The first mention of
the Ark in the Bible is in Ex. xxv. 10 et seq., where Moses on
Mount Sinai is told to have an Ark of shittim-wood made for the Commandments
which are about to be delivered. Minute directions are given for the plan of
the Ark. It is to be 2½ cubits in length, 1½ in breadth, and 1½ in height. It is
to be overlaid within and without with gold, and a crown or molding of gold is
to be put around it. Four rings of gold are to be put into its corners—two on
each side—and through these rings staves of shittim-wood overlaid with gold for
carrying the Ark are to be inserted; and these are not to be removed. A golden
cover (Hebr. ;
A. V., "mercy-seat"), adorned with golden cherubim, is to be placed
above the Ark; and from here the Lord says He will speak to Moses (Ex. xxv.
10-22). The Ark is to be placed behind a veil, a full description of which is
given (ib. xxvi. 31-33).
Ark of the
Covenant.(After Calmet.)
Sanctity and Consecration.
Even Aaron was forbidden
to enter this place of the Ark too often; and he was enjoined to perform
certain ceremonies when entering there (Lev. xvi. 2 et seq.). Moses
was directed to consecrate the Ark, when completed, with the oil of holy
ointment (Ex. xxx. 23-26); and he was also directed to have the Ark made by
Bezaleel, the son of Uri of the tribe of Judah, and by Aholiab, the son of
Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan (ib. xxxi. 2-7). These instructions
Moses carried out, calling upon "every wisehearted" one among the
people to assist in the work (ib.xxxv. 10-12). Bezaleel made the Ark (ib. xxxvii.
1); and Moses approved the work (ib. xxxix. 43), put the testimony
in the Ark, and installed it (ib. xl. 20, 21).
In Deut. x. 1-5 a
rather different account of the making of the Ark is given. Moses is made to
say that he constructed the Ark before going upon Mount Sinai to receive the
second set of tables. The charge of carrying the Ark and the rest of the holy
utensils was given to the family of Kohath, of the tribe of Levi; but they were
not to touch any of the holy things until after the latter had been covered by
Aaron (Num. iv. 2-15).
A Movable Sanctuary.
In the march from
Sinai, and at the crossing of the Jordan, the Ark preceded the people and was
the signal for their advance (Num. x. 33; Josh. iii. 3, 6). During the crossing
of the Jordan the river grew dry as soon as the feet of the priests carrying
the Ark touched its waters, and remained so until the priests, with the Ark,
left the river, after the people had passed over (Josh. iii. 15-17; iv. 10, 11,
18). As memorials, twelve stones were taken from the Jordan at the place where
the priests had stood (ib. iv. 1-9). During the ceremonies
preceding the capture of Jericho, the Ark was carried round the city in the
daily procession, preceded by the armed men and by seven priests bearing seven
trumpets of rams' horns (ib. vi. 6-15). After the defeat at Ai,
Joshua lamented before the Ark (ib. vii. 6-9). When Joshua read the
Law to the people between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, they stood on each side
of the Ark (ib.viii. 33). The Ark was set up by Joshua at Shiloh (ib. xviii.
1); but when the Israelites fought against Benjamin at Gibeah, they had the Ark
with them, and consulted it after their defeat (Judges xx. 27).
Captured by the Philistines.
The Ark is next spoken
of as being in the Temple at Shiloh during Samuel's apprenticeship (I Sam. iii.
3). After their first defeat at Eben-ezer, the Israelites had the Ark brought
from Shiloh, and welcomed its coming with great rejoicing. In the second battle
the Israelites were again defeated, and the Philistines captured the Ark (ib. iv.
3-5, 10, 11). The news of its capture was at once taken to Shiloh by a
messenger "with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head." The
old priest, Eli, fell dead when he heard it; and his daughter-in-law, bearing a
son at the time the news of the capture of the Ark was received, named him
Ichabod—explained as "Where is glory?" in reference to the loss of
the Ark (ib. iv. 12-22).
The Philistines took
the Ark to several places in their country, and at each place misfortune
resulted to them (ib. v. 1-6). At Ashdod it was placed in the
temple of Dagon. The next morning Dagon was found prostrate before it; and on
being restored to his place, he was on the following morning againfound
prostrate and broken. The people of Ashdod were smitten with boils (Hebr. ,
A. V. "emrods"—that is, hemorrhoids); and a plague of mice was sent
over the land (ib. vi. 5; the Septuagint, v. 6). The affliction of
boils was also visited upon the people of Gath and of Ekron, whither the Ark
was successively removed (ib. v. 8-12). After the Ark had been
among them seven months, the Philistines, on the advice of their diviners,
returned it to the Israelites, accompanying its return with an offering
consisting of golden images of the boils and mice with which they had been
afflicted. The Ark was put down in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and
the Beth-shemites offered sacrifices and burnt offerings (ib. vi.
1-15). Out of curiosity the men of Beth-shemesh gazed at [A. V. "looked
into"] the Ark; and as a punishment over fifty thousand of them were
smitten by the Lord (ib. 19). The Bethshemites sent to
Kirjath-jearim, or Baal-Judah, to have the Ark removed (ib. 21);
and it was taken thither to the house of Abinadab, whose son Eleazar was
sanctified to keep it (ib.vii. 1). Kirjath-jearim was the abode of the
Ark for twenty years (ib. 2). Under Saul the Ark was with the army
before he first met the Philistines, but the king was too impatient to consult
it before engaging in the battle (ib. xiv. 18, 19). In I Chron.
xiii. 3 it is stated that the people were not accustomed to consult the Ark in
the days of Saul.
