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THE ARK OF THE COVENANT
From Arthur & Rosalind Eedie
of
THE PROPHETIC TELEGRAPH
In November of last year when writing P.T.73. I closed with a mention
of the possible discovery of the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem.
Since then I have had the opportunity of following this up, and have
found what seems to be conclusive evidence. My earlier account
contained some errors, for example, I had assumed that it was Jonathan
Gray who made the discovery whereas in fact it was Ron Wyatt. from
Nashville, Tennessee. I would like to apologise for this error, due to
the scanty information available to me just two months ago. And now, in
this number of the Telegraph, I should like to share the facts as
revealed in an address given by Jonathan Gray in a London church on
Saturday 7th October 1995. a Video of which we have now seen, and also
an address given by Ron Wyatt in Nashville.
What had totally escaped my notice was the date. The Ark was found on
6th January 1982. exactly 14 years ago, but was kept secret by request
of the Israeli Government. Although I cannot claim to have all the
"inside information", I have gathered that permission has recently been
granted to advertise the find, though not the exact location, and that
this year is likely to be the time for the Ark. and its precious
content (the two tablets of the law) to be made known to the world.
Before beginning the amazIng story of this discovery, I must say that
the whole episode has been compassed about by miracle. God has set His
seal upon this most holy artifact of the past, and shown that it has
some great significance for the days just ahead, whether in fact or in
type. And the impact that it will have on world Jewry can hardly be
estImated.
The story begins in 1978, when Ron Wyatt was swimming in the sea At
Ashkelon, one of the ancient cities of the Philistines. He stubbed his
toe on something, and found that it was the rim of a large pot. Further
investigation revealed that it was a Canaanite burial pot, the like of
which archaeologist had long been searching for but had hitherto not
found. When this news was brought to the Director of Antiquities in
Jerusalem, he was delighted, and the event, seemingly by "accident",
proved to be the means of cementing a relationship which was to serve a
greater purpose later.
A short while afterwards, Ron was standing talking to the Director of
Antiquities, facing the cliff known as Golgotha,or Calvary. (These
words. both meaning place of skull are respectively Hebrew and Latin.)
Suddenly Ron found his arm shooting out, and he pointed, saying "There's
Jeremiah's Grotto - that rubbish heap - the Ark of the Covenant must be
in there!" The Director answered spontaneously, "Then you must find
It." But Ron was surprised at himself. He had no thought in his mind
about the Ark, and couldn't understand why he had made the remark. This
was miracle number one. and the Director's enthusiastic response and
request for him to find the Ark was miracle number two - a most unlikely
offer, seeing it was given to a foreigner, and that it Concerned THE
most holy, sought-after artifact in the Jewish world.
However, Ron needed to get back to the States, and so a whole year went
by before he returned with two others, to begin the dig. Meeting again
with the Director. he learned that the site was jointly owned by an Arab and a European. Both needed to give permission to excavate the
site. Most surprisingly, BOTH gave that permission without even asking
what they were looking for! This was miracle number three.
And so in that year, 1979, the arduous slow job of removing tons of
accumulated rubbish began. Their dig was more or less in front of the
"Skull", and quite near to Gordon's tomb. Beginning at the top of the
pile, they painstakingly removed load after load of rubbish, and
eventually came upon a ledge in which they found three post-holes hacked
out of the rock. Each of these holes was about 13 inches square in
shape, and some three feet deep. Furthermore. each hole had a "plug"
in the top, which contained finger holes for easy removal. It was quite
obvious what they had found. It was the site of the crucifixions, the
wooden stakes being lowered into these post holes, which would later be
plugged until needed again.
Behind the post holes was the cliff face, and at a height of about 12
feet, there were ledges cut into the rock, on which could be set the
details of the crimes committed by those who were crucified. The middle
one was clearly the most significant, and was reserved for the worst
criminal. We read that Pilate ordered them to write "This is Jesus of
Nazareth, the King of the Jews" a statement which greatly angered
Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, but they had no authority to change it.
