Bible Question: Is there any information on what happened to the Ark of the Covenant or where it is now? |
Bible Answer: Good question: What happened on the Ark of the Covenant? The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia has some good information here: "V. THE HISTORY OF THE ARK OF THE COVENANT According to the tradition contained in the Pentateuch the sacred ark was built at Mount Sinai and was taken by the Israelites along with them to Canaan. This must be accepted as absolutely correct. The supposition is groundless, that it was a shrine that the Israelites had taken over from the Canaanites. This view is refuted by the high estimate in which in Eli’s time the ark was held by all Israel (1 Sam 1ff; 2:22); and especially by the fact that the ark was at that time regarded as the property of that God who had brought Israel out of Egypt, and accordingly had through this ark caused the Canaanites to be conquered (1 Sam 4:8; 6:6; 2 Sam 7:6; 1 Ki 12:28). The opinion also that the ark was an ancient palladium of the tribe of Ephraim or of the descendants of Joseph and was only at a later period recognized by all Israel (Stade, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, I, 458) is not tenable, for we hear nothing to the effect that the descendants of Joseph concerned themselves more for the ark than the other tribes did. In the time of Eli the ark stood in the sanctuary at Shiloh. When Israel had been conquered by the Philistines, the ark was taken from Shiloh in order that Yahweh should aid His people. But notwithstanding this the Philistines yet conquered and captured the ark (1 Sam 5). But the many misfortunes that overtook them made them think that the possession of the ark was destructive to them and they sent it back (1 Sam 6). The ark first came to Bethshemesh, in the tribe of Judah, and then to Kiriath-jearim (or Baale-judah, 2 Sam 6:2), about 7.5 miles Northwest of Jerusalem. There the ark remained for many years until David, after he had taken possession of Mount Zion, took it there (2 Sam 6) and deposited it in a tent. Solomon brought it into the Holy of Holies in the temple (1 Ki 8:3-8), where in all probability it remained until the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar; for Jer 3:16 proves that the Israelites felt that they were in possession of the ark up to this time. Jeremiah in the passage 3:16, which certainly was written after the destruction of Jerusalem, states that in the future new Jerusalem nobody will any more concern himself about the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and no one will again build such a one. In the post-exilic Ps 132 (verse 8), Yahweh is petitioned to occupy together with the ark, the symbol of His omnipotent presence, also the sanctuary that has been erected for Him, the poet describing himself and those who sing this psalm as participants in the home-bringing of the ark by David. No further mention is made of the ark of the covenant in the Psalter or the prophetical books. In the New Testament the ark of the covenant is mentioned only in Heb 9:4 in the description of the Solomonic temple." No one knows if the Ark even exists today. Some say it is underneath the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Some say it exists in a small church in Africa. The fact is: we do not know for sure. My opinion? It was lost in the Babylonian captivity and is lost forever to this world. Nolan |