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In the movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark” we watched as intrepid adventurer Indiana Jones found and recovered the biblical Ark of the Covenant. In contrast to his fictional discovery many people throughout history have contemplated and even engaged in active searches to locate this biblical artifact of monumental importance. Oddly enough the bible tells us exactly where it is right now. So let’s use our bibles, trace the history of the
Most people who study the bible already know what the
When GOD had the
“And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou didst break, and thou shalt put them in the ark”. Deuteronomy 10:2
Moses then records that he did exactly as he was asked and placed the Ten Commandments inside the
“And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the LORD commanded me”. Deuteronomy 10:5
The
And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. Exodus 25:17-22
Finally, the
“And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as the LORD commanded Moses.” Exodus 40:21
The
And the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of
. Joshua 3:17
Later, in the history of the Jewish nation, the
And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rearward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. Joshua 6:13
So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. Joshua 6:20
The
We can continue to confirm that the
And the children of
inquired of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, Judges 20:27
The
And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; 1 Samuel 3:3
In the book of 1 Samuel we read that
And the Philistines fought, and
thirty thousand footmen. And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. 1 Samuel 4: 10, 11
The Philistines would rejoice over their victory especially at the capture of the beautiful golden
When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. 1 Samuel 5:2
What the Philistines were doing was offering the
And when they of
arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. 1 Samuel 5:3
On the next morning the Philistines found their own god statue laying face down on the floor toward the Ark of GOD. What GOD was showing them was that HE could make the Philistines own false god lay prostrate before HIS throne.
The Philistines were angry at this and they sat upright the statue of Dagon and offered the
And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. 1 Samuel 5:4
GOD would not be offered to a false god and HE drove this point home to the Philistines by chopping off the head and hands of the statue of Dagon.
Everywhere the Philistines carried the
So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 1 Samuel 5:11
And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place. And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you. 1 Samuel 6:2, 3
It is very important to note in the above verse that the
And take the ark of the LORD, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go. 1 Samuel 6:8
At this time in its history the Philistines were sending the
Looking inside the
And he smote the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter. 1 Samuel 6:19
From this point on the
The
The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, that he made with the children of
. 2 Chronicles 6:10, 11
Also the bible confirms that at the time the
There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of
. 1 Kings 8:9
There is not much spoken about the
The
But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: Hebrews 9:7
The Ceremonial Law could not have continued without the
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. Daniel 9:26
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. Daniel 9:27
In Daniel 9:27 above we see that the sacrifice did not cease until “the midst of the week”, meaning the middle of the week. This verse is talking about the three and a half years Jesus taught before his crucifixion. Many people apply this verse to the future antichrist, but if you read the entire chapter in context you can see it is all about the coming Messiah, which we know was Jesus Christ. In verse Daniel 9:26, which I have included above, it specifically mentions “the Messiah”, which provides the context for the very next verse Daniel 9:27.
Only Jesus Christ could have ended the sacrifice and the ceremonial law, only the death of Jesus could pay for the sins of all mankind. Attributing this verse to the antichrist is a horrendous insult to our savior as it implies that the antichrist could have brought an end to the Ceremonial law and fulfilled this prophecy just as well as Jesus could have accomplished it. But most all of modern Christianity makes this mistake.
The
Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of GOD. Matthew 27:50-54
And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. Mark 15:37-39
Notice in the verses above both Matthew and Mark stop directly in the midst of their descriptions of Jesus’ death on the cross to flash back to the temple and let us know that the veil there was “rent in twain from top to bottom”. Why during such an important event taking place did both writers feel it was so necessary to stop in the middle of such a history changing event and let us know that inside the temple the veil hanging in the temple at the door to the Holy of Holies was ripped in two from top to bottom?
First, as the bible taught us in Daniel, when Jesus died on the cross the Ceremonial Law and the sacrifice came to an end so the
The
At the death of Jesus GOD removed HIS throne from the temple in
The
And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. Revelation 11:18
And the
It is important that we are taught that on the very Day of Judgment GOD will once again reveal the Ark of HIS testament to all mankind. Remember what happened to the Beth-shemites when they opened the
We are told in the beginning of the book of Revelation that that entire book was given by GOD to Jesus and then Jesus was to give the book to John of Patmos in word and vision. So in essence the entire book of Revelation is given to us directly from Jesus, the entire book should be in red words of Christ. The Bible and Jesus Christ confirm that we are judged by the commandments in Revelation 22:14.
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. Revelation 22:14
Jesus teaches us that only those who strove to keep GOD’s commandments have right to the tree of life which is in Heaven. Therefore all else who care not about the commandments, stored in the Ark of GOD’s testament, will be destroyed.
Jesus in Revelation also taught us that the saints who follow him in the end times and reject the mark of the beast will be the ones that keep the commandments of GOD and have the faith of Jesus.
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. Revelation 14:9-12
Since we all fall short of perfect obedience to GOD our only hope for salvation from that destruction on judgment day is Jesus Christ.