Amongst the rubbish they found several Coins, none of which was later
than A.D. 130, and this showed that the site was afterwards covered up
and disused. This date fits in well with history, because the final
destruction of Jerusalem came after the Bar-Cochba revolt in
A.D.132-135.
Further excavation at this level revealed the remains of a building
measuring 40 feet out from the cliff-face, and 22 feet wide, that had at
one time been constructed over the central post hole. This was thought
to be a chapel used by early Christians, who venerated the site of the
master's great sacrifice. This idea was given further impetus by the
discovery of a huge circular stone on the floor of this building, Quite
near to the post hole. The stone measured 13 feet 2 inches in diameter,
and about nine inches thick. It was known that stones of this sort were
used to roll in front of sepuchral caves. But this one was huge!
Investigation was made at the entrance to the cave known as "Gordon's
tomb". which was discovered in 1882 by General Gordon on his way home
from his historic Chinese campaign. He was not satisfied with the
traditional site of the crucifixion, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
founded by Queen Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, because it was
WITHIN the city walls, and could not therefore Qualify as being the site
according to Scripture. But the "place of the skull" was just outside
the Damascus Gate. and by the highway that led to Samaria, and
therefore mat all the conditions. Searching led himto the discovery of
the actual site of Jesus' burial.
As I said. investigation was made at the entrance to this tomb, and in
the wall ware found two holes, exactly 13 feet 2 inches apart, in which
metal rods were originally inserted to act as a "seal" to the tomb. The
metal rod on the right. as you face the tomb, was missing, but the one
on the left was still in place, showing all the signs of having been
sheared off by some mighty force.
Here was clear evidence that the huge stone found above in the chapel,
was indeed the stone used to cover the entrance to Jesus' tomb. It was
a mighty stone, as the Scriptures declare, and one that would have taken
many men to roll back, up the slope. to the left of the tomb. But
whoever moved the stone. did so WITHOUT removing the two-inch-thick
metal rod. In other words, it was the work of the Angel, who, we are
told, "rolled back the stone". Incidentally, the stone could not have
been rolled to the right because a stone block had been built into the gully, presumably to arrest the movement of the stone as it was rolled
into position. (Incidentally, quite recently the tomb of Herod the
Great has been found in Jerusalem, and the stone measured.just four and
a half feet in diameter. Exactly one third the diameter of the huge
stone that Joseph of Arimathea had made for his sepulchre.)
Thus far in the dig, conclusive evidence had been obtained that this was
the true site of the crucifixion, and that the early church had built a
chapel of remembrance over the post hold and the great stone. It had
already been known that Skull Hill was the traditional site for burials,
Moslem, Jewish, and Christian. And that in antiquity it was the place
where criminals were stoned to death. (In the Mishna it is called "Beth
ha-Sekelah", literally "House of Stoning") It was here that Stephen was
stoned. Also it was the recognised place of public execution for Jewish
criminals. As late as the beginning of the 20th century Jews would spit
at the hill, throw stones, and curse the "destroyer of their nation."
All this is clear evidence that it was the true scene of Christ's
crucifixion and burial.
But further investigation showed another important fact. Inside the
middle post-hole, the one which was used to hold the Cross of Jesus,
they found a crack on the left side. leading down into the rock. Here
was the evidence of the earthquake that occurred the moment that Jesus
died. This finding was of supreme importance. but was not appreciated
until much later.
The excavators had not as yet found the entrance to any cave that might
house the Ark. The work was exhausting and slow, as lorry-load after
lorry-load of rubbish was carted away. Two years went by, and the three
men ware getting weary and somewhat discouraged. By this time they were
digging a narrow trench against the rock face, and there was only room
for one man to work there at a time. And so they would take it in
turns, whilst the other two would take a rest on the ground above.
Suddenly one day, when Ron Wyatt was digging at the bottom of the
trench, he looked up and standing there above him was a very tall man
dressed in typical flowing Arabic garments.
"God bless you, Ron Wyatt, for what you are doing."
