Temple Mount or Ethiopia: Where Is Ark of Covenant?

[00:00:00]Searching for the ancient Ark of the Covenant is like a treasure hunt, but Jerusalem's Temple Institute claims to actually know the ark's hidden location.

[00:00:13]This is the most sacred relic in Hebrew history. And at their website, the Temple Institute has even published an official statement about the Ark's whereabouts. The Ark of the Covenant is one of the most fascinating of all temple related subjects.

[00:00:30]But while we're watching and waiting on major end time developments to unfold, let's be busy about our father's business preparing for a great harvest of souls.

[00:00:54]Shalom. I'm Christine Dar. Bible prophecy watchers all seem to agree that end time prophecies are unfolding at a much faster speed than ever before.

[00:01:06]Fascinating that a secular newspaper like Britain's Daily Telegraph has a headline announcing, "As war creeps closer to Armageddon, the end of days does not seem so far away. Israel is on edge and feels a sense of foroding." And some believe the third war has already begun.

[00:01:29]Just to heighten the drama, the Telegraph reporter sent a dispatch from Megiddo, Israel, saying, "According to the book of Revelation, this is the mountaintop where it will all end.

[00:01:42]Armageddon or present day Megiddo, the place where the Bible says international armies under the leadership of the devil will wage war with the forces of God."

[00:01:55]The reporter concluded that while the end of days might have once seemed far-fetched, now it doesn't seem quite so improbable.

[00:02:06]Meanwhile, Bible prophecy watchers have long wanted to know where is the ark of the covenant. That's the ancient gold covered chest that God instructed Moses to have built in the book of Exodus.

[00:02:20]Moses was shown the pattern for the tabernacle and all of its furnishings when he met with God at Mount Si.

[00:02:28]The ark was to be made of acacia wood to house the tablets of stone, the ten commandments.

[00:02:36]In the Bible, the ark of the covenant represented the physical manifestation of God's presence and his supreme power.

[00:02:44]When the ancient Israelites marched into battle with the ark, whole cities were brought to their knees. The ark was considered to be so sacred that touching it meant instant death. And once it was put into the temple's holiest chamber, only the high priest was allowed in its presence once a year.

[00:03:06]After Babylon sacked Jerusalem in the 6th century BC, the ark disappeared.

[00:03:14]In the thousands of years since, its fate has stymied the readers of history.

[00:03:19]But according to the Temple Institute's frequently asked questions page, the location of the Ark of the Covenant is recorded in their sources.

[00:03:30]And today, the Institute claims there are those who know exactly where the Ark's chamber is.

[00:03:37]According to their statement, they said, "We know that the ark is still there, undisturbed and waiting for the day when it will be revealed." The Temple Institute also stated that an attempt was made some few years ago to excavate towards the direction of the ark's underground chamber, but the excavation attempt resulted in widespread Muslim unrest and rioting.

[00:04:04]This was because according to the Temple Institute statement, Muslims stand a great deal to lose if the ark is revealed.

[00:04:14]After all, the ark will prove to the whole world that God's temple did indeed exist. And that the Jews really do have a claim to the much coveted Temple Mount. Of course, there are many theories about what happened to the Ark of the Covenant, and speculation still abounds as to its actual location.

[00:04:35]Some claim that it was taken to the Vatican in Italy, together with other temple vessels, such as those depicted on the Arch of Titus, the monument in Rome. In fact, there are many authentic ancient historical chronicles attesting to many sacred vessels having been taken away to Rome after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

[00:05:02]However, those documents do not apply to the most holy feature of the temple, namely the ark of the covenant.

[00:05:10]Ethiopians also claim to have evidence that the ark is in Ethiopia.

[00:05:16]According to Ethiopian church leaders, the ark of the covenant has for centuries been closely guarded in Axum at the church of St. Mary of Zion.

[00:05:28]Not even the high priest of Axum can enter its resting chamber. Its custodian is a monk who is not able to leave the sacred grounds until death.

[00:05:41]According to an Ethiopian sacred text and Ethiopian biblical folklore, the Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon in Jerusalem during the 10th century BC and had a son by him on her journey home.

[00:05:59]That son named Mench returned to Jerusalem once he was of age. Although Mench ultimately chose to go back to his mother, Solomon sent with him a company of Jewish leaders.

[00:06:13]But unbeknownst to Solomon, these companions decided to take a souvenir back, the Ark of the Covenant. Mench brought the ark to the city of Axum and with the ark at his side he later conquered a number of surrounding territories for what would become the Ethiopian Empire.

[00:06:36]Well, the Ethiopian sacred text concerning the ark is called the Kbra Nagast which was derived from oral tradition.

[00:06:46]The Krabber Nagasht is a major part of Ethiopia's national history and the country's largest Ethiopian Orthodox denomination claims that the Kernagos to be legitimate Christian history.

