Dear  friends:

The famed "Ark of the Covenant" was a box 3.75' long, 2.25' wide and 2.25' high.  God directed Moses to construct it in about 1491 BC.  It housed the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, a jar of manna, and Aaron's rod, and was probably the most sacred artifact in history.  It was mentioned repeatedly in Scripture, then all of a sudden -- swoosh! -- it was no longer mentioned, presumably missing.  The fictitious movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, was about this missing ark.  I describe this in my 1988 book, The World's Greatest Truths (no longer available).

There are different theories as to what happened to it and there is speculation that it will soon be found.  Just this week, Israelnationalnews.com reports, "The Talmud says the Ark is hidden in a secret passage under the Temple Mount."   They also report that "An unnamed Kabbalist has granted blessing to famed archeologist Dr. Vendyl Jones to uncover the Holy Ark of the Covenant. Jones plans to excavate the Lost Ark by the Tisha B’Av Fast this summer."  Jones says that the tunnel actually continues 18 miles southward, and that the Ark was brought through the tunnel to its current resting place in the Judean Desert.  (I spoke with Jones a few years ago and, while a nice fellow, he revealed that he is neither a Christian nor a Jew.  He does not believe that Jesus is the Messiah.)

BEWARE!  IF THERE IS A CLAIM THAT THE ARK IS FOUND, IT MAY OR MAY NOT BE TRUE.  IT MAY BE AN END-TIME DECEPTION.

In his 1988 book, Armageddon: Appointment With Destiny, author Grant R. Jeffrey documents, with photos, that the ark has been in Ethiopia since Solomon’s day, taken there for safekeeping from apostate and idolatrous Israel by the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Prince Menelik, who replaced it in the temple with a fake copy -- a replica given to him by Solomon to take back to Ethiopia.  If that is true, any ark "discovered" now may be the replica and not the real thing!  But Jeffrey has since said that Israel has been able to obtain the ark by hoodwinking the Ethiopian government and has it in hiding in Israel.  That possibility adds further confusion to any such discovery.

Bible scholar J. R. Church also provides evidence that the ark has been in Ethiopia but that it was taken there in a different way -- by exiled Jews who were originally in Egypt, but then had to flee to Ethiopia.

Others also claim the ark is presently beneath the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and cannot presently be revealed due to the political situation.  As I recall, respected Bible teacher Chuck Missler has mentioned this.

The apocryphal book, II Maccabees, chapter 2, verses 4 and 5, records that the prophet Jeremiah placed the ark in a cave on Mount Nebo.  While II Maccabees is not accepted as inspired Scripture, that does not mean the information about the ark is necessarily incorrect.

The most interesting but (in my opinion) dubious claim is that of the late archeologist Ron Wyatt, who claims to document with videotape that he found the ark while digging beneath Golgotha, right below where there is evidence of the location of Jesus’ cross, a crack in the rock structure, and with blood found on the Mercy Seat which DNA tests show to be a person without a human father!

HERE'S MY THEORY AS TO WHERE THE ARK IS:  "Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant" (Revelation 11:19, NIV).  The ark was so sacred and so meaningful, God could have "transported" it to heaven, where Jesus placed His own blood on it.  We know it will be there in the future, and it may be there already.

It was on top of the ark, the Mercy Seat, that the priest placed the blood of animals for the propitiation (appeasement) of sins, symbolic of the coming Messiah who himself would be the fulfilled propitiation (appeasement) for our sins.  Jesus is our Mercy Seat.  No other is needed.  "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood" (Romans 3:24-25).

Whichever, we know this:

1.  The prophetic and symbolic purpose of the Ark of the Covenant has been forever fulfilled by the blood of Christ.

2.  It no longer has any redemptive purpose on the earth.  Any use in the Millennial temple described by Ezekiel will be a backward recognition of Yeshua's great sacrifice.

3.  In fact, revering it as such in unbelief now would be blasphemy against the blood of Christ.

4.  If there are claims of its discovery, it may be impossible to determine if what is found is the original or Solomon's replica.

5.  Therefore, any such future claims may be a part of the great deception of those who rejected the true and will worship the false.

Caution on this subject.

Jim