"Who are you? How did you know what we are doing?"
"I know it all. "
"D'you live round here?"
"No I don't."
"How d'you know my name? where d'you come from?"
"I've Just come from South Africa, and I'm on my way to the New
Jerusalem. God bless you."
Ron jumped up as the man walked away. Reaching the top of the trench he
asked the other two which way the man went. They said that they hadn't
seen anyone. It was then that Ron realised an Angel had been sent to
give them encouragement, to spur them on. This was miracle number four.
With renewed enthusiasm, they hacked away until they reached a point
where there were signs of a cave entrance. It was January 1982, and
four years from when Ron exclaimed to the Director about Jeremiah's
rubbish heap. Hastily they broke through into a cave, but the hole was
too small for any of them to crawl through. Giving a torch to a small
boy, the son of the Arab who was joint-owner of the land, he climbed
through. but shot out again very rapidly, looking as white as a ghost.
"What's in there? What's in there?" he exclaimed, and since then has
refused to tell anyone what ha saw.
The hole was enlarged until it was of sufficient size to allow Ron to
crawl through. It was 2 p.m. on January 6th. Ron found himself in a
large chamber measuring 22 feet from the entrance to the back wall, 14
feet. wide. and about. 8 feet from floor to roof. There before him
were sacred items of furniture from Solomon's Temple, the Altar of Burnt
offering, the Table of Showbread, and the Altar of Incense. They were
covered over with skins, over which were placed lengths of timber, and
on top of these were lumps of rock and stone.
But Ron became aware that at the back of the cave there was something
else, and it had been enclosed within a wall, so that only the top of it
could be seen. As his eyes became accustomed to the dim light. so he
realised that he was looking at two Cherubim with wings outstretched
over the Mercy Seat. It was the Ark of the Covenant! Ron collapsed and
fainted, and was unconscious for 45 minutes. Coming to, he crawled out
and announced his discovery. The Director of Antiquities was informed,
and he hurried to the site, and began to enter the cave, but on doing so
his back collapsed and he had to be taken to hospital where he remained
paralysed for nearly two weeks. He was later heard to say that he would
never again try to enter the Cave and see the Ark. This was miracle
number five.
Ron took a Polaroid camera into the cave and photographed the Ark. On
immediate development, the film was found to be fogged, not entirely but
just over the portion where the Ark was. He then tried using his 35 mm
camera, and when these shots came out they likewise showed fogging.
Then a Video camera was used and the same effect was apparent. Some
strange thing was happening to prevent the world from seeing the Ark.
This was miracle number six. I have now seen the footage of this video,
and all is clear except where the Ark rests, and in front of it there is
a golden mist. Ron has pencilled in the outline of what he saw and the
Cherubim are of human form with wings outspread over the Ark.
At this stage, a Jewish official suddenly decided to halt all further
work on the site. It was a severe blow, and Ron and his friends prayed
that God might over-rule. The prayer was answered almost immediately,
because the man had a heart attack and died. This was miracle number
seven.
Another man showed great curiosity and interest in what was going on,
and tried to prise out of Ron what he was doing and where he was
working, but Ron refused to divulge any information. However, this man
was determined, and followed the party about surrepticiously until he
finally saw what they were doing. Calling a press conference for 9 am
the next morning, he prepared himself to blast their secret into the
open. But the following morning at 8 am he was found dead in an alley
way, in a pool of blood, having been shot by the PLO on some unrelated
matter. This was miracle number eight.
When the Jewish Authorities were told about this find, they were put in
a very difficult position. They had living within the land religious
extremists who would stop at nothing if they could but see the Ark, and
know that it was genuine. already there had been attempts to blow up
the Dome of the Rock, the Arabic sacred site which rests over the place
where Abraham was to sacrifice his son Isaac. This mosque rests on the
Temple platform, and many Jews would do anything to get it removed, so
that they could build a new Temple on the site. The discovery of the
Ark would be the greatest single event to spur them on at all costs, but
would engulf the Middle East in a "holy war" of unimaginable horror and
devastation.
