The Testimony of God's Presence
Word for the Week: Testimony | Reading through the Old Testament and seeing God's presence revealed for the people through the Ark of Testimony
I’ll be honest with you: reading the Old Testament chronologically is a challenge at times. Listening on the Bible app helped get me through Leviticus, but the fruit of my conversations with God because of the questions or revelations is so worth it.
As I worked my way through Exodus, I was fascinated by something different than what I remembered from previous readings or what I learned growing up. I’ve mostly been reading the NASB or ESV translations, and both refer to (what I’ve always known as) the Ark of the Covenant as the “Ark of Testimony”. I had never seen or heard this before!
I began to weigh the difference in my understanding of covenant vs testimony. A covenant is a relational commitment, a binding agreement, a promise between two people or groups of people. A testimony is a story that specifically recalls a witness to something or someone incredible; it’s a transformational remembrance. How are these the same thing?!
When Moses received the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, they were also referred to as “tablets of testimony.”1 Then I started questioning how law and commandments could be translated as “testimony.” That is not how we use the word testimony in our Western world, at least.
The Word: Testimony
Strong’s H5715 |ʿēḏûṯ (ay-dooth')
testimony or witness
from the root word, ʿēḏ, which means evidence of things or witness of people
used specifically to refer to God’s spoken or written commandments for the people of Israel
The Ark of Testimony (or, if you grew up reading NIV or other thought-for-thought translations, The Ark of the Covenant) is where God’s presence resided in the Tabernacle and with the people as they moved from place to place, land to land.
The tablets of testimony held the written version of the commandments God spoke to Moses (see Exodus 34). The tablets were added to the Ark of Testimony in the construction of the Tabernacle, thus making the presence of God complete with the words and commands of God. This reminds us of God’s holiness, standards, and expectations for His people.
When the veil was torn as Jesus took His last breath, it removed much of the required purity laws to access the Ark of Testimony/the presence of God. Living on this side of the New Testament, we are privileged to access God anywhere and have His presence reside within us wherever we go. What did not change about the presence of God though is His holiness and expectations for the people of God.
While we don’t have to be a priest or be perfect in order to experience the presence of God today, our testimony is not just where the presence of God has shown up in our lives. Our testimony is also abiding by the statutes of the Lord as outlined in Scripture.
The covenant we have made with God, trusting in His promises for us and following the way of Jesus is not complete without the testimony—the witness of who God has been (faithfulness) and what God has commanded of us (call to righteousness).
This has been a beautiful reminder to me of God’s holiness (completely set apart, just, and loving when it doesn’t fully make sense to us). Because God is God and I am not. While not all of the Old Testament laws and narratives make sense immediately, it is rich with God’s goodness, faithfulness, and opportunity to learn and love God more.
What are you reading in Scripture right now? If you want to challenge yourself to read the Bible in 90 days and want a helpful guide to walk you through it day-by-day, check out my free 90-Days in the Word download and/or share it with a friend.
The Lord bless you, and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.
[Numbers 6:24-26]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2040%3A20&version=NASB1995