andiclare

Hi Remnant,

See my post above, #13 in this thread.

Remnant

Hi, Andiclare, People have been making claims like what you mentioned in your post for many centuries. There has been no evedence that I know of that substantiates that the Ark of the covenant is still here on this earth.

If you go and do a study of the Ark of the covenant from the bible, you will understand why!

What do you say of Revelation 11:19?
19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

I think the first thing one must establish, is why was their the Ark of the Covenant of God to begin with?

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andiclare

Did you read my earlier post...? #13? Because I mentioned all this. I think there is a misunderstanding. I don't think the ark of the covenant is still on earth. The OT ark of the covenant...Who knows where that is? It doesn't really matter anyway. What we were saying is--and I guess we kind of did go slightly off the topic of the OP-- the Ark of the NEW COVENANT is the Virgin Mary. She is the vessel that held the Word of God. This is not a doctrine or anything that Protestants should find in any way objectionable...It's just a really interesting interpretation, standing by itself. It is entirely from scripture. Here, I'll repost my original post next, to clear up the confusion!

andiclare

[REPOSTED]

I'll try to expand a bit on what J.D. and Bo already said about the Mary/Ark of the New Covenant correlation. (This is just one interpretation, y'all, so please don't jump all over me. ) I remember when this was first pointed out to me; I was pretty much astounded.

First, look at 2 Samuel 6:9-16. King David sees the ark being brought to him after the Israelites recaptured it from the Philistines, and, in awe, says "How can the ark of the Lord come to me?" (verse 9). As the ark approaches, David is seen "leaping and dancing for joy before the Lord." (verse 16).

Then go to Luke 1:39-45. When Elizabeth sees Mary approaching she cries out "how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" Just as David leapt for joy before the ark, so John the Baptist leaps for joy in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary, (the Ark of the New Covenant), comes into her presence.

John’s leap for joy was for the same reason as David’s--not because of the ark itself, but because of what the ark contained: the Word of God. (Interesting, no?)

And then, go to Revelation 11:19 when St. John the Divine is called up to see the Ark of the Covenant.

Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a violent hailstorm.

So what was it- what exactly did he see? Look at the very next verse: 12:1-2:

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth... (12:1-2)

She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne. (12:5)

(The woman's offspring are "those who keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus." The earliest interpreters of scripture have seen that the woman is clearly the Virgin Mary and the male child is Jesus. In John's symbolism, she represents the Church and/or Israel, and he represents faithful Christians.)

So...what do you think?

Remnant

You still did not answer whether you think Revelation 11:19 is referring to the original Ark of the covenant. Do you believe it is one in the same?

Also in Revelation 12:1-2 is refering to Israel and the woman is symbolic of Mary, but I still don't get were she is the Ark of the New Covenant. Is this something that the Catholics teach?

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andiclare

No, I lean toward believing that Mary is the Ark of the Covenant (AOTC)mentioned in Revelations, but she's the Ark of the NEW covenent. Therefore, not the same thing as the original ark of the covenant in the OT.

Nope, like I said-- this isn't doctrine. It's self-evident in the scriptures, according to some biblical scholars and the Early Church Fathers. Even though it involves the Blessed Mother, this isn't a Catholic/Protestant thing. I personally just think it's really cool! I remember when it was first pointed out to me, and I thought "how did I never see this before!"

To answer your question-- The original AOTC housed the Law, the holy Word of God. The NEW AOTC (Mary) housed the Word of God who was Jesus. You don't see the correlation?

Boanerges

I would really like to see some scriptural support for that, can you provide some?

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"If you would test the character of anything, you only need to enquire whether that thing leads you to God or away from God."

Watchman Nee

SweetSurrender

She just told you, Bo. It's evident in the scriptures. Why does everyone here get so jittery when Mary, Mother of Jesus is mentioned? It isn't a Catholic thing. I think we seem to bend over backwards not mentioning Mary very much because somehow, she seems to belong to the Catholic church. Just like most churches try not to mention "works" as being connected with Salvation. In the process, they might miss some insight into the message and some new Christians would actually "get it" (talking about Salvation here) and realize that their works should be the after effect of their Salvation instead of just laying back and considering it complete.

Sorry, way off the subject. But, we shouldn't get bent outa' shape just because a Catholic happens to have an inspiration. I am intriqued by this discussion, but admit I know nothing about it, so show me some other explanation for the vision of the woman in the cloud and her being with child. I'm not familiar with that scripture.

I hope I'm not causing things to be closed down here. Just consider me an outsider on this post, looking in and realizing ya'll are getting ruffled feathers about the mention of Mary.

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"A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument."

YelowJacket

I don't recall any physical item being taken to heaven ( such as the ark of the covenant.) Is this ark not necessary in the tribulation period, for the Jews to assume the old rituals in the newly reconstructed temple. And is it not here, on the mercy seat of the ark, that the antichrist comits the abomination of desicration? Also, during the grace period in which we are now living, the Holy Spirit is with us and is God living in us. When he is removed during the tribulation, the Jewish people will then have the rediscovered ark to be the symbol of God with them.

There are two theories, which seem quite believable. One is that the ark was taken to Ethiopia and has been gaurded there since. There is something there for sure that is in a small building and has been gaurded for centuries. Very cool.
The other theory is that it is hidden in the catacombs beneath Israel and that when the pierced Jesus side his blood ran onto the ground and the earthquake opened the earth to allow his blood to anoint the hidden ark beneath.

Both cool stories. Its always neat to speculate. Isn't it an exciting time in world history to be alive!?

Remnant

Sister, I don't think that is the case here! All we are trying to establish is this something that is taught by a perticular group or order other than scripture. We would have the same question if it were any teaching other than the scriptural evidence of such.

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