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The Glory Has Departed: The Great Levitical Deception

The singular and exceptional events leading to and including the crucifixion Our LORD Jesus Christ at Calvary are unmatched for their accomplishment. The bloody scourging upon his back purchased healing for all whom He came to seek and to save. The Sinless Lamb’s death was the crowning achievement of the Atonement for the sin of Adam’s race. httAt the very moment when He cried, “IT IS FINISHED” and yielded His spirit up to the Father, there was one final and most incredible supernatural event. The massive, multi-layered, extremely thick and heavy woven fabric veil, separating the Most Holy Place from the rest of the Temple, was torn from top to bottom. Thus the greatest religious deception in ancient history was revealed in one Divine Masterstroke: The Most Holy Place was EMPTY. No Ark . . . No Mercy Seat!

Had this been a modern-day event, it may have been reported like this:

Ichabod: Possible Temple Fraud Revealed At Crucifixion Death

Exclusive to the Torah Times News Service

JERUSALEM (TTNS) – At the climax of a stunning series of events today, just outside of the city, a major hoax was uncovered which threatens popular religious leadership here.

Members of the Sanhedrin were seen fleeing from the Temple mount in panic and horror amidst a sudden violent thunderstorm and localized severe earthquake. The abrupt weather change appeared to be triggered by the crucifixion death of one Jesus who was called the Christ and “King of the Jews”.

Details are still being reported as we go to press. Caiaphas, Chief High Priest and presiding officer of the Sanhedrin, could not be reached for comment. Messengers dispatched to his residence report seeing members of the high council, including Caiaphas’ father Annas, entering in haste. None of them would make any statement.

The scene at the Temple Mount is near riot stage which has the Roman authorities on high alert. Apparently the disturbance is centered around reports of a possible theft. The centerpiece of Temple worship, known as the Ark of The Covenant or the Ark of The Testimony, is reported missing from its customary resting place within the Most Holy Place.

The present status and whereabouts of the Ark remain unknown. On condition of anonymity, one highly-placed Temple officer on the scene claims that the Ark was never brought into this Temple.

A more complete report will follow the press conference scheduled for late today..

Contributing to this story: The Associated Scribes

The Glory Is Departed From Israel

There is ample evidence to support the contention that the Ark was never placed into the rebuilt Temple:

In First Samuel Chapter 4, a series of tragic events begins when the Ark is captured by the Philistines (although it is later returned following a long absence). Thirty thousand Israelites are slain in the process. Amidst all the death and destruction, a child is born whose name has powerful prophetic significance.

10 “And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
11 And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.
12 And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head.
13 And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.
14 And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli.
15 Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see.
16 And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?
17 And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.
18 And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.
19 And his daughter in law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her.
20 And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast borne a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.
21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband.
22 And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.” (Emphasis added)

A careful reading of these events, especially regarding the last two verses, points to a foreshadowing of the later absence of the Ark from the rebuilt temple(s).

The Vital Importance of The Ark

The Ark of The Covenant was the absolute centerpiece of the original Levitical system of sacrifice. It was commanded to be properly placed in both the Tabernacle and Temple modes of worship:

“And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.” – Exodus 26:34

“And thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.” – Exodus 30:6

The Ark was built carefully upon the heavenly pattern shown to Moses upon Mount Sinai. At various times, the Ark contained the “Testimony” (the tablets of the Law received by Moses on the Mount), a golden pot of manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the book of the Law transcribed by Moses. With its crowning Mercy Seat, the Ark was the very point upon which God’s Presence would rest:

“And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.”– Exodus 25:21-22 (Emphasis added)

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.” – Leviticus 16:2 (Emphasis added)

“And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.” – Numbers 7:89 (Emphasis added)

The Ark was the focal point of worship, both in the Tabernacle and in the Temple of Solomon. It was also prominently featured at the sovereign destruction of Jericho. The properly covered Ark was carried at the forefront of the Israelite nation as they journeyed from place to place, going toward Canaan.

