Obviously the ark which ‘the Lord’ showed Moses on the sacred mount could not be left out in the open. Perhaps it had to be protected from desert sandstorms, perhaps the very high daytime temperatures were harmful to it, perhaps too, the wandering Israelites were not supposed to know about the mysterious factory which produced their food. At any rate, an ark, a beautifully made chest, was built around it, following the model and instructions given. Therefore the ark of the covenant was not the manna machine, but merely the container in which it was preserved and transported. The two-fold goal was reached. The sensitive machine was protected from both damaging outside influences and inquisitive glances. During long rest periods a tent was erected around ‘the factory’. It was never set up inside the camp, because of the dangerous radioactivity:
‘Now Moses used to take the tent and to pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting.’—Exodus 33:7
Let us keep on the trail of our material evidence. We already know quite a lot about it, including how it worked.
When Sassoon and Dale reconstructed the machine, following the Book of Zohar, they learnt that the ‘Ancient of Days’ indefatigably turned out the glutinous foodstuff, manna, for six consecutive days. A six-day week. The machine was cleaned on the seventh day. This maintenance work was performed by the Levites, who had been instructed by Aaron, Moses’ brother. Aaron had climbed the mount with Moses and had obviously been given a crash course. The ‘Lord’ had instructed him:
‘And the LORD said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest he break forth upon them.’ —Exodus 19:24
What conclusions can be drawn at this stage of the investigation?
the extraterrestrials escorting the wandering people wanted to separate a group from their environment;
the extraterrestrials did not possess a fleet of shuttle craft, otherwise they would have transported their protégés by spaceship;
the extraterrestrials who landed were few in number. When their spaceship touched down on the mount, the Commander expressly ordered Moses to have a fence built round the mountain so that no one could break in:
‘And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze and many of them perish . . . And Moses said unto the LORD, the people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou didst charge us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.’ —Exodus 19:21-13
The small group of extraterrestrials demonstrated their superiority with technological tricks—the pillar of fire that guided the Israelites and the drowning of the Egyptian army; the spaceship’s drive unit emitted burning hot gases and made a terrifying noise:
‘And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.’ —Exodus 19:18
A food-producing machine was unloaded from the spaceship and handed over to Moses and Aaron;
when the machine was transported it was put in a container, the ark;
the machine was carried on a cart yoked to oxen, but cannot have weighed more than 300 kilograms, because it was occasionally carried by men with poles on their shoulders;
people who rashly came too near the ark fell ill, died or were smitten with boils, scales and pustules;
no one knew what was transported in the ark. The people only knew that ‘the Lord’ supplied them with food. The tabernacle in which the ark stood concealed a secret;
the specially trained Levites, wearing protective clothing, looked after its maintenance, but even they did not know what kind of machine it was. They were afraid of it and with good reason, for there were accidents in which priests, too, were killed.
That is as much as we can say at the present stage of our investigation of the ‘Case of the Ark of the Covenant’.
What happened next?
What became of the ark and its mysterious contents?
Where did it end up?
Is it still in existence?
Can we find it again? How?
A monstrosity of that size and weight cannot have vanished into thin air.
Let us continue our tracking.
We can conclude from the description in Exodus that the machine functioned as long as it was serviced regularly. After the return to the promised land it was no longer necessary, for milk and honey flowed there—a change in the monotonous menu at last.
However, there were probably rumours that the homecomers had taken on their trek a strange object that supplied them with food. Industrial espionage began. Every monarch wanted to possess the tireless machine. We have noted the Philistines’ victorious battle against the Israelites and the capture of the machine, which they returned after a series of disasters.
What was the fate of the ark when it was deposited in Beth-shemesh?
It was kept in a hut for at least twenty years:
‘And the men of Kirjath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified his son to keep the ark of the LORD.
And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.’ —I Samuel 7:1-2
Obviously the machine was no longer working; no one bothered about it and it was completely forgotten.
