Chapter 4.3
Ark of the Covenant
The
Ark of the Covenant is the most
treasured
article in the nation of Israel.
It’s
a sacred symbol of God’s covenant
with
them.
The Original
The original Ark is in Heaven
and is mentioned 33 times. Moses was
shown the Original Ark and told to pattern another one just like it. It’s also spoken of 13 times as the Ark of the
testimony and 34 times as the Ark of God and
35 times as the Ark
of the Lord.[1]
What it looked like
Bezalel and Oholiab
constructed the Ark at Mt. Sinai assisted by other skilled Israelites according
to the pattern given to Moses by God.[2] The word for Ark is the same as “Coffin;”
a mummy case. An ossuary was the
depository for the deceased and constructed only large enough to hold the dried
bones. In the case of the Ark, it was
the depository for the Law; the Ten Commandments.
It looked like a box or a chest about 3 ¾
feet long and 2 ¼ feet wide and 2 ¼ feet deep and was made out of Acacia wood a
strong insect resistant wood that resists rot and was overlaid inside and out
with pure gold. Acacia seyal, the Red acacia, known
also as the shittah tree (the source
of shittim wood),
is a thorny, 20–30 foot high tree with a pale greenish or reddish bark.
The lid was believed to be God’s Throne or “Mercy Seat”
and was made of a pure slab of gold.
There
was a gold molding around the top of the Ark which the mercy seat would drop down
into; this prevented the mercy seat from sliding around during transportation. At opposite ends of the gold cover were two
angels of hammered gold facing each other with wings stretched upward and their
heads bowed toward the mercy seat.[3] Most artist renditions show the Ark as very
ornate; while I do not see this in scripture, it’s very possible based on the
number of craftsmen working on it.
The Gold
The Israelites had no gold,
so where did they get it? The Egyptians
gave gold to the Israelites just to get rid of them; they plundered them. Picture a million people with a few pieces of
gold in their hand.
Exodus 12:35-36
– The Egyptians gave them gold to leave
35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the
Egyptians for articles of SILVER AND GOLD and for clothing.
36 The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably
disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for;
so
they plundered the Egyptians.
NIV
Transportation
Four gold rings were
cast and attached to the four feet of the Ark with two poles placed through the
rings. Many artist depictions of the Ark
show the poles or staves inserted at the top of the chest; but scripture says
the rings were on the feet, not on the legs.
The Ark was made to be transported on the shoulders of the Kohathite
Levites using very long poles made of Arcadia (shittim) wood that was overlaid with gold.[4]
There were 8600 of Kohathite Levite Priest whose only assignment was to
care for the Ark;[5]
they were forbidden to touch the Ark “On Pain of Death,”[6] and
the long poles kept them at a distance; only the high priest touched the
Ark. When the Ark was transported, the
High Priest covered it in a veil of badger’s skins and blue cloth,[7]
concealed even from the priest that carried it. It was never to touch the ground.
The early ancient artist renditions show
the long poles in the Ark bending as the Priest would carry it; as small as this
thing was; it was heavy with all the Gold. The poles were not to be removed from the Ark;
they were so long that they could be seen sticking out from the Holy Place. The length kept everyone at a safe distance
from the Ark.
I have got to say this; there
are carvings in the synagogue of Capernaum showing the Ark enclosed on a Cart with wheels. The enclosure had columns, a rounded roof and
doors on the end. This rendition may be of when the Ark was being transported
by the Philistines, but this was NOT the mode of transportation as specified by God.
The Cover – The Lid; the
Top
The cover was called
in the NIV the Atonement
Cover or in the KJV, called the Mercy Seat.[8]
It had on opposite ends of the gold cover, two
angels of hammered gold facing each other with wings stretched upward with their
heads bowed down toward the mercy seat. Angels
are ministering spirits carrying out the will of God for man.[9]
Cherubim Angels
according to medieval theologians have four wings with two spread out and
upward like a tent over the Ark and the other two wings covered its body.[10]
Seraphim’s have six wings
in case you were wondering,[11]
and some angels do not have any wings at all; nothing in scripture indicates
that they even need wings.
Once a year, the high priest would enter into the portion of the
tabernacle called the Holy of Holies and
sprinkle blood on the “Mercy Seat” and offer prayers to God to give
mercy for the sins of the people. It was between the
wings of the angels and the mercy seat that God dwelled.
Exodus 25:17 –
Make a cover for the Ark with images of Angels
17 "Make an atonement cover of pure
gold--two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.
18 And make TWO
CHERUBIM OUT OF HAMMERED GOLD at the ends of the cover.
19 Make one cherub on one end and the second
cherub on the other; make the cherubim of ONE piece with the cover, at the two
ends.
20 The cherubim are to have their WINGS SPREAD UPWARD, overshadowing
the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, LOOKING TOWARD THE COVER.
Inside the Ark
The Tablets of the Testimony
or Covenant were put inside the Ark;[12] the
movies have exaggerated the size of the stones for these TEN COMMANDMENTS making them
extremely large, needing both arms to carry them. However, in actuality they were made of two
small stone tablets that were small enough to be put into the inside pocket of
a coat.
At some point a golden jar of MANNA[13] was added to the
contents of the Ark of the Covenant along with AARON’S
ROD or staff that had budded.[14] Later on at the dedication of Solomon’s Temple
there is no mention of these two items.
God also gave Moses laws which he wrote in a book, known as “The Book of the
Law.” Some students of the
Word believed that this Book was also inside the Ark, but it was actually
placed beside the Ark so that it could be seen as a constant reminder.
Deuteronomy
31:26 – Place the Book of the Law beside the Ark
26 "Take this BOOK
OF THE LAW and PLACE IT BESIDE
THE ARK of the covenant
of the LORD your God.
There
it will remain as a witness.
Aaron’s
Rod
I just felt a need to hitch hike on Aaron’s
rod being in the ark because it is so fascinating. The ark was 62.5” long so Aaron’s rod must
have been about 5 feet long to fit inside the ark. There was grumblings within the camp about NEPOTISM
by Moses in selecting his brother Aaron to be the high priest. Moses contended that it was God that had
chosen Aaron; which He did. So Moses had
every tribal leader bring his staff or rod with their tribal name written on it
to the “Tent
of the Testimony” and that included Aaron and his rod.
They put all the Twelve rods before the Ark of the
Covenant and the next day Aaron’s
rod not only had budded, but it had leaves, blossoms and almonds on it. After that, the matter was settled and the
grumbling stopped.[15]
Purpose of the Ark
Function: The Ark was the
symbol or sign of God’s active presence among His people; its primary function
was that of a container.
Purpose: The Ark was where God would meet
with Moses to communicate His will for His people, the Israelites.[16] Specifically; the voice of God was heard from
between the angles and the mercy seat;[17] scripture
bears out that God appeared there in a cloud.[18]
The Ten Commandments were the “Testimony” or “Covenant” that God has between
Himself and the nation of Israel “Written in Stone” is forever.
The Mercy Seat
cover and
the Book of
the Law declared the Devine holiness
by which all men stand condemned or redeemed.
The law condemned; the Mercy redeemed.
WOW
It was a weapon when they went to war, the ark was sent ahead of the
army. The reputation and power of the
Ark would put fear in the enemy’s heart; however, when the Israelites trusted
in the Ark instead of God, they were met with crushing defeat.
Leviticus 16:2 –
God appeared in a cloud above the mercy seat.
2 The LORD said to Moses: "Tell your
brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the
I APPEAR IN THE
CLOUD OVER THE ATONEMENT COVER. NIV
Ark
of Mary
The following is handed down
by sacred tradition; I include it here because it became somewhat embraced
beginning in the fourth century A.D. up until now. The Roman Catholic writers saw the Blessed
Virgin Mary as the “Ark of the Covenant” because she herself
carried the Savior of mankind within her; she became the “Holy of Holies”
“She is the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the True Manna,
that is, the flesh in which Divinity resides” (Homily of the
Papyrus of Turin)
I can certainly in my spirit, embrace symbolically that the Ark of wood, containing the old
covenant, was only a shadow of the Ark
of flesh that contained the new covenant.
