At the conclusion of the seventh trumpet, God’s temple in heaven was opened and John saw the ark of his covenant (Rev 11:19). Greg Beale suggested the seventh trumpet was model on the Song of Moses (Exod 15:13-18). If this is the case, then the opening of the temple and appearance of the ark of the covenant would recall God’s glory revealed at Mount Sinai.
Beale suggests this allusion based on 11:18, “the nations raged” (ἔθνη … ὠργίσθησαν). The words are the same in the Septuagint translation of Exodus 15:14 (Revelation, 618). The conclusion to the song of Moses describes God leading Israel out of Egypt and planting them on his own mountain, the place, O LORD, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established” (Exod 15:17), following by the statement “the Lord will reign forever and ever” (cf. Rev 11:15). The “flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail: would also be consistent with an allusion to Mount Sinai (Exod 19:16).
This passage may also reflect the “entrance liturgy of Psalm 24. This psalm celebrates the return of the presence of the Lord represented by the ark. Seow suggests it was “sung antiphonally, with those who led the procession and the ‘gatekeepers of the ark’” (cf. 1 Chr 15:23-24; ABD 1: 387). Verses 7-9 call on the gates and doors of the temple to open as the mighty warrior Yahweh returns to his temple. The difference is the Lord is leaving his heavenly temple, presumably to execute the final judgment at the end of the great tribulation since the kingdom of the Lord and of his messiah has come (Rev 11:15).
In the ancient world, temple doors opening by themselves were considered to be sign from the gods (Aune 2:676). Aune reports a Talmudic tradition that for forty years before the destruction of the temple the doors of the temple would open by themselves (b. Yoma 39b). in the context of First Jewish War with Rome, Tacitus lists shrine doors suddenly opening as a prodigy:
Tacitus, Hist. 5.13 Contending hosts were seen meeting in the skies, arms flashed, and suddenly the temple was illumined with fire from the clouds. Of a sudden the doors of the shrine opened and a superhuman voice cried: “The gods are departing”: at the same moment the mighty stir of their going was heard (trans. Clifford H. Moore and John Jackson, LCL 2:197–199).
The most intriguing feature of this verse is the sudden appearance of the “ark of his covenant.” After the ark is installed in the Temple (1 Kings 8), there is little reference to it in the rest of the Old Testament. Ezekiel’s temple does not mention the tables and lampstands, let alone the ark. The ark is only mentioned in this passage Hebrews 9:3-5 in the New Testament.
What happened to the original ark of the covenant? There are a number of suggestions. There is a tradition it was hidden by Josiah (b. Yoma 52b), or Jeremiah. In 4 Baruch (Paraleipomena Jeremiou) Jeremiah asks the Lord what to do about the items used in the temple service before Babylon destroys Jerusalem. The Lord tells Jeremiah to hide them until the coming of the “beloved one”:
4 Baruch 3.10–11 Take them and deliver them to the earth, saying, ‘Hear, earth, the voice of him who created you, who formed you in the abundance of the waters, who sealed you with seven seals in seven periods (of time), and after these things you will receive your fruitful season. 11 Guard the vessels of the (Temple) service until the coming of the beloved one.
In 2 Baruch 6.7 Baruch sees an angel rescue the temple items, including the mercy seat. The angel commands the earth to guard these items until Jerusalem is destroyed:
2 Baruch 6.7 And I saw that he descended in the Holy of Holies and that he took from there the veil, the holy ephod, the mercy seat, the two tables, the holy raiment of the priests, the altar of incense, the forty-eight precious stones with which the priests were clothed, and all the holy vessels of the tabernacle. 8 And he said to the earth with a loud voice: Earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the mighty God, and receive the things which I commit to you, and guard them until the last times, so that you may restore them when you are ordered, so that strangers may not get possession of them. 9 For the time has arrived when Jerusalem will also be delivered up for a time, until the moment that it will be said that it will be restored forever. And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up.
