Is Russia In The Bible?
The Internet is filled with claims that modern-day Russia is the ‘Rosh’ of Ezekiel 38 and 39. Those who believe this rarely read the chapters in terms of the time the prophecy was revealed to Ezekiel, the weapons used in battle, and parallels to other parts of Scripture.
There’s a much simpler solution. Consider these words: “King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite [Gogite?] and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him” (Esther 3:1; also see 1:3). Having “authority over all the princes who were with him” made him the “chief prince,” not the “prince of Rosh (Russia).
In Esther 3:12 we read how Haman is described as the leader of the satraps, governors, and princes.“Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, ‘There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people and they do not comply with the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain. If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be eliminated, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry out the king’s business, to put into the king’s treasuries.’
Then the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. And the king said to Haman, ‘The silver is yours, and the people also, to do with them as you please.’”Where was Haman going to get the silver to pay the mercenaries and fill the king’s treasury? From the Jews he was planning to exterminate: “Have you assembled your contingent to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to capture great spoils?” (Ezek. 38:13, compare with Ezra 1:4).
Using the Bible to interpret the Bible is a better approach than trying to find an interpretive solution outside the Bible.
The following is from ‘An Exposition of the Prophet Ezekiel’ by William Greenhill (1591–1671). Greenhill was an English Puritan and member of the Westminster Assembly. His extended comments show the diversity of opinion on Ezekiel 38 and 39 over the centuries. There is a common feature among most of them: they try to find a solution outside the Bible.
“Son of man. Set thy face against Gog.”
There are a great variety of opinions concerning Gog and Magog. The Jews affirm them to be the Scythians, which live near Caucuses and the Caspian mountains: some understand by them the Roman emperors and empire: some, the pope: some, the Turks and Saracens: some, the Goths: some, heretics: some, all the persecutors of the church: others, antichrist: some interpreters understand the affliction of the Jewish nation, by the successors of Alexander, which possessed Asia Minor and Syria.
Junius hath labored to give light here, and tells us, that Gog is the name of a nation, derived from Gyges, or Gog, the servant of Candaules, king of Lydia, whom he killed and married his queen, namely the land Gygaea., or Gog’s land, which, sayeth he, is Asia and the Less, and Syria, where was a city called Gog’s City: these nations should infest the Jews, which were held by Antiochus, Seleucus, Demetrius, and Nieanor.
Bibliander and Bullinger interpret this prophecy literally of Alexander and his successors, especially of Antiochus Epiphanes, King of Syria, who, as you find in the Maccabees, did greatly afflict the Jews; and especially of antichrist and his members. Alapide, denies this prophecy to concern Alexander, the Kings of Syria and Egypt, because the Jews never conquered them, though they had some notable victories over them; and had they had such destruction as is spoken of in the end of this chapter.
Josephus, who was an exact observer of Jewish affairs, would have mentioned it. Neither did Josephus Gerionides speak anything thereof, who wrote the history of Gog. Sanctius leans to that opinion, which conceives Gog to be Antiochus, in whom antichrist was prefigured, and the great troubles of the church by him; so do many expositors: yet, Maldonate and Vatablus think this prophecy not fulfilled; of which mind are divers [many] who write up on the 20th of the Revelation, where John, in the 8th and 9th verses, alludes to this prophecy.
By “Gog” here, understand, the name of a man, not of a province; for he said to be a “prince,” verse 3; to come “out of the north,” ver. 14; and he with his multitude, shall be buried in “the valley of Hamon-Gog,” chapter xxxix.11: these things cannot be spoken of a province, but of a person. The prophet must set his face against him; that is, he must prophecy constantly and firmly against him…. “The chief prince of Meshech.” In Hebrew it is, prince of the head; that is, the principal head, or the chief prince.
Why Did Jesus Allow The Demons To Enter The Herd Of Pigs?
Why did the demons ask Jesus to be sent into the pigs when those pigs would be immediately drowned? After the demons were cast into the swine, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank, into the sea and drowned in the waters.
