However, when the Moslems discovered that there were diggings being conducted under the Dome of the Rock, they threatened a general riot and the diggings were stopped. He was conducting a search in an old tunnel that had been filled with the debris of centuries, which runs perpendicular to the Western Wall and under the Temple Mount. Rabbi Getz believes that in 1982 he was very close, within 40 feet, to finding the cave in which the Ark resides. Nevertheless, there is a large and growing group of Orthodox Jewish adherents who believe that the Ark is in this cave below the Holy of Holies, and awaits the right time to be found. The evidence for all of these suppositions about the location of the Ark, as Rabbi Getz concedes, comes more from the Talmud than the Scriptures. Thus, the ancient priests would have been careful to locate the cave repository for the Ark in the sanctified area below the Holy of Holies. They have a concept of vertical air space, by which the space of the Holy of Holies sanctifies the ground directly below it.
They probably represent the majority of Orthodox rabbis in their views. Thus, the sacred items would remain in seclusion until it was considered safe to bring them out to be placed in the Temple.Īt any rate, Rabbi Shlomo Goren and Rabbi Yehuda Getz, the rabbis in charge of the Western Wall area, are convinced that the Ark has been hidden in a cave in the Temple Mount directly under the site of the Holy of Holies, since the time of King Josiah. The explanation offered is that they felt that as long as Jerusalem was subject to domination by the succeeding powers of Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome, the Ark and other treasures could be desecrated and captured by the Gentile armies. If the Ark and the other implements were hidden under the Temple, why weren’t they recovered and used after the Captivity? It’s hard to imagine that the priests would have knowingly left the Ark out of the Holy of Holies if they could have utilized it during the 500 years of the Second Temple. No mention is made in the Scriptures of the Babylonians taking the Ark, the Menorah, or other key Temple items. They destroyed the Temple and carried away many of the vessels and implements to their capital city a thousand miles away. Why Didn’t Israel Use the Ark in the Second Temple?Īs it turned out, the Babylonians did invade Jerusalem. If the Ark does still exist, however, and it were somehow discovered, it would certainly give rise to a strong movement in Israel and around the world to rebuild the Temple to house the Ark properly. So it would not be unthinkable to build the Tribulation Temple, even if the Ark is not discovered. Christ Himself declared the Temple to be His Father’s House. The Second Temple stood for over 500 years without containing an Ark, and it was fully recognized as a valid house of worship for the Lord. How can the worship of Yahweh be resumed as it was in ancient times if there is no Ark in the Holy of Holies? We have already seen, though, that the absence of the Ark of the Covenant did not keep the Temple from being rebuilt at the conclusion of the Babylonian Captivity. One question that arises is, can the Temple be rebuilt if it does not contain the Ark? The Scriptures indicate that the Temple will be rebuilt and standing during the Tribulation period, and that the Tribulation Temple will be desecrated by the Antichrist. Is the Ark Needed for the Tribulation Temple? In neither case is the Ark mentioned as something that remains on the earth now. In Hebrews it is described as it was in the original Tabernacle made by Moses and in Revelation, the Ark is seen by John in heaven. The Ark was so important in Israel from the time of Moses through the Judges and the First Temple era, that it seems remarkable that nothing is said of it in the Bible after the Babylonian Captivity, until the Letter to the Hebrews and the Book of Revelation in the New Testament. The fact that the Ark of the Covenant was not used in the Second Temple has led to the speculation of where the Ark is, or if it still exists on the earth. When he did, he came out saying that he could not understand what all the interest was about the sanctuary, when it was only an empty room. When the Roman General Pompey conquered Jerusalem around 63 B.C., he demanded the privilege of entering the Holy of Holies. Thus, the Holy of Holies in the Second Temple was an empty chamber, without the Ark of the Covenant.
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