Ark of the Covenant- What is it really?

reply to post by mmiichael


The lemba connection to judaism is solid.
Their oral tradition states that they are descended from a group of 9 priests that fled the islamifaction of yemen.

This oral tradition has been in fact validated by recent (2007) gentetic studies that indicate that the lemba are in fact decended from 8-10 jewish men that lived in Yemen.
The story that they tell also contains information that no 19th century missionary would know.
Like the name of a lost jewish settlement in yemen.
Or the names and locations of pther places they spent time in on thier journey to south africa, places that have sisnce been comfirmed to exist and show signs of traditional jewish construction, in africa.

Dont get me wrong ...I am not saying the literal is not important ....
I am just saying that with God who is spirit ...would have no need of physical things like the ark which was built by man ...of course God had them build it with exact specifications because it was using the pattern of the heavenly ark ..


Hbr 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, [that] thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

The earthly things (Objects etc) are all an example and a shadow of heavenly things .........so I just dont see why God would need or want the earthly created one which was made out of wood and gold etc which the Lord says will all pass away with the using (everything earthly etc) ....


I actually think that the Antichrist could use the ark for his purpose ...(if it is here on earth somewhere)
Maybe he will even use a replica similar to what was posted on these posts where it had some sort of (fake) powers or something .....to be able to fool the masses especially the Jews who would be more than thrilled to see the ark .


[edit on 13-4-2009 by Simplynoone]

I believe it to be a place where God could come down and dwell with his people. Call me religious but thats what i believe. Now days God no longer needs the ark because he dwells in man. he has written his laws on the tables of our hearts, he makes his abode in the spirit of man. The old testament was a foreshadow of things to come and how things are now but in man himself. Man has the power of God living on the inside of him, living in a New Covenant established on better promises. From beginning of time to end of time its a struggle with man vs. good/evil and the decisions he makes determines his path. Personally i believe that Israel has the ark of the covenant. Israel has longed to start holding sacrifices again, they even have all the temple implements and utensils created, even the cornerstone has been cut. Templeinstitute.org According to revelations in the bible Israel will construct a Temple. Before they can sacrifice they have to have the ark, which in my opinion they are just waiting for the right time. If they were to come out with the ark now, i believe it would be all out war. Israel will demand to sacrifice again and it would not sit right with islamic leaders having an actively sacrficing Jewish state in the midst of an Islamic region.

This is a good piece, but like all things written by man, and think about it, written by man, not truly by the hand of God or Gods whatever religion you believe in, is open to interpretation.

reply to post by Hemisphere


The ten comandments are also a blue print for how to act in a stressful sociological situation, ie a large group of people living a nomadic life in the desert.
They are the basic rules you need to follow so that they might live with some sense of order and not digressing into chaos, over things such as theft and adultury and murder.

WOW i was just watching Raiders Of The Lost Ark again last night what a coincidence that someone started a thread about it to LOLS.

I have no idea what the Ark is for but the weirdest thing i heard what it was is a DNA accelerator/manipulator. How it was used i have no idea looks like we won't know until we find it and do a scientific test on it.

S & F...

ONENESS

My first thoughts on the Ark is that it is completely metaphorical. It is a symbol of greatness and power, like many stories in the various holy tomes.
My primary reason for this is because the Dead Sea Scrolls actually laid down that there were over 100 commandments handed down by God, not 10. As the Old Testament was written and re-written, it was decided that many of the commandments were only important to practices of the time, which were/are no longer used. Therefore, they were not important anymore and were struck from later versions.

If the AotC houses the commandments, as the Bible says, then its contents have also been re-written. That tells me that there is no ark, only the myth of the ark and its relevance is only as powerful as the awe and wonder of those who seek and believe in it.

This goes a bit off topic, but this is much like the Grail lore. In the mythos of King Arthur, the grail is found and restores both the king and the fertility of the land. Not necessarily a physical item, rather a journey by which one is cleansed of sin and evil and returns a vessel of goodness, truth and self-worth.

The Ark is, IMO, very much the same symbol.

reply to post by sinister_scarecrow


New-agey? For the sake of conversation and making my point, but who taught you that term? Who taught you to consider a topic "new-agey"? You've already proven my point for me, in that your response was laden with words and thought processes originating from the church itself.

You mentioned that "magi" was demonic or satanic. It is not my intention to argue or flame you, but rather urge you to seriously look into the true VALUES of words that you use and to reacquaint yourself with their meanings, not the meanings which have been instilled in you via word of mouth by your church. Magi is NOT demonic or satanic. Although we are limited by modern definitions, (some of which came about AFTER the takeover of the church), you can still get the idea. Case in point:

Prophet: prophet, prophesier, oracle, seer, vaticinator (an authoritative person who divines the future); someone who speaks by divine inspiration; someone who is an interpreter of the will of God.
Princeton.edu/prophet

Magi: Wise Men, Magi (New Testament) the sages who visited Jesus and Mary and Joseph shortly after Jesus was born; the Gospel According to Matthew says they were guided by a star and brought gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh; because there were three gifts it is usually assumed that there were three of them.

Magus: a magician or sorcerer of ancient times; a member of the Zoroastrian priesthood of the ancient Persian.
Princeton.edu/magi and magus

Sage: a mentor in spiritual and philosophical topics who is renowned for profound wisdom.
Princeton.edu/sage

Wise Men: mentor, a wise and trusted guide and advisor, Magi (New Testament) the sages who visited Jesus and Mary and Joseph shortly after Jesus was born; the Gospel According to Matthew says they were guided by a star and brought gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh; because there were three gifts it is usually assumed that there were three of them.
Princeton.edu/wise men

Magician: prestidigitator, conjurer, conjuror, illusionist (someone who performs magic tricks to amuse an audience); sorcerer, wizard, necromancer, thaumaturge, thaumaturgist (one who practices magic or sorcery).
Princeton.edu/magician

Sorcerer: magician, wizard, necromancer, thaumaturge, thaumaturgist (one who practices magic or sorcery.)
Princeton.edu/sorcerer

Alchemist: one who was versed in the practice of alchemy and who sought an elixir of life and a panacea and an alkahest and the philosopher's stone.
Princeton.edu/alchemist

Alchemy: (Arabic: الخيمياء al-khimia) is both a philosophy and a practice with an aim of achieving ultimate wisdom as well as immortality, involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making of several substances described as possessing unusual properties. The practical aspect of alchemy generated the basics of modern inorganic chemistry, namely concerning procedures, equipment and the identification and use of many current substances. The fundamental ideas of alchemy are said to have arisen in the ancient Persian Empire.[1] Alchemy has been practiced in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia (today's Iran), India, China, Japan, and Korea in Classical Greece and Rome, in the Muslim civilizations, and then in Europe up to the 20th century—in a complex network of schools and philosophical systems spanning at least 2500 years.
Wikipedia: Alchemy

Will continue...

reply to post by 0nce 0nce


The purpose of life,existence,and the universe is to learn and explore....and to live life(have fun).If it were easy to solve(the universe)then we all wouldn't have much of a life would we now?

reply to post by emeraldzeus



i generally like where your going with things... but my view is the 'Ark'(arc)was something simplier and complex at the same time.

... So, having said all that, my belief is that the Ark was a device..

First, it was made of wood....a particular kind of wood.
Then it was covered in gold.
It's dimensions are specific.

We know that it held the Rod of Aaron, the 10 commandments, and a jar of Manna.

, so we also know that it was an object that was not divinely controlled, but rather an object that sought to control the divine nature of electricity.

only the Priestly Class, both Israelites and Egyptians, kept the 'devine' devices properties/components/on a special & secret nature.

so, since the Priestly class were the keepers of thses devine devices,
the commoners were only told what they looked like...
and were told 'what' they were seeing...
so, I don't buy the story that the Israelite device had elaborate figures of cheribum overlayed in gold leaf... that is just myth for the masses.


these ancient electrical capacitors, which was first created by the Egyptian Priests & intellectuals, ... the lighting device was then Weaponized by the Israelites who created a Plasma (ball lightning) device,

Aarons 'Rod', 'Tablets', Manna... are just 3 Priestly 'code words' for the 3 components required to make 'magical' electricity/power -of-god,
i.e. the 2 different metals and the acidic solution needed to construct a 'battery'...
(see: the ancient 'Baghdad battery' on a google search)


but, After the Israelite Priestly class studied further & improved upon the Egyptian technological uses of the device to electroplate items and to generate 'light' at will (by the power of god)...
The Israelites weaponized & kept secret-upon-death the device which
had a power 10-100 fold more powerful than the primitive Egyptian device which was used only for peaceful uses & as an aide to mankind.

Once the 'Ark' burnt itself out during the conquest of Cannann campaigns,
the Priestly class couldn't re-charge the different polarities of the unlike metals, code named Tablets & Rod-of-Aaron... or else the solution aka: manna was depleated and no refills were available...
so the power of the Ark was quietly put-to-rest, lest the commoners of the tribes get restless and rebel against the authority of the Priestly class


the Ark story was made to infer that the Ark was taken away from Earth,
in any case the Ark & its myth was laid to rest by the elites of the time



the 2 metals were undoubedly some form of non-terrestial, & radioactive
element... i can see that the Tablets of Sinai, were likely meteorite slabs that had 'etchings' likely from atmospheric burning... which the leadership 'seen' as the handwriting of god, which only the Priestly class & Moses could interpet....even though the masses were likely illiterate anyway->
so its just like the masses being told what the Arc looked like,
the masses had to believe the word of the leaders & priests as to the
'Laws' scribed on the Tablets.


I wonder why the Israelite tribes & Priests, didn't build a cannon barrel to direct the plazma balls of high energy electricity that the Ark generated ?


hey, thanks, i'll follow the thread ...

There is a neo-pagan version of the ark

www.arkofhope.org...

There is also a theory that one day it will be placed on the Alter to Unknown God at the UN mediation room.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/05b9a0d98bf1.jpg[/atsimg]
This Ark contains the earth charter which some say is the new 10 commandments

Satan's counter to the "Temple", "Ark of the Covenant" and the "10 commandments"

[edit on 13-4-2009 by Blue_Jay33]

reply to post by emeraldzeus


Now, from the definitions that I've posted, one can easily discern that there is a significant amount of contradiction going on here. The ONLY way to clear this up is to go look into VERY old dictionaries, and etymology of these words to fully understand what their meanings were BEFORE the church redefined them for their own use, and left their congregations trumpeting them without so much as a second thought.

It would be like me telling you that apples are satanic, but apple sauce is Godly. A simple analogy, but you get the idea. It makes no sense, right? What MAKES sense, is that a rotten apple is rotten, and a good apple is good, no matter how you choose to prepare and eat it.

The same goes for this...do you think this information never fell into the hands of the bad guys? Do you think these powers could never have been wielded by those with selfish or evil intent? Think again....all you have to do is turn on the news and see it play out in the world economy and world wars. There's only a handful of people who "rule" the world. What makes them so powerful? Is it money? Or is it the ability to MAKE gold and live longer lives? Search for yourself.

*gasp* But someone might make fun of you! Your church might call you a heretic! Your family might think you've gone off the deep end! Ahh, but as the Bible says in Matthew 7:14:

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

No one ever said it would be easy to find the truth, or that it would fit into our preconceived ideas of what the truth should be. This is why few will find it. The Bible clearly states this MANY times, and it makes no beef about it.

As I said before, you must abandon your preconceived notions from the church in order to understand. If you want to get hung up on words, then at least research the true meaning of those words. In doing that, you'll uncover more knowledge than I could possibly try to pass on to you. Even the dictionary has hidden secrets and cross references on PURPOSE....don't believe me? Look for yourself! Webster himself had a very curious past!

Originally posted by cbashisha
well the ark contained the ten commandments written by God..