Almost all modern Christianity teaches that to inherit eternal life you accept Jesus Christ, and you do this simply by saying a small prayer, something to the extent of “I am sorry for my sins and repent of them and accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior” or any of the many variations thereof.
But Jesus himself taught a very different way of accepting him as our lord and savior. He knew very well that the Ten Commandments of GOD would be the criteria for the judgment of all mankind on judgment day and accepting and keeping those commandments was a major part of the Gospel he preached.
Jesus taught that if you love him and therefore accept him you would keep his commandments.
If ye love me, keep my commandments. John 14:15
Jesus taught that his commandments were the exact same as his father’s.
Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. John 7:16
The only doctrine GOD ever wrote himself was HIS Ten Commandments.
Jesus taught that he would not change a single stroke of a single letter in GOD’s Ten Commandments.
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Mathew 5:18
The Greek word for “jot” means, “the smallest particle”, and the Greek word for “tittle” means “the apex of a Hebrew letter”. Jesus teaches very bluntly and directly in a way that can no way be misunderstood that until Heaven and Earth pass, which they never will, not the smallest particle or even the stroke of a single letter of GOD’s Ten Commandments will pass from the law.
On judgment day when GOD once again reveals the Ark of HIS testimony and the Commandments therein, all mankind will see for themselves that not a single letter of HIS law has been altered just as Jesus Christ taught. Upon those stones will be the Ten Commandments of GOD just as HE wrote them with HIS own finger in stone so long ago.
The bible clearly teaches that accepting Jesus is not just a matter of knowing how to pronounce his name. A person shows they have accepted Jesus by striving to keep the Ten Commandments, and out of love for Jesus Christ and GOD the father above we should always be moving closer and closer to the obedience of GOD. To reject the commandments is to reject Jesus Christ.
So many Christians know about the concepts of grace, mercy, faith and obedience, but get them so very confused.
Grace and mercy are what GOD gives to us through the sacrifice of HIS only son on the cross for payment of our sins.
Faith and Obedience are what we give back to GOD in return to show our love for HIM and our appreciation for the sacrifice of Jesus and to accept Jesus.
Modern Christianity has somehow taken Jesus’ payment for our sins on the cross and perceived it as permission to sin. This is not the truth and is a horrible injustice to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That we would continue to commit the same sins that sent Jesus to the cross in the first place as a gross lack of true love for him.
The bible teaches us that sin is the breaking of the commandments of GOD.
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 1 John 3:4
Whenever we continue to casually and purposefully break the commandments of GOD we are just repeating the sins that put Jesus on the cross in the first place, we are only adding to the offences. Out of love for Jesus Christ we should always be taking stock of our lives as Christians and making sure we are living as close to the heavenly principles of morality in GOD’s Ten Commandments as possible.
As we mature in life from babes to adults, learning right from wrong, we should also mature as Christians throughout life moving from disobedience to obedience.
But instead almost all of Christianity is moving in the opposite direction, from obedience to disobedience. It has taken centuries to accomplish it but over time Satan has managed to convince almost all of Christianity that GOD’s Ten Commandments are of little importance, that it is permissible to change them or outright ignore them. Instead of teaching obedience to GOD, now Christians are taught just to “feel good” about themselves, “don’t worry” about anything. As long as you “feel” you are close to GOD that is all that matters, what the bible and Jesus actual teach is of little consequences as long as we are comfortable. Modern Christianity forgets that we are not saved by how we ourselves personally “feel” but instead by what we are taught in GOD’s Holy Bible. What GOD wants and commands supersede how we feel or what we think.
There are Christians who believe abortion is not evil while GOD’s law says “thou should not commit murder”. There are Christians who believe taking from others is not wrong under the right circumstances while GOD’s law says “Thou shalt not steal”, and almost all of Christianity believes it doesn’t matter if we trample all over GOD’s seventh day Sabbath while it is still written on those two tables of stone contained within HIS throne that says “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy GOD.” Almost all of Christianity ignores the Sabbath in favor the man made Sunday day of worship instituted by the Roman Catholic Church in direct violation of GOD’s law. Modern Christianity ignores verses or uses verses out of context that are meant to say that the Ceremonial Law is done away with and instead apply them to the Ten Commandments which over and over GOD teaches lasts forever.
O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever! Deuteronomy 5:29
There is an old saying that says the greatest trick Satan ever pulled was to convince the world that he does not exist. But the actual greatest trick Satan ever pulled was convincing the world that GOD’s Ten Commandments and the Sabbath commandment contained therein changed.
Jesus taught that the elect of our world in the last days would be deceived.
For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. Mark 13:22
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 2 Thessalonians 2:11
Jesus taught that in the end even the elect would be seduced and that they would believe a lie. When we understand that the overarching context of the Holy Bible from Genesis to Revelation is obedience to GOD and HIS Ten Commandments, then understanding who the elect are and what the lie is in these verses becomes clear. We are talking about religion, therefore the elect would be those who teach the religion, which are our modern pastors and evangelists and the lie then becomes something that has to do with the obedience to GOD. We only have Ten Commandments to follow for obedience to GOD, so the end time great deception and lie is a change in GOD’s law.
The bible even confirms this for us.
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. Daniel 7:25
And the only aspect of “time” in the Ten Commandments is the time of worship, which is the Sabbath day, which has been changed by the tradition of man. The bible clearly shows that by the end times, law and times will be changed.
Since the Ceremonial Law ended at the crucifixion the only law left in the bible that could be changed during the end times is the Ten Commandments.
Satan has managed an awesome victory over mankind by deceiving them into taking the bible out of context in many places and believing that GOD’s eternal and unchanging commandments have changed. But Jesus taught us that we cannot change even one commandment without being in violation of the entire law.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. James 2:10
Satan has made much use out of this fact and deceived millions of unsuspecting Christians into breaking the Sabbath commandment so that they would be in violation of the entire law come judgment day.
This is not saying that as humans we can be perfect, obviously we cannot. But there is a difference in being human and making mistakes as opposed to purposefully committing sin against GOD. If I run a stop sign and accidentally kill another human being that is a sin, but an accident, and Jesus has paid for my sin on the cross. But if I take a gun and purposefully murder someone and continue to kill or be unrepentant for my entire life, then no matter how much I confess that Jesus is my lord and savior it is obviously not true. It is only words and the sincerity of my repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ as my savior is false. Only through my obedience to GOD’s Ten Commandments can I truly, mentally, spiritually and physically witness that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.
Do not misunderstand me. Nobody is saved by keeping GOD’s commandments. Commandment keeping is not a means to salvation but it is an evidence of salvation. It is evidence that you have accepted Jesus Christ and wish to have eternal life.
Jesus taught this himself.
And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother. Luke 18:18-20
But the majorities of modern Christians have been misled into breaking the Sabbath commandment and therefore break the whole law in denial of Jesus Christ, even as they praise him with their lips, but Jesus strictly taught that we are not to do this.
He answered and said unto them, Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Mark 7:6
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Mark 7:7
And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. Mark 7:9
Sunday worship is not a commandment, it is a tradition. Most modern Christians will never be taught this fact. But it is a documented historical fact.
“Sunday is our MARK OF AUTHORITY… The (Roman Catholic) Church is ABOVE the Bible, and this TRANSFERENCE OF THE SABBATH observance is PROOF of that fact.”
– Catholic Record September 1, 1923.
Jesus teaches that our worship is “in vain” meaning worthless when we keep traditions in place of obeying GOD’s commandments no matter how much we honor him with our lips.
But the majority of the world today continues to teach this falsehood and believe it. But how often in the bible was the majority ever correct?
In Noah’s time the majority was wrong.
In
In Jeremiah’s time the majority was wrong.
In Elijah’s time the majority was wrong.
In Jesus’ time the majority was wrong.
For something to simply be believed by a majority means nothing if it contradicts the commandments of GOD.
As we are taught there is nothing new under the sun and we see in modern Christianity a repeat of the same pattern that we have seen all through the bible. A single person, or a small majority preaching obey GOD, while a larger majority preaches “that does not apply to us”, “we are special”, “we are above the law”, “all that matters is that you feel good and love another” or some other misleading trivial excuse.
Come judgment day when the Ark of the Testament of GOD is once again revealed from its place in Heaven as the very throne of almighty GOD, all Christians should have learned and strove to keep those commandments and taught them to their friends, loved ones and children before it is too late. This should be done out of love for one another and love for Jesus Christ.
If you are ever in doubt as to whether or not someone is teaching you the truth about these matters GOD gave us a very simple test to use to be able to decide if we are being deceived or not.
He that saith, I know him (Jesus Christ), and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1 John 2:4
Jesus Christ through his apostle John tells us that if someone tells us they know Jesus, meaning they have accepted him, but they do not teach the commandments of GOD then they are lying to you. It’s not rocket science, it’s not complicated, and it’s not a puzzle. If someone is teaching you something about the commandments of GOD all you have to do is open your bible to Exodus 20 verses 3 through 17 and compare what they tell you to what you read in those verses.
If what they say doesn’t match what is written there perfectly, right down to the “S” in Sabbath, the “V” in Seventh and the “D” in day, they are, according to the word of GOD himself lying to you as Jesus Christ bluntly confirmed that he would not change a single stroke of a single letter. Of course many people are not lying to you on purpose, they may just be passing on the same bad information they were taught, but a Christian’s authority should be the Commandments of GOD and Jesus Christ regardless of what others say.
We have followed the
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 5:29
Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. Romans 3:31
Our faith in Jesus should be building up and establishing GOD’s law, not tearing it down.
Peace and GOD BLESS!
Ken Elliott Jr
Thank you for reading! For more study articles like this one please visit www.call2christ.org and click the “study” link.