Mark 5:1–20 King James Version
And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the aGadarenes. 2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs ba man with an unclean spirit, 3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. 6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and cworshipped him, 7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of dthe most high God? I eadjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. 8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. 9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is fLegion: for we are many. 10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. 11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. 12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. 13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. 14 And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And ffthey went out to see what it was that was done. 15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the flegion, sitting, and gclothed, and hin his right mind: and they were afraid. 16 And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. 17 And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. 18 And when he was come into the ship, ihe that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. 19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. 20 And he departed, and began to publish in kDecapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.
The demons know that in the future, they are appointed for final torment. And they wonder if Jesus has come to start that final judgment. They say, have you come here to torment us before the time? You know, we know there’s a time coming when we’re going to get final torment, but not yet Jesus, or is it, or is it?
The fact that there was a herd of pigs nearby shows that we are in Gentile territory since the Jews regarded pigs as unclean, Deuteronomy 14:8, and did not raise them for food or anything. In other words, this is one of those rare moments when Jesus is reaching out into the Gentile world as a pointer to the fact that his ministry is going to result in a global mission to all the peoples of the world,
The herd was about 2000 pigs large and when the demons go out from the two demonized men into the herd and they all perish, we get a very clear sense of how big, how large, how serious the condition of this man was and how even this was no problem for Jesus.
The fact that the demons pleaded to be sent into the pigs shows how much they hated roaming about in the world without any habitation. This seems to point to how evil they are and how the maximizing of their evil comes from entering into any kind of being that can get their hands on to ruin their lives.
The demons could not have seen that their new habitation, the pigs would suddenly run down the hill at all. And drown. Because if in fact, they saw that coming, they wouldn’t ask for it. That’s not what they were trying to do.
They were trying to get a new place to live and do damage, not a place to be destroyed in the sea. And from what we know of Jesus in the gospels, he would have known what was about to happen so that what they feared, namely, that he was here ahead of time to begin their final judgment was in fact, true.
He had not let them escape into some lesser being for the misery they had brought on this man, but he had them to depart as it turns out without any habitation. And the fact that it was lost in the sea points to the fact that he was sentencing them probably to the abyss.
Now all that seems more or less clear, but is there more that can be said as to why Jesus would bring about the destruction of the pigs.
The herdsmen fled going into the city and told everything. And then it doesn’t say especially about the pigs. It says, especially about what happened to the demon-possessed men. In other words, they told of deliverance and liberation and freedom and healing and behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus.
And when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
Now, two amazing things have happened in this Gentile region suddenly, and by the power of Jesus, number one, two demon-possessed men were now free and their humanity was restored. Their relationships were restored up. They were ruined and now they’re not ruined anymore. Their humanity has given back to them.
And the second amazing thing that happened was a large herd of pigs was destroyed. Now, what this causes me to ponder is another situation in the Bible where the satan attempted to negotiate with God, namely in the first two chapters of Job, the satan asks permission to afflict Job and God gave the satan permission, which proved to be a test of Job’s faithfulness to God.
Job would face the choice. You can love God and trust him, or you can love your possessions and your family and your health more and curse God for taking them away. In other words, God used the satan to test Job.
That seems to me, that’s more or less what’s going on here. Jesus comes into this Gentile world. He conquers the devil. He sets the prisoner free. He presents himself as a great deliverer, able to restore life and hope, but he also takes away a herd of pigs, the livelihood, the wealth from some in the community. He forces a choice, prosperity over love, money over Jesus’ human resources, over divine power.
That is the power and grace of Jesus to give life and hope or the love of possessions and wealth gotten from these pigs and to our utter amazement, they begged Jesus, the life-giver to leave their region.
It seems to me that the story has several levels of meaning.
- Jesus is the son of God
- Jesus is triumphant over unclean spirits.
- Jesus liberates the captive and gives hope to hopeless people, even Gentile people
- But Jesus demands a choice. Love him and his salvation or love your prosperity and your wealth, namely your pigs. And they failed. They failed the test as mark and the other Gospels report it,
What will you choose?
Who Or What Is Azazel In The Bible?
We are introduced to Azazel in Leviticus 16:8-10 8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat.9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.