In the Days of David.
At the very beginning
of his reign David removed the Ark from Kirjath-jearim amid great rejoicing. On
the way to Zion, Uzzah, one of the drivers of the cart on which the Ark was
carried, put out his hand to steady the Ark, and was smitten by the Lord for touching
it. David in fear carried the Ark aside into the house of Obed-edom the
Gittite, instead of carrying it on to Zion, and here it stayed three months (II
Sam. vi. 1-11; I Chron. xiii. 1-13). On hearing that the Lord had blessed
Obed-edom because of the presence of the Ark in his house, David had the Ark
brought to Zion by the Levites, while he himself, "girded with a linen
ephod," "danced before the Lord with all his might"—a
performance for which he was despised and rebuked by Saul's daughter Michal (II
Sam. vi. 12-16, 20-22; I Chron. xv.). In Zion he put the Ark in the tabernacle
he had prepared for it, offered sacrifices, distributed food, and blessed the
people and his own household (II Sam. vi. 17-20; I Chron. xvi. 1-3; II Chron.
i. 4). Levites were appointed to minister before the Ark (I Chron. xvi. 4).
David's plan of building a temple for the Ark was stopped at the advice of God
(II Sam. vii. 1-17; I Chron. xvii. 1-15; xxviii. 2, 3). The Ark was with the
army during the siege of Rabbah (II Sam. xi. 11); and when David fled from
Jerusalem at the time of Absalom's conspiracy, the Ark was carried along with
him until he ordered Zadok the priest to return it to Jerusalem (II Sam. xv.
24-29).
In Solomon's Temple.
When Abiathar was
dismissed from the priesthood by Solomon for having taken part in Adonijah's
conspiracy against David, his life was spared because he had formerly borne the
Ark (I Kings ii. 26). Solomon worshiped before the Ark after the dream in which
the Lord promised him wisdom (ib. iii. 15). In Solomon's Temple a
Holy of Holies (Hebr. ,
A. V., "oracle") was prepared to receive the Ark (ib. vi.
19); and when the Temple was dedicated, the Ark, containing nothing but the two
Mosaic tables of stone, was placed therein (ib. viii. 1-9; II
Chron. v. 1-10). When the priests came out of the holy place after placing the
Ark there, the Temple was filled by a cloud, "for the glory of the Lord
had filled the house of the Lord" (I Kings viii. 10-11; II Chron. v. 13,
14). When Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter, he caused her to dwell in a house
outside Zion, as Zion was consecrated because of its containing the Ark (II
Chron. viii. 11). King Josiah had the Ark put into the Temple (II Chron. xxxv.
3), from which it appears that it had again been removed by some predecessor.
The only mention of
the Ark in the Prophets is the reference to it by Jeremiah, who, speaking in
the days of Josiah (Jer. iii. 16), prophesies a time when the Ark will no
longer be needed because of the righteousness of the people.
In the Psalms the Ark
is twice referred to. In Ps. lxxviii. 61 its capture by the Philistines is
spoken of, and the Ark is called "the strength and glory of God"; and
in Ps. cxxxii. 8, it is spoken of as "the ark of the strength of the
Lord." The Ark is mentioned in only one passage in the Apocrypha (II Macc.
ii. 4-10), which contains a legend to the effect that the prophet Jeremiah,
"being warned of God," took the Ark, and the tabernacle, and the
altar of incense, and buried them in a cave on Mount Sinai, informing those of
his followers who wished to find the place that it should remain unknown "until
the time that God should gather His people again together, and receive them
unto mercy."
—In Rabbinical Literature:
The Ark, by reason of
its prominence in the Bible, forms an important subject of discussion by the
Rabbis, a great many sayings relating to it being found throughout the Talmud
and the Midrashim. They discuss the dimensions, position, material, contents,
miraculous powers, final disposition, and various incidents directly or
indirectly connected with the Ark. Such discussions at times embody popular
legends, and are also of interest as reflecting the poetical spirit which
animated many of the rabbis.
Thus it is related (B.
B. 99a) that the available space in the Holy of Holies was not in the
least diminished by the Ark and the cherubim—that is to say, that through the
working of a miracle the Ark and the cherubim transcended the limitations of
space. With regard to the position of the Ark in the Holy of Holies, there is
the following picturesque saying in TanḦuma, Ḳedoshim, x.:
"Palestine is the center of the
world, Jerusalem the center of Palestine, the Temple the center of Jerusalem,
the Holy of Holies the center of the Temple, the Ark the center of the Holy of
Holies; and in front of the Ark was a stone called,
the foundation stone of the world."