The result was that the Israeli Parliament has asked Ron to build a door
to the cave, cover it with earth, and plant shrubs to disguise the site.
And there it has remained for the last fourteen years. I have no idea
what the Israelis have in mind for this Year, but if they decide to make
the Ark Public, then I am led to wonder what will happen. Will the Lord
allow it? The strange happenings thus far indicate that God is still
very interested in the preservation of His holy furniture.
But although we have come this far, the story does not end here. I
mentioned earlier that there was a crack in the rock on the left side of
the middle post-hole, a crack that had been caused by an earthquake. It
was only when Ron Wyatt investigated the ark of the Covenant in more
detail that he realised what he was looking at. Right above the left
hand side of the Mercy Seat the roof of the chamber shows a large
fissure, and within this fissure there are copious quantities of dried
human blood. Furthermore, on the Mercy Seat itself there is a large
amount of dried blood. When measurements were taken, they found that
the crack in the post-hole led down to the fissure below, and so it was
possible for blood to trickle through.
It will be remembered that AFTER Jesus had died, and the earthquake rent
the rocks, a Roman soldier pierced the Lord's side with a spear.
Presumably the spear entered the Lord's heart or spleen, because "blood
and water" flowed out. The Lord had died of a broken heart, crushed by
the agony of carrying the load of this world's sin. His death had not
been the normal death of one who had been crucified. The two thieves
had their legs broken to accelerate death, necessary to comply with
Jewish legislation, that no man should remain there on the Sabbath,
which was due to begin at about 6 pm that day.
And so it was that God the Father had rent the rocks to make a way for
His Son's blood to flow down from the spear-wound, through the newly
formed fissure onto the very Mercy Seat itself. Now just think about
this for a moment. Jeremiah had deposited the Ark in the cave some six
centuries B.C., with absolutely no knowledge of the events which were to
occur on Good Friday. The Romans who hacked out the post-holes had
absolutely no knowledge of what lay beneath their feet, nor that they
were positioning the CENTRAL hole in exactly the right place. And until
the Lord had died, there was no way for blood to trickle down because
there was no crack. But these Amazing coincidences actually happened.
Yes, they ARE coincidences, because everything had to COINCIDE exactly
for it to happen, but there was never any human design - it was entirely
the work of God in Heaven, who knew the end from the beginning, and
arranged for it to happen in that way. This is miracle number nine, and
it is a "miracle of miracles." In Hebrews we read. "It is not possible
for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin, - - but Thou hast
prepared a body for me - - and lo, I come to do Thy will O God." "By
His own blood He entered in once and for all into the Holy Place having
obtained eternal redemption for us." (10:4-7 and 9:12) .
None of the O.T. sacrifices were able to take away sin. Only the blood
of the Son of God could do that. But the children of Israel were
accepted as a result of their sacrifices by virtue of faith in the
spoken word of God, and the sacrificial laws. Because Jesus was the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world in God's foreknowledge. He
was able to accept the sacrifices of His people BEFORE Christ came into
the world. Calvary was the Hub of History. They looked forward. We
look back. Each acts in faith, the one in prospect. the other in
remembrance.
Before Ron closed the cave, he took some of the dried blood that had
been kept undisturbed for nearly 2000 years and presented it to a
laboratory for testing. Using an electron microscope it was possible to
find the chromosomal content of the blood. Ron described it in his
address at Nashville, saying that normal human blood contains 46
chromosomes, 23 from each parent. X chromosomes are female, and Y
chromosomes are male. All 23 ware present from the mother, but ONLY ONE
chromosome was present, the Y chromosome. showing that the blood
belonged to a male, but that HE HAD NO HUMAN FATHER. This is miracle
number ten. The Lord had preserved the blood until man had the
technological means of determining the chromosomal content of the blood,
thereby to prove that the Virgin birth was no myth, but VERY FACT.
These are the ten miracles connected with the discovery of the Ark of
the Covenant. There may be others that I have missed, I don't know.