Azazel (or Azael) is one of the leaders of the angels who desired the daughters of men. In the account of the sons of God and daughters of men (Gen. 6:1–4) in the First Book of Enoch, it was Azazel who taught human beings how to manufacture weapons and ornaments (8:1–2).
Several translations do not translate the word Azazel as scapegoat:
- KJV: And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
- RSV: and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one for the Lord and the other lot for Aza’zel.
- ESV: And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel.
Azazel was a demon, he is a deity. He’s a wilderness entity, a god, a deity associated with the wilderness.
AZAZEL (Heb. עֲזָאזֵל), name of the place or the “power” (see below) to which one of the goats in the Temple service of the *Day of Atonement was sent.
The identification of this Azazel with the biblical Azazel is clear from the continuation of the story, as the angel Raphael is commanded to “bind the hands and feet of Azazel and cast him into the darkness. Make an opening to the wilderness which is in Dudael and cast him there. Put upon him hard sharp rocks” (10:4–5). Dudael is the Bet Hadudo (or Bet Harudo) which is mentioned in the Mishnah (Yoma 6:8) and the association is certainly with the cliff from which the goat was cast.
The remnant of a pesher (commentary) on Azazel and the angels found in Cave 4 at Qumran resembles the account in the Book of Enoch. Although the remnant is deficient, it is possible to learn from it that the pesher is dealing with Azazel and the angels who lusted after the daughters of men so that they might bear them strong men, and that Azazel taught human beings how to deal wickedly.
Azael is also identified with Azazel in several late Midrashim (cf. Yalkut Shimoni, Gen. 44; Jellinek, Beit ha-Midrash, vol. 4, p. 127). Azazel also appears in the Apocalypse of *Abraham where he takes the form of a fallen angel.
This view is reinforced by the widespread belief that the wilderness was the habitat of demons (see Lev. 13:21; 34:14; esp. Lev. 17:7). The demonic identification would indicate that the original purpose of the ritual was to get rid of the impurities by banishing it to its original source.
All the things in the Levitical system that render someone ritually impure are things that are unavoidable in life. They’re not designed to teach the Israelites anything about how awful they are. They’re designed to teach the Israelites, how human they are and how other non-human, how above human God is.
We associate with the day of atonement, because that is the chapter where the, you know, the ritual ceremony is laid out in Leviticus16 in verse eight. Again, we’re familiar with the fact that Aaron is told to pick two goats and cast lots over the two goats. So we’ve got two goats, Aaron cast lots over them. One lot falls on a goat. And then that goat is for the Lord, for Yahweh.
Azazel was a demon, he is a deity. He’s a wilderness entity, a god, a deity associated with the wilderness. He is not Yahweh. The wilderness is his domain. It’s the opposite of Eden.
The wilderness is not the habitation of Yahweh. He is leading the Israelites through the wilderness, to his land. To the land He is giving them. To the new Eden, the land that flows with milk and honey
But while they were in the wilderness, they were given the instructions in Leviticus 16. They have these two goats. One of them is for Yahweh. The other one is for Azazel.
Well, is this a sacrifice like you have, have God like telling the Israelites to sacrifice a goat to a different God? No. If you actually look through and read Leviticus 16, only one of the goats is sacrificed. The goat which was dispatched to Azazel was not a sacrifice since it was not slaughtered.
There’s one goat that is sacrificed to Yahweh. The blood of that goat is applied to the structure of the tabernacle.
Leviticus 16:16 And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.
It’s sprinkled on the mercy seat where the Ark of the covenant is it’s. This is the day of atonement. It actually has nothing to do with the forgiveness of any individual sins.
The blood is never applied to people but with two exceptions:
- Where blood is applied to people and they have to do with the priesthood sanctifying the priesthood because they will occupy sacred space and perform various rituals to protect Yahweh’s land.
- To protect sacred space from defilement and allow access to worshipers and people who bring offerings.
The offerings are consistently about purging and cleansing sacred space so that the people are accepted into sacred space, or at least on to some part of sacred space to bring their offering, regardless of whatever kind of offering it is.
So the blood of the one goat is applied to the tabernacle itself. It’s spring cleaning for the tabernacle. It makes it clean for another year. It’s about sacred space. It’s not about people. The blood was never applied to people.