[00:07:04]Although many scholars believe the text is apocryphal, Ethiopia's medieval kings called the Solomonic dynasty claimed direct descent from Menlec and Solomon. This dynasty ruled until 1974 and their biblical connection was codified in Emperor Holly Salassi's constitutions in 1931 and 1955.

[00:07:30]Also, as if to popularize the topic of the Ark of the Covenant to a biblically illiterate generation, moviegoers watched a fanciful tale about the Ark in the popular Indiana Jones film Raiders of a Lost Ark.

[00:07:48]But according to Jerusalem's Temple Institute, the expression lost ark is not an accurate description because quote, "We have always known exactly where it is. So the ark is hidden and hidden quite well, but it is not lost."

[00:08:06]End quote.

[00:08:09]There have been two temples in Jerusalem as recorded in the Bible. And according to Jewish tradition, even as King Solomon built the first temple, through divine inspiration, he knew that eventually it would be destroyed.

[00:08:24]So Solomon oversaw the construction of a vast system of labyrinths, mazes, corridors, and chambers underneath the Temple Mount complex to hide the temple treasures. King Solomon commanded that a special place be built underneath where those sacred vessels of the temple could be hidden in case of approaching danger.

[00:08:48]Jewish tradition also teaches that Israel's king Josiah, who lived about 40 years before the destruction of the first temple, commanded the Levitical priests to hide the ark in the secret hiding place that had been prepared by King Solomon.

[00:09:06]Well, no doubt the mystery of the Ark of the Covenant is tantalizing and keeps us on our toes wondering if and when God will allow this great discovery, which would indeed be earth shaking.

[00:09:19]However, while we're always watching for major end time surprises to unfold, we should be busy about our father's business preparing for a great harvest of souls. And this is where we can be most useful to God. You see, reconciliation between blood brothers is the Middle East major key to revival. As I've emphasized many times, it's not enough to pray for Israel and the peace of Jerusalem. We must also make room in our hearts for the healing and salvation of the descendants of Abraham's other son, Ishmael.

[00:09:58]But Ishmael must be healed from the spirit of rejection when he and his Egyptian mother Hagar were expelled from Abraham's tent.

[00:10:10]To briefly review my previous video, Islam memorializes and perpetuates Israel's rejection. The saying is enshrined around the Dome of the Rock, God has no son.

[00:10:25]Fatherlessness is one of the major troubles of our times. God wants to correct and to heal the spirit of rejection. That saying God has no son.

[00:10:35]In fact, it slanders the gospel. The truth of the gospel is that God so loved the world that he sent his only son Jesus to save us from our sins. And whoever believes on him will not perish but have eternal life.

[00:10:52]The Lord sees the bigger picture of the Isaiah 19 highway of Egypt, Assyria, and Israel living together in a messianic league being a blessing in the middle of the earth. As stated by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:6, we believers in Jesus are legally and positionally seated with the Messiah right now in heavenly places. So from the perspective of the Lord's throne room, we can by faith look down and see the whole region, the bigger picture.

[00:11:28]Although Israel is the apple of God's eye, God declared in Isaiah 19:25, Baroo ami mitz, blessed be Egypt, my people. Imagine that God calls Egypt ami my people and Assyria the work of my hands and Israel my inheritance. That's the big picture.

[00:11:53]Immnity between the blood brothers Isaac and Ishmamail must be healed. They are brothers from another mother. Israel's mother Hagar was a bond woman, a concubine.

[00:12:05]Whereas Isaac's mother Sarah was a free woman, Abraham's wife. The brother's immity was partially reconciled when they came together to bury their father Abraham when he died. But the ancient hatred must also be buried. Ultimately, the animosity could only be broken through the binding together of the one new man in Messiah.

[00:12:31]Jesus is the great equalizer.

[00:12:34]So, as our work as intercessors to bind the spirit of rejection over Ishmael's children, a whole generation of Muslim background believers will enter the kingdom of God as we continue to pray that God will open their eyes to the living well of water to Jesus.

[00:12:54]Now, I want to share some further thoughts from my book, Let Ishmamail Live.

[00:13:01]In Genesis 17:18, Abraham cried before God concerning his firstborn son, Ishmamail. He petitioned the Lord, "If only Ishmamail might live under your blessing." Abraham begged God, "Let Ishmamail be acceptable to you."

[00:13:18]That chokes me up because I have two sons and two grandsons. And naturally, we parents want all of our children to be blessed and none to be slighted.

[00:13:30]But God singled out Isaac as the child of promise. It would be through Isaac that the messianic line would follow.

[00:13:40]But now, let's examine similarities between the Isaac and accounts in Genesis chapter 21 and 22 so that we'll understand that God truly loves all of Abraham's children.

