The Sure Foundation

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Oct 8, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 38.

The Sure Foundation.

"If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Ps. 11:3.

Every structure that is of any account must be built upon a foundation. In the close of the sermon on the mount, our Saviour graphically but accurately describes the consequences of building without any foundation. When "the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house," it fell, because it was built upon the sand. The same thing would have happened to the house which was built upon a foundation, if the foundation could have been removed. The tendency of the present age is to superficiality, but a good, solid foundation is nevertheless as necessary as it ever was.

We believe that "the foundations" to which the psalmist refers in the text just quoted, are nothing else than the law of God—the ten commandments. To demonstrate this is the object of this article. The psalmist continues in the next verse: "The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in Heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men." This shows that there is an intimate connection between "the foundations," and the throne of God and the temple in Heaven. What this connection is, we proceed to show.

In the 25th chapter of Exodus we find directions concerning the building of a sanctuary. This sanctuary was to be a dwelling-place for God. See verse 8. From the 26th chapter we learn that it was an oblong building, inclosed on three sides with boards, and on the fourth by a cloth curtain, and that by a similar curtain it was divided into two apartments—the holy place and the most holy place. In the holy place there was an altar of incense, a golden candlestick, and a table of show-bread. Ex. 40:22-27. In the most holy place was the ark of the testimony (Ex. 26:37), and it is to this that we wish to call especial attention.

This ark was a wooden box overlaid and lined with pure gold. Its cover was termed the "mercy-seat," and was of solid gold, having on each end a cherub beaten out of the same piece of pure gold. "And the cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee." Ex. 25:20, 21. Read carefully the preceding verses.

What this "testimony" was, we easily find by the comparison of a few texts of Scripture. In Ex. 24:12 we read: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there; and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them." Moses went up, and was there forty days and forty nights, during which time he received the instructions found in chapters 25-31. After noting these instructions, the sacred narrative continues: "And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." Ex. 31:18.

We notice that the tables of testimony were tables of stone. Tracing them further, we find (Ex. 32:15-19) that when Moses came down from the mount, with the two tables in his hand, he broke them at the foot of the mount, in his righteous anger at the idolatry of the people. This experience is detailed by Moses in the 9th of Deuteronomy, and in the 10th chapter he proceeds with the narrative as follows:—

"At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou breakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark. And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spoke unto you in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, in the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them unto me. And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me." Deut. 10:1-5.

We have now positive assurance that the "testimony" that was placed in the ark was the ten commandments, and that it was on this account that the ark was called "the ark of the testimony." Now note again in Ex. 25, that the cover to the ark was called the "mercy-seat," and that upon it were two cherubim, one on each end. The Lord said: "And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel." Ex. 25:21, 22. God dwelt between the cherubim upon the mercy-seat above the testimony, and it was this that made it necessary for the high priest to burn incense when he ministered in the most holy place. The cloud of incense veiled the glory of God, which, unobscured, would have caused his death. Lev. 16:3, 13.

Now to the point of all this. The Jewish tabernacle, and all things connected with it, were patterned after something that Moses had seen in the mount. Ex. 25:9, 40. They were "patterns of things in the Heavens;" and "the holy places made with hands" were only "figures of the true" holy places in Heaven. Heb. 9:23, 24. There must be, then, a real tabernacle in Heaven, and this is plainly stated in Heb. 8:1, 2: "Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the Heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man."

"A minister of the sanctuary." There is but one, since that built by Moses was only a miniature representation of the true tabernacle in the Heavens, which the Lord pitched. This temple in Heaven has been seen by mortal eye. The beloved disciple says: "And the temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament." Rev. 11:19. This temple in Heaven is the special dwelling-place of God. "The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him." Hab. 2:20. "The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in Heaven." Ps. 11:4.

We have already noted that not only the tabernacle, but all its furniture, was modeled after things in the Heavens. Said the Lord to Moses: "According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it." Ex. 25:9. After giving directions concerning the ark, the table, and the candlestick, he repeated the injunction: "And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount." Ex. 25:40. Accordingly we find (Rev. 11:19) that the ark of the testament is one of the things in the temple in Heaven.

Now remember that in the earthly tabernacle God's dwelling-place was above the ark, between the cherubim that were upon the mercy-seat. Ex. 25:21, 22; Lev. 16:3, 13. Then since the earthly tabernacle was a type of God's real dwelling-place,—the temple in Heaven,—it must be that the ark of the testament was a figure of God's throne in Heaven. To corroborate this conclusion, we read that God's real dwelling-place is between the cherubim. Says David, in prayer to God: "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth." Ps. 80:1. Again: "The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble; he sitteth between the cherubim; let the earth be moved." Ps. 99:1. Here the fact that God reigns is connected with his sitting between the cherubim, showing conclusively that when reigning upon his throne he is between the cherubim. God sits between the cherubim; he reigns; therefore the people should tremble. When Hezekiah was in trouble, he "prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubim, thou art God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth." 2 Kings 19:15. And the Lord, speaking of Satan under the figure of the king of Tyrus, said: "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so; thou wast upon the holy mount of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire." Eze. 28:14.

These texts show plainly that the cherubim upon the mercy-seat, from between which God spoke to the people, were representations of the cherubim that cover the throne of God in Heaven, and that therefore the mercy-seat, supported by the ark, was a figure of God's throne. This is why the most holy place and the ark were considered so sacred.

But if the ark and the mercy-seat were a representation of God's throne, then the tables of testimony—the ten commandments—which it contained must be considered as showing the relation existing between the real throne of God in Heaven and the original copy of the ten commandments. The ark existed for the sole purpose of holding the law, and therefore the ten commandments must be considered as forming the foundation of God's throne. David says: "The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round about him; righteousness and judgment are the habitation [or establishment] of his throne." Ps. 97:1, 2. Now when we read (Ps. 119:172) that God's commandments are righteousness, and further, that they are God's righteousness (Isa. 51:6, 7), we are assured that the ten commandments which God spoke from Sinai, and which were copied on tables of stone, form the foundation of God's throne.

A throne is the symbol of royal power and authority. We speak of "the throne of England," meaning the Government of England; therefore when we state the literal fact, that the ten commandments are the foundation of God's throne, it is equivalent to saying that they form the basis of God's Government; that all of God's judgments are in harmony with them, and that they cover every act of his in the government of his creatures.

From these facts thus briefly stated, the following conclusions are evident:—