I can also identify with the love and respect for Mary the mother of
Jesus. Roman Catholics believe that Mary
herself was also born of a Virgin, therefore she too was sinless and a co-redeemer equal with Jesus; therein lies the problem, it’s just not found
in the Book.
The Covenant
The Ten Commandments
were symbolic of God’s Covenant with His people. Moses would spell out in
detail in the Torah, the Book of the Law, how they would be Blessed if they kept His
covenant, he also spelled out in detail what would happen if they didn’t; the Curses.
Covenant
Blessings: You
will be blessed in the city and in the country, blessed coming in
and going out, enemies defeated, bunch of children, livestock, crops, bread,
barns full, and everything you set your hand to would be blessed.[19]
Covenant
Curses: You will be cursed in
the city and in the country, cursed coming in and going out, no food, no
children, confusion and destruction on everything you do, disease, fever,
inflammation, boils, scorching heat, no rain, drought, blight, dust, defeat in
war and more.[20]
The nation of Israel was not just an ordinary nation. They were chosen by God to be a special, set
apart people, therefore forgetting His covenant was not an ordinary sin, nor
was the punishment. There are seven times more curses than there are
blessings. If you read the CURSES, you would never want to forsake God’s
covenant.
Ark was captured
It
was thought that whoever had the “God in a Box” leading their army would win the
war;[21]
the Philistines dispelled this notion pretty quick.[22] (I’m not being
blasphemous, that’s what they thought).[23] When the Philistines captured the Ark at Beth
Shemesh, seventy men took a look inside the Ark and God killed them all.[24] Some
students of the Bible say there were 70 thousand men; Seven is the symbolic number for
completeness;
so no matter how many men there were, they were
The city was struck with a plague of
hemorrhoids.[25]
Plagues of boils, hemorrhoids, and rats
followed the Ark to whatever city it was relocated to; people died left and
right from the plagues.
Ark Returned
Finally they sent the Ark back
to the Israelites on a new ox cart where it stayed for twenty years at
Abinadab’s house in Kiriath Jearim which was high on a hill overlooking
Jerusalem.[26]
There it was guarded by a Priest. Today in Kiriath Jearim there is a church
called the “Church
of the Ark” standing on the traditions site of Abinadab’s house.
Later King David would bring the Ark to Jerusalem where it was placed in
a special tent that David had prepared for it, there the Priest would sacrifice
burnt offering and peace offerings to the Lord; and then at some point the Ark
was moved to Solomon’s Temple into a special inner room called the “Holy of Holies.”
[27] When the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem in 586
B.C., IF the
Ark was present, it was either taken or burned, we just don’t know; I will
present more thoughts on this later.
Future Return of the Ark
There is an allusion in
scripture that the Ark of the Covenant, referred to as God’s Glory and
His Banner (His standard); will be returned
to the Temple. It will be returned
before the invasion of Jerusalem by Russia. (Search on line; The Temple Institute
for an eye opener)
Ezekiel 39:21-22 – The Ark will be displayed
before the nations
21 "I WILL DISPLAY MY “GLORY” among the
nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I
lay upon them.
22 From that day
forward the house of
Jeremiah 4:6 – The Ark is the standard for
Israel.