But surely enough has been given to provide us all with such an amazing
extra proof of our Lord's sacrifice and what it means, that all
evangelism must change into top gear. I praythat this little paper may
become a useful tool to use in this respect. Please feel free to copy
it if you wish. There is never any copyright on any of our papers. We
only ask that COMPLETE copies be made, so that ambiguities do not arise.
I should now like to share another item of news in connection with the
above scenario. I have a valued friend and brother in Christ who is a
retired Doctor of Medicine. In an excited telephone conversation with
me a short while ago he said that Ron Wyatt's testimony about the
chromosomes had caused him to question whether it would be possible for
anyone to have blood so depleted in chromosomal content. Being a man of
faith and action, he committed this to the Lord, asking for a clear sign
that all was well.
Not many days passed before he picked up the New Scientist for 7th
October 1995, and there on page 16 he found the following heading -
THE BOY WHOSE BLOOD HAS NO FATHER
He could hardly believe his eyes! The author, Philip Cohen, quoting an
article by David Bonthron and his colleagues at Edinburgh university in
Nature Genetic (Volume 11, page 164) explained that a certain three
year-old boy had bean found whose white blood cells contain only two X
Chromosomes, the signal for a female. To cut a long story short, they
went on to explain that the probable cause was a self-activating
unfertilised ovum which had subsequently (after a short time) become
fertilised in the normal way. The sperm would then have entered only a
PART of the divided ovum, thereby creating this most unusual affect.
Bonthron believed that the boy's remarkable genetics depended on a
number of highly unusual circumstances combining together, and occurring
within a very short time window. "I don't expect we'll ever see another
one. " he said.
Here was yet another miracle! Our Doctor friend had been given
information about an incredibly rare condition, yes, but the TIMING of
the article in New Scientist was a true gift from God. The little boy's
chromosomes do not match those of our Lord, but present what Cohen
called "partial parthenogenesis", (parthenogenesis is the biologist's
name for Virgin Birth.) however, the similarity was such that it proved
the possibility of a human being existing with a considerable depletion
in his chromosomal count .
And finally. what about those other reported cases of the finding of
the Ark of the Covenant? I have left this until last so as not to spoil
the TRUE story by preluding it with the spurious.
I find it interesting, Almost intriguing, to realise that Steven
Spielberg's film "Raiders of the Lost Ark" should have come out for
general release in 1981. I remember watching it at the time, and
wondered what he was trying to say, being of Jewish origin. The
supernatural affects he attributed to the holiness of the Ark certainly
had their parallel in the finding of the real Ark.
But late in that very year, an announcement was made by another team,
saying that they had located the Ark in a cave in Mount Nebo, the
mountain where Moses viewed the Promised Land before his death. This
team included Tom Crotser, Jim Bollinger, and the astronaut Jim Irwin.
Irwin had earlier been interviewed on BBC Television by Richard Baker.
who asked him, "What are you doing now?" And amongst other things he
said. "I'm helping to find the Ark of the Covenant in Jordan." But it
was in the Christmas 1981 issue of Far Eastern Berean that a panelled
quotation appeared, taken from the Straits Times of Singapor,. entitled
"We found the lost Ark claim!"
And so, on BBC 1 in January 1982 (at the very time when Ron Wyatt was
breaking through into the cave) Tom Crotser was interviewed, and he
showed photographs of the Ark. Furthermore there was a guarded note to
this effect in the Jerusalem Post. Now we may very well ask why Crotser
was able to obtain clear photographs, whereas Wyatt was not. And I
shall leave it to my readers to ponder that question. Incidentally, I
have not personally heard anything more about this find in Mount Nebo,
except that it is sited in a position belonging to both the Vatican and
the Jordanian government, the latter being adamant in refusing anyone to
remove the artifact.
An American archaeologist by the name of David Lutz made the following
statement.
"One rabbi told me this discovery would not only promote the building of
the Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, but would also signal the end
of the Diaspora, the dispersion of the Jewish people. It would be as
influential as a spoken command from the Almighty to all Jewish parsons
to coma home to the Promised Land. To Christians it would be a clear
signal that we are nearing the end or this age and the beginning of the
Messianic Kingdom."
