Ark of the Covenant

[Jlutz]

Even if they don't know where it is, they could just make another one. Gods presence is no longer in it, it is nothing but an old piece of furniture now. God is what made it holy, it's nothing now.

[RandallB]

Here is a thot.

Maybe the ark was entrusted to Ethiopians with a mission to keep it until the Messiah comes.

And the Ethiopian official that Philip baptised had been on a mission to Jerusalem to check out the rumours of the Messiah and to see if it was time to return the ark back to Israel. But somehow that Messiah ended up dead with rumours of resurrection and another return. We know that he was confused over Isaiah 53 where the Messiah seems to suffer and die.

Just a thot.

[I Am's child]

Seems like I saw a special on TV (maybe NatGeo?) about the ark in Ethiopia. It was an interesting show, however very flawed. The ark they have was shown at the last of the show, and it resembled a giant pod....nothing like the ark of scripture. This tribe also performs sacrifice in the old traditional Jewish manner. They also concluded the ark had something to do with singing. Sorry to be so vague, but it has been awhile since I saw it and I discounted it because it was so far fetched. Did anyone else see this show?

[Verisimilitude]

The second temple that was built didn't have the ark in it. Does it say someplace that I am missing that says the Third temple can't be built without the ark.?? Just wondering if I have missed something.

The Bible doesn't mention the Ark one way or another regarding the second temple. It doesn't say if it was there or if it was not. It is a mystery. Jeremiah 3:16 does mention that in the day that the people of Israel increase in the land, they will no longer visit the Ark or remember it. It is odd that Jeremiah would mention the Ark if no longer existed in his time. I know his time was before the second temple, but I kind of take it that in Jeremiah's time people knew the Ark and the implied visitation leads me to believe that in his day, at least, there was some Ark, real or fake.

My personal opinion is that a fake Ark was indeed taken to Babylon and returned with the vessels to the second temple. I do not believe the Ark was still in the temple in the time of Jesus. Somewhere the fake Ark disappeared and Grant Jeffrey has metioned that it was actually seen sometime in the past 20 years or so under the Temple Mount. Before anyone could get to it, the muslims put up a wall so no one could retrieve it. I do know that the muslims are notorious for destroying anything they can that shows that the Israeli's held the Temple Mount as sacred to them.

Even if they don't know where it is, they could just make another one. Gods presence is no longer in it, it is nothing but an old piece of furniture now. God is what made it holy, it's nothing now.

We who are Bible believing Christians know that our bodies are Temples of the Holy Spirit. The religious Jews who are not Messianic Jews do not recognize this. To them, God's presence is still in the Ark. It is nothing to make new vessels, new priestly garb and a new temple, but it must be the True Ark that is in there for their worship to be genuine, and they know it. It's like the red heifer...you could sacrifice and cremate any heifer, but it couldn't truly be used for cleansing. They are waiting for a red heifer without blemish to reach the age of 3 so they can sacrifice it, cremate it, mix it's ashes according to Moses instructions and use it to cleanse the vessels and anything else it will be used to cleanse. For some things, substitutes do not work. This includes the Ark.

[Keifer]

The Ark Moses constructed is an earthly copy of the Ark which is in Heaven and is mentioned in Revelation 11:19. The Heavenly Ark was a pattern for Moses to go by:

“According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.” (Exodus 25:9)

“Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.” (Hebrews 8:5)

Here's a reference to the Ark within the Tribulation Temple. It appears the Antichrist defiles the Temple (Daniel 11:31 & 12:11) by actually sitting down on the Mercy Seat of the Ark:

"Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." (2 Thessalonians 2:4)

The Ark must be in the Tribulation Temple for this to occur.

[RandallB]

Leader of my small group bible study brought this up a while ago…

Hebrews 9:4
Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.

Ark contained:

Broken Commandment Tablets: Put in after Israel rejected God’s law
Manna: Put in after Israel rejected God’s provision of food for life
Budded Rod: Put in after Israel rejected God’s chosen leader

God seems to be collecting tokens that represent Israel’s rejection of His Law, His Food for Life, His Chosen Leader. What more could Israel have done to reject God?

God also made sure Israel took these tokens everywhere they went. They were covered by gold/wood and were to be sprinkled with blood and under the Mercy Seat. The angelic audience must have been amazed that in spite of Israel’s proven rejection, the Lord still blessed them. This must have been especially so when He had Israel proudly bear the tokens of their rejection of Him into battle.

