Director’s Corner
I’ve noticed over the past 6 months momentum building concerning the Ark of the Covenant. Plus there are all the other supposed locations that seem to be getting their share of attention as well.
As far as Mr.Jones is concerned, my biggest and most pressing reservation is His apparent rejection of Christianity and adoption of Kabbalic Judaism. My understanding of the Kabbalah is that it’s more mystical and spiritist in nature, and that makes me quite suspicious of anything connected with it. There also seems to be good evidence that the Knights Templar made a number of copies of the Ark, possible this is how so many stories developed concerning it.
But beyond that, let’s take a look at the bigger picture. Where would the Ark of the Covenant have been hidden, and WHY? If it’s simply an artifact, a historical piece of furniture, it could literally be hidden ANYWHERE…in Egypt, in Ethiopia, in Ireland, at Mt. Nebo or in the desert, or a number of locations around Jerusalem. The latter seems more plausible, due to the circumstances that existed during It’s disappearance. BUT…if there was a bigger purpose in mind, THE LORD HAD IT HIDDEN IN A PARTICULAR SPOT FOR THAT PURPOSE!!
Consider if you will, the Lord watched the Flood waters receding around the earth. He saw the mud sliding off the slopes into what we know as the Gulf of Aqaba, and He looked down the ages and said, "In 1500 years, the children of Israel will be running from the Egyptian army at this very spot and they’ll need a way across this gulf." So He caused the mud slide to run out 4 miles from each side and meet up together, forming a perfect underwater land bridge.
In the same way, He looked down the centuries and saw that when He would send His Son to earth to become our sacrifice, that the keepers of the temple on earth would reject Him. How would the sacrifice be made? Where? And beyond that, there was another dilemma (from a human perspective, that is). The Father was asking Christ to play a dual role, not only the role of, "The Lamb", but that of the high priest (a position that He was preparing for from His baptism) as well. How would this be possible? Christ would not only be our sacrifice, He would play the role of high priest as well. How could He lay down His life and still make the application of the blood? And then there was the third aspect of the sanctuary process, the cleansing.
In fact all three aspects of the Sanctuary process were demonstrated at Calvary. The Ark was no longer in the temple, so even if He’d been accepted as Messiah and offered on the Altar of Sacrifice, His blood could not be sprinkled on the Mercy Seat. And besides – He was the only one who could do it. The only way it could happen was for Christ to be sacrificed so that His blood could reach the right location…directly below the site of His sacrifice. So 600 years before the time, God arranged the Ark to be hidden there, knowing that when the fullness of time was come, the Son would be fulfilling His role as Priest AND Offering, in the same event. Too awesome for words!!!
Christ had been preparing for this very moment, with the same seven anointings that Aaron and his sons received for priestly ministry, such anointing was the blood on the ear, thumb, and big toe. (the head, hand, and foot). These references are found in Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8. The real High Priest would be anointed with blood, His own. The crown of thorns, the nailing of the hands and feet were all part of the equation.
When the time came, He cried out, "It is finished," and gave up His life. At that moment an earthquake rent the rocks, opening a crack in the bedrock at the foot of the cross. The soldiers, making certain that Christ was dead, pierced His side and out flowed blood and water, separated, a sure sign of death. That blood ran down the cross, and into the crack made just prior. Some twenty feet below, the stone-encased Mercy Seat was waiting, exposed from the earthquake. And the blood marked a permanent witness, PRICE PAID. There are of course other details of the story, but this is WHY the Ark could be NO WHERE ELSE. The blood was shed, it was applied, there was a cleansing, all took place at Calvary. ISN’T GOD SO VERY WONDERFUL? PRAISE HIS NAME!!!
Jerry Bowen, Drector
Anchor Stone International
P.S. Scripture records that there are three that bear witness in earth, the water, the blood, and the Spirit. We know that He is the Spirit of "TRUTH". Hebrews 9 records that it was indeed the Spirit that presented the witness of the blood before the Father, with the payment of sin guaranteed, The Father calls forth His Innocent Son, to life evermore, our Elder Brother, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