[00:13:54]In Genesis 21, Sarah saw Ishmael mocking her son Isaac. And so she insisted that Abraham should expel Ishmael, who was born to him by the handmaidaden Hagar.

[00:14:06]And God agreed that Ishmael should go.

[00:14:10]Then in Genesis 22, God insists that Abraham sacrifice his now only son Isaac.

[00:14:18]In both heart-rending instances, Abraham quickly set out to obey. In both chapters, Abraham rose early in the morning and he did not procrastinate.

[00:14:31]How do you suppose he brought himself to obey in both instances?

[00:14:35]I believe it was by entrusting the lives of both of his sons into God's divine providence.

[00:14:43]In Genesis 21, the banished Ishmael cried for water as he was dying of thirst in the hot, dry desert.

[00:14:50]And in Genesis 22, as he was being bound, Isaac asked, "Where is the lamb?"

[00:14:58]Both are gospel types. Both sons need the living water and the sacrificial lamb of God. Abraham told Isaac, "The Lord who sees will provide."

[00:15:11]No doubt Abraham also had said to himself, "The Lord who sees Ishmael will provide for him and his mother." In fact, Hagar testified, "You are a God who sees." And she named the spring in the desert, the well of the living one who sees me. In both chapters, God's angel intervened to save both sons. In fact, Hagar, a woman with no power or status, is the first person in scripture to be visited by an angel.

[00:15:45]Of course, Judaism and Christianity have emphasized the Isaac account of Genesis 22, and this is theologically correct.

[00:15:55]However, we can also see that God was greatly concerned for the welfare of both of Abraham's sons. The book of Genesis includes those long passages about Ishmael because God has a destiny for Ishmael and his descendants.

[00:16:11]In many ways, although the analogy is not perfect, Ishmael reminds me of the parable of the prodical son in Luke 15, which theologians sometimes call the parable of the lost son.

[00:16:27]Ishmael is a lost son who is finally coming home to the father in these last days. And with open arms, Aba father is running out to meet Ishmael through the divine agencies of dreams and visions.

[00:16:40]God is throwing his arms around Ishmael and kissing him. And God is putting the robe of Messiah's righteousness on Ishmael's shoulders, gospel shoes on his feet, and a signant ring of love, gospel authority on his hand.

[00:16:56]How privileged we are to be a part of Ishmael's homecoming revival as intercessors.

[00:17:04]The Holy Spirit is mercifully being outpoured on Ishmamail's physical and spiritual descendants. As we fast and pray in many of the lands where Ishmamail's physical and spiritual descendants live, the gospel has been blocked by governments. But the risen Lord Jesus still passes through walls and borders in dreams and visions to mend the broken heart of the lost son.

[00:17:32]To our finite minds, the Holy Spirit moving in the Muslim world is outside the box. But in fact, the prophet Joel predicted that in the last days, the spirit of God will be poured out indiscriminately on all flesh. You see, God's eternal purposes extend beyond the boundaries of Israel. At this moment, God is demonstrating his love for the Muslims by appearing to them in dreams and visions in answer to Abraham's prayers that Ishmamail should live in his sight.

[00:18:07]So, we must never limit the Holy One of Israel. To limit literally means to draw boundaries.

[00:18:13]Too many intercessors limit God as they pray only for Israel or for their nations.

[00:18:19]In my book, Miracles among Muslims, the Jesus visions, I documented the fact that a great percentage of Muslim background believers have received a saving faith in Jesus because of a dream or a vision, direct encounters with the living Lord.

[00:18:38]During one of our Passover conferences in Israel in 2009, we staged a prophetic act in a better intent to believe God to heal the children of Ishmamail and his Egyptian mother, Hagar.

[00:18:52]Symbolically, we invited Hagar and Ishmamail back into the fold. We staged a victory festival along the lines of the parable of the lost son. The fatted calf was killed as we dined in the tent in the presence of the Lord. And we believed God for a mighty harvest throughout the Islamic world. We clothed Ishmamail with a gospel robe. By faith, we declared his physical and spiritual descendants to be set free. We also decreed freedom for Hagar and all the helpless, downtrodden women who are suffering under a yoke of oppression.

[00:19:34]and secondass citizenship.

[00:19:37]We staged a family reunion between Sarah and Hagar, Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmamail. The dignity and favor that were lost were prophetically restored as in the parable of the lost son.

[00:19:51]Manifestations of God's presence were evident in our negative tent. And we believe something broke in the heavenlies concerning the Islamic harvest. Under the tent's canopy, our Ishmamail and our Hagar danced in the spirit while we worshiped the Lord with banners and high praises.

[00:20:13]According to Malachi 4:6, God will indeed turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers.