Weren't the ten commandments just conveniently 'borrowed' from the Egyptian book of the dead....which were in turn just 'borrowed' from Hammurabi's Code ?

If not then its one hell of a coincedence.

[edit on 02/10/08 by karl 12]

I think from a strictly science orientated view it is possible that much of what was written about the Arc is at least based in truth, allowing a slight flight of fancy the arc could be used to explain quiet a lot.

First consider that it seems to make sense that Moses was well versed on Egyptian secret arts, the religion he helped shape (Judaism) just so happens to resemble in s lot of ways the Egyptian mystic and legal systems -The ten commandments of course written five a side on stone tablets and made in duplicate, just like the Egyptian legal system. The Holy of Holy's was the most sacred divining room for both Jews and Egyptians, plus many many other matching things. Egypt was a very advanced nation, they understood complex metallurgy, kiln firing systems, embalming methods, compound chemical substances such as ink, make-up, perfume, etc, etc. Really the poor old alchemists get a bad name these days everyone treats them like crazy fools who wasted all their time looking for the way of turning base metals into gold and eternal youth -in reality they were much more like todays chemists that we give them credit, they understood all sorts of acidic bases and chemical reactions and much of their research no doubt helped move technology forward no end.

So it stands to reason that Moses managed to control the unruly tribe using some of the secret knowledge he had been taught in Egypt, maybe he used some of the political thinking which had kept the god emperor's in power and got their pyramids build -an Egyptian secret tradition in the same vein as Machiavelli? It stands to reason that he also carried with him some of their secret divination practices, much has been written about the use of psychoactive substances in early religions and i know ATS don't like it so i won't rewrite the arguments here -suffice to say, Moses oft acted not unlike he was in an altered state, weather this be due to intoxication, meditation, mental illness or of course the divine spirit we will never know for sure (until we can go back in time and check)

So moses ordered this very special box, as a few other posters have pointed out, very like those in Egyptian art which predates moses by hundreds if not a thousand years - this box is made to a very complex design and covered in very specific mix of special oils, then it is treated in a very specific way. It would not be in the slightest bit illogical to say that this could well have been for a reason, maybe moses was recreating a device or item he had used in the Egyptian holy of holys.

The sands of Egypt blowing over such a box could well create quite a static charge, depending on the exact design of the insides of the box this could well then be used to cause some form of chemical reaction, the bible talks repeatedly of a cloud forming between the two angels which would make sense, the area between an anode and cathode often gathers a cloud of gas during many electrochemical reactions. Of course if the box was grounded (i.e. it touched the ground or something conductive touched it and the ground) then i would stop working for a bit until it built up a charge again, of course the discharge could well leap a sizable distance and kill someone instantly, or ignite the gas cloud and cause an explosion.

So it all seems to fit that some form of chemical process was going on inside the box, there are all sorts of things which could have been happening however it seems most likely that the reaction was on resulting in a salt being deposited - a while lumpy substance, probably very impure and a mixture of all sorts of compounds. If this was the substance which moses distributed to the jews as 'mana' then it also sorta explains how they managed to take (or think they took) forty years to do a journey routinely done at the time in less than a few weeks - it could indeed be a meth amphetamine, mdma (the core component of the drug 'e') amphetamine sulphate (the drug commonly known as 'speed') or any number or mixture of amphetamines and amphetemine like substances which today are used in pharmacological medicines (and poisons)

Moses went and did some divination in the hills and got old really quick? The priests who knew the secret of the Arc and kept it safe all aged fast and died early? Often suffering very complex health issues such as blindness, lameness, etc? haha reminds me of a certain anti-meth campaign running at the moment!

Oh and just to confuse you even more, did you know that if you go to north africa and sleep in the desert when you get up in the morning with the dew you'll notice a fluffy white fungus type stuff gathered in small clumps, can you guess what this is called? haha yep MANA - it's part of the desert ecosystem and entirely natural, also you can eat it but it won't give you much nutrition. When i first found out that mana actually exists my head was blown, however i don't think this is what impressed the jews so much that they were willing to follow moses for 40years as mana was as well known to all desert dwellers at the time as say oak trees were to my european ancestors.

