Where is the Ark of the Covenant? By Bruce W. Robida

 

According to the Apocryphal book, 2 Maccabees,  the Ark of the Covenant is located on Mount Nebo on the Jordan River’s east bank while others say that it is located on Jordan’s west bank near the Dead Sea.  Some have suggested that the Ark of the Covenant is located beneath Jerusalem in a stone-carved tunnel, beneath the Temple Mount or beneath the site of the crucifixion of Christ.

According to the article, Where has the lost Ark of the Covenant been? (Gary Byers of Associates for Biblical Research),"...nothing substantial has ever been produced demonstrating the Ark's present whereabouts". Obviously, all who have sought to discover the whereabouts of the Ark have only speculation and nothing concrete.  Since the Roman Catholic Church recognizes certain Apocryphal books, 2 Maccabees for example, they believe that it is located somewhere on Mount Nebo, but that’s as close as they get.

An interesting story is one where an Ethiopian monk apparently is the guardian of the Ark of the Covenant in a place called Axum.  He supposedly has lived on the site of St. Mary's of Zion Church where the Ark is allegedly housed and succeeds 30 others who have guarded the Ark in the past.  All of them profess to believe that the object which they had guarded is in fact the Ark of the Covenant. According to their tradition, the Ark was taken during the reign of king Solomon by his son, Melenik, who’s mother is said to be the Queen of Sheba.  This theory is based on a long tradition in Ethiopa where the site of Sheba is thought to be located. 

Enter, Ron Wyatt, an archeologist who has supposedly been led by the Lord to discover the location of the Ark of the Covenant.  He has since passed away, but has told his story to many, including Henry Gruver, a man from Iowa who supposedly was directed by the Lord to go to various cities of the world and walk the streets of those cities and pray. According to Henry Gruver’s notes from the conversations he had with Ron Wyatt, "Jeremiah purchased the potter's field with 30 pieces of silver. The Lord had instructed Jeremiah to have the remnant of faithful priests remove the furnishings of the temple and put them in a special chamber. The chamber was in Jeremiah's grotto or the potters field which he had been instructed to purchase and to seal the deed in an earthen vessel.". 

According to Henry Gruver, the Ark of the Covenant which was seen in heaven (Rev 11:19), is the true Ark, and the Ark of the Covenant which is on earth is only a copy of the true Ark.  Can this be right?  Was the Law that was inscribed by the finger of God only a copy of the true Law?  Was the Rod of Aaron only a copy of the true Rod?  And what about the Manna?  No, while there are copies and types of heavenly things, I believe the Ark of the Covenant is one-of-a kind, and while so-called Christian men search in vain for its whereabouts, more important matters go left undone, such as helping the poor and needy, the fatherless and widows, preaching the Gospel, and contending for the faith as it has been entrusted to us so that many might not be deceived. 

Where is the Ark of the Covenant?  It is in heaven, just as the Bible says, right where the apostle John saw it.  Is it too difficult to consider that God might have taken it since Christ established a New Covenant? What purpose would it serve to have left it behind?  But the Ark of the Covenant, along with its contents will be revealed to us in heaven, where it now rests. Now put that question to rest and work on more important matters.

Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm. Revelation 11:19

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