Now, the second goat, what is that? This goat is not sacrificed.
Some have taught that the second goat, the scapegoat was an offering to the god Azazel. But we don’t have an offering sacrificed to some foreign God. What the priest does with it is he lays his hands on the head of the second goat. And he symbolically transfers the sins of the people.
Everything that would defile sacred space, that would be an offense to Yahweh, is transferred to the head of the goat. And then the goat is sent off into the wilderness to Azazel.
Why send the goat to the wilderness? Well, this is where sin belongs. This is where impurity belongs. It doesn’t belong in the camp of Yahweh. It doesn’t belong in sacred space.
Once a year the tabernacle was purified. Through the year, people came and they were often unclean. They had contact with a dead body or with blood, or the other day to day things the law speaks of.
None of those things have to do with moral failure or moral impurities. They’re not sins. They are things that happen to people that render them, ritually, impure, and all the things in the Levitical system that render someone, ritually impure are things that are unavoidable in life.
They’re not designed to teach the Israelites anything about how awful they are. They’re designed to teach the Israelites, how human they are and how above human God is. This is the point. This is the logic of the system.
We’ve sort of read New Testament, forgiveness and sacrifice of Jesus terminology back into the old Testament. And therefore we don’t understand what’s going on here. What we should do is understand what’s going on here and then read that into New Testament material. We do the reverse and it creates a lot of confusion.
How To Get Deep Into God’s Word
5 Ways To Identify False Doctrine
Wherever you find true doctrine. You’ll soon find it challenged by false doctrine. The question is, how do you tell the two apart?
The five tests of true and false doctrine.
These are five tests. We can apply to any doctrine at all to learn whether it’s genuine or whether it’s fraudulent.
And the first test is the test of origin.
Sound doctrine originates with God. False doctrine originates with someone or something created by God.
So when Paul wrote to the church in Galatia, he said for, “I would have, you know, brothers that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel for, I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” Galatians 1:11-12
John 7:16 “Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.”
Both Paul and Jesus insisted that what they taught had its origin with God himself. On the other hand, false doctrine always originates outside of God, outside of the mind of God.
So when Paul wrote to the Colossian church, he told them that they needed to avoid doctrine that is according to human precepts and teachings. (Colossians 2:22)
When he wrote to Timothy, he warned Timothy some would depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.
Sound doctrine comes from the mind of God. False doctrine comes from the mind of some being that was created by God.
So here’s your test: Does this doctrine originate with God or has this doctrine been fabricated by someone or something else?
It’s a good question, but a question still remains. How can we know the origin of a doctrine?
Test number two, the test of authority.
Sound doctrine grounds its authority within the Bible, false doctrine grounds its authority outside the Bible. We believe as Christians that the Bible is God’s inerrant, infallible, complete authoritative revelation of himself to humanity.
Any doctrine that originates in the mind of God is recorded in the word of God. The Bible has ultimate authority because of its ultimate origin.
The church in Berea was commended in the Book of Acts. Why? Because they received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so, so they heard the apostles teach.
Then they went straight to the Bible is ultimate source of authority to compare what the apostle said with the word of God.
So here’s your test? Does this doctrine appeal to the Bible for its authority or does it appeal to another scripture or appeal to another mind for its authority?
It’s a good test, but even here a concern remains because two teachers may both claim that their doctrine originates with God and they may both claim that it holds the authority of the Bible and yet they might teach very different things.
So how then can we know whose interpretation is the correct one?
The Third Test is the test of consistency.
Sound doctrine is consistent with the whole of scripture. False doctrine is inconsistent with at least some parts of scripture.
See, there’s, there’s a sameness, there’s a familiarity to true doctrine and there’s a strangeness or there’s an unfamiliarity to false doctrine.
So the author of the letter to the Hebrews, when he wrote to his congregation, he warned them about diverse and strange teachings. Paul wrote to Timothy and he warned him about accepting any different doctrine. (Hebrews 13:9; 1 Timothy 1:3, 6:3)
Both of them meant to say that doctrine must always be compared to the established and accepted body of truth, which means that those who know what is true, they’re the ones who are best able to identify what is false. So we say that scripture interprets scripture, and that makes sense.