6 Set up THE
“STANDARD” toward
Interesting Stuff
From
the Apocrypha; 2nd Maccabees 2:4-10; “The Jeremiah Letter.” Jeremiah came and found a cavern in the rock,
and there he brought in the (tent) Tabernacle, and the Ark,
and the Alter of Incense; and he made fast the door. “Yea, and the place shall be unknown until God gather the people again together,[28]
and mercy comes; and then shall the Lord disclose these things”.[29] The glory of the Lord and the cloud shall
appear, as they were shown before Moses and Solomon.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are the final
reference to the Ark of the Covenant and
its location. Other writing not found in
the Bible suggest that Solomon, concerned about an invading army, built a
replica of the Ark of the Covenant for protection and that the real Ark was
sent to Ethiopia
for safe keeping with his son that he fathered with the Queen of Sheba and is under guard there even today awaiting its
return.[30]
More; June 26,
2009, Abune Paulos, the patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia attested that the Ark is being kept safe and
secure in a church in Axum, Ethiopia.[31]
The Temple Institute, according to
reports that surfaced years ago, claim that they are now in possession of the Ark of the
Covenant.
In Rome they say
the Ark was lost when the basilica burned.
Here’s more; a
replica was discovered in 1940 in a cave in East Africa that was made by the
Lemba priest; it was carbon dated to about 1350. Writings say the original was burned up, but
the core was used in the reconstruction.
The Apocrypha also mentions the Ark being
carried away to Babylon. This is
disputed saying the real Ark was hidden. Indiana Jones is the
only one who actually knows where the Ark is. After the Babylonian
captivity, many synagogues made replicas of the Ark. It was placed behind a curtain in the side
wall of the synagogue toward Jerusalem. Inside
was a copy of the Torah and other sacred books.
1
Esdras 1:54 (Apocrypha) – Carried off to
Babylon
54 Babylonians took all the holy vessels of the
Lord, both great and small, and THE ARK OF GOD, and the King’s
treasures and carried them away into
At the Return of Christ
When Christ returns
for the millennial reign the Ark will not be present, it will not even be
thought of because Christ will be on the throne in Jerusalem. There will be no need to make a new Ark; and
they won’t.
Jeremiah 3:16-18 – The Ark will no longer be
remembered.
16 In those
days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land," declares the
LORD, "men will no longer say,
`THE ARK OF
THE COVENANT
of the LORD.'
IT WILL NEVER ENTER THEIR MINDS OR BE REMEMBERED;
IT WILL NOT BE MISSED, NOR WILL ANOTHER ONE BE
MADE.
17 At that time
they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in
The
Take Away
The Ark is a copy or
pattern of the Original Ark which is in heaven.
The Ark was a small chest or box about four foot long and 2 feet high
and 2 feet wide. It was overlaid with
gold inside and out and was transported by the Priest using poles that were
placed through the rings located on the feet of the chest.
The top was a pure slab of Gold with the images of two angels with wings
open and upward and with their heads bowed toward the mercy seat. It was between the Angels and the mercy seat
that the cloud
of God would appear and meet with
the Moses and Aaron with instructions for His people. Inside the Ark was the Ten Commandments made on
two tablets by Moses and written on by the finger of God.
A golden jar of Manna was added at
some point to the Ark contents along with Aaron’s rod that
had budded; later on these items are not mentioned again and were considered
missing.
The Book of
the Law was also present, but it was not placed inside
the Ark, but on the outside as a constant visual reminder of the Law. The covenant spelled out the Blessings and
Curses for God’s people; the Israelites.
There is an allusion in scripture that the Ark will be returned to the
rebuilt Temple. There are a number of
opinions on where the Ark is now. There
has been no proof presented either way of its existence or non-existence. I believe that The Ark still exists based on
Holy Scripture and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
My BS, my Belief System embraces that when the Ark is returned, it
will eventually be destroyed and will not be present at the millennial reign of
Christ and they will not make a new one
[1] Revelation 11:19 – The
real Ark is in Heaven. (33 times)Hebrews 8:5 – A
copy of the real thing in Heaven -- Exodus 25:9 – Make the Ark like this
pattern. -- Joshua 6:11 – Ark of the Lord (35
times). -- 1 Samuel 3:3 – The Ark of God (34 times) -- Exodus 25:22 – The Ark of the Testimony (13 times)
[2] Exodus 37:1 – Bezalel had
the Ark constructed out of Acacia / Shittim Wood -- Exodus 31:6 – Oholiab and
other skilled craftsman will construct the Ark -- Exodus 25:10-11 – Here is how
to make it; get some shittim wood
[3] Exodus 25:20 – Two Angels
with wings spread upward and heads bowed.
