Where is the Ark
of the Covenant Now?
Question from the Audience: I've read quite a bit on
the Ark of the Covenant and there are different theories about if the Ark's even here yet.
Some people think the Ark was taken off by God to the heavenly temple. Others under the
Temple Mount. I've read some people believe it's in Ethiopia. I'm sure there are some
people in the world who believe Harrison Ford has it stashed in his basement. But my
question is, what is your opinion? I'd like all three gentlemen's opinion on this. What is
your opinion on where the Ark is and do you have biblical Scripture to back that. And is
it necessary for the Ark to be discovered before they build the temple?
Dr. Jimmy DeYoung: I believe, number one, that it is
necessary for the Tribulation temple for the Ark of the Covenant to be there because of
the fact that in order for the Jewish people who are preparing to build the temple right
now, they must have the Ark of the Covenant. In the Millennial Temple which will be
standing in Jerusalem during the Thousand-Year Millennial Kingdom, Jeremiah 3:16 says we
don't need the Ark anymore. The reason for that, the Ark was a prototype of Jesus Christ,
and when you have the real thing, you don't need the model. So He'll be here for the
Millennial Temple, but for that Tribulation temple it will have to be there.
Is it in Ethiopia? I do not believe so. I believe it is
underneath the Temple Mount. I have talked to two men, two very prestigious rabbis who
said they came within inches of bringing the Ark of the Covenant out. One man said he took
a mirror, looked around a wall and saw the Ark of the Covenant. He was a very prestigious
rabbi. I would not stake my life on it but I believe he's talking about what he said and
he said, "By the way, that's simple. Extrabiblical writing tells us exactly where the
Ark of the Covenant is. And the Bible talks about Hezekiah, I believe the king was, who
said, "Take the ark and put it in the special place prepared for it right now."
Not in the temple but a special place prepared.
Ankerberg: Oh, by the way, why did he not bring it
out?
DeYoung: Why did he not bring it out? There was not
any place to house it. You have to have the temple standing on the Temple Mount. He said,
"We will bring it"...I asked him that question. He said, "We will bring it
out when the temple is standing there and we're ready to put it in its location."
Ankerberg: Is that becoming the motivation to build
the third temple?
DeYoung: Absolutely! And all those, I know every
personality and every project involved in preparations to build the third temple, all of
those personalities accepted this man as a very, very scholarly rabbi and believe exactly
what he had to say.
Ankerberg: Elwood?
Rennie?
Dr. Renald Showers: Another view as to what happened
to it was that it was destroyed by the Babylonians or carried by the Babylonians to their
country when they destroyed Solomon's temple in the city of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
Interestingly, the second temple that the Jews built when they returned from the
Babylonian captivity which later on Herod took over and enlarged never had the Ark of the
Covenant in it. So for centuries the Jews worshipped God at the second temple without the
Ark of the Covenant. So they didn't have to have it there at that time to be worshipping
God at the temple.
If it is in existence today, and it may very well be, I'm
convinced as well it's not down in Ethiopia. You know, the tradition has been that the
Queen of Sheba came up from there. She had relations with Solomon. They gave birth to a
son. And she and the son took the true Ark of the Covenant down to Ethiopia, left a
duplicate of it in Solomon's temple. To me, one of the big problems with that is, only the
priests of Israel were allowed to touch that Ark and carry it. These were Gentile people.
They would have been stricken dead on the spot of they had taken that. In fact, who could
have gone inside the Holy of Holies to bring it out when only the high priest was allowed
to go in there and one day out of the year, the Day of Atonement, and even then if he
didn't go in there exactly the way God prescribed, he would have been stricken dead on the
spot. So I'm convinced it's not down in Ethiopia.
Dr. Elwood McQuaid: There's another theory that
Jeremiah took the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant, hid it in a cave, and then
forgot where it was; that they lost it. The best bet scenario is that it's vaulted under
the northeast corner of the temple. When the implements of the temple that were carried to
Babylon were mentioned in Scripture, the Ark was not mentioned. They had plenty of time to
hide it and the priests certainly would have done something responsible with the Ark
before the Babylonians destroyed the city.
DeYoung: Let me just say this, John. I was wrong on
the king. It was not Hezekiah; it was Josiah. And it's 2 Chronicles 35:3 and Josiah tells
the Levites to take the Ark and put the Holy Ark in the house. It had been in the temple
already for 400 years. He wasn't telling them to put it in the Holy of Holies, he was
saying, "Put it in the house," and the Hebrew word there basically is saying,
"Put it in the special place prepared to protect it."
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