Ark of the Covenant – Recent claims
Tudor Parfitt, author of recently published The Lost Ark of the Covenant claims to have found the Lost Ark. Matt Lauer interviewed Parfitt on February 29, 2008 on the Today Show. I am aware that Parfitt’s book and the attention it was given on the Today Show has brought many hits to my recent posts on His Whisperings.
I must confess that I’m a skeptic to the claims made by Parfitt. He has chosen to place one set of scriptures over another and dismisses the gold coverings spelled out in the Exodus 25:10-22 account. I’m not inclined to accept this omission. Also, the object he claims to be the Arc has a circular bottom and oval shape. It doesn’t fit any of the sketches that Biblical scholars have created.
Another 2003 news article has been updated on the subject concerning another person who believes he expects to find the Ark of the Covenant. You can read this for yourself at http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34103
I am compelled to respond to any person’s claims of finding the Ark of the Covenant with mixed feelings. God was so specific with his directives on how the Ark was to be created and handled. The history of events recorded in the Bible concerning the Ark make it clear that those who did not handle the Ark in the manner God prescribed suffered, even to the point of death. If God had that power then, he still has it today. I consider it quite possible that the reason no one has produced the Ark is that anyone who has found or attempted to move it may not have lived to tell about it.
As a Christian, I accept that we are now under the New Covenant – and that is the grace offered by Christ for our salvation. It is possible that the consequences of viewing or touching the Ark changed when Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead.
I really can’t claim any great knowledge on this topic, I can only point to the Scriptures. I’m not sure I would want to be the person to find the Ark nor to take the responsibility on myself to find a place to keep or display it.