As intriguing as speculation of where the ark went before the destruction of the temple in 586 BC, there is almost nothing in the Bible about the Lord rescuing it or a prophet hiding it in Jerusalem (or Ethiopia, or Washington DC). In Revelation 11:19 the point is to show the Lord has left his sanctuary in heaven and is about to render judgment on the nations who rage against his wrath.
Bibliography: M. Haran, “The Disappearance of the Ark,” IEJ 13 (1963): 46–58.
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
In Revelation 11:19 it explains that God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of the covenant was seen inside the temple. Flashes of lightning, rumblings, thunder, an earthquake, and even heavy hail broke out and this is also an allusion to Mount Sinai. This would be something cool to be able to visually and physically be there for. I think it is interesting that in the “ancient world when the temple doors would open by themselves it would be considered a sign from the gods (P. Long). There are different contexts of the doors opening and I think that it is interesting that that Tacitus says that when the doors are opening that means the gods are departing. There are many different views and thoughts about the ark of the covenant on where it when before the temple was destructed. I like how P Long sums up the blog post by saying that “the point of Revelation 11:19 is to show that Jesus has left His sanctuary in Heaven and is about to surrender judgment on the nations who rage against his wrath.” I think it is interesting that there are many different views on the ark of the covenant and what happened to it but I also think that we need to remember what the main focus is in this passage.
When the Temple was built on earth by earthly hands, it was revered as holy and divine. There were very specific, careful instructions that were given to build the Temple. In fact, it took 46 years to finish, as the Pharisees told Jesus in John 2:20. The reason for the meticulous care and time that was lavished on building the Temple was because it became God’s dwelling place on earth. In the Holies of Holies, Yahweh’s presence dwelled with the Ark of the Covenant. However, later in history after Jesus ascended, leaving us the Holy Spirit, the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Ark was carried off. In Revelation it speaks of the Temple in Heaven where God again dwells like we see in the Old and New Testaments. It is interesting that just as God left the earthly Temple and the Ark was removed, God in the end of times will once more leave His holy dwelling place, this time to pronounce judgement upon all nations.
In John’s vision, he sees the Ark of the Covenant. Beale has some interesting thoughts on what this trumpet and the unveiling of the Ark of the Covenant means. He thinks that if the seventh trumpet is meant to bring back to mind Moses’ song, then this trumpet is a reminder of how God’s glory was displayed upon Mount Sinai. If this is true then, this is somewhat of a continued promise displayed. Just as God led his people out of Egypt to the Promised Land, so will he restore His people from slavery and deliver them into their own Promised Land. I would also say that the appearing of the Ark of the Covenant could also mean for the people to remember God’s faithful delivery of His people in the past. It is interesting that the Ark of the Covenant would show up again, as the OT doesn’t specifically say what happened to it. Dr. Long in this article included a few passages from 2 and 4 Baruch that sheds some light on this, but the Bible itself doesn’t answer this question. His comment about how it wasn’t probably hidden in Ethiopia or Washington D.C. is funny (maybe it’s in Area 51? Haha). For all we know, it could be where they “found” Noah’s Ark in Turkey. All jokes aside, I also found the information about the ancient meanings of temple doors opening to be interesting. They felt as if it was the gods trying to tell them something. It reminds me of how the veil in the Temple was torn in two when Jesus died. In this passage, God will open His temple’s door and come down to earth to judge the wicked.
