Don Stewart and Indiana Jones.
They're both interested in the Lost Ark of the Covenant. But while the fictional Jones got both the girl and the Ark in the 1981 movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark," Don Stewart is still researching the fate of the holy relic.Stewart spoke Tuesday night at Park City Community Church at a gathering sponsored by the nondenominational Meta Tauta Society. He is the author of more than 20 books, which have been translated into Chinese, Finnish, Polish, German and Portuguese. A Christian apologist, Stewart was co-host of the First Annual Temple Conference in Jerusalem a year ago.
The last mention of the Ark of the Covenant in the Bible is in Chronicles 35:3 when King Josiah ordered the priests to put it back into the Holy of Holies. That was 2,600 years ago.
Stewart said during his lecture that three plausible, if not credible, theories or claims of discovery have emerged:
- Within four months of the release of the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark," the announcement came that it had been found. Tom Crotser concluded that the Ark was in Jordan, and he went to Mount Pisgah where he found a cave and reportedly discovered a gold covered object with poles lying nearby. Biblical Archaeology Review sent a researcher to view Crotser's color slides. The researcher then concluded: "I do not know what the object is, but the pictures convinced me that it is not an ancient artifact but of modern fabrication with machine produced decorative strips and underlying metal sheet."
- A legend exists that Solomon and the Queen of Sheba had a son named Menelik I, who created a copy, switched it in Jerusalem and brought it back to Ethiopia where it is supposedly located today in a tiny chapel in Axum. This theory is expounded in Graham Hancock's book, "The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant."
- There are many proponents of the idea that the Ark was secreted in the tunnels beneath the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. A passage in the Mishnah (Shekalim 6:1), ancient Jewish commentary, states that the Holy Ark was hidden in a secret passageway that began beneath the Chamber of Wood in the northwestern corner of the Women's Courtyard and led to an underground room. Rabbi Yuhuda Getz appeared on a CBS television special concerning ancient mysteries. He said that the Ark had recently been discovered on Temple Mount. Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem told participants at the Temple Conference at the Jerusalem Hilton last year that the Ark had been discovered and that it was in a safe place.
As for Stewart, he said he does not know the whereabouts of the Ark or whether it will eventually be found. "All I know is that he of whom it is spoken has come."
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(Chart)
"And they shall make an Ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around. You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. You shall put poles into the rings on the sides of the Ark, that the Ark may be carried by them. The poles shall be into the rings; they shall not be taken from it. And you shall put into the Ark the Testimony which I will give you." Exodus 25:10-16 New King James Version
The Ark was made out of acacia wood (shittim in the Authorized Version). The wood is very light and hard, and it does not absorb moisture. The Talmud states that it is a member of the cedar family.
The exact size of the Ark is difficult to determine. . . . There is no agreement as to the exact length of a cubit. Using an 18-inch cubit, the Ark would have been three and three quarters feet long, two and one quarter feet wide and two and one quarter feet high.
All around the top of the Ark was a gold rectangular plate known as the Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat was to be placed on top of the Ark having the exact same dimensions.
"You shall make a Mercy Seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width." Exodus 25:17
The translation "Mercy Seat" can lead to misconceptions. The basic meaning of the Hebrew word kapporeth is "to cover." The Mercy Seat was more than a simple covering, it was an "atonement covering" - the place where sins were covered up.
From "In Search of the Lost Ark: The Quest for the Ark of the Covenant" by Don Stewart, 1992, Dart Press, $12. Available from the Meta Tauta Society, call 973-4800.