Page 41 - Eschatology - Masters revised

northern Ethiopia and the replica remained in Jerusalem. Eventually the real ark was placed in the
basement of the Church of St. Mary of Zion. Since then, the descendants of Menelik I and his Jewish
priests, advisors, and servants from the various tribes of Israel called themselves House of Israel. Today
they are known as Falasha Jews. (This information comes from extra-biblical literature)

For centuries, the royal line of Menelik has ruled Ethiopia until 950 AD., when a Muslim invasion brought
their demise. In 1558 the Solomonic dynasty was reestablished by a Jewish king and continued until
1974 until a communist coup brought the death of Emperor Haile Selassie (“Lion of Judah”) in 1975.

When Israel became a nation in 1948, she enjoyed a close relationship with Emperor Haile Selassie, who
helped the infant nation with considerable technical and financial support. During the final days of his
reign, Israel made an agreement with Emperor Selassie to move the Ark to Israel, however he was killed
before an exchange could be made. Israeli intelligence agents brokered a deal with Ethiopia’s Marxist
generals and agreed to exchange tens of millions of dollars for the Ark. Ransom was delivered, but the
civil war failed for the generals and the Ark was not retrieved. Israel, predicting such, had paid the
ransom in counterfeit US dollars.

Israel then took the real money raised to obtain the Ark and negotiated an exchange with the new
Ethiopian government who were in desperate need of funds to solidify their economy. An elite team of
Israeli Special Forces flew an unmarked cargo plane into the northern province of Gonder and secretly
entered the city of Aksum at night and exchanged the real Ark for a replica. The Ark was taken to a
secure location near Jerusalem, where it resides today until the time comes to place it within the Holy of
Holies in the Third Temple.

Here’s a second hypothesis:

During the Babylonian invasion in 586 BC., priests took the Ark and hid it under the Temple Mount in
one of the hundreds of subterranean structures. During the excavation of the Western Wall, Rabbi
Yehuda Getz claims that his researchers explored a secret tunnel under the 36-acre Temple structure.
On May 15, 1992, CBS television network broadcast a two-hour special called the “Ancient Secrets of the
Bible.” The narrator claimed that Rabbi Getz discovered the Ark of the Covenant in one of these
chambers. He did not enter the chamber because he felt it too holy a place to enter, however he saw
the Ark from the illumination of flashlights from a distance of 50 feet. Within hours the Arabs broke
through the tunnel from overhead and prevented the researchers from examining the object.
Immediately the Arabs used concrete to seal the opening of the tunnel to prevent further Jewish
exploration.

The Ark’s Prophetic Role

So, what’s the big deal about finding the Ark of the Covenant? Several prophecies indicate that the Ark
will be brought back from Ethiopia in the last days and that act ushers in the Messianic kingdom.

A, Isaiah 18 says, “Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia … All
ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign (i.e., the ark)
on the mountains….In that time shall the present (i.e., the Ark) be brought unto the Lord of hosts to the
place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.” (18:1, 3, 7)

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