And if God's mercy towards Israel amazed the angels then, His mercy towards us must totally astonish them now.

From a world sense, the Ark represents the entire human history from God's perspective:

Commandments: The world rejected God’s Law during the time(s) of Israel.
Manna: The world is in the process of rejecting God’s Bread of Life, during the Christian era.
Budded Rod: The world will reject God’s chosen Leader at the end of the 1K year reign by raising up an army to attack Him.

What more could the World do to reject God? Rejecting His Law, His Provision, His Leader?

The cross is also a symbol of the World's rejection of His Bread of Life, the empty tomb is His response.

Yet there is a Fulfilled Ark/Mercy Seat, The Christ, thru whom we are able to fellowship with God.

[Mooky]

Here's my two cents, or in this case two shekels. Jimmy DeYoung says he talked to a Rabbi who said he saw it under the temple mount.

[OtherSideOfTheBoat]

I have seen a picture of the ark in Ethiopia and the ridiculous turtle shell pod drum from a so-called historical documentary. The real ark was about 3'9" long, 2'3" wide and 2'3" high. The one in Ethiopia appeared much smaller. I have also read the Ethiopian legend about how they "got" it. It shamefully disagrees with scripture.

Where will the ark be? Revelation 11:19 says, "And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." It will be in heaven.

Where is it now? It was not necessary for the second temple and it won't be necessary for the third. I SUSPECT the ark was in the second temple and that it was taken out at the same time the veil was torn in two. Luke 23:45 says, "And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst." What was the ark? It was called the ark of the covenant many times. It symbolized the old covenant or the law. When the new covenant came why would there be a need for the testimony to that covenant? Perhaps God removed the testimony of the covenant at the same time he removed the covenant.

[HisVessel]

Here's my two cents, or in this case two shekels. Jimmy DeYoung says he talked to a Rabbi who said he saw it under the temple mount.

I've heard that too - a Rabbi saw it under the temple mount. I can't remember what was said....do the muslims know it's there? Who's watching over it. Seems like if the muslims knew it was there they would destroy it.

[Guy4God]

Anyone think God uses the ark to turn back the invading armies? That would turn Israel back to covenant. He said they'd know it was Him. That'd be one way to do it

Perhaps after rapture, the ark gets recharged?

Good point. It very well could be. As for today, the Ark, if it really is somewhere, has no physical power or holy significance. The Church is where God dwells today and that is not a speculation, but Biblical doctrine. After the Church is removed then it is entirely possible that the Ark could "show up" and cause Israel to wake up. Personally, I think it will, but it will not have any power or anything. Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ from the Cross and on through the end of the Millennium.

I think that what will happen is that for 3 1/2 years the Jews will try to worship and invoke God with the Ark and in the Temple to no avail. The 2 Witnesses and will be doing their specific ministry outside and the 144,000 will be doing so worldwide, declaring that Jesus Christ is coming to redeem Israel and judge the wicked. Then the A/C will march up to Jerusalem, slay the 2 Witnesses and go into the temple. There he will say that they had 3 1/2 years to bring God down and either claim he is that fulfillment, or (according to II Thess.2) wave them away and declare himself to be "...all that is above God".

This is how I see it coming down, but only God knows for sure.

[Raphael]

I see similarities between Ark legends and Holy Grail legends/mythology. Both create endless searches and speculation regarding their locations, their powers, and what they really are, the most ridiculous (and blasphemous) being Dan Brown's "DaVinci Code" novel which furthers an old theory about the Grail so secular and unscriptural I'm not going to detail it here.

Obsessions with these physical relics and things like "genuine fragments of the real cross" tend, IMO, to lead many down rabbit trails in dead-end attempts to "contact God" in some way other than spiritual regeneration through faith in the living Christ and the subsequent indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Some lines from "Raiders" describing the Ark: "An army bearing the Ark before it cannot be defeated in battle." "It's a radio for talking to God." Those desiring the Ark or the Spear of Destiny (the Roman spearhead that supposedly pierced the side of Christ) want power in a way that reminds me of the longing wrong-headed characters in The Lord of the Rings had for the One Ring.

I agree with those who have posted that God's power no longer resides in objects, but in his spiritual kingdom.