In Yoma 72b,
and Yer. Sheḳ. vi. 49d, it is recorded that Bezaleel made three arks
which he put inside of one another. The outside and inside ones were made of
gold, and measured respectively ten cubits and a fraction and eight cubits,
while the middle one was of wood and measured nine cubits. Again, according to
one opinion (Yer. Sheḳ. vi. 49c), there were two arks travelling with
the Israelites in the wilderness. One contained the Law, in addition to the
tablets of the Ten Commandments, and the other the tables of stone which Moses
had broken. The one that contained the Law was placed in the "tent of
meeting"; the other, containing the broken tables, accompanied the
Israelites in their various excursions, and sometimes appeared on the
battle-field. According to still another view, (l.c.), there was only
one Ark, and it contained both the Law and the broken tables (Ber. 8b;
B. B. 14b). R. Johanan in the name of Simon ben YoḦai, basing his
opinion on the repetition of the word "name" ()
in II Sam. vi. 2, maintains that the Ark contained the Ineffable Name and all
other epithets of God (B. B. l.c.; Num. R. iv. 20). Marching in the
vanguard of the Israelites, the Ark leveled the hills before them (Ber. 54b; see Arnon).
It carried the priests, who in turn were to carry it in the passage of the
Jordan (Soṭah 35a). When King David had the Ark brought from the house
of Abinadab and carried upon a new cart, the two sons of the latter, driving
the cart, were tossed by an invisible agency into the air and flung to the
ground again and again, until Ahitophel explained to David that this was owing
to the transgression of the Law, which enjoined upon the sons of Kohath to
carry the Ark upon their shoulders (Num. vii. 9; Yer. Sanh. x. 29a).
When the Philistines despatched the Ark upon a cart drawn by two milch-kine
without a driver, the kine not only took the Ark straightway to Beth-shemesh (I
Sam. vi. 8-12), but they also sang a song (taking "wayishsharnah,"
v. 12, "and they took the straight way," as derived from shirah,
"a song"). According to R. Meïr, their song was the verse, "I
will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously" (Ex. xv. 1);
according to R. Johanan, "Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his
name" (Ps. cv. 1); others suggest Ps. xciii., xcvii., xcviii., xcix., or
cvi.; but R. Isaac NappaḦa has a tradition, preserved in Tanna debe Eliyahu,
xi. (compare 'Ab. Zarah 24b), that they sang the following processional
hymn:
—Midr. Sam. xii.; 'Ab. Zarah l.c.;
Gen. R. liv.
"Rise, O rise, thou acacia
chest! Move along, move along in thy great beauty! Skilfully wrought with thy
golden adornments! Highly revered in the sanctuary's recesses! O'ershadowed
between the twin Cherubim!"
"When Solomon brought the Ark
into the Temple, all the golden trees that were in the Temple were filled with
moisture and produced abundant fruit, to the great profit and enjoyment of the
priestly gild; until King Manasseh put an image of an idol in the Temple, which
resulted in the departure of the Divine Presence and the drying up of the
fruit" (Tan., Terumah, xi.; also with slight variations, Yoma 39b).
A Vanguard in the Desert.
The Ark was not merely
a receptacle for the Law; it was a protection against the enemies of the
Israelites, and cleared the roads in the wilderness for them. Two sparks,
tradition relates, came out from between the two cherubim, which killed all
serpents and scorpions, and burned the thorns, the smoke of which as it curled
upward sent a sweet fragrance throughout the world, and the nations of the
earth exclaimed in wonder and admiration (Cant. iii. 6), "What is this
that cometh up from the wilderness like pillars of smoke?" (Tan.,
Wayaḳhel, vii.)
Its Ultimate Fate.
Opinions are divided
as to what finally became of the Ark when the Temple was destroyed. Some,
basing their views on II Chron. xxxvi. 10, and Isa. xxxix. 6, declare (Yoma 53b)
that it was taken toBabylonia, while according to others (ib.) it was
not taken into captivity, but was hidden away in the Temple, in the apartment
where the wood for fuel was kept; and it is related that a certain priest,
while doing his work in that apartment, noticed that some of the stones in the
paved floor projected above the others. He no sooner began to tell the story to
a fellow-priest than he expired. That was regarded as a sure sign that the Ark
had been buried in that place (Yer. Sheḳ. vi. 49c). Another tradition
records that it was King Josiah who hid the Ark and other sacred vessels, for
fear that if they were taken to Babylonia they would never be brought back (ib.).
"Why was a
distance of 2,000 cubits always maintained between the Ark and the people? In
order that when the march was stopped upon each Sabbath day, all the people
might travel as far as the Ark to offer their prayers" (Num. R. ii. 9).
"One son of Obed-edom betokens by his name, 'Peulthai, for God blessed
him' (I Chron. xxvi. 5), the blessing brought upon his father's house; he
honored the Ark by placing a new candle before it every morning and
evening" (Num. R. iv. 20.).
Ark is used
figuratively for a teacher of the Law in a farewell address; "If Obed-edom
was blessed greatly for keeping the Ark in his house, how much more should he be
blessed who shows hospitality to students of the Law?" (Ber. 63b.)
Tabut, Sakinah, and Remnant.
—In Mohammedan Literature:
In the Koran the Ark
of the Covenant and Moses' ark of bulrushes are both indicated by the one word
"tabut," which term certainly comes from the Hebrew
"tebah," through the Jewish-Aramaic "tebuta." The reference
in the Koran to the Ark of the Covenant occurs in the middle of the story of
the choice of Saul to be king. There the people demand a sign that God has chosen
him, and the narrative continues (ii. 249): "and their prophet said unto
them, 'Lo, the sign of his kingship will be that the ark [tabut] will
come unto you with a "Sakinah" in it from your Lord, and with a
remnant of that which the family of Moses and the family of Aaron left—angels
bearing it. Lo, in that is verily a sign for you if ye are believers!'"
