The Ark in Exodus 40:21 of the Chinese Union Version is called “the Ark of the Law,” but it is actually “the Ark of the Testimony” according to the Hebrew text. This is because the law of God was in the Ark. Since the law was the testimony, the Ark was called “the Ark of the Testimony.”
The law is a testimony of God because the law reveals the attributes of God and explains the kind of God He is. When we read the law, the Ten Commandments, we see that the God who enacted the law is so holy, full of light, loving, and righteous. The Ten Commandments show us the attributes of God, enabling us to know God’s nature. Since the law explains God and reveals His attributes, it is a testimony of God.
If a person is wasteful and unruly, he will surely make laws that are lax and wild. If a person is serious and righteous, he will make laws that are strict and just. When we look at a law, we can know the kind of person who enacted it, because a law always shows the character of the law-giver. In the same way, the laws of the Old Testament are holy, full of light, compassionate, and righteous because this is the character of the God who enacted them. Since the law testifies of God, the law is the testimony of God.
Although the law is the testimony of God, it is still a law to man. The law consists of all the requirements that God places upon man according to what He is. On one hand, these requirements are a testimony of God, revealing what God is, and on the other hand, they are a law to man, requiring man to do certain things. For example, God is a jealous God; thus, He commands man to not make idols and to not worship idols (20:3-5). Because God is also absolutely loving and pure, He commands man to not kill and to not commit adultery (vv. 13-14). Furthermore, God is absolutely true and honest; for this reason, He commands man to not testify with false testimony, that is, to not lie (v. 16). Therefore, on one hand, these laws declare what kind of God He is, and on the other hand, they require man to conduct himself according to what God is. Since these laws are the explanation of God, they are a testimony of God; since they place requirements on man, they are the law to man.
The law requires man to have the divine attributes and be like God. Therefore, the Scriptures say, “I am Jehovah your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44). God requires man to be like Him. This is the law. In this respect, however, there is no way for man to fulfill the requirements of the law. Indeed, man has absolutely no power to keep the law of God; only God Himself can keep the law and fulfill the law. This is because the law of God requires man to have the divine attributes and be like God.
Some may ask why God would give such requirements if it is impossible for man to meet the requirements of the law. God gave these requirements for three reasons. First, they show us the kind of God He is. Second, we will see that we have absolutely no power and no way to fulfill the requirements. We are unable to fulfill the requirements of God, and there is no way we can fulfill them by ourselves; only He can fulfill them, and only He has a way to fulfill them. With man this is impossible, but with God it is possible. Only He can meet His requirements. This points to the third reason. He wants to be received into us, and by contacting and touching Him, we allow Him to fulfill His requirements within us and through us.
The requirements of the law of God compel man to receive God. If man could fulfill the requirements of God, man would have no need to trust in God and no need to receive the Lord as Savior. Since man cannot meet the requirements of the law, however, he needs to seek refuge in God and receive God. When God comes into man and becomes the power of life within man and which passes through man, He meets the requirements of His law. Romans 8:4 speaks of the Spirit of life fulfilling the righteous requirement of the law in those who walk according to the spirit.
Therefore, the reality, the substance, of the law is God Himself. If a person touches God Himself, if he touches God’s being, then he is able to spontaneously fulfill the requirements of the law of God. However, if a man wants to keep the ordinances of the law merely because of the requirements of the law, his efforts will be in vain.
The Old Testament saints who wrote the Psalms were godly men who lived in God’s presence. As such, they touched God and God’s being and, therefore, spontaneously lived according to the law. It was easy for them to keep the law because they touched the reality, the substance, of the law, which is God Himself. Others, however, did not live in God’s presence, and, in New Testament terminology, they were not in fellowship with God. They tried instead to keep the law by their own effort. Since God gave them commandments and requirements, they felt that they could fulfill them. They accepted God’s requirements and tried to keep them as laws, but they could not. On the contrary, they broke every law. If anyone tries to keep the law as a set of regulations apart from God, his efforts will be to no avail. If a person has seen that the law is a testimony of God and that the reality of the law is God Himself and if he contacts God often, touching God Himself and living before God, it will result in an ability to fulfill the requirements of the law. This applies especially to those who are in the New Testament age. Although we are not under the law, if we live in God, we will spontaneously fulfill the requirements of the law, because the law is a testimony of God, and the reality, the substance, of the law is God Himself.