[KeepWatching]

For anyone interested in a detailed, carefully researched look at the mystery of what happened to the ark of the covenant, I highly recommend the following book (also available in other formats, though I'm only familiar with the book version):

Searching for the Ark of the Covenant: Latest Discoveries and Research
by Dr. Randall Price

paperback book - http://www.worldofthebible.com/searching_desc.htm

dvd or cd - http://www.worldofthebible.com/Searc...20Ark%20PP.htm

Also see this free paper:

The Ark of the Covenant in Prophecy
by Dr. Randall Price

http://www.worldofthebible.com/Bible...20Prophecy.pdf

[Gideon300]

The Bible doesn't mention the Ark one way or another regarding the second temple. It doesn't say if it was there or if it was not. It is a mystery. Jeremiah 3:16 does mention that in the day that the people of Israel increase in the land, they will no longer visit the Ark or remember it. It is odd that Jeremiah would mention the Ark if no longer existed in his time. I know his time was before the second temple, but I kind of take it that in Jeremiah's time people knew the Ark and the implied visitation leads me to believe that in his day, at least, there was some Ark, real or fake.

My personal opinion is that a fake Ark was indeed taken to Babylon and returned with the vessels to the second temple. I do not believe the Ark was still in the temple in the time of Jesus. Somewhere the fake Ark disappeared and Grant Jeffrey has metioned that it was actually seen sometime in the past 20 years or so under the Temple Mount. Before anyone could get to it, the muslims put up a wall so no one could retrieve it. I do know that the muslims are notorious for destroying anything they can that shows that the Israeli's held the Temple Mount as sacred to them.

I believe it is a pretty safe assumption that the Ark was not in the second Temple. If so, it most likely would have been taken by the Romans in 70 AD. The problem with this is that the Romans recorded what was taken from the temple and the Ark was not on the list.

[StumbleButWeFall]

A levite by the name of Ron Wyatt claimed to have found the Ark of the Covenant. I always look at the possibility it has been found. Moses ten commandment slabs that God wrote himself are in it by the way. That would be amazing to hold something so old, and special from God but from scripture God didn't allow everyone to touch the Ark of the Covenant.

[morovich]

Ron Wyatt is an SDA shammer/scammer. Absolute bunkum. Ron Wyatt's "discoveries" are complete and utter fabrications. Research the myth, I mean, man.

[StumbleButWeFall]

What would Ron Wyatt gain by lieing about it? He did spend his life traveling in search of biblical truth, and he has it documented of the places he has been. Anyone can look him up, and make a decision. I have not heard much about him since he passed away. I will look into it further I want to know what made you come to this conclusion?

[Wally]

Wyatt Research = $$$$$.

Lots of claims, no substance. Noah's or Covenant's.

[morovich]

When a LEGITIMATE archaelogical dig/excavation occurs, and something of significant historical note is unearthed, there are always pieces of proof- see the ossuaries/underwater shipwreck dives/pretty much anything that is tangibly representable. I've read numerous volumes on Ron Wyatt and if he in fact DID discover any of these things (especially the LUDICROUS find of the supposed Blood of Christ) then there would be media channels the world over contacted and proof positive presented. Those alleged finds are not the things about which one keeps silent. Tangible proof is paramount in archaeology- think of it, arachaeology unearths THINGS from ages past- not mere ideas or claims.

If I claimed to discover Tut's tomb, and led all these expeditions but my work yielded no evidence or proof, would you think that I really had found Tut's tomb? Nope. How do we know Tut's tomb was discovered? Well, I can go to Cairo and see his death mask, or the sarcophagus, treasure, etc.. It's a pretty simple call to me. Reminds me of Mormonism claiming there was a whole civilizatization that existed in North America but has yielded absolutely ZERO archaelogical evidence.

[StumbleButWeFall]

I can understand that God has his people here but Satan also has people here who serve him. Since a world government would be satan's aka Lucifers plan then what makes you think he would want this information out there if the Ark has been found. Satan knows that if the Ark ever gets into the media as having been found with evidence people would believe the bible, and would believe Jesus was here which is what he doesn't want. Satan wants to destroy us the last thing he would want is for us to be saved. King Tuts tomb is not going to convince people to become christian.

[Wally]

Mormons..... Was it D and C or the Pearl that claimed the native americans were a lost tribe of Israel?


Basic anthropology smashed that claim.