In Revelation 11:19, we see that at the conclusion of the seventh trumpet, God’s temple in heaven was opened, and John saw the ark of his covenant. The ark of the covenant has to do with God’s glory, which was revealed at Mount Sinai. Living in an evil world, we see earthquakes, heavy hail, and thunderstorms, which are compared to what happened on Mount Sinai (Dr. Long, 2020). “Following their departure, an earthquake occurs, destroying a tenth of the city and killing seven thousand people; those who survived are terrified and worship God” (11:13) (Blackwell et al., 2019, p.103). These events are taking place because God’s kingdom is drawing near, and He will soon arrive on earth. After the great tribulation, God is departing from His holy temple to carry out the last judgment. (Dr. Long). It’s amazing to see the doors of the temple open by themselves before the destruction. The ark represented the presence of God in the Old Testament. In Hebrews 9:4, it says, “having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.” The reason for the ark of the covenant was that before Babylon destroys Jerusalem, ask the Lord what should happen to the objects used in the temple ceremony. Dr. Long (2020) demonstrates that 4 Baruch 3.10–11 says, “Take them and deliver them to the earth, saying, ‘Hear, earth, the voice of him who created you, who formed you in the abundance of the waters, who sealed you with seven seals in seven periods (of time), and after these things you will receive your fruitful season”.
I think the most likely explanation of the disappearance of the Ark of the Covenant is that it was taken during one of the exiles or occupations of Israel, and since the occupying force would not see it as sacred, lost to their many plunders and treasure houses. The Ark in Revelation, then, is more of a spiritual Ark. We see the idea throughout scripture of a physical reality being a representation of a spiritual reality. The OT Law sacrifices, for example, are physical signs that the Lord was covering over the sins of Israel, so that they would not be under His wrath. Later, the physical church established at Pentecost is a representation and visible sign of the spiritual church, that being all believers across the globe. The Ark seen in Revelation is sort of the reverse: the spiritual Ark is a representation of the meaning of the physical Ark, where God settled His presence. It is to show that God’s presence will be evident after the seventh trumpet is blown.
The mention of the “ark of his covenant” here is fascinating given that by John’s time, the ark as we know it is one of the old creation and perhaps destroyed by this period in history. Is this the same ark of acacia wood as mentioned in Exodus 25:10? Long (2020) himself writes that “After the ark is installed in the Temple (1 Kings 1:8), there is little reference to it in the rest of the Old Testament. Ezekiel’s temple does not mention the tables and lampstands, let alone the ark. The only instance of mention in the New Testament is Hebrews 9:3-5. I agree with Keith Meyers on this point – the ark likely points to a spiritual reality. According to 2 Maccabees 2:4-5, “These same records also tell us that Jeremiah, acting under divine guidance, commanded the Tent of the Lord’s Presence and the Covenant Box to follow him to the mountain where Moses had looked down on the land which God had promised our people. When Jeremiah got to the mountain, he found a huge cave and there he hid the Tent of the Lord’s Presence, the Covenant Box, and the altar of incense. Then he sealed up the entrance.” This is the same reality alluded to in 4 Baruch 3:10-11. The prophet Jeremiah hid the ark just before the final siege of Jerusalem where it is supposed to still be hidden. There are several other competing theories about what happened to the ark but no one surely knows. The Maccabees account appears to be the most credible. In any case, there are two possibilities about the ultimate fate of the earthly ark originally constructed by Moses during the Exodus: (1) It remains hidden somewhere, or (2) it was captured by one of the invading armies and later destroyed. Herein is the earthly ark of the covenant that was a representation of the heavenly (Ex 25:9, 40, 26:30; Acts 7:44; Heb 8:5). Whether this earthly ark was a copy of the actual or some kind of symbolic representation is not clear; yet, the heavenly ark would have been grander and not part of this earthly creation (Heb 9:11). Thus, the ark seen Rev 11:19 was either the actual heavenly ark in the heavenly temple or a symbolic representation of it. In either case, it was not the actual earthly ark of the covenant.
In any case, Long (2020) centers on the point of Revelation 11:19, “To show the Lord has left his sanctuary in heaven and is about to render judgment on the nations who rage against his wrath.” What is most likely in light here is John peering into God’s temple in heaven, “prepared to receive visions that expose the deepest perspective on the church’s spiritual conflict” (Johnson, 2008, p. 2479). Revelation’s theology is theocentric, presenting God as the almighty one in control of all things (Hood, 2016).
Hint: The ark is hidden in Grand Rapids. The Mormons told me.