I can not stop sharing this word from 1 Chronicles, still this morning it rings in my head it is so powerful for the Body today to realize what happened in chapter 13 and how it applies to us today. The reason why David wanted the ark back in Jerusalem was that they had neglected it since the time of Saul, they had neglected the presence of God, the symbol rather, of God’s presence in their lives. After so many victories of war, so many triumphs David conferred with his officers, a King with heart full of desire to worship, had realized that they had to have the true presence of God among them. But they did something not quite right in the eyes of the Lord, the ark of the covenant was in Abinadab’s house (notice the location), now they wanted to bring it back and to do so they brought it on a new cart. Now let me stop here for a moment, that new cart was a type of transportation a method of moving but this method or strategy was not what God had designed, you see the ark had golden rings and through those golden rings were to wooden rods for the sole purpose of carrying the ark from place to place not on carts but on the priest shoulders. The presence of God manifested through His Son Jesus Christ can not be brought correctly into the lives of others with new methods or strategies it must be brought in by us, we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9) As a matter of fact everything that represented Christ in the Tabernacle had the same two poles for transport purposes, the Altar of Sacrifice (offering), The table of Showbread (His word), The Alter of Incense intercessory prayer) all were meant to be carried by Us. 

We saw what happened with the new strategy we see also that the ark now was taken to another home. Uzzah (meaning “strength”) at the place where he was struck down is now called Perez Uzzah (the word perez means perished or broken) Lately I have been studying the root significance of Hebrew words and to my amazement I have discovered that many Hebrew words signify the same in Spanish as well as in Hebrew. Many people in Latin America have the last name Perez (Just like Smith and Jones in English) Perezca – means perished in Spanish, Perezoso – lack of energy or desire in other words lazy and so forth. Once this strategy was knocked down by God, fear took hold of David and they left the ark in Obed-Edom’s home for three months. (By the way Obed-Edom – means to serve in obedience and in Spanish and English the pre-fix of this word is the same Obed-ience or in Spanish Obed-encia.) To be entrusted with such a symbol in your home meant He was obedient and in spite of all the fear humble in service and for those reasons His house was blessed.

Now as I saw that word I was taken to a story in the New Testament (Luke 1:26-38) where we see Maria, the mother of Jesus, was pregnant and when she had received word and accepted the word of her pregnancy she became impregnated by the word. She then went to visit her cousin Elizabeth and upon seeing each other Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. Mary’s testimony was not in words or testimony by mouth but the mere presence, she had the ark (Christ) inside her, the new covenant we have is that now we don’t have to carry Christ on our shoulders but inside us, and our being full of His Spirit, His character and His Love many will be filled just by our presence in their lives. Mary remained with Elizabeth for three months, the exact amount of time the ark was in Obed-Edom’s house, during which time I am certain their house (Elizabeth and Zechariah) were blessed, this women who was up in years had a successful delivery, Luke 1:58, the neighbors and relatives had heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared their joy.

 The ark being made of wood on the inside and of pure gold on the outside meant that Jesus was 100% man on the outside appearance and 100% God on the inside. When we have that word inside us we have Christ inside us and just how the Ark was light in the tabernacle Jesus is that light inside us and as we reflect His true light others will see the presence of God in our lives and by our relationship with them they will share the same Joy of God’s mercy in our lives and homes. The same thing happened with Obed-Edom the people saw that his home was being blessed and they told David and this time we read in 1 Chronicles 15 we can see that the Israelites now prepared themselves to carry the ark, they sanctified themselves, they worshiped God and obeyed God’s commandments on how to bring His word home using His method and not our strategies.

David prepared a home for the ark, now God has restored the ark (Christ) so that through His Spirit He may dwell in each and everyone of us in a Temple not made with human hands. So that we may bring Glory to the master builder Almighty God. Hallelujah!

When Jesus shared a word in the synagogue in Luke 4:18 when Jesus said that the Spirit was upon Him he sat down and said: “Today the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” it was not what Jesus read to the people that angered them it was what He did, He sat down… in the synagogue there is one seat behind the pulpit where no one sits, it is a seat left vacant for the Messiah and Jesus sat in that seat that was what infuriated the town causing them to want to kill Jesus.

This was a truly inspiring word and as I thought more on it I felt this huge burden to share it first with you this morning, I could not wait so sorry for waking you up I thought you were already up and I had to share this Joy with my family…you.

Stay Blessed,

Your Brother in Christ,

James