50 – What You Never Knew About the Ark of the Covenant

FULL MEETING WITH MIDRASH HERE

NOTE: THE TRANSCRIPT IS NOT EXACTLY LIKE THE RECORDING.

I cannot continue teaching 1 Samuel until I teach you about the Ark of the Covenant. In 1 Samuel 4, it will be removed, yes, removed and not lost, from Israel. The loss of it in 1 Samuel 4 is an issue we are still dealing with today and there is an important prophecy which, if we understand it, will keep us from being deceived by the Antichrist.

Let me give you an overview of the entire account of the Ark in the Book of 1 Samuel. In chapter 4, the Ark was taken by Israel’s enemy, the Philistines. The god of the Philistines fell to the Ark while in their possession and its presence caused them severe illness. They desperately wanted to get rid of it. The Philistines then returned the Ark to King Saul after a period of seven months. It was placed at Beth-shemesh until some of the men of Beth-shemesh died because they mishandled the Ark. It was then moved to Kiriath-Jearim to the house of Abinadab where it remained for twenty years until David took it to Jerusalem but not yet in YHVH’s Temple. It was Solomon who put it back into the Holy of Holies again but in the Temple, not the Tabernacle.

The prophecies about the loss of the Ark and its return, prophetically, has a surprising end. The Ark will not show up exactly where people think.

I find it interesting that we now come to this account in 1 Samuel 4 at the same time when the Jews are alluding that they having found the original Ark of the Covenant, which they will, of course, will put into the Holy of Holies. That will be the story.

The Ark went missing the second time for over 2400 year when the Babylonians took all the Temple treasures. Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem with the Temple’s gold and silver vessels (Ezra 5:14) but the Menorah, Table of Incense, Table of Showbread and the Ark of the Covenant were never returned and neither did Ezra or Nehemia reconstruct any of these in the scriptural record. The Book of 1 Maccabees mentions the removal of the Menorah and the Golden Altar (1 Maccabees 1:21-23) by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The Jews must have reconstructed the Menorah and the Golden Altar in the interim period of 400 years between the Old and New Testaments but did not reconstruct the Table of Showbread or the Ark of the Covenant. Thus, there was never was a Table of Showbread representing all 12 tribes or an Ark in the second Temple. However, it may be that there will be an Ark in the third Temple.   

But first, we must understand some things about the Ark that need consideration because these elements are part of the end times prophecy of the Ark. The Ark is the replica of YHVH’s Heavenly throne upon which He sits ruling over the earth from Heaven. Here is an important consideration: there was not an Ark of the covenant that Moses saw in Heaven when he received from YHVH the ‘tabnith’, the patterns or blueprints, to build the Tabernacle and its furniture.

Exodus 25:8  Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
Exodus 25:9  According to all that I show you, the pattern [H8403 tabnith’] of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all of its furniture, even so you shall make it. 

The Hebrew word ‘tabnith’ is a blueprint or pattern. The Ark is not a replica of an Ark that was sitting in Heaven waiting for Moses to make one like it for the Tabernacle. It was constructed from a pattern, not by seeing one in Heaven.

The Book of Hebrews repeats the Exodus passage.

Hebrews 8:4  For if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;
Hebrews 8:5  who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses was warned by God when he was about to make the tabernacle, for he said, “See, you shall make everything according to the pattern [G5179, ‘tupos’] that was shown to you on the mountain.”

The Ark, once it was constructed, was YHVH’s earthly throne.

Numbers 7:89  When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Yahweh, he heard his voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim: and he spoke to him. 

Thus, the Ark was YHVH’s replica of His own throne in Heaven within the Tabernacle.

The lid, or ‘kapporeth’ (Strong’s H3727) of the Ark became known as the “mercy seat”, instead of just “the lid”, because of Yom Kippur, the Feast which YHVH gave Israel to atone for the golden calf. Because of that sin, Israel had to throw itself on God’s mercy once every year in order for Him to stay with them, to dwell among them. When the Ark leaves Israel, God is saying He doesn’t want to be with them anymore.

The actual Hebrew words for “mercy seat” are H7355 ‘racham’ and H3678 ‘kisseh’.This is never what “the lid”, the “kapporeth”, was called.  The term “Mercy seat” is, then, an ancient Israelite idiom from Moses that has survived for the last 3500 years.

I want you to understand also that nothing was judged from the Ark of the Covenant throne within the Holy of Holies that did not come from the Heavenly throne room. No judgements or administrations of mercy were administered by Yeshua, Israel’s King, without the permission of His Father in Heaven. Yeshua repeated often in the New Testament that He does nothing without His Heavenly Father’s will. That was nothing new for Him. This is how it was from the beginning even before there was an Ark, and then during the time that there was an Ark, and after the Ark disappeared.

