Ark of the Covenant

[Ps. 84:1] How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!
[2] My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
[4] Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.
[10] For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Psalm 84 is the highlight psalm of the Leviticus section. It follows a series of Psalms written by Asaph and is the first of a second group (84-85, 87-88) attributed to the sons of Korah. They also wrote Psalms 42-49.
Rabbi Feuer wrote that David, while on foreign soil, ‘yearned to return to the Holy Ark and to the sacrificial altar. In this palm, he described the longing of all ‘lonely exiles in future generations.’
The tenor of the psalm certainly describes devout Jews in 1984. After so many long years excluded from the Tempt Mount and content with praying at the Western Wall, certain ‘Faithful of the Temple Mount’ began to call for a Jew-presence within the confines of the Moslem-held Temple site. It was as if the pent-up cry burst forth, My soul longeth, hea, even fainteth for the courts of the
L-RD.
Even the number 84 lends to the mood of the year. The number 84 meaning ‘to ransom, to release, to set free.’ This was certainly the cry of the religious Jews who desire to establish a place of worship on the mountain. The Moslems are in control of the Holy site and it’s time for the Jews to redeem it.
In January of 1984, Yigael Yadin published his commentary on the famous Temple Scroll in English. The scroll was drafted with the object of establishing that is
G-d Himself who is the speaker. Instructions are given in the ancient document on rebuilding the Temple!
In April, 1984 issue of BAR Magazine, archeologist Asher Kaufman discussed at length the site of the ancient Temples and suggested that both Solomon’s and Herod’s were built on a site which lies to the north of the Dome of the Rock directly west of the Eastern Gate. A small cupula stands some three hundred feet north of the mosque. It is called the ‘Dome of the Tablets’ and covers a rock suggested being the foundation stone for the Ark of the Covenant. The spot marks the possible location of the Holy of Holies in both Temples. And whatever happened to the Ark of the Covenant? According to Jewish history, Jeremiah took the hangings of the Tabernacle, along with the Ark of the Covenant, and hid them in a cave in the country of Moab almost 2,600 years ago.
The account is recorded in the apocryphal book of 2 Maccabees 2:4-8:
[3] And with other such speeches exhorted he them, that the law should not depart from their hearts.
[4] It was also contained in the same writing, that the prophet, being warned of God, commanded the tabernacle and the ark to go with him, as he went forth into the mountain, where Moses climbed up, and saw the heritage of God.
[5] And when Jeremy came thither, he found an hollow cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle, and the ark, and the altar of incense, and so stopped the door.
[6] And some of those that followed him came to mark the way, but they could not find it.
[7] Which when Jeremy perceived, he blamed them, saying, As for that place, it shall be unknown until the time that God gather his people again together, and receive them unto mercy.
[8] Then shall the Lord shew them these things, and the glory of the Lord shall appear, and the cloud also, as it was shewed under Moses, and as when Solomon desired that the place might be honourably sanctified.
[5] And when Jeremy came thither, he found an hollow cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle, and the ark, and the altar of incense, and so stopped the door.
[6] And some of those that followed him came to mark the way, but they could not find it.
[7] Which when Jeremy perceived, he blamed them, saying, As for that place, it shall be unknown until the time that God gather his people again together, and receive them unto mercy.
[8] Then shall the Lord shew them these things, and the glory of the Lord shall appear, and the cloud also, as it was shewed under Moses, and as when Solomon desired that the place might be honourably sanctified.
According to the ancient account, Jeremiah declared that the Tabernacle would be discovered that the Tabernacle would be discovered in the day when G-d gathers His people together again and shows them His mercy. Jeremiah predicted the return of the Shekinah glory. The fire will fall from heaven to bless the old tent with the presence of G-d. just as it did at the dedications of Moses’ Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple.
The prophecies of Ezekiel seem to concur. Through the Battle of Gog and Magog is predicted in Ezekiel 38, the last three verses of chapter 37 allude to the return of the Tabernacle:
[26] Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
[27] My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
[28] And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
The Hebrew word in verse 27 and Ps. 84:1 for tabernacle is ‘Mishkon.’ It is used exclusively in the O.T. It is used exclusively in the O.T. for the Mosaic Tabernacle built of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, comprising two rooms – the Holy place and the Holy of Holies. Ezekiel referred to both a sanctuary and a Mishkon. Psalm 84 makes the term plural (tabernacles) which implies at least two places of worship.
In the days of King David, a special tent was built to house the Ark of the Covenant on Mount Moriah. It was the Tabernacle of David. The Mishkon of Moses during that time was located at Gibeon about 6 miles northwest of Jerusalem. The Hebrew term used for David’s tabernacle was Ouhel meaning simply a tent. The implication seems to be that both the Mishkon of Moses and the Ouhel of David may be found with the Ark of the Covenant and return to Jerusalem. The Ouhel of David could house the Ark of the Covenant on the Temple Mount while the Mishkon of Moses could be kept elsewhere.
There are reports of an Ark hidden in the Church of Saint Mary of Zion in Aksum, Ethiopia. Menelik, son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba stole the Ark, leaving a duplicate in its place.
We may not have long to wait until the real Ark is returned to Jerusalem.
The most exciting event of 1984 was the rediscovery of the ancient Techelet – the blue-purple die once used in the ribbons along the borders of Jewish prayer shawls (talliths). In the September 8, 1984, edition of SCIENCE NEWS OF THE WEEK the headline read, ‘Blue-purple dye of antiquity reborn. A biochemist in Jerusalem priced together historical, scriptural and scientific evidence to conclude that he had rediscovered the formula for the ancient dye used by Moses to color the tapestries of the Tabernacle and the ribbons of blue on the talliths of ancient Judaism. G-d had told Moses to obtain the dye from a small sea creature which lived in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. This purple dye eventually became the color for the royalty of Europe. In the days of the N.T., Lydia was a seller of purple in Acts 16:14. The industry maintained its popularity until the seventh century when the Moslems overran the Holy Land. They killed the manufactures of the dye and the formula died with them. For the past 1,500 years, Jewish talliths have been adorned with black ribbons. It seemed that G-d, called a Banded Dye Murex grows in abundance in the Mediterranean Sea. G-d is about to turn the Jewish night back to day!