[00:20:24]Egypt also must awaken to who they are in God.

[00:20:28]here to for most intercessors have only considered the Jewish people as the ancient people of God. But remember God says in Isaiah 19:25 that the Egyptians are also ami my people.

[00:20:44]The Islamic world should no longer be viewed in prayer groups as a special interest item. The threat of Islamic terrorism has become the concern of every true believer. Fasting must be added to our prayers. Isaiah 58:6 declares, "Is this not the fast that I have chosen to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?"

[00:21:16]Indeed, this desert principality we're confronting in the name of Jesus has manifested itself in many wicked acts by jihadists.

[00:21:26]But I want to emphasize yet again that in Derek Prince's book, Shaping History through Prayer and Fasting, he stated that some answers to prayer can only be obtained from God when we add fasting to our prayers. The Muslims had been fasting for a month for 1,400 years. So we can't assume that casual prayer will release this great harvest.

[00:21:52]Friday is the day in when much violence is fulmented in Friday sermons around the world. The Lord's solemn call to fast and pray on Fridays is not intended to extend into the Friday evening Sabbath meal. But it's a call to humble ourselves with prayer and fasting during breakfast or lunch on Fridays. say until 3 or 4 in the afternoon as a way of intreating God's mercy corporately for billions of souls.

[00:22:22]And 2 Corinthians 10:4 states, "The weapons of our warfare are not physical, but they are mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds."

[00:22:33]The weapons of corporate prayer and fasting do bring victories. Corporate fasting is part of the process of humbling ourselves required by heaven as we demonstrate to God that we really do believe that he exists and that he rewards those who diligently seek him.

[00:22:52]Please ask the Holy Spirit to show you how to participate in this prophetic summons to fast and pray during the daytime hours on Fridays when jihadists plot death and destruction.

[00:23:06]Let's set captives free who are being held hostage by the tyranny of radicalism.

[00:23:13]So please don't disregard this call.

[00:23:15]Many of us for many years in Jerusalem have faithfully banded together to pray specifically for the irreversible overthrow of this Antichrist principality that's holding billions captive.

[00:23:30]May the Lord flood our hearts with his love for the children of Abraham, all of them, just as he has flooded our hearts with love for the Jewish people. When Ishel truly lives through the power of the Holy Spirit, Israel will also live.

[00:23:47]The family feud will end.

[00:23:51]The Shama is the Jewish prayer recited daily. Shama Israel, her o Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

[00:24:01]And since the name Ishmael means God hears, I'd like to do a play on words and say, Shama, Ishmael, here, O Ishmael, the Lord releases you from the sting of rejection. Ishmael, be free from the generational curse of rejection. Ishmael, come home to Aba, Father, the God of Israel.

[00:24:25]Ishmael, you are accepted in the beloved through Jesus, through Yeshua Al-Mia.

[00:24:31]This is your hour to be set free from the tyranny of slavery, to come home to the God of Israel, and to take hold of the garment of him who is a Jew, Yeshua, Yeshua.

[00:24:47]A Messiah. Amen.

[00:24:50]You see, there are many religions in the world, but only one savior. Let's deliver people through prayer from the crippling spirit of rejection and unbelief.

[00:25:02]Well, I wouldn't be a faithful watchman if I didn't explain the way of salvation. When you fall from an airplane, you need one thing, a parachute. And when you fall into eternity, you also need only one thing, the Savior. You see, not everyone who dies goes to a better place. Only those who have a saving knowledge of the Lord go to a better place. In radical theology, salvation is promised only to the Shahedes, the martyrs who are tragically murderers and suicide bombers. Everybody else in their radical theology has no salvation assurance. But the Bible teaches that merit with God can't be earned whether through violence or through good deeds because salvation is the free gift of God. Ephesians 2:8 declares, "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, lest any man should boast." So what must we do to be saved? The word of God says very simply in Acts 16:31, "Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved." The earliest statement of faith in the New Testament consists of only three words. Jesus is Lord.

[00:26:23]Amen. I hope with all of my heart that Jesus is Lord is your confession of faith.

[00:26:30]And until our next time together, we invite you to explore our website, exploits.t TV and also our Jerusalem channel YouTube site where you'll discover our library of videos 24/7.

[00:26:45]Our ministry is based on Daniel 11:32 declaring that people who know God will be strong, not weak, and will accomplish exploits. We'll do the works of the Lord in the remaining time before his imminent return. Please feel free to share your thoughts with me on social media. Also, check out our free Jerusalem Channel mobile app. And for more in-depth content, check out my articles and blogs at my Substack website. Until next time, I'll always be contending for the faith and praying earnestly for the peace of Jerusalem.

[00:27:22]I'm Christine Dar. Shalom and Marinatha.

[00:27:30]Heat.

[00:27:48]Heat.