Following The Path of the Ark

Nadene Goldfoot                                    

Moses, while on the Exodus, had written during those 40 years, the Law, which he wanted the Israelites to follow for the rest of their days, including all their descendants.  It had to be kept in something secure.  Security sometime before 1291 BCE in  the Middle East called for limited resources.  That was about 3,322 years ago.

A chest was devised, in which the 2 tablets would fit into.  The description of the ark is found in Exod. 25:10-22.  It was made of acacia wood, which was inlaid and covered with gold. There is a tree from Africa called the Acacia nilotica most likely  used.  

 It was 2.5 cubits in length., which was about the length of a man's forearm, and to us today about 18 inches or 44cm. That means it was 45 inches or 1 yard 9 inches long.  It was 1.5 cubits in breadth or wide, or 27 inches--2 feet 3 inches wide, and 1.5 cubits in height or 2 feet 3 inches in height.  

Moses was on the right track about acacia wood.  Because it can capture and store carbon and nitrogen emissions, this is considered eco-friendly.  It’s more durable and harder than most wood.  Registering at 2,300 psi on the Janka scale, acacia is 55% harder than European white oak, 23% harder than hickory, and 90% harder than carbonized bamboo, making it one of the most durable floors on the market. Because of its hardness, acacia wood is an excellent material for building furniture, decor, flooring, and more.

Moses had a molding of gold go around it and 4 gold over-laid wooden staves were placed through 4 rings on its sides.  A cover of gold was placed over it, 2 golden cherubim with outstretched wings screening the ark cover.  

The golden cover and cherubim symbolized the place where the Shekhinah or Divine presence dwelt.  The ark itself, containing the 2 tablets of the Law, stood for the Covenant between G-d and His people.  

It was said by Moses that G-d  gave detailed instructions for the design and construction of the Ark to ;himself and he in turn relayed the instructions to the Israelites that constructed it, principally Bezalel. It was made at the same time as the tent tabernacle along with all of the many items used therein. 

      Inside the Holy of Holies with ark on ground.  

The sacredness of the ark was such that even the high priest (Aaron at that time) could behold it but once a year and even then, only under a cloud of incense (Lev 16: 1-6).

 Leviticus 10 describes the death of Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron, brother of Moses. This occurred on the eighth day of the dedication of the Tabernacle, when Nadab and Abihu each took a censer full of incense and offered before the Lord alien fire, which He had not enjoined upon them (Lev. 10:1). As a consequence of this act, a fire came forth from the Lord and consumed them (Lev. 10:2). However, they were not completely consumed, their bodies remained and had to be removed (Lev. 10:4-5). TB Sanhedrin 52a understands that the fire that came from God only consumed their insides, leaving their body and clothing intact. 

Scientifically, their deaths were caused by the Ark functioning as a “Leyden jar,” which acted as a security device for the Ark.  The understanding that the Ark of the Covenant was an electrical device was introduced soon after the invention of the Leyden (or Leiden) jar in 1745. This was a crude battery, the first device made that could store electric charge, and was made of very simple materials.  A few years later, one of the founders of electrical science, Georg Wilhelm Lichtenberg (1743-1799) noted that the structure of the Ark of the Covenant is similar to the Leyden jar.

  According to an article that appeared in the March 5th, 1933 edition of the Chicago Daily Tribune, Frederick Rogers, the Dean of the Department of Engineering at the Lewis Institute of Technology, conducted a careful study of the construction of the Ark as described in the Bible, and concluded that its design matched a perfectly constructed simple electric condenser: He Said The Ark Of The Covenant Was A Giant Capacitor.  But the Ark of the Covenant was a much larger condenser….The divine directions called for the creation of two cherubim of pure gold to be placed on a gold slab or "mercy seat" overtop the Ark. These cherubim, Prof. Rogers explained, made up what he believes to have been the positive pole of the circuit.

He explained…that it is known among physicists that a "difference of potential" exists between the earth and the air which may be collected in electrical charges under certain favorable conditions…It was explained that even slight movements of heat rising in smoke—such as from burning sacrifices or even incense—would distribute lesser charges of static electricity….This, Prof. Rogers explained, may have accounted for the collecting of bolts powerful enough to cause death.  (https://gizmodo.com/the-engineer-who-said-the-ark-of-the-covenant-was-a-gia-1598583115)

Know this:  at 2022 prices for a troy ounce of gold, it costs  about $1,851.05 .  I don't think anyone can afford to do an experiment on a model ark to see if it is creating any electricity.  I'm sure Fred Rogers knew what he was talking about.  

Fred joined Lewis Institute in 1896 as an Instructor in Math and an Assistant in Physics. He worked there for over 40 years eventually becoming a Professor of Physics and Electrical Engineering and then the Dean-Emeritus of Engineering and finally the Co-Director of Lewis Institute. Rogers retired in 1940 but was brought back by the newly created Illinois Institute of Technology (a combination of Lewis Institute and Armour Institute) to be the Director of their newly created War Training Program. Rogers then retired from that position at the end of WWII in 1945. 

https://library.iit.edu/uasc/news-perspectives/history-lewis-institute

The story of Uzzah and the Ark of the Covenant is found in 2 Samuel 6:1-7 and 1 Chronicles 13:9-12. As the ark was being transported, the oxen pulling the cart stumbled, and a man named Uzzah took hold of the ark. God’s anger burned against Uzzah and He struck him down and he died. Uzzah’s punishment does appear to be extreme for what we might consider to be a good deed. However, there are the reasons why God took such severe action.