King David greatly rejoiced when the Ark was finally returned after having been captured by the Philistines. He set it in a tabernacle on Mount Zion, also known as the city of David. Although David desired to build a Temple to give the Ark a permanent home, his son Solomon accomplished the building early in his reign. The Ark was brought into the new Temple with great and solemn ceremony, as King Solomon prayed:

40 “Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
41 Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.
42 O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.
7:1 Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.
2 And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD'S house.
3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD.” – 2 Chronicles 17:40 - 18:4

Throughout Israel’s early history, the Ark was a unique artifact which was identified with that nation alone.

The Ark is Forgotten and Forsaken

The final mention of the Ark of The Covenant in the "Old Testament" is found in the third chapter of Jeremiah:
14 "Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.
17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.
18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers." – Jeremiah 3:14-18 (Emphasis added)
Jeremiah was the last of the Old Testament prophets who was commissioned to the House of Judah. Judah would shortly be taken into the 70-year Babylonian captivity. This passage actually describes the departure of the Ark, even from their remembrance!

The Ark Disappears From The Nation

The consecrated “VESSELS” of the house of the LORD are mentioned, beginning in Exodus and continuing through Leviticus, Numbers, Joshua, First and Second Samuel, First and Second Kings, First and Second Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel.
We can find no mention of the Ark – certainly a singularly important part of both the Tabernacle and the Temple furnishings – returning to the rebuilt Temple(s). The following is a typical passage concerning the dedicated vessels, from Second Chronicles 36:

10 “And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD.
13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.
14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:
16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.
18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.
19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof." – 2 Chronicles 36:10-19 (Emphasis added)

Verse 19 makes it clear that “all the goodly vessels” were burned and destroyed.

The Levitical Order is Completely Corrupted

Since there is no mention of the Ark returning to the rebuilt Temple(s), what is there in the Scriptures to indicate that it was ever returned? Certainly such an important Tabernacle/Temple feature would figure prominently in the continuing Levitical sacrificial system . . . however, following the Babylonian captivity, the religious leadership had been thoroughly corrupted. By adulteration (mixture), the Torah/Hebrew Scriptures were mixed with the pagan religious practices of Babylon. It appears that this developed out of the ever-popular "let's go along to get along" mentality.

The original Levitical rites and methods, so carefully outlined in the Torah, would have also been completely compromised to accommodate the pagan religious philosophy which would morph into what is known as the Babylonian Talmud: “. . . having a form of godliness, but denying [lacking] the power thereof.” (2 Timothy 3:5).

The Degeneration of Truth Destroys The Testimony

This seventy years of captivity would have spanned nearly two full 40-year Biblical generations, plenty of time for an entire substitute religious order to be instituted. If the first generation receives the Truth directly, the second generation receives it indirectly by testimony, the third generation is dependent in large part upon the validity of the testimony in comparison with the original Truth. Add the influence of a totally pagan environment, and corruption is inevitable.

Most of those returning in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah to rebuild the Temple destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar had already been well steeped in the Talmudic philosophy. The inconvenience of not having the Ark seemed to make no difference, as reflected in this passage found on a jewish website:

"As glorious and elaborate as the Temple was, its most important room contained almost no furniture at all. Known as the Holy of Holies (Kodesh Kodashim), it housed the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. Unfortunately, the tablets disappeared when the Babylonians destroyed the Temple, and during the Second Temple era, the Holy of Holies was a small, entirely bare room. Only once a year, on Yom Kippur the High Priest would enter this room and pray to God on Israel's behalf." (emphasis mine)

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/The_Temple.html (the 8th paragraph)

Yes, this is an "extra-Biblical" source indeed, but it certainly points to the ignorance, or at least the indifference which the modern jews seem to have toward this pivotal article of Temple furnishings, with no mention of the Ark in the entire article!
No Ark . . . No Mercy Seat . . . No PRESENCE!