It was Saul, the first king of Israel, who lived about 1000 B.C., who reminded his son-in-law, King David (1013-973 B.C.), about the ark that had aroused so much attention in its day. When David began to take an interest in the mysterious object, it was still in Abinadab’s hut, just as it had been delivered to him. His curiosity was aroused, but it did not occur to him to transfer the ark to a worthy home in the palace he was just having built. Perhaps he was frightened by the hair-raising stories which circulated about it. Perhaps he did not consider the monster important enough to build a special room for it. In any case, it was quite a while before he followed his royal father-in-law’s tip and went with 30,000 men to ‘Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God.’ —II Samuel 6:1
During the removal another spectacular accident happened:
‘And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibea: and Uzza and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart and Ahio went before the ark . . . And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzza put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.’ —II Samuel 6:3-7
A new hint in our search for the machine. It still gave electric shocks after twenty years of disuse! In other words, the mini-reactor was still radiating energy. Very important for our further pursuit of the ark.
Minor mishaps were overcome and the ark and its contents reached Jerusalem safely. King David was so happy about it that he danced for joy. He took off his clothes and leapt about stark naked. The joy of ownership? Or did he hope to please Yahweh so that he would set the machine going again? Did he want to conjure up manna for his people?
Although he was proud of having the ark, David would not agree to keep it in his palace, nor did he have a temple built for it:
‘And they brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it.’ —II Samuel 6:17
Once again the mysterious object was shrouded in silence until David’s successor, King Solomon (about 965-926 B.C.), had the ark placed in the holy of holies, a specially protected room in the temple. There it remained inviolate for more than 300 years of wars and disasters in the kingdom of Israel. During this period of time looters stole precious stones and gold from the temple on at least four occasions, but the ark was untouched. At any rate, it i
s no longer mentioned in the chronicles. Looters also took less precious artefacts than jewels. Had they no idea of the ark’s existence? Were they afraid of its mysterious contents? Had the Israelites hidden it as a highly-prized souvenir of their desert trek? Did no one know where it was? Is that the reason why its traces were obliterated for so long? At all events we can deduce from another passage in the Bible that little importance was attached to it:
‘Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build: it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders.’ —II Chronicles 35:3
It is suspected that the ark got lost during the destruction of Jerusalem (586 B.C.). We must also follow up this hint, however complicated the investigation may be. We must not throw in the sponge too soon.
But first a second progress report:
The machine no longer produced manna.
No one knew how to work it.
In spite of a long time in store, the mini-reactor still functioned. The electric current it produced was strong enough to kill Uzza on the spot when he touched the ark.
Three kings, Saul, David and Solomon were afraid of the ark and concealed it.
With the passage of time the ark lost the religious significance it had had during the journey through the wilderness.
The extraterrestrials had obviously disappeared.
Let us follow the new trail.
During the lifetimes of the prophet Jeremiah (627-585 B.C.) and his contemporary Ezekiel, the extraterrestrials suddenly reappeared. They asked Jeremiah to get rid of the machine, which was still dangerously radioactive.
Jeremiah, one of the great prophets of the Old Testament, was a prickly character. He grew up in the small town of Anathoth, north of Jerusalem, and came from a priestly family. He became most unpopular with his contemporaries, because he railed against idolaters, summoning them to repentance and lashing out at every kind of immorality. In short he held up to the people a mirror in which they reluctantly recognised themselves. Like all prophets, he was also a politician with a flair. He prophesied Israel’s downfall and the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.
It is understandable that Jehoiakim, the king of Judah (608-598 B.C.), took little or no pleasure in Jeremiah’s words. This did not stop him, at the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign, from standing in the forecourt of the temple and making an inflammatory speech in which he hurled his thunderbolts at the congregation. Jeremiah was an awkward customer and so people tried to lay traps for him and silence him completely.
In the midst of all this intrigue, the astute Jeremiah had a bright idea. In 605 B.C. he got his pupil Baruch to write down his words and spread them abroad. A year later, during a religious fast, Baruch read Jeremiah’s words to the people assembled in the temple. The officials foamed with rage and spoke of incitement to rebellion against king Jehoiakim. They took Baruch’s rolls from him and gave them to the king. He was equally angry, cut up the rolls with a knife and threw the pieces into the fire.
From then on, Jeremiah and Baruch had to go undercover.
The prophets did not confine themselves to religious themes.
They were out and out politicians and demagogues. When they spoke, they attacked topics of current political interest. And how! They were masters of rhetoric and knew when the people were ready to kick against the pricks.