Baidawi (ad loc.) explains "tabut" as derived from the root tub (return),
and as thus meaning a chest to which a thing taken from it was sure to return.
It was the chest in which the Law (Taurat) was kept, and was about three
cubits by two, and made of gilded box-wood. "Sakinah," he says, means
"rest," "tranquillity"; and it came to the Israelites in
the coming of the Ark to them, or it was the Taurat itself, brought in the Ark
and calming them by its presence (see Shekinah).
Moses was wont to make it go on before in battle, and it would steady the
Israelites and prevent them fleeing.
Composition of "Remnant."
Others said that there
was in the Ark a figure of chrysolite or ruby with the head and tail of a
shecat and with two wings. It would utter a moaning sound, and the Ark would
rush toward the enemy with the Israelites following it. When it stayed, they
stood and were at ease, and victory came. By the "remnant" in it is
meant the fragments of the broken tables, the staff and clothes of Moses, and
the turban of Aaron. After Moses died, God took it up to Himself, and the
angels now brought it down again. But others said that it remained with the
prophets that succeeded Moses, and that they gained victories by means of it
until they acted corruptly and the unbelievers took it from them. So it
remained in the country of Goliath until God made Saul king. He then brought
calamity upon the Philistines and destroyed five cities. Perceiving that this
was through the Ark, they placed it on two bulls, and the angels led it to
Saul.
History of the Ark.
Al-Tha'labi, in his
"Ḳisas al-Anbiyya" (p. 150 of ed. of Cairo, A. H. 1314), gives
details as to the earlier and later history of the Ark. He brings it into
connection with the important Moslem doctrine of the Light of Mohammed, the
first of all created things, for the sake of which God created the worlds. The
Ark was sent down by God from paradise with Adam when he fell. In it, cut out
of a ruby, were figures of all the prophets that were to come, especially of Mohammed
and his first four califs and immediate followers. At the death of Adam it
passed to Seth, and so down to Abraham. From Abraham, Ishmael received it as
the eldest of his sons. It passed then to Ishmael's son, Kedar, but was claimed
from him by Jacob. Kedar refused to relinquish it, but was divinely commanded
to give it up, as it must remain in the line of the prophets of God, which was
now that of Israel. On the other hand, the Light of Mohammed, which shone on
the forehead of every lineal ancestor of his, remained in the Arab line of
Kedar. So the Ark passed down to Moses. How and when it was lost, the Moslem
historians do not state. According to Ibn 'Abbas, a cousin of Mohammed and the
founder of Koranic exegesis, it, with the rod of Moses, is now lying in the
Lake of Tiberias, and will be brought forth at the last day.
Earlier Form of Legend.
The story of the image
with the cat's head and tail is traced back to Wahb ibn Munabbih, who was of
Jewish birth. It has probably some Midrashic origin. What is apparently an
earlier form of this latter legend is given in the "Hhamis" of Al-Diyarbakri
(i. 24 et seq.; compare ed. of Cairo, 1302). In it the chest with
images of the prophets is not connected with the Ark of the Covenant. The
chest, called also tabut, which had been given to Adam as above
stated, was in the possession of the emperor Heraclius, and was shown by him to
ambassadors from Abu Bakr, the first calif. It had been brought from the
extreme West (Maghreb) by Alexander, and so had passed to the Roman emperors.
—Critical View:
A classification of
the passages in which the Ark is mentioned (compare Seyring, in Stade's
"Zeitschrift," xi. 115), shows that in the older sources (J., E., and
Samuel) the Ark is called simply "the ark," "the ark of Yhwh,"
or "theark of God." In Deuteronomy, and in writers under Deuteronomic
influence, it is called "the ark of the covenant of Yhwh"; while
the priestly sections call it "the ark of the testimony." In I Sam.
iv. the Ark is taken into battle, and both Israelites and Philistines are
affected by it as though Yhwh Himself were there.
As the Egyptians,
Babylonians, and other nations had similar structures for carrying their idols
about (compare Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," iii. 289; Delitzsch,
"Handwörterbuch," under "elippu"; and "Isaiah,"
in "S. B. O. T." p. 78), critical scholars hold that the Ark was in the
earliest time a kind of movable sanctuary (see Wellhausen,
"Prolegomena," 5th ed., p. 46, note; Stade, "Gesch." i.
457; Nowack, "Archäologie," ii. 3; Benzinger,
"Archäologie," 367; Winckler, "Gesch. Israels," i. 70;
Couard, in Stade's "Zeitschrift," xii. 53; and Guthe,
"Geschichte des Volkes Israel," p. 31). As the corresponding shrines
of other nations contained idols, so late tradition has it that the Ark
contained the tables of the Decalogue (I Kings viii. 9, 21). As the two
versions of the Decalogue, that of E. in Ex. xx., and that of J. in Ex. xxxiv.,
differ so radically, critics hold also that there could have been no
authoritative version of the Commandments deposited in the Ark, but believe
that it contained an aerolite or sacred stone—similar to the sacred stone of
the Kaaba at Mecca—which was regarded as a fetish. The fact that in J. (the
Judean source) the Ark is not prominent, Yhwh being consistently represented as
dwelling at Sinai while his angel goes before Israel (Ex. xxxiii. 2), and that in
E. (the Ephraimitic source) the Ark plays a conspicuous part, led Wellhausen
and Stade to believe that it was originally the movable sanctuary of the Joseph
tribes, from whom, after the union of the tribes, it was adopted by the nation.