The Bible is the revelation of God’s perfect mind. So it won’t be, it can’t be inconsistent or contradictory. If something contradicts the rest of the Bible, it’s false.
If something complements the rest of the Bible, it’s true. So here’s test number three. Is this doctrine established or is it refuted by the entirety of scripture?
Now we’ve got two more tests we need to consider. And these ones are related to what the doctrine does in us. What the doctrine does for us.
Test number four is the test of spiritual growth.
Sound doctrine leads to spiritual health, false doctrine leads to spiritual weakness. Paul when he wrote to Timothy said, “If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.” 1 Timothy 4:6.
Paul was saying that the Bible had nourished Timothy. It had made him spiritually strong and had given him spiritual health.
So here’s your test? Does this doctrine lead to spiritually healthy, spiritually mature, spiritually knowledgeable Christians, or does it lead to spiritually unhealthy, immature, ignorant Christians who, who really may be no Christians at all.
Test number five is the test of godly living.
Sound doctrine leads to godly living. False doctrine leads to ungodly living. You see truth never stands on its own. Does it?
- Truth always has implications in our lives.
- Doctrine is always meant to lead to worship.
- Doctrine is always meant to lead us to live in ways that express love to God and that express love to our fellow man.
The Bible says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” 2 Timothy 3:16
God doesn’t mean for us just to know the facts of the Bible though. That’s very good. We’re also to meditate on the Bible and to apply it to our lives.
The Bible is meant to go from our heads to our hearts and then to work itself out through our hands. We don’t just know doctrine as Christians. We live our doctrine.
Test number five. Does this doctrine lead us to live in a way that pleases God or does it lead us to live in a way that dishonors God?
The five tests:
- Sound doctrine originates with God
- Is recorded in the word of God
- Is consistent with the entire revelation of God
- Leads to both spiritual health and to godly living.
On the other hand, false doctrine originates with men or with demons, it’s foreign to the word of God.
It’s inconsistent with the entire revelation of God. And it leads to spiritual weakness and it leads to ungodly living.
For doctrine to be true. It must pass each one of these five tests. If it fails, one of them, it fails it all my Christian friend.
Here’s your responsibility, accept and hold fast to what is true, deny and reject. What is false.
What Is The Ark of the Covenant?
The Presence of God
The Ark of the Covenant is one of the greatest mysteries the world has ever known. But what was it? Did it wield unstoppable power to whoever possessed it, like in the movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark?”
The Bible reveals that the Ark of the Covenant was where God set up his throne upon the earth and the place where his Presence appeared among his people Israel. In the ancient encampment of the tribes of Israel, the Ark of the Covenant was located right in the midst of all his people, and the Bible says that this has always been God’s plan, to dwell in the heart of his people.
Brief Summary
The Ark of the Covenant was a small box that contained the actual Ten Commandments written by the finger of God. The Ark first appeared in the Bible during the time of Moses around 1500 BC, after the Israelites had escaped Egypt through the miraculous parting of the Red Sea.
They were led by the mysterious Shekinah Glory cloud, which looked like a tornado during the day and pillar of fire during the night. This glory cloud led the Israelites all the way to Mt. Sinai where God gave them His Ten Commandments, even though there was rebellion brewing in their hearts.
It was here on Mt. Sinai that God revealed to Moses the detailed description of the Ark of the Covenant.
Biblical Description
The Ark was to be made of Acacia wood and coated entirely with gold. The dimensions were 3.9 feet long and 2.3 feet wide and tall, and along its top edge was a kings crown fashioned in solid gold. There were gold rings with long poles of wood overlaid with gold for transporting the Ark.
The Mercy Seat
The Lid on top of the Ark was called the Mercy Seat and standing on top were two angelic beings called Cherubim with their wings outstretched and they faced each other as they looked down at the blood of a sacrifice which was sprinkled on the top of the lid by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement.
