it's a menorah. So if you've ever seen a menorah, like, oh, that's what's being described here. Like I get this now, or even in the fashioning of the Ark of the Covenant, the cherubim on top of it. If you've seen Raiders of the Lost Ark, you know that here is one of the ways in which we have this image of, here's this box, right? That's a certain size. And on top, there are these angels, cherubim, that are extending their wings out over the mercy

seat, which is the center of the Ark of the Covenant, and bowing their faces either towards each other or to that mercy seat. And you can, if you've ever seen an image of this, like, oh, now I have a picture of this. And lastly, when it comes to the table for the bread of the presence or the tabernacle, sometimes if we've never seen any artist's rendering of these kinds of things, it can be tough for us to recognize what are we talking about? For example, in the tabernacle, there was the holy place. And in the holy place, there was the bread of the presence. There was the lampstand, the menorah, right? And there was also the altar of incense. Those three things were in the holy place. And there's the holy of holy place, holy place, holiest place, right? The holy of holies,

which is past the deeper curtain, the thicker curtain. And in that space, in that Holy of Holies was only the Ark of the Covenant. And I think sometimes when we just kind of read through and don't stop and think, like, has anyone ever drawn this out? We can miss some things. And I don't want you to miss those things because there's going to be a recognition of some really powerful things that connect with us as Catholic Christians. As an example, we have the Holy of Holies, that veil that separates the holy place from the Holy of Holies.

And that veil was the curtain that was torn into top to bottom when our Lord Jesus gave up his spirit to the Father and thereby he poured out his mercy, right? The mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant, even though the Ark of the Covenant wasn't there when Jesus died. The Ark had been hidden away for years by this point. But the idea is the same. The idea is that mercy seat being poured out, the mercy of God being poured out upon the world as the veil of his flesh is pierced by that soldier's spear and the blood and water flows out, the blood of Eucharist and the water of baptism, that the holy of holies is being revealed, not because it's no longer holy, but because it's no longer off limits, not because it's no longer holy, but because here's God's

love that is impossible to be held back anymore. This is so, so incredible. So incredible. Last note, last note is the table for the bread of the presence. Um, gosh, it says you shall, and this is verse 30 in chapter 25 in Exodus, you shall for the bread of the presence. Gosh, it says, you shall, and this is verse 30 in chapter 25 in Exodus, you shall set the bread of the presence on the table before me always. And there is something remarkable about the bread of the presence, especially for us as Catholic Christians. We realize that in every single Catholic church in the tabernacle, right, in that holy of holies place, there is the bread of the presence, the bread of the very presence of God. Not just in sign, not just in symbol,

but in truth, in spirit and truth. Here is Jesus Christ who continues to dwell among us. The presence of God, the bread of the presence. I do want to make a little note quick about Leviticus 19 and just how good it is. There can be some confusing moments, right? Like this, there is a part that says, like I mentioned yesterday, don't shave off the hair in your temples or don't mix fibers in your clothing. Say, okay, that's one of those conditional moments,

as opposed to the universally unconditional moments where this is an absolute teaching for all time. But there's also some things that are just like so wise. And we also realize that the difficulty in approaching scripture without a context for that scripture. Once again, remember here in Leviticus, you have the story of the people of Israel who are being reminded of their true identity. They're being reminded of God's identity. And so God has to start somewhere. And so there are some things that might seem even unfair to us where it's like, wait a

second, why would this be the condition if, would this be the result consequence if this such and such an action happens? Well, we would maybe say that a certain behavior would be greatly, more greatly punished, or we'd say there's certain behavior be like less, less punished than is in scripture. Keeping this in mind, keeping in mind that God is teaching his people who he is. He's teaching them justice first. And that's why I think it's so, so powerful that he, it says in Leviticus 19, what I mentioned a couple of days ago, is that you shall not prefer the poor nor defer to the mighty, but be just in all of your rulings.

Again, God has to teach his people justice before he can teach them mercy. He has to teach us what right and wrong are before he can teach us the subtle nuances of the, maybe you say the shades of gray when it comes to truth and justice and in goodness. Anyways, this is the second day in a row where we have an extremely long podcast. Hopefully, you put this on time and a half speed. Maybe speak a little faster so you can get on your commute or wherever you're praying with these words. Let the word of the Lord speak to your heart now.

I think this is such a gift for us to be able to journey through Exodus and Leviticus at the same time. And we will continue to doing this tomorrow and the next few days. I cannot wait to do this. Please keep me in your prayers. I'm praying for you. Keep each other in your prayers because, hey, day 43 is checked off and now it's time to move on to day 44 tomorrow. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.