2 Samuel 6:12-14 and Luke 1:39-43, 56 – Ark of the Lord

2 Samuel 6:12-14 and Luke 1:39-43, 56 – Ark of the Lord
[9] And David was afraid of the LORD that day; and he said, "How can the ark of the LORD come to me?"
[10] So David was not willing to take the ark of the LORD into the city of David; but David took it aside to the house of O'bed-e'dom the Gittite.
[11] And the ark of the LORD remained in the house of O'bed-e'dom the Gittite three months; and the LORD blessed O'bed-e'dom and all his household.
[12] And it was told King David, "The LORD has blessed the household of O'bed-e'dom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of O'bed-e'dom to the city of David with rejoicing;
[13] and when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
[14] And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.
Luke 1:39-43, 56
[39] In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah,
[40] and she entered the house of Zechari'ah and greeted Elizabeth.
[41] And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit
[42] and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
[43] And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
[44] For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.
[56] And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her home.

Comment
Soon it will be the season of Advent where many will focus on the scripture leading up to and including the Birth of Jesus, our Saviour.
Some of this weeks scripture touches on Advent but also follows the theme that Ben introduced two weeks ago on the ‘Ark of the Covenant’
I hope to present some verses from the New Testament which relate to the Ark of the Covenant but in a ‘new’ way.
There are an incredible number of similarities found in the Old and New Testaments – the Ark of the Covenant is but one topic of many.
Christians for the last 2000 years have seen these similarities and probably the best quote to reflect this understanding is from Saint Augustine (354-430AD):
The Old Testament is revealed in the New and the New is concealed in the Old.

Some parallels seen in the above two passages - taken from Steve Ray’s article about the Ark of the Covenant.
• Mary arose and went to the hill country of Judea. Ein Kerem where Elizabeth lived and O'bed-e'dom from which the Ark was carried are a stone’s throw away from each other. Mary and the Ark were both on a journey to the same hill country of Judea.

• When David saw the Ark he rejoiced and said, “Who am I that the Ark of the Lord should come to me?” and what does Elizabeth say? She shouts out almost the same words, “Who am I that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?”
• When David approached the Ark he shouted out and danced and leapt in front of the Ark. He even wore an ephod which was the clothing of a priest. When Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant approaches Elizabeth John the Baptist leapt in his mothers womb – and John was from the priestly line of Aaron. Both leapt and danced in the presence of the Ark. David was filled with the Spirit to dance and rejoice; Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
• The Ark of the Old Covenant remained in the house of Obed-edom for three months and we are told that Mary remained in the house of Elizabeth for three months