The Cherubim were hammered into shape from one block of solid gold. They had four faces as described in Ezekiel’s vision in Ez. 1:5. They had the face of a lion, the face of an eagle, the face of an ox, and the face of a man.
The Cherubim were also the same fierce creatures who guarded the entrance to the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve had sinned. They wielded a flaming sword that turned in all four directions to protect the Tree of Life (Gen. 3:24).
The Ark of the Covenant was located in the Tabernacle, which was God’s sanctuary. In the Bible God said to Moses: “There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the covenant, all that I command you for the children of Israel.” –Exodus 25:22
The Tabernacle
The Tabernacle was a portable sanctuary that the tribes of Israel encamped around as they journeyed through the wilderness. The Ark of the Covenant was placed behind the veil in the Holy of Holies, a small room that contained nothing except the Ark of the Covenant.
God also appeared above the Ark and between the Cherubim when he spoke to Moses.
The History of Israel
The Ark of the Covenant played a major role in the history of Israel. When the Israelites came to the Promised land the Jordan river parted as the Ark of the Covenant led the way and they conquered the land that God had given them, all the way from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south.
Later when their enemies the Philistines had captured the Ark they were plagued with the deadliest of diseases. Later in Israel’s history, an Israelite was smitten dead for touching the Ark as it was tilting on a cart.
King David David became king around 1000 BC and brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem with great praise and celebration. It was his greatest desire to build a Temple for the Ark, but this would be accomplished by his son Solomon.
King Solomon
When Solomon became king he was most respectful of the Ark of the Covenant and had it placed in the Holy of Holies within the First Temple in Jerusalem on Mt. Moriah, known as the Temple of Solomon.
After Solomon When Solomon died the kingdom divided and there was a civil war, 10 of the tribes followed one king to the north, and the 2 remaining tribes followed the other king to the south and they called themselves Judah, and Jerusalem was the capital, and the Ark of the Covenant remained in the Temple in Jerusalem.
Israel’s Rejection
The Bible goes on to say that throughout their history, the people of Israel forsook the LORD and refused to follow him. They chose to worship the gods of the nations around them, rather than seek the Presence of the true God.
Their rejection continued until they finally lost their land, the beloved city of Jerusalem was destroyed, and Israel was carried away into captivity.
After this, the Ark of the Covenant was never seen again, even to this day.
The Second Temple
When some of the Jews returned from captivity they rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem, and it was referred to as the Second Temple, the Temple of Zerubbabel. There was no mention of the Ark of the Covenant.
It would be around 400 years until the coming of Jesus, the one to whom was the true meaning behind the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat.
The Temple of Herod During the time of Jesus, Herod the Great had rebuilt and beautified the Second Temple. The New Testament and ancient history make no mention of the Ark of the Covenant within the Temple of Herod in Jerusalem.
What happened to the Ark of the Covenant?
There have been many theories about the Ark of the Covenant but according to experts they are only speculation. To this day there has been no sightings, nor has there been any discovery.
The Jews believe that the Ark was hidden on Mt. Nebo east of the Jordan. The Apocrypha gives a reason for this, stating that Jeremiah hid the Ark of the Covenant in a cave on Mt. Nebo before the Babylonians came and conquered Jerusalem. It also says that the location of the Ark of the Covenant would not be revealed until God’s determined time (2 Maccabees 2:4-7).
The True Meaning
What was the true meaning and significance of the Ark of the Covenant? The Ark of the Covenant represented judgement and mercy.
Judgement if man approaches God and there is no blood to stay the judgement angels. Man would be face to face with the ten commandments which he cannot keep.
Mercy if man approaches God with the blood of a substitute. When the high priest entered the holy of holies every year and sprinkled the blood upon the mercy seat and between the cherubim, God’s judgement for sin fell upon an innocent substitute.
The Blood of Jesus
According to the Bible when God saw the blood he actually saw the blood of Jesus, and his blood would pay the debt once and for all mankind. For God to dwell within his people there must a willingness to approach God his way, by the way of grace in Jesus.
The Israelites made their sacrifices into a ritual and they rejected Jesus Christ long before he ever came because Jesus was actually the word of God in the flesh, and it was always the word of God that the Jews rejected.