SOME FACTS ABOUT THE ARK OF THE COVENANT THE PLACE WHERE HISTORY BECOMES ALIVE
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE ARK OF THE COVENANT
The Ark of the Covenant was the holy chest Moses built out of Acacia wood to house the word of God. The ark held only the two stone tablets upon which God wrote the Ten Commandments on the holy mountain in Sinai. Together, the ark and the Testimony constituted the holiest object in the Hebrew religion. When Solomon later built the first Hebrew Temple, he housed the ark in the center of the building's holiest chamber, the place Called the "Holy of Holies". The Lord had to write these stone tablets twice. The first set, Moses cast down and shattered out of anger when, on his return, he found the Israelites in revolt and making preparations to return to Egypt. After quelling the revolt, Moses went back to the mountaintop and secured another set from God. It was this second set of stones that were housed in the ark. The allegorical meaning in this replacement and its necessity was prophecy. It prepared the people of God for a second Testimony. When we speak about the word of God today, we think of the Bible, but Moses was not permitted by God to put the Bible (the 'Torah') into the Ark
Of the Covenant -only the Ten Commandments. The Torah (the book of the Law of Moses) was stored outside the ark on a table. This separation revealed a scripture divided.
The Ark of the Covenant, then, defined the covenant. And in that definition, it made the Ten Commandments greater than anything else that surrounded It in the Hebrew religion. When Moses commanded the Israelites to "hold fast to God's covenant", he was ordering them to obey the ten sacred articles of God housed in the Ark, but far more importantly, the Gospel of Christ which completed that Testimony. The Ark of the Covenant, the Ten Commandments & the Testimony In returning with the completed Testimony, Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Covenant’s prophecy and the meaning of the Hebrew religion. He drew God's people out of the Mosiac religion and into His own. The Ark apparently served as the place between heaven (the throne between the cherubim) and earth (the place of the Temple). As the visible footstool for the invisible throne of God, it was available when He "descended" to earth, such as at Sinai, on the battlefield, or in a foreign land (Philistia). The purpose of the Ark was to enable the Presence
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE ARK OF THE COVENANT THE PLACE WHERE HISTORY BECOMES ALIVE
of God to be manifested among the Israelites. For this reason – to house the Ark – the Tabernacle, Tent of Meeting, and finally the Temple, were constructed. The Ark disappeared at the time of the destruction of the First Temple, and despite the restoration of other Temple vessels with the post-exilic return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, the Ark was mysteriously absent. This led to the development of a wide body of tradition in Jewish literature to explain its loss and eventual return.
Throughout history people have had a fascination with finding the Ark of the Covenant. Even Hollywood, with its adventure packed blockbuster "Raiders of the Lost Ark," captivated the attention of audiences everywhere. It was an exhilarating experience to be taken on a journey with Indiana Jones on his quest for the sacred relic. But unlike the movie, where the Ark was uncovered, in real life its resting place still remains a mystery. Some believe the ark is hidden somewhere beneath the Temple Mount, in one of the rock carved tunnels that lay underneath. While others believe it was taken out of Israel and carried off to Ethiopia
Shall the Ark ever be found?
The Ark of the Covenant is gone, lost in time, concealed throughout the ages until the one who hid it comes again to reveal it. Some says: was brought from Jerusalem by Menelik, first king of Ethiopia, son of a king of Israel and Queen Makeda. Some say he was the born to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. About 30 centuries ago he founded the Solomonic dynasty, of which the last Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie, (1892-1974) claimed to descend. “According to tradition, Menelik hid the Ark of the Covenant in his mother’s palace, which is about three kilometers from the centre of Aksum… A PLACE WHERE HITORY BECOMES…ALIVE Amran Ethiopia Tour and Travel Tel: - +251- 0118 590176 +251-0118 590175 P.O.Box: 26177 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia E-mail: info@amranethiopia.com www.amranethiopia.com amranethiopia@yahoo.com