Bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Our Temple

Two days ago I mentioned that David was fulfilling a command instituted in Deuteronomy 12 that stipulated that Israel would worship in one central location, Jerusalem. He joyfully brings the holy Ark of the Covenant into his home city to make it the Holy City. The Ark of the Covenant is fulfilled in the person of the Blessed Virgin Mary; we are called to bring her into our home, like David did, for her to show us the way to follow Jesus. This is what Jesus wants us to do, and as Jesus honors His mother and fulfills the fourth commandment, we imitate Him.

Some of the very last words that Jesus said right before He died on the cross were spoken concerning His mother. “When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home” (John 19: 26-27). Jesus gives every beloved disciple to His mother, and she takes us as her own. Since she is now our God-given mother, we are required to obey the fourth commandment and honor her. Jesus also gives his mother to every beloved disciple in order for us to take her into our home. Jesus gives us the true Ark of the Covenant, and faithfully bringing her into our home will bring us closer to Christ.

Why was Jerusalem stipulated in Deuteronomy as the sole place of worship? Many new laws were added in Deuteronomy which were never seen prior, and one of those laws was the necessity for a central place of worship. Why are laws given? “Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made” (Galatians 3: 19). There had to be a singular, central location of worship because the people were continually going after false gods. They had been led out of Egypt in the Exodus, but they were still Egyptian at heart. I think Scott Hahn said it something like this: “God could take them out of Egypt, but He couldn’t take Egypt out of them.”

Why was Egypt so difficult to get out of the hearts of the Israelites? Didn’t the Israelites hate the Egyptians who were their taskmasters? We tend to forget that the Israelites were down there some 430 years; in comparison, the USA has only been a country for just over 230 years. The Israelites had been there so long, they either thought of themselves as Egyptian, or they simply assimilated much of the culture of the Egyptians, particularly their polytheistic religion. As soon as they think Moses has died on Mount Sinai after forty days, they immediately worship the Golden Calf, an old Egyptian god named Apis. A year later, the people are worshipping goat demons; after forty years of wandering in the desert, as the second generation is about to enter the Promised Land, they sin again with false gods, and that is why the book of Deuteronomy with all its new laws is given.

God is a loving Father who gives His children what they need to come back to Him. The more they sin, the more laws He gives to help keep them from drifting too far from Him. One of their main and constant sins was the worship of false gods; they would worship these false gods all over the place; to help prevent them from doing so, they were only to worship in one place; that place was Jerusalem.

When the ten northern tribes separate themselves from Judah during the reign of David’s grandson, Rehoboam, the main problem with this separation of Israel and Judah is that the Israelites no longer come down to Judah to worship in Jerusalem. They start building shrines all over Israel, and they forsake the true God. Their sins are so great and so many, that eventually, after much warning, God sends the Assyrians to come and destroy Israel in 722B.C.

What does all this mean for you and me today? The temple in Jerusalem, according to Jesus, was a symbol of His body; His body is the true temple, the true place of worship. Since we are baptized into Jesus’ body, we too become God’s holy temples. We must only worship the One, True God and not go after other gods. The other gods that the Israelites went after were primarily fertility cults and prosperity cults; they sought the goods of this world: money, power and pleasure. The question we need to ask ourselves is: do we have any side altars to any of these worldly goods set up in our hearts? Do I have an inordinate attachment to money, power or pleasure? Is my heart filled with God and His life, or is it “filled” with the pursuit of happiness which this world gives?

The other question we can ask ourselves is do we have a true devotion to Mary? Do we love and honor her as our mother as Jesus does? She is the Ark of the Covenant and is the precious container which houses the presence of God; she is our Christ-given mother. Do I bring her into my home and welcome her as my mother? Do I seek her aid as I would seek the aid of my own earthly mother when I was a child in need? No one has ever gotten as close to Jesus as Mary is; she knows the way to Him, and she knows better than anyone how to please Him. Do I rely upon her constant motherly help to overcome the temptations to worship false gods? Do I cherish her as my mother and queen who will lead me ever nearer to her Divine Son? Do I rejoice at her coming into my life and home as David rejoiced when he took the Ark of the Covenant into his home town? Never fear of drawing too close to the Blessed Virgin Mary, for she only seeks to bring us to her Divine Son, the True Temple within which we worship.

Thanks for reading and your prayers.
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