King Jehoiakim and later King Zedekiah were looked on as Egyptian vassals. Jeremiah, however, was on the side of the Chaldeans (Babylonians) and therefore anti-Egyptian. Jehoiakim and Zedekiah allowed heathen customs which were on the increase in Israel. Jeremiah was outspoken about this immorality. He might easily have incited his fellow-countrymen to rebellion, for the Israelites had to pay tribute in those days. The Israelite king saw his chance, made an alliance with the Egyptians and suspended reparation payments.
Nebuchadnezzar II, king of the Chaldeans (605-562 B.C.), would not put up with this insult. He sent an army from Syria to besiege Jerusalem, which he captured in 597 B.C.
In these dire straits, Zedekiah sent a messenger to the hated Jeremiah. He had no comfort for the king, only the disheartening advice to submit unconditionally to the Babylonians.
An Egyptian army appeared as if by magic and took a hand in the battle. Suddenly the Babylonians had to defend themselves against both the Israelites and the Egyptians. Superficially it looked as if the wily Jeremiah had erred badly in his prognosis, but only superficially, for the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians decisively and went back to besiege Jerusalem.
At no time in history have rulers been happy when an outsider proves right. Methods of punishment differed, but punished they always were. Either they or their reputations were destroyed. Jeremiah’s enemies at court persuaded Zedekiah to kill him. The king had the prophet and politician lowered into a deep dungeon, the bottom of which was full of deep noxious mud. The troublesome prophet was left there to starve to death.
In any good crime story the ‘hero’ is always saved at the last minute in some unexpected way. Jeremiah had the same good fortune!
One of King Zedekiah’s advisers was a young Ethiopian called Ebed-melech. Thanks to his enormous influence over the monarch, he managed to get the starving and freezing Jeremiah pulled up out of the dungeon.9
Jerusalem did not last long. The Babylonians breached the city walls; King Zedekiah was taken prisoner and his eyes were put out, 10,000 Israelites went into exile . . .
‘. . . all the army leaders and men who could bear arms, and the locksmiths and smiths, only the lowly remained behind. The temple and royal palace treasures were also taken to Babylon, and Solomon’s golden vessels were broken up in the temple itself.’10
At last Jeremiah regained his freedom!
But the question remains: where was the ark of the covenant? Criminal cases like this are not easy to solve. You have to follow many trails before you find the right one. So even if we may have to make detours, we must stay on the trail of our super machine.
Let us take a shift in time.
Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in 597 B.C. His son Belshazzar ruled about the middle of the sixth century B.C. And then a mysterious thing happened.
King Belshazzar had invited 1000 guests to a great feast. In a bacchanalian mood, he ordered the gold and silver vessels which his father had taken from Jerusalem to be filled and carried into the hall, amid great exultation. Drunk with the sweet wine, the boisterous guests grabbed at the sacred objects. Great fun, that idea of Belshazzar’s!
In the midst of the merrymaking a shudder ran down his spine. Suddenly a finger appeared in the smoky darkness of the hall and began to write on the wall:
‘They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers . . .
And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN (numbered, weighed, found wanting). In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.’ —Daniel 5:4-7 and 25-30
All we can deduce from this event is that the sacred vessels from the temple had magic powers. There is no mention of the ark of the covenant.
Let us take a closer look at Jeremiah. There is something that does not tally.
As his scribe Baruch11 related, his master was clearly warned by a certain angel of the all-highest before the onslaught of the Babylonian army. This angel, who obviously knew what was going to happen, ordered Jeremiah to hide the sacred vessels given to Moses by the Lord from the Babylonians who would attack sooner or later. In other words, the angel was not interested in the vessels which Belshazzar later had carried into t
he feast, the salvers, chalices and lamps, but in the artefacts entrusted to Moses during the journey through the wilderness. Among these, of course, was the ark of the covenant, together with its manna-making machine!
Jeremiah, who realised the seriousness of the situation, called in strong men, including his Ethiopian friend Ebed-melech. Together they carried out a commando raid unnoticed by the people of the city, removed the objects and hid them in a cave. It is a fact that the ark of the covenant did not fall into the hands of the Babylonians, but it did vanish without a trace. No more is said about it in the canonical biblical texts approved by the Church.12
The only hints we have are in the Apocrypha, the scriptures that were kept secret. The Apocrypha are not accepted into the biblical canon by Christians, although they correspond to the ‘official’ texts in arrangement and content. The Second Book of Maccabees is such an apocryphical book and in it we read:
Signs of the Gods? Page 2