Originally posted by punkinworks09
reply to post by Hemisphere

 

The ten comandments are also a blue print for how to act in a stressful sociological situation, ie a large group of people living a nomadic life in the desert.
They are the basic rules you need to follow so that they might live with some sense of order and not digressing into chaos, over things such as theft and adultury and murder.

And mastery of slaves of course. Your points are correct and make sense if the Exodus story was factual. The commandments were rules of how Jews should treat Jews and that would support the Exodus story as well as your contention that they were wandering alone. And so we have the Hebrews fleeing the Egyptians who treated them like slaves with slaves of their own in tow. Why would God or Moses have stressed how to treat slaves in the commandments if that were not the case? You can tell I have doubts over the entire Exodus/forty years of wandering story but that is a discussion for another thread.

PW, I have a friend I correspond with, a highly educated guy. Let's just say with an intellect and education far beyond my own. Not that that's vital in having an opinion on this. His take on the ark is that it was a sophisticated alien device that actually created the "manna from heaven" and fed the wandering Jews. He of course holds that the flight from Egypt did take place. A fascinating topic to say the least. I still like the war drum explanation but none of us can be certain.

anybody ever read the story about how the ark was stolen by the philistines (i think it was them?) and after having it for some time, they sent it back with little gold models they made. now the weird part was, the reason they sent it back was it had given them ...i'm not kidding....the text says hemorrhoids and they were such bad hemorrhoids, that some died from it? ?? what the heck? and they made gold models of their hemorrhoids and sent the models back with the ark.
erm?

[edit on 13-4-2009 by undo]

Let me explain to you the meaning of the Ark of the Covenant. Those that have ears to hear, let them hear.

The Ark was made of acacia wood, a tree that lives approximately 30 years. The Ark was lined inside and covered outside with gold. The meaning: Jesus Christ would be part mortal, part immortal. He was to live approximately 30 years.

Inside the Ark were three objects. Here are the objects and the meaning of the objects:

1. The tables of the Law. These 10 Commandments were the second tablets given to Moses, and were an identical copy of the first 10 Commandments that were broken when they were thrown by Moses toward the people who were sinning (you saw the movie). The second set of tablets, put into the Ark, were unbroken. Meaning: Man will break the Laws of God, Jesus will not.

2. The rod of Aaron. This is the rod that was dead. It was left overnight as a sign to Pharaoh of the power of God. The rod was able to come back to life, bud, and produce almonds overnight. The rod was that of an almond tree. Meaning: Jesus, being dead, would come back to life and bear fruit.

3. The manna. Manna was the bread from heaven, fed to the Hebrews during their 40 year sojourn in the wilderness. It was found each day except Sunday and gathered and eaten. The bread represents the word of God. It is to be eaten daily. Jesus was the Word (see John 1). Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which means "house of bread." Jesus said: "I am that manna."

The Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies in the temple. When Jesus died on the cross, the heavy veil of the temple dividing the Holy of Holies from the world was "rent in twain" and the chamber (which was empty at the time) was accessible to all mankind. The meaning: Jesus was the sacrifice that enables all of us to boldly come into the presence of God, not by what we have done but because of what He has done.

Therefore, the conclusion of the matter: the Ark was the symbol of the Savior, Jesus Christ. It was meant to foretell the nature of God in Him, and provide insight into His mission when He came to Earth. The portable temple used to house the Ark, the Tabernacle, also described by Moses, symbolizes other things.

I have also given you the position of God on the six day creation of the world at
www.abovetopsecret.com...
With God, all things are possible. Those who see Him as a man will not comprehend His power.

God loves you. Don't confuse the evil that men do with religion with the good and the love of God.