From the time of Moses until the construction of Solomon's Temple, the ark was taken out from the Holy of Holies in case of national need to lead the people on the journey and help them in battle.  During the period of the 1st Temple, the ark found a permanent place in the Holy of Holies and was never removed.                               

There is no mention of the ark among the vessels carried away and later returned from Babylon from 597-538 BCE when the Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE.

Talmudic tradition held that it had been hidden "in its place" by King Josiah.  

"It vanished. Much of Jewish tradition holds that it disappeared before or while the Babylonians sacked the temple in Jerusalem in 586 B.C".

But through the centuries, Ethiopian Christians have claimed that the ark rests in a chapel in the small town of Aksum, in their country's northern highlands. It arrived nearly 3,000 years ago, they say, and has been guarded by a succession of virgin monks who, once anointed, are forbidden to set foot outside the chapel grounds until they die.

Tudor Parfitt-The British version of Indiana Jones, born in Wales--British historian, writer, broadcaster, traveller and adventurer. He specialises in the study of Jewish communities around the world, particularly in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Some of these communities have been recognized only since the late 20th century as having ancient Jewish origins.

Parfitt is emeritus professor of modern Jewish studies in the University of London at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), where he was the founding director of the Centre for Jewish Studies.

    This doesn't look like acacia wood to me.  

Tudor Parfitt thought he found the ark in southern Africa with the Lemba Tribe, but it doesn't look like the bible's description at all, even after over 3,000 years.  

             Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark

The miraculous qualities of the ark and the incidents connected with it inspired many poetical utterances in the Talmud and Midrash.            

Today, it inspired the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark and such people as Vendyl Jones, a Texan whose life is so much like the imaginary Indiana Jones in his quest for the ark.  He even went to Israel and learned Hebrew, helped the IDF, worked on the Caves of Qumran in Jordan that held the Copper Scroll, waiting for the translation in hoping to find what happened to the ark.  He died at age 80 in 2010, but had been interviewed by Gerard Robins in Houston, Texas, who wrote a lengthy article in UFO magazine about him and his finds.

Ronald Eldon Wyatt (June 2, 1933 – August 4, 1999) was an American adventurer noted for 

advocating the Durupınar site in Turkey as the location of Noah's Ark's landing place, along with almost 100 other alleged biblically-related discoveries.  Ron Wyatt’s 1982 discovery of the Ark of the Covenant has sadly been a topic littered with skepticism and nay-sayers throughout the years — even amongst fellow Believers! He banks his theory on the book,  Lives of the Prophets.

                                             

A doubtful Irish tradition maintains that the Ark is buried under the Hill of Tara in Ireland. Some scholars believe that this is the source of the Irish “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow” legend. It  is a hill and ancient ceremonial and burial site near Skryne in County Meath, Ireland. Tradition identifies the hill as the inauguration place and seat of the High Kings of Ireland; it also appears in Irish mythology.                  

Even less believable are the claims of Ron Wyatt and Tom Crotser, Wyatt claiming to actually have seen the lost Ark of the Covenant buried under Mt. Calvary and Crotser claiming to have seen it on Mt. Pisgah near Mt. Nebo. Both of these men are held in low esteem by the archaeological community, and neither has been able to substantiate the wild claims with any evidence.

Could it be that the battery of the ark's makeup finally died after over 3,000 years?  It could no longer protect itself with its electrical charge, so strong that it killed?  As I think about it, Moses could not have known by himself, 3,000 years till the Leyden jar would be invented,  what he was creating with the tools he used, unless all Egyptians knew this scientific law, and they never did any such creation that we have heard about.  Truly, G-d was in Moses's creative mind, guiding him along in his acts.  HaShem was part of Moses's creative thinking process."  And that's my belief.  

  

Resource:

update: 6/22,   

https://gizmodo.com/the-engineer-who-said-the-ark-of-the-covenant-was-a-gia-1598583115

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/keepers-of-the-lost-ark-179998820/

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

The Lost Ark of the covenant by Tudor Parfitt

file:///C:/Users/Home.DELL.000/Downloads/Jones%20pt.2%20q%20(002)%20(1).pdf

https://www.jewage.org/wiki/en/Article:Tudor_Parfitt_-_Biography

https://jbqnew.jewishbible.org/jbq-past-issues/2017/453/electric-ark-history-interpretation/

https://lampuntomyfeetministries.church/2021/04/30/ancient-text-confirms-ron-wyatts-1982-discovery-of-the-ark-of-the-covenant/

https://library.iit.edu/uasc/news-perspectives/history-lewis-institute

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