Page 84 - Eschatology - Student Ebook

colleges in Jerusalem have trained more than 500 young Jewish men who are descended from the tribe
of Levi to fulfill the duties of Temple worship and sacrifice.

The Ark of the Covenant. John, in Revelation 11:19 says that the Ark
of the Covenant will reside in the future Temple. The Ark of the
Covenant was the item in the Temple located in the Holy of Holies
where the high priest sprinkled the blood of a sacrifice once per year
for the sins of the people. It was the thrown of God on earth – the
place where God’s Divine Presence would dwell continually. It was 45
x 27 X 27 inches, composed of acacia wood and covered inside and out
with pure gold. Inside the Ark was placed the Ten Commandments, some manna, and Aaron’s rod.

The Ark disappeared more than 3000 years ago, during the reign of Solomon. A number of prophecies
indicate that the ark will be returned to Israel and will play a key role in the Third Temple in the last days
(see Isaiah 18, Jeremiah 3:15-16, Zephaniah 3:9-10).

Do we know what happened to the Ark of the Covenant?

Not positively. But we have two good guesses:

1. When the Queen of Sheba (who was Queen of Ethiopia) came to visit, Solomon fell in love with her
and married her. They had a child named Prince Menelik I and he was raised in the Temple by the
priests. He loved the Lord and was an ardent follower of the law. At age 19 his mother died, so he
had to return to Ethiopia. Solomon, knowing his son would never return to Israel, constructed a
replica Ark so that Menelik could worship in his country, but the night before he was to leave,
Menelik switched Arks. The real Ark was transported to Aksum, a city in northern Ethiopia.
Eventually it 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.

For the centuries, the royal line of Menelik has ruled Ethiopia until 950 AD, when a Muslim invasion
brought them power. 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

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