I have just gone against the grain of religious scholars who say there was an Ark in Heaven seen by Moses, an original piece of furniture, in YHVH’s Heavenly throne room. I just said there was not. How do I know there was no Ark in the throne room?

The reason is because nowhere in scripture do any Old Testament prophets, to whom YHVH gave visions of His throne and throne room, claim to have seen an Ark in Heaven. The vision of the Ark in Heaven comes only from John in the Book of Revelation. There is a reason for it which I will explain later.

Moses and the 70 elders saw a Sapphire floor beneath the God of Israel but there was no Ark (Exodus 24:10-11). Isaiah saw the throne room with God’s train filling the Heavenly Temple but did not see an Ark. Ezekiel saw YHVH’s throne moving through the sky but he did not see the Ark (Ezekiel chapter 1). Daniel saw the throne room but he did not see the Ark (Daniel 7:13-14). That’s because the Ark was only on the earth as a representation of God’s throne.

Before we proceed further, I must explain something else of prophetic importance about the Ark both for ancient Israel and here at the end of the age. There is a major difference between Isaiah’s vision of the throne and the Ark as God’s throne. That difference is in the type of angels attending it. Isaiah saw Seraphim but the Ark has Cherubim.

Isaiah 6:1  In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.
Isaiah 6:2  Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew. 

But Moses was told to construct this:

Exodus 25:18  You shall make two cherubim of hammered gold. You shall make them at the two ends of the [lid, ‘kapporeth’ AKA “mercy seat”]. 

Why the difference? The Seraphim’s only job is to praise YHVH in Heaven but the Cherubim guard YHVH and His Kingdom. There is no one to threaten YHVH in Heaven. But there are threats to Him on the earth. YHVH views threats to His people, Israel, ad threats to Himself. The Philistines were certainly a threat to the Ark itself. Yeshua died experiencing those threats. Thus, He put Cherubim on both ends of the ‘kapporeth’ or lid of the Ark.

The Cherubim guarded the Garden of Eden to prevent man from re-entering. The Cherubim are on the Ark to prevent man from using the Ark for his advantage. Thus, the Cherubim protect the Ark from men like the Catholic Popes who, if they had the Ark in their possession, would claim even greater authority to change the times and seasons of YHVH’s Law and His Sabbaths and Feasts. The Cherubim protect the Ark from being used by any man or organization such as today’s United Nations who could use it to prove their authority over the whole world from God’s earthly throne. More importantly, this is exactly what Satan would since he wants to sit on God’s Heavenly throne. The earthly one would do until he conquered the Heavenly one, see? And when it came to the Philistines, the Cherubim protected the Ark while it was in their possession. Do you see what I mean?

Let’s talk about the Ark as the earthly seat of YHVH Elohim’s mercy toward Israel. First, the Ark’s judgement and mercies apply only to Israel. Judgement comes to the nations from the Heavenly throne until Yeshua comes to rule and reign in person from Jerusalem. Then, all of His Law will go out from Jerusalem around the earth (Isaiah 2:3, Micah 4:2). The Great Tribulation’s judgement against the world will come directly from YHVH’s Heavenly throne.

YHVH’s throne and the Ark are both about justice. The Great Tribulation will happen to reestablish justice on the earth, justice that will be administered and adjudicated from the Law of YHVH AKA the Law of Moses in scripture. Moses did not write YHVH’s Law. YHVH gave it to Moses to teach to Israel.

Exodus 24:12  Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and stay here, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commands that I have written, that you may teach them.”

YHVH gave His Law to Moses. Moses did not make it up. And since YHVH’s Law comes from YHVH, and since He is all of Creation’s sole authority that never changes, the Law of YHVH has never been rescinded, or “passed away” nor was it “done away”. YHVH rules by His Law from His throne and His Law is based on justice, according to Psalm 89:14.

Psalms 89:14  Justice and judgment are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth shall go before Your face.

And along with justice and judgement come mercy because mercy is built into the Law, a doctrine that neither the Christians or Jews have understood. YHVH will render His judgement and pass sentence on the entire earth from His Heavenly throne which will result in the completion of the Great tribulation. And with the coming of the Great Tribulation, the return of the Ark is a great possibility.

There is a debate about whether the Ark was hidden by Jeremiah, sealing it in a cave, under Temple Mount. People have searched for it everywhere – under Temple Mount, in Qumran and even in Ethiopia and other places for the last 2500 years. It has not been found. What we know is that the Ark is still missing. However, there is an expectation now in Jerusalem that the Ark is under Temple Mount and that it will be used in their Temple. But will it be the real item or a reconstructed replica?