This view has been generally adopted by other critics (see references above).
In the historical
books the Ark plays no part after the time of Solomon, when it was placed in
the Temple. Couard believes that it was carried from Jerusalem in the days of
Rehoboam by the Egyptian king Shishak (Stade's "Zeitschrift," xii.
84). That would adequately explain its disappearance from history. While the
Ark figures in Deuteronomy and in the priestly legislation, there is, as Couard
points out, no evidence that it was actually in existence as an object in the
cult at the time that those codes were combined; it appears to represent merely
an ideal in the minds of the compilers.
There has been a legend
for many years that the Ark of the Covenant is in the Saint Mary of Zion Church
in Axum, Ethiopia. In recent years this legend has been popularized in the
writings of Grant Jeffrey, a Canadian Bible prophecy writer who often specializes
in the sensational.
This legend is based on a
bizarre story that the Ark was smuggled out of Jerusalem by Menelik I, the
supposed son of a union between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon.
Supposedly, a replica of the Ark was left in the Holy of Holies in the Temple
in Jerusalem. The motivation for moving the Ark was to protect it from King
Manasseh, one of the most ungodly kings in the history of Judah.
There are all kinds of
problems with this legend. For one thing, it is doubtful that the Queen of
Sheba ruled over Ethiopia. It is more likely that her realm was modern day
Yemen.
Regarding Menelik I, he
ruled over Ethiopia around 950 B.C., according to tradition. Manasseh did not
become king of Judah until 253 years later.
Harry Atkins, an Ethiopian historian,
contends that there is no record of this legend in Ethiopian history until the
end of the 13th Century. At that time there was a dispute over who should be
king, and one of the contenders claimed to be a descendant of King Solomon and
the Queen of Sheba. Atkins says it was at that point that the legend of the Ark
entered into Ethiopian history.
The insurmountable problem
with the Ethiopian legend is that2
Chronicles 35:3states
that the Ark was still in the Temple during the time of King Josiah who reigned
from 640 to 609 B.C.
Rabbi Shlomo Goren, former
Chief Rabbi of Israel (now deceased), spent his life studying the Temple Mount,
the Temple, and the Ark of the Covenant. He always argued vehemently that it
would have been impossible for anyone, including the priests of the Temple, to
have unguarded access to the Ark. He dismissed the whole story as a
"foolish suggestion" and a "joke." Modern day rabbis in
Israel also consider the story to be ridiculous. Their consensus of opinion is
that the Ark is hidden in a secret compartment beneath the Temple Mount.
The
Ark's Disappearance
No one knows for sure what
happened to the Ark. The last time it is mentioned in Scripture is in2
Chronicles 35:3. That passage makes it clear that the Ark was still
in existence at the time of the spiritual revival led by the boy king, Josiah.
Within 22 years after Josiah died, Judah fell to the Babylonians (586 B.C.),
and the Ark disappeared.
No one knows for sure what
happened to the Ark. Some scholars believe it was simply destroyed when the
Temple was burned. Others believe it was captured as a prize of war, taken to
Babylon, and probably melted down for its gold. This latter theory seems to be
substantiated by the Scriptures. For example, in2 Chronicles 36:18it
states that when the Babylonians destroyed the Temple, they took"all the articles of
the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its
fortified buildings with fire, and destroyed all its valuable articles."
The strongest tradition is
that the Ark was taken out of the Temple by Jeremiah and hidden. Some are
convinced he hid it in the ground on the Temple Mount. But most who hold to the
Jeremiah rescue theory believe he either hid the Ark in a great cavern beneath
the Temple Mount (known today as Solomon's Quarry) or that he hid it somewhere
near Mt. Nebo in the modern day nation of Jordan. The latter theory finds support in the apocryphal book of 2 Maccabees. The
narrative in that book says,"the
prophet, warned by an oracle, gave orders for the tabernacle and the ark to go
with him when he set out for the mountain which Moses had climbed to survey
God's heritage. On his arrival, Jeremiah found a cave dwelling, into which he
brought the tabernacle, the ark, and the altar of incense, afterwards blocking
up the entrance"(2
Maccabees 2:4-5). Another theory regarding
the fate of the Ark is that it was translated or raptured, being taken up to
Heaven to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Chaldeans. This theory
is based upon a reference to the Ark inRevelation
11:15. This passage is a flash forward to the end of the Tribulation
when Heaven opens and Jesus returns in wrath. The writer states that when
Heaven opened"the
ark of His covenant appeared in His Temple."Those who reject this theory argue that the Ark seen in Heaven in
this passage is the heavenly reality of which the Ark of the Covenant was only
an earthly shadow or copy (Hebrews
8:5).
The Ark
in Bible Prophecy
Regardless of what happened
to the Ark, the Scriptures suggest that it will never be found again. This
comes as quite a shock to some Christians who have assumed that the Ark must be
found before the Tribulation Temple can be built and animal sacrifice reinstituted.