Wouldn't it be Biblically logical that Yah would not desire to be any party to a fraud perpetrated in His Name, as Talmudic Judaism certainly is! If there is no Ark, there is no Mercy Seat, there is NO PRESENCE of God!

he Bible's Greatest Prophet, The LORD Yeshua, Jesus The Christ Himself, proclaimed while overlooking the city of Jerusalem: "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." (Both in St. Matthew 23 and in St. Luke 13). The Hebrew word for "desolate" is "ichabod": the glory of the LORD is departed. The fraud was hereby prophesied by The Savior before He exposed it, at the moment of His death on the cross.

The process of the departure of God's glory from the nation is described in Ezekiel, beginning with Ezekiel 1:28 and concluding in Ezekiel 11:23:
"And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city."
From this point forward, we can only find prophecies of a glory to be restored at some future point in history.

The Tearing of The Veil: His Flesh and The Curtain

The stark significance of the thick Temple veil being ". . . rent in twain from the top to the bottom" (St. Mark 15:38) cannot be ignored or discounted. The "veil" of His Own flesh was torn asunder at the scourging and upon the cross. And in one masterful stroke, the veil which separated the "Holy Place" from the "Most Holy Place" was torn in two by the Hand of Yahweh God Himself, from the top to the bottom.

The tearing of the Temple veil accomplished two significant tasks:

1) It forever opened the way into the "Most Holy Place", where we boldly enter in "By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the [tearing of the] veil, that is to say, his flesh; . . ." (Hebrews 10:20), and

2) The web of deceit had been perpetrated and perpetuated by the corrupted Talmudic "Levitical" system. This perversion was obviously no longer even remotely related to the true Mosaic Levitical system. And now, finally and completely, the fraud exposed for all time and for all to plainly see.

Imagine the collective GASP! which resulted from the visceral shock of anticipation at the moment when the veil was torn! There had to be great fear of what powerful force might emanate from that mysterious room. When the completely empty room was exposed for the sham that it was, the shock must have turned to utter disgust and contempt for the religious system which held – and yet today holds many – in absolute bondage and blindness!

The Temple is Opened For Full Redemption!

Revelation 11:19: "And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail."

The temple was opened . . . both the earthly temple and the heavenly Temple were opened!

In the earthly temple, the innermost room was plainly empty, void of any glory or holiness. Is it possibly this experience – in His flesh – that actually prompted the Savior's visceral howl? The deepest cry of His innermost being is recorded in that great psalm of the suffering servant, Psalm 22, as well as in both St. Matthew 27 and St. Mark 15: "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

Both Sts. Matthew and Mark record the sovereign act of the tearing of the temple veil from top to bottom. Yet only St. John records the final known utterance of Jesus Christ before he died, "It is finished"!

The heavenly Temple is the everlasting living embodiment of Jesus Christ, Israel's Eternal Redeemer. The opening of this Temple reveals the heavenly Ark of God's Presence, the very pattern upon which the earthly ark was built! At the very center of God's innermost being is the seat of His Mercy!
“There were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail . . . “

The earthly temple of His flesh was torn asunder when He commended His spirit unto the Father. At that same point in time, the veil of the Most Holy Place in the temple on Mt. Moriah was being divinely torn from top to bottom. Both St. Matthew and St. Mark report that " . . . there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour." Only St. Matthew adds this detail: ". . . the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; . . ."

We can logically speculate that this display was accompanied by lightning and thunder, perhaps with some great hail as well? And there were voices:
“And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” – St. Matthew 27:52-53

The heavenly Ark appears again because it always was! No wonder Moses' face radiated from the glory when he saw the seat of His Mercy while on Mt. Sinai! The power which is present there is greater than that of a thousand suns! It transcends all time and space, had no beginning and will certainly have no end! This is the very image of the eternal Godhead, embodied in the Person of Jesus Yeshua The Christ!