The Ark of the Covenant
When asked about the Ark of the Covenant, the average person usually responds with something along the lines of Harrison Ford starring in the first of the Indiana Jones trilogy. However, The Ark of the Covenant has significant ties to both ancient Christianity and Judaism. These two religions both have foundations in the Old Testament of The Bible, and their followers are often referred to as "People of the Book" (Robinson). There is some discrepancy as to what the Ark truly is. Exodus 25 in The Bible describes it as "a chest of acacia wood — two and a half cubits wide, and a cubit and a half high." It goes on to say the Ark is overlaid in gold with gold rings and gold poles through the rings, in order to carry the Ark, and golden cherubim on either side of the chest. Inside the chest is to lie "the Testimony." However, as cited by McKinley in "The New York Times," some Ethiopian Christians believe the Ark is actually the tablets containing the Ten Commandments, and the chest described by Moses in Exodus 25 is "the chair of the ark." These discrepancies as well as many others are what complicates the search for the lost ark as well as adds doubt to claims that it has been rediscovered.
The Ark of the Covenant is said to have been held by the Levites during the time of the Hebrews' wanderings through the wilderness, and carried into battle several times by the Israelites (Britannica). The New Standard Encyclopedia states that it was once captured by the Philistines from the Israelites in the course of battle, but was returned shortly after. The last documented existence of the Ark was its placement into the inner chamber of the Temple of Solomon after being taken to Jerusalem ...
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.... pag. On-line. Internet. 6 February 2001. Available WWW: http://www.fwkc.com/encyclopedia/low/articles/a/a002000954f.html.
"Ark of the Covenant." New Standard Encyclopedia. 1982 ed.
McKinley Jr., James. "What Ethiopians Believe Is the Ark of the Covenant Rests in Aksum." New York Times. 27 January, 1998, national ed.: 1.
"Religion." n. pag. On-line. Internet. 6 February 2001. Available WWW: http://www.collegetermpapers.com/TermPapers/Miscellaneous/religion.shtml.
Ritmeyer, Dr. Leen. "The Temple and the Ark of the Covenant." 17 February 1998: n. pag. On-line. Internet. 6 February 2001. Available WWW: http://ds.dial.pipex.com/ritmeyer/temple.ark.html.
Robinson, B.A. "The Jewish Foundation of Christianity." 12 Sept. 2000: n. pag. On-line. Internet. 6 Feb. 2001. Available WWW: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jf.htm.
This image, and the detail that goes into it in the Torah’s description, loom large in the Jewish imagination, and our conceptualization of our community. As the Israelites move forward into the desert, surely they can rally behind this glorious homage to God’s greatness – surely they will be proud to march to the Promised Land behind this banner for holiness, the ultimate reminder of God’s presence. And within the Ark, the tablets themselves, perhaps the broken first set alongside the second set that Moses carved himself. What could be more powerful?
The Ark of the Covenant held the ten commandments bestowed unto Moses. The source describes how the Ark should be embellished.
According to the bible, King Solomon, King of Israel and the Jews, was paid by a visit from the Queen of Sheba, an Ethiopian Monarch. The Kebra Negast, the book of the glory of kings, states that by a trick, King Solomon inveigled the queen into sharing his bed with the result of a new born son, Menelik, who in due course became king or negus of Ethiopia.3 The queen was very impressed during her visit to the Holy Land, and adopted the Jewish Religion. But her son Menelik, when he grew up, visited his father, and transferred the Ark of the Covenant from Jerusalem to Axum. It is at this point where a new r...
...yne A. The HarperCollins Study Bible New Revised Standard Edition . New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993. 1645-1722. Print.
Scholars have shifted from the notion that the Bible differs from other ancient Near Eastern literature, cultures, and religions. If this were so, the Bible would be considered a myth. In this chapter Oswalt gives descriptions to what a myth is and gives insight into whether it is acceptable to label the Bible as a myth. Since the 1960s, scholars have been stating that the attributes of the Bible and its contemporary belief system have more in common to a myth even though the data used to make these claims have remained the same.
The story of Noah’s Ark begins with God being upset at mankind's wickedness. He decides to destroy it with a flood. God new Noah was righteous and told him to build an ark so he would be safe from the rain. Noah did so and took aboard his family and pairs of every kind of animal. It rained for forty days and nights, until the highest mountains were covered. Then God sent a wind and the waters receded, and the...
Metzger, B. (1997). The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance. New York.
Zevit, Ziony. "Exodus in the Bible and the Egyptian Plagues." Biblical Archaeology Society. N.p., 17 July 2011. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.
Covenant according in bible's point of view is a promise made by God to man. According to the book of Genesis, Chapter 6 Verse 13, as a result of human's disobedient and evil ways on earth, God had planned to put an end to humanity with flood. The covenants between God and Noah was established in Genesis Chapter 9 Verse 11. God promised Noah and his descendants, never again would he destroy the earth by flood of water because of the pleasant sacrifice offered to God by Noah. God also confirmed his covenant by putting up signs in the sky in the form of a rainbow. The reason Noah and his family weren’t destroyed in the flood was because Noah found grace in God's sight. What this means is that God do not establish any kind of covenant with just anyone. Clearly Abel, Noah and Abraham were unshakable, upright and obedient towards God’s command.
“Christianity, along with all other theistic belief systems, is the fraud of the age. It serves to detach the species from the natural world, likewise, each other. It supports blind submission to authority[control of the masses].”(Zeitgeist 2007) In this essay, we will explore the different roots of religion and the plagiarism that Christianity and a number of different religions have committed.
1996. “Sacrifices and Offerings in Ancient Israel” in Community, Identity, and Ideology: Social Science approach to the Hebrew Bible., ed. Charles E. Carter.
Kohn, Risa Levitt, and Rebecca Moore. A Portable God: The Origin of Judaism and Christianity. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. Print.
But when it comes to Old Testament, Covenant refers to two or more parties bonded together. For instance, legal treaties between kings and subjects existed during the Bible period like Moses, Joshua.
Charlesworth, Matthew. "The Covenants in the Old Testament." Academia.edu. N.p., 28 Nov. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
LaSor, W., Hubbard, D., Bush, F., & Allen, L. (1996). Old Testament survey: The message, form, and background of the Old Testament (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans