Dying to See the Ark of the Covenant
June 26th, 2009 by David DanskerLeaders of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) claim to have the Ark of the Covenant, in which were kept the tablets of the law, Aaron’s rod that budded, and manna God feed the Israelites on in the wilderness. There was even talk this week of displaying the Ark in a museum, but it appears that the EOC is going to fail to deliver on its promise. And for good reason; they don’t have it. The EOC does not, nor does anybody else, for that matter, have the Ark of the Covenant for the same reason that the Shroud of Turin was not used in Christ’s burial.
The Lord demonstrated what would happen when the Ark was handled contrary to His instructions, and what would befall people who would illegally possess it. If it were being kept in Ethiopia for the last 3000 years, then by now all of Africa would not only have been incapacitated with hemorrhoids, they would all have died of AIDS or some other plague. The Ark is God’s design for the purpose of foreshadowing the redemptive work of Christ Jesus. As such, it is holy; set aside for His use, and would not be carelessly left to be bandied about by the unconverted. Neither is there a need for it to remain on earth after the crucifixion and resurrection of the Christ Jesus, the Lord.
The only way anyone is going to see the Ark today is: 1) to be saved by the blood of the Lamb of God, 2) to die. Unless the Rapture of the Church happens first, these are the only ways one is going get to heaven, and that’s where the Ark is, and here is how we know: “And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament [covenant]: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail” (Rev 11:19). This scene was revealed to the Apostle John in AD 96. The accompanying revelation revealed events that would transpire, during the time of Jacob’s Trouble, or the Tribulation Period lasting seven years. The Ark is there now.