Others have simply assumed that the Ark would be replaced in the Holy of Holies
when the Lord's Millennial Temple is built.
But Jeremiah says point
blank that"the
ark of the covenant of the Lord... shall not come to mind, nor shall they
remember it, nor shall they miss it, nor shall it be made again"(Jeremiah 3:16). The context of this passage is
the Millennial reign of Jesus, so it does not rule out the possibility of a
discovery prior to that time. Conceivably, the Ark could be discovered, and
Satan could use its discovery to incite the rebuilding of a Temple where an
apostate sacrificial system would be reinstituted. We know that such a Temple
will be built, but I doubt if its construction will be motivated by the
discovery of the Ark.
The important point to keep
in mind here is that the rediscovery of the Ark is not essential to the
rebuilding of the Temple. After all, the Temple was rebuilt by Zerubbabel
following the Babylonian captivity, and the Ark had already been lost by that
time. There was no Ark in the Holy of Holies during the time when Jesus
worshiped in the Temple.
Nor is the Ark needed for
the Millennial Temple. Ezekiel describes the Temple in great detail (chapters
40-42), and he never mentions the Ark. There is a Holy of Holies (Ezekiel
41:4), but it is empty, and it is not separated from the Holy Place
by a veil.
The Ethiopians may have an
object they venerate and consider to be the Ark. But I personally believe there
is no possibility that it is the original Ark of the Covenant.
As a general rule,Judaismrejects physical manifestations of
spirituality, preferring instead to focus on actions and beliefs. Indeed, the
story of Judaism begins withAbrahamwho, according to ancient sources,
shattered the idols that were the conventional method of religious observance
at the time. Worship of graven images is harshly condemned throughout the Torah,
and perhaps the greatest sin the Israelites collectively committed was the
construction of the Golden Calf (inEx. 32),
intended to serve as a physical intermediary between them andGod.
Today, Jews do not venerate any holy relics or man-made symbols.
But in the history of the Jewish people,
there was one exception to this rule. One man-made object was considered
intrinsically holy - the Ark of the Covenant.
Constructed during the Israelites'
wanderings in the desert and used until the destruction of theFirst
Temple, the Ark was the most important symbol of the Jewish faith, and
served as the only physical manifestation ofGodon earth. The legends associated with
this object - and the harsh penalties ascribed for anyone who misuses it -
confirm the Ark's centrality to the Jewish faith of that period; the fact that
Jews and non-Jews alike continue to study and imitate it confirms its
centrality even today.
Building the Ark
The
construction of the Ark is commanded byGodtoMoseswhile the Jews were still camped at Sinai (Ex. 25:10-22;37:1-9).
The Ark was a box with the dimensions of two-and-a-half cubits in length, by
one-and-a-half cubits in heights, by one-and-a-half cubits in width (a cubit is
about 18 inches). It was constructed of acacia wood, and was plated with pure
gold, inside and out. On the bottom of the box, four gold rings were attached,
through which two poles, also made of acacia and coated in gold, were put. The
family of Kehath, of the tribe of Levi, would carry the ark on their shoulders
using these poles.
Covering
the box was thekapporet, a pure gold covering that was two-and-a-half by
one-and-a-half cubits. Attached to thekapporetwere two sculpted Cherubs, also made of pure gold.
The two Cherubs faced one another, and their wings, which wrapped around their
bodies, touched between them.
The
contents of the Ark has been debated through the centuries. The general
consensus is that the first tablets containing theTen Commandments, which
were broken byMoses, and the
second tablets, which remained intact, were contained in the Ark (Bava Batra14b). According to one opinion in theTalmud, both
Tablets were together in the Ark; according to another, there were two Arks,
and each contained one set of Tablets (Berakhot 8b).
The Ark
was built by Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, who constructed the entire Tabernacle
– the portable Temple used in the desert and during the conquest of the land of
Israel. The Tabernacle was the resting place for the Ark, and also contained
other vessels that were used in the physical worship of God. The Biblical
commentators argue over whyGodcommandedMosesto build a Tabernacle in the first place:
According to Rashi (Ex. 31:18), God
realized after the sin of the Golden Calf that the Israelites needed an outlet
for physical worship, and commanded that they build the Tabernacle as a way of
expressing their own need for physical representation of God. According toNachmanides(Ex. 25:1),
however, the Jews were commanded to build the Tabernacle even before the sin of
the Golden Calf; rather than filling a human need, the Tabernacle was God's
method of achieving continuous revelation in the Israelites' camp. These two
opinions as to whether the Tabernacles, and the Temples that followed them,
were ana priori necessity
or a necessary evil demonstrate the controversial role of physical worship inJudaismas a whole.
The Role of the Ark
The Ark was used in the desert and in
Israel proper for a number of spiritual and pragmatic purposes. Practically,
God used the Ark as an indicator of when he wanted the nation to travel, and
when to stop. In the traveling formation in the desert, the Ark was carried
2000 cubits ahead of the nation (Num. R.2:9). According to onemidrash,
it would clear the path for the nation by burning snakes, scorpions, and thorns
with two jets of flame that shot from its underside (T. VaYakhel, 7);
anothermidrashsays that rather than being carried by
its bearers, the Ark in fact carried its bearers inches above the ground (Sotah35a). When the Israelites went to war
in the desert and during the conquering of Canaan, the Ark accompanied them;
whether its presence was symbolic, to provide motivation for the Jews, or
whether it actually aided them in fighting, is debated by commentators.