[4] Exodus 25:12 – God gives
instructions on how to transport the Ark --
Exodus 37:5 – The poles were used to carry the Ark -- 1 Kings 8:8 –The
long poles stuck out from the Holy Place
[5] Numbers 3:27-31 The
Kohathite Levite Priests are responsible for the Ark -- Exodus 25:12 – God
gives instructions on how to transport the Ark
[6] 1 Chronicles 13:9-10 –
Uzzah touched the Ark and was zapped and died
[7] Numbers 4:5-6 – Cover the
Ark with the shielding curtain of Badger skins
[8] Exodus 40:20 – NIV The atonement cover -- Exodus 40:20 – KJV The mercy seat
[9] Hebrews 1:14 - Angels are
ministering Spirits for Believers
[10] Ezekiel 1:6 - Cherubim
have four wings -- Ezekiel 1:11-12 – Cherubim’s Two wings covered its body and
Two reached upward
[11] Isaiah 6:1-2 – Seraphim’s
have six wings
[12] Exodus 25:16 – The Ten
Commandments were placed in the Ark -- 1 Kings 8:9 – Two stone tablets; the Ten
Commandments were inside the Ark
[13] Exodus 16:33 – A Jar with
a omer of Manna within the Ark
[14] Numbers 17:10 – Place
Aaron’s rod that budded in the Ark -- Hebrews 9:4 – The Ark contained the
Tablets, the Jar of Manna and Aaron’s rod
[15] Numbers 17:2-5 – Write
the Tribal names on the Twelve Rods -- Numbers 17:8 – Buds, Blossoms and
Almonds on Aaron’s rod -- Numbers 17:10 – Put Aaron’s rod in the Ark of the
Covenant
[16] Exodus 25:22 – I will
meet with you above the cover, between the two cherubim
[17] Numbers 7:89 – God voice
spoke above the atonement cover between the two angels
[18] Exodus 19:9 – The Lord’s
presence was in a dense cloud -- Exodus 13:21 – The Lord’s presence was in a
cloud -- Exodus 33:9 – The Lord was in the pillar of cloud -- Exodus 34:5 – The
Lord came down in a cloud and stood there
-- Exodus 40:34-35 – The Cloud was the glory of God
[20] Deuteronomy 28:15-68 – If
you do not obey; seven times the curses
[21] Joshua 6:9 – The guarded
Ark went before the army into war
[22] 1 Samuel 5:11-12 – Send
the cart back or we ALL will all die
[23] 1 Samuel 4:3 – Let’s get
the Ark, IT
will save us
[24] 1 Samuel 6:19 – Seventy
looked into the Ark and died
[25] 1 Samuel 5:9 – The city
was struck with hemorrhoids
[26] 2 Samuel 6:2-3 – The Ark
was brought from the house of Abinadab on a new cart -- 1 Samuel 7:2 – The Ark
stayed twenty years at Kiriath Jearim
[27] 2 Samuel 6:17 – The Ark
was brought into Jerusalem into a tent -- 2 Chronicles 35:3 – The Ark was
finally put in the Temple -- 1 Kings 8:6 – The Ark was placed in the Holy of
Holies
[28] Isaiah 18:7 – God will
bring His people back.
[29] Isaiah 18:3 – The Ensign;
the Ark will be lifted up for all to see
[30] 1 Kings 10:13 –
Commentaries say – The Queen of Sheba desired a son of Solomon -- Isaiah 18:3 –
The Ensign; the Ark will be lifted
up for all to see
[31] Isaiah 18:1 – The Ark
shadowing with wings is in Ethiopia
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