[edit on 13-4-2009 by Jim Scott]

[edit on 14-4-2009 by Jim Scott]

[edit on 14-4-2009 by Jim Scott]

Originally posted by punkinworks09
reply to post by mmiichael

 

The lemba connection to judaism is solid.
Their oral tradition states that they are descended from a group of 9 priests that fled the islamifaction of yemen.

This oral tradition has been in fact validated by recent (2007) gentetic studies that indicate that the lemba are in fact decended from 8-10 jewish men that lived in Yemen.
The story that they tell also contains information that no 19th century missionary would know.
Like the name of a lost jewish settlement in yemen.
Or the names and locations of pther places they spent time in on thier journey to south africa, places that have sisnce been comfirmed to exist and show signs of traditional jewish construction, in africa.

The Lemba have been shown to be descendants of people from Yemen or the surrounding area - true. The 8-9 Jewish men thing is not true. I don't know where you heard that. They do have Semitic DNA of the region, but there's absolutely no way to determine whether the people were Jews or not. Jews and whoever else lived there also share DNA characteristics.

As for knowing more than they could have picked up from missionaries and other sources - well I don't have the literature in front of me. I don't think so from what I've read. This type of claim gets embellished on websites.

Much speculation have been piled onto the Lemba trying to make them conform to some Lost Tribe of Israel scenario.

There are many tribes in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, even blacks in the South of the US, who maintain a tradition of being members of a Lost Tribe.

Historically and archeologically there is zero evidence of 12 Lost Tribes. There were 2 divisions in the Hebrew territory, Judea and Samaria. Also no historical King Solomon or Moses.

The Sinai peninsula 3000 years ago when all this supposed to be going on were at a rudimentary agrarian level of development. Nothing has ever been foundto substantiate the stories of vast Hebrew armies, weaponry, architecture, etc. None of their contemporaries recorded them or the conflicts they are supposed to have engaged in.

The Old Testament is a blending of Egyptian history and myths, with those of the Sumerians, Babylonians.


So the Lemba's claim of being descendants of Solomon and Sheba is really difficult as there was no historical Solomon.

Don't take my word for it, study real Middle East archeology and you'll find out.


Mike











[edit on 13-4-2009 by mmiichael]

reply to post by undo


When a human carcass entropizes, deadly pathogens or bio-toxins can remain. If one were to have opened the Arc and discovered the remains of Moses, it could have been quite deadly.

But then again, I didn't bear witness.

The tablets of the Ten Commandments were made of Sapphire!

And the actual Ark could of possibly appeared liked this Example

Also why do so many emphasis on the Ten Commandments without a single mention of the 7 Commandments/Laws of Noah
Or even so Much a peep from the 613 Commandments... But boy do the crowds Go wild over those Fake stone versions of the Ten Commandment instead of the Majestic Sapphire Tablets the Tetragrammaton Wrote from his own Thrown.

Also other possible items held with in the Ark other than the Sapphire Tablets
A Black Stone According to Islamic tradition, the Stone fell from Heaven to show Adam and Eve where to build an altar and offer a sacrifice to God. The Altar became the first temple on Earth. Muslims believe that the stone was originally pure and dazzling white, but has since turned black because of the sins it has absorbed over the years. Islamic tradition holds that Adam's altar and the stone were lost in the process of Noah's Flood and forgotten.

Notice how the Alter comes back via Moses via the Tabernacle along with the sacrifices as well hmm interesting

Hey Check this out Astronomers catch a shooting star for first time Recently, Wow Another Black Stone from the Heavens, Notice how humanity can't create these things but yet we like to explain them non the less... Because Science is mans shame, meaning the science of these things have always existed & man only reinvents what was already.

As for the current location I'd like to speculate that many people do not know the inner structure of the "cube" of the Kaaba It has a inner Structure area called the Baabut Taubah that could perfectly house the Ark Muslims Pray 5 times+ twords this Kaaba housing the Ark. During the Hajj walk seven times around the Kaaba as well.

Plus the Islamic world has been blessed During the Golden Age of Islam onward

Is it possible that inside the Kaaba Architecture inside of the Baabut Taubah they house the Ark in complete safety & they grow?