What happened to the ark of the covenant?

[tonychanyt]

Around 621 BC, 2 Chronicles 35:

1 Josiah kept a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem. And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2He appointed the priests to their offices and encouraged them in the service of the house of the LORD. 3And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the LORD, “Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. You need not carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God and his people Israel.

That's the last time the Ark of the Covenant was mentioned in the Old Testament.

A few decades later, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon captured Jerusalem and raided the temple. The ark was not mentioned.

Fast-forward to Revelation 11:

19 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 severe hailstorm.

Perhaps God took the ark before the Babylonians could get a hold of it and stored it for safekeeping in heaven.

2 Maccabees 2:4-8 mentioned that before the Babylonians looted the First Temple, Jeremiah hid the ark in some cave.

 

[AV1611VET]

Perhaps God took the ark before the Babylonians could get a hold of it and stored it for safekeeping in heaven.

If so, it is the only (?) man-made object in Heaven.

From the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary:

The Jews shall no longer glory in the possession of the ark; it shall not be missed, so great shall be the blessings of the new dispensation. The throne of the Lord, present Himself, shall eclipse and put out of mind the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat between the cherubim, God's former throne. The ark, containing the two tables of the law, disappeared at the Babylonian captivity, and was not restored to the second temple, implying that the symbolical "glory" was to be superseded by a "greater glory".

Haggai 2:9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

 

[Spiritual Jew]

Around 621 BC, 2 Chronicles 35:


That's the last time the Ark of the Covenant was mentioned in the Old Testament.

A few decades later, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon captured Jerusalem and raided the temple. The ark was not mentioned.

Fast-forward to Revelation 11:


Perhaps God took the ark before the Babylonians could get a hold of it and stored it for safekeeping in heaven.

2 Maccabees 2:4-8 mentioned that before the Babylonians looted the First Temple, Jeremiah hid the ark in some cave.

Indiana Jones has it.

But, seriously, this is a good question. Revelation 11:19 does suggest that maybe it is in heaven now if that verse is meant to be taken literally.

 

[KevinT]

Wikipedia has a good write up about the Ark of the Covenant. It points out that the Ethiopian Orthodox church claims they are in possession of it.

As an aside, do we know why Maccabees was rejected by Jewish scholars, and it was not included in their canon? I know that it was included in the Septuagint and is accepted as canon by some denominations. But it was not accepted by the protestants at the time of the Reformation. I'm just wondering how authoritative it is.

KT

 

[PesachPup]

I believe it is still in Babylon and will reappear when the time of great destruction envelops the region. Why? Because...

Jer 49:38 KJV And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD.

God will temporarily set his throne there during the 42 month reign of the beast. The vision of the temple that Ezekiel had while dwelling in Babylon (chapters 40-48) is actually a vision of this temple that will be built there. When Paul speaks of this man of sin, sitting in the temple of God, "shewing himself to be good", is that same temple in Babylon. It says such here:

Eze 44:2-4 KJV 2 Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. 3 It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same. 4 Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and I fell upon my face.

The man of sin, aka the prince, shall sit on the gate that is reserved for the Lord GOD of Israel, the Lord of hosts. Paul doesn't say that he "shows the WORLD that he is God", but he proves to himself that he is God, because he is not struck dead for "Sitting in the place", reserved only for the Lord. For the glory of the Lord to "...fill[ed] the house of the Lord..." necessitates the presence of the ark.

Another reason I have for believing that the ark resided, And still resides in Babylon is because I believe that Nebuchadnezzar's father (Nabopolasser) died as a result of touching the ark, because Nebu had the temple burned and destroyed on the anniversary of his father's death on the 7th day of Av.

2Ki 25:8-9 KJV 8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: 9 And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire.

The Babylonian Chronicle confirms the date of Nabopolasser's death. I believe Nebuchadnezzar chose the time for destruction of the temple in vengeance of his father's death. Jeremiah 52 confirms that 4th month (immediately preceding the destruction of the temple) was (still) the 18th year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar and that the 5th month was the beginning of his 19th year.

Be Blessed
The PuP

 

[KevinT]

I believe it is still in Babylon and will reappear when the time of great destruction envelops the region. Why? Because...

Jer 49:38 KJV And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD.

God will temporarily set his throne there during the 42 month reign of the beast. The vision of the temple that Ezekiel had while dwelling in Babylon (chapters 40-48) is actually a vision of this temple that will be built there. When Paul speaks of this man of sin, sitting in the temple of God, "shewing himself to be good", is that same temple in Babylon. It says such here:

Where is Elam? This wikipedia article doesn't give a location for Elam

KT

 

[tonychanyt]

Where is Elam?

See Where was Elam?

 

[PesachPup]

Where is Elam? This wikipedia article doesn't give a location for Elam

KT

The province of Elam is located on the north side of the mouth of the Tigris Euphrates river basin, adjacent to where Babel was located. Shushan was the location of the palace where the Persian kings reigned from. Cf Dan 8:2.
The PuP

 

[tonychanyt]

do we know why Maccabees was rejected by Jewish scholars

See Why were the books of Maccabees rejected by Jewish scholars?

 

[PesachPup]

Jer 51:34-44 KJV 34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out. 35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. 36 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry. 37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant. 38 They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps. 39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD. 40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats. 41 How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! 42 The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. 43 Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby. 44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

V.34, "... that which Nebu hath swallowed up [and] ...made me an empty vessel", I believe refers to the ark of the covenant.
V.44, then refers to bringing forth "that which he hath swallowed up". The whole context of Jer 51 is the future destruction of Babylon, when no man shall inhabit it (Babylon) again.

And then we have this:

Jer 51:45-49 KJV 45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD. 46 And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. 47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. 48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD. 49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

This is the same exhortation given to God's people to come out of Babylon found in Rev 18:4ff.

Rev 18:4 KJV And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Be Blessed
The PuP

 

[tonychanyt]

Jer 51:34-44 KJV 34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out. 35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. 36 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry. 37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant. 38 They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps. 39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD. 40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats. 41 How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! 42 The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. 43 Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby. 44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

V.34, "... that which Nebu hath swallowed up [and] ...made me an empty vessel", I believe refers to the ark of the covenant.
V.44, then refers to bringing forth "that which he hath swallowed up". The whole context of Jer 51 is the future destruction of Babylon, when no man shall inhabit it (Babylon) again.

And then we have this:

Jer 51:45-49 KJV 45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD. 46 And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. 47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. 48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD. 49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

This is the same exhortation given to God's people to come out of Babylon found in Rev 18:4ff.

Rev 18:4 KJV And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Be Blessed
The PuP

So what happened to the Ark of the Covenant?

 

[PesachPup]

Jeremiah [25] considers Jerusalem to already be desolate the year after Nebu had carried the vessels to Babylon [in the 3rd year of Jehoiakim]. This would say to me that this is because the ark of the covenant has been taken, cf Dan 1:2. Also, Ezra/ Nehemiah give no indication that God's glory returned when the temple was rebuilt. So, I would say the ark never returned from Babylon. IF Nabopolasser truly did die from touching the ark, this would lead credence to hiding the ark somewhere in Babylon. I think it's also possible that it was moved to Shushan [in Elam]. Dan 8 is a last days vision portraying Daniel dwelling in Shushan. There is no evidence to suggest that Daniel ever lived in Susa. It could be in either place, Babylon or Shushan. Shushan makes more sense since that is where God will place his throne one day.

Be Blessed
The PuP