I ask this question for your consideration because, right now, the Ark is in Heaven. The Book of revelation is a prophecy to the end times righteous remnant so we will know what is happening, and the Book of Revelation, John’s vision, says:

Revelation 11:19  And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

We now already understand that the Heavenly throne room never contained an Ark. The Ark was an earth-only representation of the throne. Thus, John seeing the Ark of YHVH’s Testimony/Covenant, means YHVH has the Ark in His possession. It means that He took the Ark from the earth. And I will explain why.

John’s Revelation 11:19 vision, which Yeshua, the author of John’s vision showed him, is letting us know Mount Sinai, the Law that is within the Ark, is still important in the end of days! Moses prophesied about the importance of Mount Sinai and the covenant made there.

Deuteronomy 30:1  It shall happen, when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, where Yahweh your God has driven you,
Deuteronomy 30:2  and return to Yahweh your God, and obey his voice according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your soul;
Deuteronomy 30:3  that then Yahweh your God will release you from captivity, have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples where Yahweh your God has scattered you.
Deuteronomy 30:4  If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there Yahweh your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you back.
Deuteronomy 30:5  Yahweh your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you will possess it. He will do you good, and increase your numbers more than your fathers.
Deuteronomy 30:6  Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your offspring, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.
Deuteronomy 30:7  Yahweh your God will put all these curses on your enemies, and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. 

This prophecy is only now being fulfilled in the last few decades as His people call to mind His Law (Deuteronomy 30:2) in the nations where they are scattered. That is happening now. It is happening among the Messianic Jews and the Hebrew Roots people and others who have returned to the Torah, most of them coming via beginning to keep the 7^th day Sabbath.

Because the Ark is associated with Mount Sinai through the fire and light show, we understand that this Ark that John saw is the Tabernacle’s Ark. Make the association. If YHVH wanted to let us know it was an original Ark from within Heaven, there would have been no need for the same Mount Sinai fire and light show to reappear. But John did not see a Heavenly Ark. He saw the Ark constructed by Moses which YHVH had taken to His Heavenly throne for safe keeping.

The fire and light show implies the fulfillment of Moses’ prophecy which is a return to the original Law in the end of days as it was given at Mount Sinai. This underscores believers’ requirement to follow the Mount Sinai Law and not discount it as “done away”. We will be returning to this Law to be governed by Yeshua in His Millennial Kingdom.

I told you earlier that I would explain something about the missing Ark. We must ask the question: why did God remove the Ark from the earth? It was to prevent it being used by another authority – i.e. the Pope who changed YHVH’s times, seasons, Sabbaths, etc., or a king of a nation, or even Lucifer from getting hold of it and using it to claim authority over Israel and the entire earth while sitting on it. YHVH must retain His throne only for Himself, whether it is Heavenly throne or His earthly Ark, until it becomes time for YHVH’s people and all the earth to find out what it will be like to be governed by Satan through him or one of his emissaries like the Pope, a random earthly King or the Antichrist yet to come.

The Jews are now alluding to the possibility that they have the Ark of the Covenant under Temple Mount. It was sealed in a cave beneath Temple Mount under there, according to them. If this is so, then it will be this throne within the Holy of Holies where the Antichrist will enter and possibly seat himself as if he is God, and it will be permitted by YHVH so the entire world will suffer under the weight of Satan’s son of perdition’s wickedness and evil.

2 Thessalonians 2:3  Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction,
2 Thessalonians 2:4  he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God. 

But wait! The ancient prophets who saw the throne room did NOT see an Ark and John did. We are to know the deception when it is announced but MANY will be deceived if they hear that the Ark has been returned to the Jews! The reason for YHVH showing the Ark to John in Heaven is so that we, YHVH’s people, will know the lie the world is being told when the Jews say they have it. John said it was in Heaven! Who are we going to believe? The messenger of Yeshua to John or the Jews who hate Yeshua?

Yes, the Antichrist will enter the Holy of Holies and sit his filthy butt on the ‘kipporeth’, the “lid”, AKA the “mercy seat”, but there will be no mercy for anyone on earth that comes forth from the Antichrist.

If the Jews announce they have found the First Temple Ark, don’t believe it! God will never let Satan or His son of perdition sin on YHVH’s earthly throne, the Ark! He will not share His glory with them (Isaiah 42:8).  

Let me wrap this up. The reason John is the only prophet to see the Ark in Heaven is because it is a message to the remnant of Israel who believe in Yeshua as their God and King to not believe the lie when it comes! This teaching was about showing you where the Ark is right now – in Heaven, not on the earth.

I hope you can see what a big deal it is to know where the Ark is if and when the big lie is announced from Jerusalem. It will be one HUGE lie told to deceive the whole world!

YHVH has the Ark and we have YHVH! He is our mercy!