No wonder there is great excitement Amongst many people, whether they be
Jews or Christians. One wonders why the timing of the event on God's
calendar is just now. Are we entering the "crossroads of history"? And
if so, then we shall need to know which route to take. I am in no
position to Say whether the Israeli government will make a move just
now. but the facts are already out And being advertised quite widely,
and this in itself is creating quite a stir. It is doing to us what the
Angel did to Ron wyatt - spur us on with greater vigour than ever before
to be ready for the Lord's return.
Many people have drawn up plans from prophecy. some say that much still
needs to be done before the second coming, but in doing so they destroy
the urgency of our Lord's words, "Watch and pray for you know. not the
day or the hour - and again I say, watch." The interpretation of
prophecy, particularly in the Christian dispensation, has never been an
easy task, and we may very well be depriving ourselves of the very thing
we need to "trim our lamps" and make ourselves ready. Who knows? We
are living in days of electrifying excitement spiritually, and it
behoves us to "love His appearing" , and "purify ourselves, even as He
is pure".
So what is the artifact in Mount Nebo? I do not accuse Crotser lying.
He certainly found something. But what is it? My guess is that it is a
REPLICA of the true Ark, made in Jeremiah's day, and deposited in the
cave according to the words that are found in 2 Maccabees 2:4-8. Why
should Jeremiah do this? Because he was a man of great integrity and
honour towards the Lord, and he lived Amongst people, even his OWN
people, who were dishonest to the Core. They would be watching his
every move, and wanting to know what he was doing. This would mean that
SOMEONE would find the Ark and raid it. and he didn't want that to
happen. So he made a replica, and took it to Mount Nebo. In the event,
even this replica has not been found until recent days.
There is yet another story about the Ark which needs a mention before I
conclude this paper. In 1992 Graham Hancock wrote a book, published by
William Heinemann, entitled "The Sign and the Seal". It is the account
of his travels in Ethiopia in search of the Ark, which by tradition is
held in great secrecy by a people who have a strange mixture of Judaism
and ChristianIty. Hancock was never able to gain access to the building
where this Ark is kept, and which is closely guarded by a monk by the
name of Abba Fameray.
The story goes that King Solomon sired a son by the Queen of Sheba,
whose name was menelech and when Menelech was in his late teens he
travelled to Jerusalem, and was treated very well by Solomon, who asked
what gift he would like to take back with him. "The Ark of the
Covenant", he said, which prompted an immediate negative response of
course. Menelech was not well pleased with this refusal, and later
brought several companions with him, and stole the Ark in the dead of
night, and transported it to Ethiopia, where it has rested until this
very day. This story may be found in the Encyclopedia Britannica and it
adds that the Ark now rests in a town called Axum. This is a highly
unlikely tale, and would have been a major embarrassment to the children
of Israel if they found that it had been stolen. No doubt a "holy war"
would Have been raised by Solomon to regain this priceless treasure.
But no. There is no mention of it anywhere else, save in Ethiopia.
So what do THEY have in that land, which they guard so carefully? I
believe it could be yet another replica, not taken in Solomon's day, but
probably in Jeremiah's day or thereabouts.
Finally, a few addresses for those who would like to write:
(a) to Jonathan Gray
P.O.Box 3370,
Rundle Mall, Adelaide, South Australia. 5000
(b) to Ron Wyatt
Wyatt Archaeological Research,
713, Lambert Drive,
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A. 37220
(c) to the British H.Q. of Advent Truth
P.O.Box 41,
Derby, DE1 9ZR, England
from whom the Various Videos. tapes, and books may be obtained.
First published in:
THE PROPHETIC TELEGRAPH
No.78 January 1996
From Arthur & Rosalind Eedie.
Oxleigh, Langham Rd, Mumby, Alford, Lincs,
LN13 9SQ, England.
(Phone/Fax: 01754 872539