Spiritually, the Ark was the manifestation
of God's physical presence on earth (theshekhina).
When God spoke withMosesin the Tent of Meeting in the desert,
he did so from between the two Cherubs (Num. 7:89).
Once the Ark was moved into the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, and later in
theTemple,
it was accessible only once a year, and then, only by one person. OnYom
Kippur, the High Priest (KohenGadol) could enter the
Holy of Holies to ask forgiveness for himself and for all the nation of Israel
(Lev.
16:2).
The relationship between the Ark and theshekhinais reinforced by the recurring motif
of clouds. God's presence is frequently seen in the guise of a cloud in the
Bible (Ex. 24:16),
and the Ark is constantly accompanied by clouds: When God spoke from between
the Cherubs, there was a glowing cloud visible there (Ex. 40:35);
when the Jews traveled, they were led by the Ark and a pillar of clouds (Num.
10:34); at night, the pillar of clouds was replaced by a pillar of fire,
another common descriptor of God's appearance (Ex. 24:17);
and when the High Priest entered presence of the Ark onYom
Kippur, he did so only under the cover of a cloud of incense, perhaps
intended to mask the sight of theshekhinain all its glory (Lev.
16:13).
The holiness of the Ark also made it
dangerous to those who came in contact with it. When Nadav and Avihu, the sons
ofAaron,
brought a foreign flame to offer a sacrifice in the Tabernacle, they were
devoured by a fire that emanated "from the Lord" (Lev.
10:2). During the saga of the capture of the Ark by the Philistines,
numerous people, including some who merely looked at the Ark, were killed by
its power. Similarly, the Priests who served in the Tabernacle and Temple were
told that viewing the Ark at an improper time would result in immediate death (Num. 4:20).
History of the Ark
The Ark accompanied the
Jews throughout their time in the desert, traveling with them and accompanying
them to their wars with Emor and Midian. When the Jews crossed into the land of
Canaan, the waters of the Jordan River miraculously split and the Ark led them
through (Josh. 3). Throughout their conquest of the land,
the Jews were accompanied by the Ark. The most dramatic demonstration of its
power comes when the Jews breached the walls of Jericho merely by circling them, blowing
horns and carrying the Ark (Josh. 6).
After the conquest was
completed, the Ark, and the entire Tabernacle, were set up in Shiloh (Josh. 18) . There they remained until the battles
of the Jews with the Philistines during the Priesthood of Eli. The Jews, after
suffering a defeat at the Philistines' hands, took the Ark from Shiloh to
Even-Ezer in hopes of winning the next battle. But the Jews were routed, and
the Ark was captured by the Philistines. Back in Shiloh, Eli, the High Priest,
immediately died upon hearing the news (I Sam. 4).
The Philistines took the
Ark back to Ashdod, their capital city in the south of
Canaan, where they placed it in the temple of their god Dagon. The next day,
however, they found the idol fallen on its face. After replacing the statue,
they found it the next day decapitated, with only its trunk remaining, and soon
afterward, the entire city of Ashdod was struck with a plague. The
Philistines moved the Ark to the city of Gath, and from there to Ekron, but
whatever city the Ark was in, the inhabitants were struck with plague. After
seven months, the Philistines decided to send the Ark back to the Israelites,
and accompanied it with expensive gifts. The Ark was taken back to Beit
Shemesh, and, according to midrash, the oxen pulling the Ark burst into song as
soon as it was once again in Israel's possession (A.Z. 22b). The
actual text of the story, however, tells a much grimmer tale: The men of Beit
Shemesh were punished for staring disrespectfully at the Ark, and many were
killed with a plague.
From Beit
Shemesh, the Ark was transported to Kiryat Yearim, where it remained for twenty
years. From there,King Davidtransported
it toJerusalem. En
route, however, the oxen pulling it stumbled, and when Uzzah reached out to
steady the Ark, he died immediately. As a result of this tragedy,Daviddecided to leave the Ark at the home of
Obed-edom the Gittite. Three months later, he moved it toJerusalem, the
seat of his kingdom, where it remained until the construction of theFirst TemplebyDavid's sonSolomon(I Sam.5-6). When the Ark was finally placed in theTemple, themidrashreports that the golden tree decorations that
adorned the walls blossomed with fruit that grew continuously until the
Temple's destruction (Yoma 39b).
The Ark's Whereabouts
The Ark
remained in theTempleuntil its destruction at the hand of theBabylonianempire, led by Nebuchadnezzar. What happened to it
afterward is unknown, and has been debated and pondered for centuries. It is
unlikely that theBabylonianstook it, as they did the other vessels of theTemple, because
the detailed lists of what they took make no mention of the Ark. According to
some sources, Josiah, one of the final kings to reign in theFirst Templeperiod, learned of the impending invasion of the
Babylonians and hid the Ark. Where he hid it is also questionable – according
to one midrash, he dug a hole under the wood storehouse on the Temple Mountand buried it there (Yoma53b). Another account says thatSolomonforesaw the eventual destruction of the Temple, and set
aside a cave near theDead Sea, in
which Josiah eventually hid the Ark (Maimonides,Laws of the
Temple, 4:1).
One of
the most fascinating possibilities is advanced by Ethiopian Christians who
claim that they have the Ark today. In Axum, Ethiopia, it is widely believed
that the Ark is currently being held in the Church of Saint Mary of Zion,
guarded by a monk known as the "Keeper of the Ark," who claims to
have it in his possesion. According to the Axum Christian community, they
acquired the Ark during the reign ofSolomon, when
his son Menelik, whose mother was the Queen of Sheba, stole the Ark after a
visit toJerusalem. While
in the not-so-distant past the "Ark" has been brought out for
Christian holidays, its keeper has not done so for several years due to the
tumultuous political situation in the country. The claim has thus been
impossible to verify, for no one but the monk is allowed into the tent.
A more
plausible claim is that of archaeologist Leen Ritmeyer, who has conducted
research on theTemple Mountand inside theDome of the Rock. He
claims to have found the spot on the Mount where the Holy of Holies was located
during theFirst Templeperiod. In the precise center of that spot is a section of
bedrock cut out in dimensions that may match those of the Ark as reported inExodus. This
section of the mount, incidentally, is the one from which the creation of the
world began, according tomidrash(T. Kedoshim, 10). Based on his
findings, Ritmeyer has postulated that the Ark may be buried deep inside theTemple Mount.
However, it is unlikely that any excavation will ever be allowed on the Mount
by the Muslim or Israeli authorities.
;
A. V., "mercy-seat"), adorned with golden cherubim, is to be placed
above the Ark; and from here the Lord says He will speak to Moses (Ex. xxv.
10-22). The Ark is to be placed behind a veil, a full description of which is
given (ib. xxvi. 31-33).
,
A. V. "emrods"—that is, hemorrhoids); and a plague of mice was sent
over the land (ib. vi. 5; the Septuagint, v. 6). The affliction of
boils was also visited upon the people of Gath and of Ekron, whither the Ark
was successively removed (ib. v. 8-12). After the Ark had been
among them seven months, the Philistines, on the advice of their diviners,
returned it to the Israelites, accompanying its return with an offering
consisting of golden images of the boils and mice with which they had been
afflicted. The Ark was put down in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and
the Beth-shemites offered sacrifices and burnt offerings (ib. vi.
1-15). Out of curiosity the men of Beth-shemesh gazed at [A. V. "looked
into"] the Ark; and as a punishment over fifty thousand of them were
smitten by the Lord (ib. 19). The Bethshemites sent to
Kirjath-jearim, or Baal-Judah, to have the Ark removed (ib. 21);
and it was taken thither to the house of Abinadab, whose son Eleazar was
sanctified to keep it (ib.vii. 1). Kirjath-jearim was the abode of the
Ark for twenty years (ib. 2). Under Saul the Ark was with the army
before he first met the Philistines, but the king was too impatient to consult
it before engaging in the battle (ib. xiv. 18, 19). In I Chron.
xiii. 3 it is stated that the people were not accustomed to consult the Ark in
the days of Saul.
,
A. V., "oracle") was prepared to receive the Ark (ib. vi.
19); and when the Temple was dedicated, the Ark, containing nothing but the two
Mosaic tables of stone, was placed therein (ib. viii. 1-9; II
Chron. v. 1-10). When the priests came out of the holy place after placing the
Ark there, the Temple was filled by a cloud, "for the glory of the Lord
had filled the house of the Lord" (I Kings viii. 10-11; II Chron. v. 13,
14). When Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter, he caused her to dwell in a house
outside Zion, as Zion was consecrated because of its containing the Ark (II
Chron. viii. 11). King Josiah had the Ark put into the Temple (II Chron. xxxv.
3), from which it appears that it had again been removed by some predecessor.
,
the foundation stone of the world."
)
in II Sam. vi. 2, maintains that the Ark contained the Ineffable Name and all
other epithets of God (B. B. l.c.; Num. R. iv. 20). Marching in the
vanguard of the Israelites, the Ark leveled the hills before them (Ber. 54b; see Arnon).
It carried the priests, who in turn were to carry it in the passage of the
Jordan (Soṭah 35a). When King David had the Ark brought from the house
of Abinadab and carried upon a new cart, the two sons of the latter, driving
the cart, were tossed by an invisible agency into the air and flung to the
ground again and again, until Ahitophel explained to David that this was owing
to the transgression of the Law, which enjoined upon the sons of Kohath to
carry the Ark upon their shoulders (Num. vii. 9; Yer. Sanh. x. 29a).
When the Philistines despatched the Ark upon a cart drawn by two milch-kine
without a driver, the kine not only took the Ark straightway to Beth-shemesh (I
Sam. vi. 8-12), but they also sang a song (taking "wayishsharnah,"
v. 12, "and they took the straight way," as derived from shirah,
"a song"). According to R. Meïr, their song was the verse, "I
will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously" (Ex. xv. 1);
according to R. Johanan, "Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his
name" (Ps. cv. 1); others suggest Ps. xciii., xcvii., xcviii., xcix., or
cvi.; but R. Isaac NappaḦa has a tradition, preserved in Tanna debe Eliyahu,
xi. (compare 'Ab. Zarah 24b), that they sang the following processional
hymn:
