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All right. Amen. Sorry for the confusion. It's always like that when sickness goes around. So we're going to try to get through this here this evening as smoothly as possible. So all right, you're in first Samuel chapter number four. Now what we're going to do this evening is we're going to talk about the Ark of the Covenant and I titled the sermon Behind the Veil. Okay, Behind the Veil. Now you're in first Samuel chapter number four. Keep your place there. But go to the New Testament, if you would, and go to Matthew chapter number 27. Matthew chapter number 27. I'll show you real quickly why I titled this Behind the Veil. So on Sundays we've been talking a lot about prophecy. Sunday mornings we've been going through the book of Matthew. And one of the things that I briefly mentioned a couple weeks ago was the Ark of the Covenant and how some people think that it's coming back and there's a lot of weird theories and stuff like that that are out there about the Ark of the Covenant. I just want to make sure that our church is aware of what the Bible teaches about the Ark of the Covenant that God had told the children of Israel to make. But okay, I'm going to read for you one verse here, Matthew 27 verse 51 and then we're going to come back to it at the end of the sermon. So a lot of different places for you to keep your bookmarks and fingers in this evening. Matthew chapter 27. Look at verse number 51. So the Bible says, Behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom and the earth did quake and the rocks rent. And so when God tore, supernaturally tore this veil in half, the question I have is what was behind it and what does that picture represent? What does that mean for us? So again, leave your place there and if you would actually go to Exodus chapter number 25. Exodus chapter number 25. So this evening, like I said, we're going to be talking about the Ark of the Covenant. We're going to answer several questions. What is the Ark of the Covenant? What happened to it? What did it create? Where is it today? And I'm going to talk a little bit about this individual named Ron Wyatt. Okay, Ron Wyatt. Who's ever heard of Ron Wyatt? So Ron Wyatt is a guy apparently who discovered the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah claims to have found a lot of the Egyptian chariots and axles and wheels and things like that under the Red Sea. And he claims to have found the Ark of the Covenant. He also claims, like I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago, claims to have video of it stashed in a secret place. It's a safe place. And he also claims that he's had the blood of Christ tested and verified. And I'll just come right out and say, I don't believe this guy. The guy was the Seventh-day Adventist. Okay, I don't believe false prophets. I don't believe those types of people when they say things. Now you might say, well, a broken clock is right twice a day. That's cool, but it's still broken. Okay. Just keep that in memory. All right. So you're in Exodus chapter number 25. Now we're not going to read all of the details. I'm not going to get into all the cubits and dimensions and things like that regarding the Ark of the Covenant, but let's just talk about the purpose of it and basically what it was. Okay. So after God rescues the children of Israel from Egypt and he's in the process of guiding them to the promised land, he is going to basically establish a tabernacle. Now the tabernacle was a portable tent. Now this was prior to Solomon's temple. Okay. And this tabernacle would basically house what's called the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant was a chest. Okay. It was a large box. And what's interesting is it was overlaid with pure gold. Okay. On the outside, on the inside, and on the top of the lid was what's called the mercy seat. Okay. And on top of the mercy seat, there were two cherubim on top where the wings are stretched out. And surrounding the Ark of the Covenant was a crown molding. Okay. And you can probably already tell what that represents. It represents Jesus Christ. And there's a lot of symbology and a lot that the Ark of the Covenant teaches us. Now inside of the Ark of the Covenant was the two tablets that God had given Moses, the Ten Commandments, the testimony of God. Later you would find Aaron's rod that budded. And you would also find a pot of manna or a little bowl, I guess you could say of manna. Okay. And we'll talk about what those three things mean. Now you're in Exodus chapter number 25. Look at verse number eight. So the Bible says this, Exodus 25 verse eight, it says, and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. Okay. So we'll stop right there. Now after all of this was set up, the tabernacle, after the Ark was completed, the tablets were put inside, the rods were put through both sides. So basically it was to be transported by these rods, which were overlaid in gold also. And there was one family of Levites that were basically able to transport it. Nobody else could transport it. And that was the family of the Kohathites. And it says in the Bible in another place that basically let the family of the Kohathites never disappear from the face of the earth. Okay. So you can tell by that statement how serious their job was. Now, if they didn't follow the protocol that's laid out for properly preparing the Ark to move, okay, when they had to go move this, what they would do is they would cover it in badger scans and then it would get a blue, I guess we'll just call it a covering or a blanket. They would go over it and they would do all of these different things and they would pick up the tabernacle, pick up the Ark of the Covenant and they would transport. And with that in mind, look at verse number nine. Okay. So it says this, so God says that he's going to build this, that I may dwell among them. And he says, according to all that I show thee after the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it. Now, when this was all complete, okay, all 12 tribes of Israel, they would basically position themselves with the Ark of the Covenant in the center. That's how their encampment was originally laid out. And of course, what does that mean? Well, that's a picture of the fact that God would dwell among his people, that God would be the center. It's the same thing for us today. The Holy Ghost indwells the believer. He is inside of us. Okay. That is what that pictures here. Now look at verse number 10. It says they shall make an Ark of Shittimwood and I'm not cussing. Okay. I checked Alexander Scorby. That's how he says it. That's how I'm saying it. It says two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof and a cubit and half the height thereof. And then verse 11 says, and now shall overlay it with pure gold. Okay. And so there was a process to get this gold as pure as possible. And that's going to be important for you here in a little bit. So he says, and now shall overlay it with pure gold within and without. Okay. So that's what I said at the beginning. So inside of it and on the out side of it. And then it says this, and shall make upon it a crown of gold round about. And then verse 12 talks about the rings. Then he gets into the staves or what we would call the rods. And it just basically describes the process of completing the building of this art. Now in a very basic way, I guess you could say this is what represented God's presence amongst the children of Israel, the 12 tribes of Israel. So let's back up here for a second. Okay. There's actually three arcs besides the one that's obviously in heaven, but that are mentioned in the Old Testament. Okay. So you have Noah's arc and then you have the arc that Moses was placed into. And then of course the arc of the covenant that you're reading about here. Now we're going to just kind of, I'm just going to kind of walk you a little bit forward in history. So after this point here, this all gets completed and there's a lot of details. I mean, we'd have to really go through the entire book to get you a full, complete picture. So make sure you guys read this, study this on your own time so you can get that good mental clarity and that mental picture of all the work that it took to go in to this arc. And I think it'll be very beneficial for you, but let me also just say this. Another important reason to know and understand these things is because most of the people out in this town and community, when you bring up the word arc, their mind automatically goes to Raiders of the Lost Arc. It is Hollywood. Okay. We don't want to be like that. We want to understand what the Bible says, what the Bible teaches about this thing, because I think it's very important for us to understand. So, okay. After this here, you know the story. Okay. A whole generation gets bitter. They get, you know, they get chastised by God. Basically they go wander in the wilderness for 40 years and everybody in that generation dies. However, Joshua and Caleb, those two actually get to go in and see the promised land. And some interesting things that you'll find in the book of Joshua about the arc of the covenant is in chapter number three that it says that the Levites bear up or the Kohathites, they bear up the arc of the covenant. They go down to the Jordan and what happens? God parts the Jordan and kind of, you know, that's a lot similar to what happened in Exodus prior when God split the Red Sea and the children of Israel walked across on dry land. You fast forward to Joshua chapter number six. What do you see? Well, you see the arc of the covenant being carried around Jericho. Okay. It gets carried around Jericho. What happens? The city eventually falls with the sound of a trumpet. So I'm bringing that up just to kind of show you that this arc here was not only, it didn't only represent God's presence, but in a way it was a weapon to the world. It was a weapon to the enemy. And you're also going to see that it could become a weapon to God's people. And you'll see that here in chapter four in a little while. And you say, well, how can that be possible? Okay. Well, it's possible because God's not a respecter of person. If you mishandle the word of God, you mistreat the word of God, which is another thing that the arc represents because inside of it is the word of God, then guess what? You will get destroyed as well on some level. Okay. So let's go back and talk about what the arc represents. So I mentioned three arcs just a few minutes ago. Okay. You've got Noah's arc. Okay. You read the story about Noah's arc. What do you find? God tells Noah to basically slab, basically cover the arc in pitch. So he's supposed to seal it in pitch. Okay. Now, what did the arc do? Well, the arc preserved life. The arc saved life. So Noah and his families got on the arc, obviously with animals two by two of various kinds and life was preserved while destruction happened to the world. Now you fast forward to Exodus chapter number two, and you read the beginning of the life of Moses. How during the time that Moses was born, the Egyptians were like, hey, you know, these Hebrews are getting too strong. There's too many of them. You know, we need to go ahead and implement some, some planned heritage here. We need to get rid of the babies. Okay. There's nothing new under the sun. And so of course, Moses' parents being, I would say people after God's own heart, they said, you know, we don't want to just kill our son or just give them up into the wild. They had faith in God. And so they built a little arc, the Bible says, and surrounded that with pitch. So what does that represent? Well, kind of like Noah's arc that represent the preservation of life because it saved Noah's life. Okay. Now back to the arc of the covenant. Now the arc of the covenant wasn't overlaid or, or, covered in pitch, but it was covered in what? Pure gold. Now, again, what was inside of the arc of the covenant? Well, the testimony of God, the word of God. So what the arc of the covenant was supposed to teach the children of Israel and what it's supposed to teach us today, because the Bible says these things are written for our admonition, is it teaches God's preservation. God preserves life. God preserves truth. Think about this. Okay. Do you do this study on your own time? Go read through the book of Exodus, go read through Leviticus, go read through Numbers, and just focus in on all the different things that needed maintenance in the tabernacle. Like the laver. Okay. The lavers were supposed to have water continuously put in and changed out for the priests to wash their hands. The altar of incense, the continual fire, the table of showbread, and the list goes on and on and on. Well, guess what? The arc of the covenant was the one, I guess, piece of equipment in the tabernacle that needed no preservation. Okay. No preservation. And it was really only used once a year. Okay. So after this was all complete, if you could picture the arc of the covenant with the mercy seat on the top. Okay. Once a year, the high priest would go in to the arc of the covenant after following his whole set of procedures to make sure he doesn't die. And he would go into the arc of the covenant or what's called the holy of holies. And he would make atonement for sin. So there would be an animal sacrifice and he would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat. Okay. You say again, well, what does that have to do with today? And what does that mean? Well, think about it for this thing only being used once a year. Okay. Needed no preservation. God preserved it. God took care of it. And that is supposed to teach us that God preserves his word and God preserves us and protects us from the law. Okay. That's the whole point of the mercy seat on top of the art. Okay. It's the mercy that saves us. You can't get to the word of God. You can't get to the law. You can't get to the inside of that box without dying. Okay. The only way to have that happen was for the high priest once a year to come in, sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat. And then of course that would represent the forgiveness of sins for a year. And we'll go to Hebrews at the end of the sermon and we'll completely explain that and what that means and things of that nature. So I would say the biggest lesson that the arc teaches is preservation. Okay. It preserves truth, preserves the word of God, and it's a symbol that God preserves and protects his people. Now, what I would like you to do is go to first Samuel chapter number four, where we first started. And we'll go ahead and read through some of these things because I think it's important to get a good picture here of how the Ark of the Covenant was viewed in Old Testament Israel. And one of the biggest things that I've been thinking about a lot lately, especially as I've been studying the temple, is why there's no mention. And of course I know I have the answer, but I just think it's interesting how there's no mention of the Ark of the Covenant in the second temple. Okay. There's no mention of it and you'll see why and you'll see what that means here, but it's kind of funny how you have all these dispensationalists, all these Zionists today, you know, all the Ark of the Covenant's coming back and it's going to go into the temple and the Jews are going to have their sacrificial system restored. And again, you Gentiles get to help in that process. You'll get to clean up the mess. You'll be without the camp and the Jews will be glorious once again. But it's just like, wait a second here. Is that true? Where are you getting this from? Why do you believe that? Why, why, why, why the, the, the fixation on the mystery, I guess. And that's what people do. Anytime that the Bible doesn't clearly say something, a lot of people will take that and they'll build entire doctrines off of that. Again, there's nothing wrong with speculating. Okay. We all have different ideas about how things are going to unfold in the end times. Okay. The danger in the problem though, is when we build doctrines off those speculations. Okay. That's when it gets dangerous and that's when it gets to be problematic. So before we continue and get to our destination, let's go through a little bit here of first Samuel chapter number four. So let's look at verse number one. The Bible says, in the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle and pitched beside Ebenezer and the Philistines pitched in affect. Okay. So you're getting ready to read about a battle here against Israel and their long time nemesis, the Philistines and the Philistines you're going to see at first are afraid. Okay. And the reason why they're afraid is because of the arc of the covenant. Okay. Their mind's just like, well, they have that arc thing. Okay. They have the arc and it's been known for destroying and tearing apart things and just, you know, they're, they're, they're just out of their minds about this. And let's take a look at that. Look at verse two. It says, and the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel. And when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines and they slew of the army in the field, about 4,000 men. So what we don't have time to get into here is the detailed conversations between the leadership of the Philistines and the Philistine people. So the Philistines were like, Hey, you know, they're, you know, their gods are great. They got the arc of the covenant and it's going to destroy us. And basically their leaders just like, Hey, quit yourselves like men, be strong and go fight. Okay. And they actually do beat the children of Israel. You say, well, what's the point. Okay. Well, again, the point is because they were mishandling the word of God and here's how, okay. The judge at this time here, the high priest at this time was a man by the name of Eli and he had two sons and they were sons of Belial. Okay. And their names were Hophni and Phinehas and they had charge over the offerings and things like that. And they had been causing the people of land to actually abort or to hate the offering of God. And so God's upset with them and God's like, Hey, look, if you guys aren't going to follow the program, okay, you're going to go down this road. Eli, you're going to allow your sons to remain like this. Well, guess what? I'm going to give you into the hand of the Philistines to teach you a lesson. Look at verse three. It says that when the people were coming to the camp, the elders of Israel said, wherefore hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines. Now look at what they say next. Let us fetch the arc of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us that when it cometh among us, it may save us out of our or out of the hand of our enemies. Okay. So you see the mental problem here. Okay. They're fixated on the arc itself, not what it represents and not God. Okay. They should have cried out to God for their help instead of saying, Oh yeah, the arc itself will save us. It's the arc that does. Okay. Completely ignoring the entire point of the arc of the covenant and why God had them make it in the first place. So look at verse four. It says, so the people sent to Shiloh that they might bring from thence the arc of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims and the two sons of Eli. Okay. These are his reprobate sons, Hophni and Phinehas were there with the arc of the covenant of God. Okay. Another problem. So first of all, here in verse three, you can see there where they're wrong. You can see the issue here. They're trusting in a physical object rather than the Lord God of Israel. Verse four here tells you obviously that Eli's sons are there with it. And we know just from reading the prior chapters that they are bad people. They're not okay. Big, big, big trouble with these guys here. Okay. And in case you're wondering here, it says in the beginning of verse four, so the people sent to Shiloh that they might bring from thence the arc of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims and the two sons. Okay. So another thing that I forgot to mention is that God would often communicate. One of the diverse ways that he would communicate was through the mercy seat above the arc of the covenant. Okay. So that's another significant thing that I forgot to mention, but look at verse number five. It says when the arc of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout so that the earth rang again. So now they're excited. Now they're motivated. And this is actually what gets the Philistines a little bit paranoid and gets them scared. Look at verse six. When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, what meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the arc of the Lord was common to the camp. And you're going to see that now the Philistines get upset. They get carried away here and they start to worry and to fret. Verse seven. And the Philistines were afraid for they said, God has come into the camp. And they said, woe unto us, for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. Now, you know, as I'm reading now, and I'm like, wait a second, they actually said, whoa, God has come into the camp. You know, whereas the children of Israel, like just go grab the arc, right? No mention of God. So they almost have it more right at this point in time than the children of Israel. But look at verse eight. Woe unto us, who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods. These are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. So again, even the world knows a little bit about Bible history and knows some of the Bible stories. And this is kind of a slap in the face to all the people that say, well, you know, back in the olden days, back during these times, it would have been impossible without the internet, without the mail system for, you know, people to really know in detail what happened, you know, four or five, 600 years ago in Egypt. But here you're reading an account where the Philistines, they knew, okay, word got out, word traveled. God made sure of that. Verse number nine. Here's their response. Okay. Here's their response. Be strong and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that you be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Quit yourselves like men and fight. And we're not going to read the rest of the chapter. We're actually going to pick it up here at verse number 20. But basically what happens is the fight ensues, the fight breaks out, and the Philistines capture the Ark of the Covenant. Okay. They capture the Ark of the Covenant. Now, I lied. Go to verse number 19. So just for the sake of time, skip down to verse number 19. It says this. Actually, verse 18. I lied again. Verse 18. Look what it says. So as news gets back to Eli, okay, that's where we're going to pick this up. So a messenger comes back and tells Eli what had happened, and he discovers this. So verse 18, it says, and it came to pass when he made mention of the Ark of God that he fell. So this messenger comes and tells Eli, okay, the Ark of God has been captured. Okay. Verse 18. And it came to pass when he, the messenger, made mention of the Ark of God that he, this is Eli here, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate and his neck break and he died. For he was an old man and heavy and had judged Israel 40 years. Okay. So just the news of the Ark of the Covenant being taken out of the land was enough to basically cause Eli to die. Now obviously he died because his neck break and he fell over backwards, but that news is what started that. That news is what snowballed that. Okay. Now look at what happens when other people get the news, like his daughter-in-law. Look at verse 19. It says, and his daughter-in-law, Phinehas's wife, was with child near to be delivered. 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. Verse 20. And about the time of her death, the woman that stood by her said unto her, fear not for thou hast borne a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it. Verse 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. And she said, the glory is departed from Israel for the Ark of God is taken. Okay. So that is what they had treasured. Like the Ark of the Covenant, that was the center of the nation. Okay. That is where they, you know, obviously God had, had put his footstool there temporarily. That is where he dwelt among the people. And now that is gone. And so of course the people are absolutely terrified. Okay. So let's take a look now at what happens when the Ark of the Covenant, which, which represents what? Well, it represents preservation. Okay. Now let's take a look at what happens when the enemy gets a hold of the Ark. So just a few quick verses here, chapter number five, and then we'll get moving on. Look at verse number one. It says, and the Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. And when the Philistines, verse two, when the Philistines took the Ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. So now you're going to get to see the difference between the Ark of the Covenant and a false god, a dumb idol, a dumb statue by the name of Dagon. Okay. Look at verse number three. And when they have Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the Ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon and set him in his place again. Now, isn't that just like so many people today, right? You go knock on their door and they ask you a hard question and you open up the Bible and you show it to them. And they're like, you can just see them break that you have the answer. And they're just like, okay. Okay. You're right. And you think you got it. You think, all right, we're, we're, we're getting traction here. We're going somewhere. And all of a sudden they're like, no, I'm going to put Dagon right back up. And they just come at you with something else. You know, another fallacy, another, another lie, another idol, another false way, another false doctrine or something of that sort. Right. That's kind of what the world does. And that's kind of what you're seeing going on here. Okay. Now, obviously God's trying to teach these people a lesson. Like, Hey, look, there's a big difference between me, the God of the earth, and your stupid God that you made with your hands. Okay. And the fact that you just picked him up, Legos, let's try this again. Like you want to talk about stupidity. That's stupid. Okay. You would hope, and you would, you would, I mean, you would hope that somebody would just be like, Hey, look, maybe this Dagon stuff just isn't working out. Maybe we should just take the ark back and ask God to bless us too. You know, that could have been a possibility, but Oh no, these guys are obviously too far gone. Okay. Verse number three, when they have Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon and set him in his place. Again, verse four, when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off the threshold upon the threshold. Only the stump of Dagon was left to him. Now I kind of mentioned earlier that when these mysteries kind of come up in the Bible, like people will say, well, what was below the stump? Well, it was like a fish God. Maybe it was, you know, I don't know, but people like to fight and bicker and argue about that. Okay. And they totally missed the point. Okay. The head of Dagon was cut off and both hands. That means he can't speak. He can't communicate. He can't think. And he has no hands. He can't build. He can't do anything. Okay. That's the picture. That was the message that God was trying to tell the Philistines. Okay. And that is the message to the world. Okay. The world obviously has no idea how to handle the word of God. When the world thinks that they've got a hold of the word of God, they've got a hold of the Bible. Really what you're going to find out is that their heads cut off and their hands are chopped off. It's the same thing metaphorically. It's the same thing spiritually. For example, you know, you're going to listen to some people down at the college just talk about the Bible. Okay. Now sometimes they might give you a pretty decent insight. Okay. I'm not going to lie. Sometimes they'll, they'll give a decent insight. I'm sure this Jordan Peterson guy might have a good insight or two. Okay. But by and large, most of the time there's, there's no real thought process. Everything that they say about the word of God is wrong and they never are able to build. They're never able to point. They're never able to move forward. Okay. God does not allow the heathen to be able to take his word and do anything with it. It's always his people. It is always the children of God. And that's what I see when I read this. Look at verse five. Therefore, neither the priest of Dagon nor any that come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon and Ash taught unto this day. So they did learn a lesson. Okay. But again, I believe they didn't go all the way with it. They're just like, okay, well, we'll go ahead and, you know, not tread here anymore. We'll, we'll just kind of like mark this as a sacred thing because we see later on they break Dagon back. Verse six, but the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod when he destroyed them and even smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof. So God, because the world, because the Philistines have possession of the Ark of the Covenant, God is plaguing them. God is terrorizing them until they finally realize that it needs to go back to Israel. It needs to go back to the children of God. So look at verse eight. Look at verse seven. It says, verse seven says, when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so they said the Ark of God, the Ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us for his hand is sore upon us and upon Dagon our God. Now again, you know, a lot of times I'll be driving down the road, I'll be working on something and I'll just be, you know, talking with people and thinking about conversations I've had with people. And I'm just like, how in the world in our country do we have such stupid people in charge? You know, you know, people say like Joe Biden, right? Nobody knows what a woman is, you know, what's the, what's an American? You know, it's just like, are you really that dumb? I heard him the other day say, what did he say? Oh, he said, you know, when I got into office America was flat on its back and I vaccinated everybody and got this thing rolling again. In this clip that I watched, I was looking at the comments, had thousands of comments, all negative, just all negative. And I'm just like, how stupid can we be? You know, we have to be the dumbest in like the dumbest generation ever to exist. And then I read this and I'm like, oh, nothing's ever changed. It's just like, wait a second here. Cause look at these guys. They're still calling Dagon their God, you know, like, yeah, the Lord God of heavens and earth. Yeah. He mopped us, ruined our God. He's plaguing us, but we need to get him out of here. So we can go back to do what we want, you know? And that's just kind of like in a nutshell, how the world really is. And we just need to accept that, you know, and that's not to say we shouldn't go out knocking doors. Obviously we should, but just be aware. You're going to run into that mentality in the world. Okay. And it's just so much easier to deal with when you're already expecting it. It's verse eight. They said, therefore, and gathered all the Lords of the Philistines unto them and said, what shall we do with the Ark of God or the Ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, let the Ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the Ark of the God of Israel about the other. And it was so verse nine that after they had carried it about the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction. And he smote the men of the city, both small and great. And they had Amrods in their secret verse 10. Therefore, they sent the Ark of God to Ekron and it came to pass as the Ark of God came to Ekron that the Ekronites cried out saying, they have brought about the Ark of God of Israel to us to slay us and our people. So again, just another bit of testimony there to the reputation that the Ark of the covenant had in the surrounding world during the days of Israel. Verse 11. So they sent and gathered together all the Lords of the Philistines and said, send away the Ark of the God of Israel and let it go again to his own place that it slay us not and our people. For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city. The hand of God was very heavy there in verse 12 and the men that died not were smitten with the Amrods and the cry of the city went up to heaven. And of course it makes it back to Israel. Now you can leave your place there and turn to the book of Haggai, the book of Haggai. We've got these Bible charts on either wall here. So if you're ever wondering, you know, where's the book of Haggai? Where's this prophet at? You can look at one of those and it will help you get there, but turn to the prophet Haggai in the Old Testament. So again, I'll just give you the rest of the history. Okay. So you can see there that the Ark of God was described as the glory of Israel. It said that several times in chapter number four. And you saw the terror that it imposed on the neighboring nations of the Philistines and things of that nature. Okay. And you saw what it did there. Now there's lessons in that, and I've already talked about some of those. Okay. It's not the physical Ark itself. It's not the Shittim wood and the gold and that combination that somehow, you know, mysteriously or magically caused these things to happen. Okay. For that time period, that's where God said that he was going to dwell. That's where his footstool was at that point in time. So when it was taken, God was trying to demonstrate to the world, Hey, there's only one God and you need to submit to him. Okay. And of course they, Philistines completely missed the boat. So you fast forward in those days, the Ark or the tabernacle, it resided at Shiloh. Okay. We fast forward to David, King David coming on the scene. Okay. And we talked about this last Sunday. David had it in his heart to build the what? To build the temple so that the Ark would have a resting place. That's the way David describes it. He wanted the Ark to no more have to be moved about. And it came to his heart to build a temple. Of course, God said, because you've shed so much blood, you're not able to do that, but your son will go ahead and build that temple. So Solomon builds a temple and that rested the Ark of the covenant. Now, what happened to it? Well, for one thing on its way to Jerusalem, okay, you'll read a story in the Bible about a man named Uzzah. The Ark had stumbled as David and his men were, and the Levites there were, or the people there were, were taking it to Jerusalem. The Ark had stumbled and Uzzah, who was a coethite, reached out his hand and touched it. But what happened is he died and he died because he violated the protocol. Okay. We don't have time to get into all that. But after all of that, it makes its way finally into the temple, into its final resting place. Solomon takes over, obviously gets all of that squared away. And then what happens after that, and you know the deal with Solomon, he married many wives, had many concubines. They eventually turned his heart against the Lord. And so the Lord divided the kingdom. And then you know what happened in the Northern kingdom? The Assyrians took them away. And then eventually the Babylonians came in in three different waves. Okay. They besieged Jerusalem in three different waves, took the people out, brought them into captivity, and in that process destroyed the temple. And really during that time period, during the days of Jeremiah, during Josiah's time, or I think it was Josiah, it was after Josiah, I forgot which king. It was a lot of different kings, but basically you don't read about the Ark of the Covenant anymore. And because it just mysteriously disappeared. Okay. People love to build doctrines. They love to build doctrines and what they think is going to happen. And what I heard some dispensationalists say is that they believe that the Ark of the Covenant will be found again in the end times. And they'll say, and they'll be able to prove that the blood of Christ was on it. And what they're going to do is the Antichrist is going to pollute the Ark of the Covenant and he's going to pollute the blood of Christ. And therefore we're going to have to bring back the animal sacrifices. Okay. That's what a lot of them are starting to talk about and believe. And I'm telling you, you're going to see from here on out how that is not true. That is silly. That is stupid. That is not what the Bible teaches. I mean, the Bible just, it's there. Okay. It has its glory. It has its lessons. And then it's gone. Okay. Think about this though. When the second temple was built, there was no Ark of the Covenant. No Ark of the Covenant in there. Okay. No Ark of the Covenant whatsoever. And I had a few people email a couple Sundays ago and I'm, and if you're listening, I'm not mad. I'm not angry. I'm just saying, I don't believe that Ron Wyatt found the blood of Christ. I don't believe that he found the Ark of the Covenant and you're going to see why here in just a minute. So the prophet Haggai. Okay. Haggai chapter number two. Let's look at a couple of verses here cause we're going to learn something here about the Ark and about the fact that it's not in the second temple. So just for context here, let's pick it up in verse number one. So the prophet Haggai. Okay. Haggai chapter number two. Haggai is regarded as a post exilic prophet. Okay. So he was a prophet around after the Babylonians came in and took the children of Judah into captivity. Now look at verse number one. The Bible says in the seventh month, in the one and 20th day of the month came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai saying, speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah and to Joshua, the son of Josadec, the high priest and to the residue of the people saying, who was left among you that saw this house in her first glory? And how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? Okay. So this is what the prophet is saying. So God is trying to use Haggai to exhort Zerubbabel and to exhort Joshua to continue with the building because what had happened is the Medo Persians, they allowed the rebuilding of the temple. And then of course the enemies heard about it and they came in and they put a halt to it, but then that halt was lifted. And so God's trying to get them back to building it again so that the Jews could come back to the land. Now look at verse four. He says, yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord, and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josadec, the high priest and be strong. All ye people of the land saith the Lord and work for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts, according to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. So my spirit remaineth among you, fear ye not. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, yet once it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. Okay. Verse seven, and I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. Now I often wonder if he says that because maybe the conversation, and it almost had to be this way. I'll bet the conversation was, where's the art? Where's the art? Okay. The Levites had to be asking that question. The Bible doesn't record that, but that was such a, just a central theme, just such a thing prior to their destruction. They had to have been confused, had to have been wondering about that. And so God's trying to comfort them. Hey, and he's saying, Hey, look, just because this next one, this next temple is not going to be as glorious as the first one. There's a reason for that. And there's a lesson that you need to learn in regards to this. Now look at verse number eight, it says the silver is mine and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. Now here it is verse nine, the glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts. And in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts. I've had dispensational pastures before, bring this verse up and say, see what this is actually in reference to is the third temple that the Jews will build right before the Antichrist comes. And it's going to be, you know, filled with the ark and it's going to be more glorious and in stature than, than even the first one. Hey, that's not what he's talking about. Okay. Look at the verse, the glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former. Now, if you were a Hebrew reading this at that time, of course you wouldn't understand. How is that? Does that mean that the ark is going to come back? Like, like, like what does that mean? Okay. Well, if you were to read the rest of the chapter and really just think about this, it's talking about the fact that when Jesus Christ actually was on this earth and his ministry and did go into the temple that made that house greater than the former because Jesus said that one greater than the temple is here among you. Now go to Jeremiah chapter number three real quick. Jeremiah chapter three. So go backwards in your Old Testament to Jeremiah chapter number three. And I'm going to give you just a couple of verses here and show you why I do not believe Ron Wyatt. I do not believe these conspiracy people that talk about finding the ark of the covenant. I've had people email and say, well, it's in a church in Ethiopia. Okay. And that's where it is. And then the Jews are going to come and get it. And it's like, just get over the ark. Okay. The reason why it just disappears in scripture, I'm just going to spoil it for you is because guess what God's done with that part of history is done with that lesson. Okay. It did what it needed to be done. And there's a picture that we're going to see at the end of the sermon about that. So Jeremiah chapter number three. So of course, Jeremiah is rebuking with the word of God, the children of Judah for their backslidings. And of course a lot of people, you know, are mad at Jeremiah because he's saying, hey, guess what guys? You're going to have to go with Nebuchadnezzar. You're going to have to go into captivity. And they're like, you're a traitor, you know, you're, you're one of these types. And so he's preaching against them. Now look at verse, look at verse 14, Jeremiah three, look at verse 14. So the Bible says this, turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you and will take you one of a city and two of a family. And I will bring you to Zion. Okay. Verse 15, and I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. Now I believe that this is a reference to obviously Jesus Christ and to the, what we call today, the Israel of God, the new nation of God. Okay. Because we are Zion, our Jerusalem is from where? We've talked about this on Sunday. It's from above. Okay. Jerusalem here is described as Jerusalem from below or the spirit of Sodom and Egypt. Now look at verse 16. This is, this is it right here. And it shall come to pass when ye be multiplied, increased in the land in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more the arc of the covenant of the Lord. Maybe somebody needed to send that to the seventh day Adventist, Ron Wyatt. Maybe somebody needs to send that to the dispensationalist out there. Okay. Let me read it one more time. And it shall come to pass when you be multiplied and increased in the land in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more the arc of the covenant of the Lord. Neither shall it come to mind. Neither shall they remember it. Neither shall they visit it. Neither shall they be done or shall that be done anymore. That's really, you can just tune me out for the rest of the service and just keep this verse and, you know, quick reference here, write it down, put it in your phone or something for when somebody comes at you with this stuff so that you have that. Okay. So, you know, I'm reading this here and then I'm hearing what all these people are saying about the arc of the covenant and how it's going to happen. I heard one guy, he said, you know, the arc of the covenant, you know, after it's polluted, God will restore that and then bring that up to heaven with the other arc that's up there. And then there'll be the completion, right? Cause then there'll be four cherubims and it's just like, come on, man, you got to read the Bible the way it was written. You have to rightly divide the word of truth. That's what we're called to do as God's children. Okay. That's why we bring these things up so that you're not confused. So the people won't lead you astray. Now look at verse 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 anymore after the imagination of their evil heart. Verse 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 inheritance unto your fathers. Of course, we don't have time to get into that in the picture of the millennium and things of that nature. Last place I'm gonna have you turn tonight is going to be Hebrews chapter number 10. Okay. So that seems to be God's attitude about the arc of the covenant. You know, that it's not, you're not going to remember it anymore. You're not going to visit anymore. You're not going to come to it anymore. It's done. It is over with. Give it a rest. Okay. That is, that is what somebody needs to tell these people. You really expect me to believe that some seventh day Adventist, that God gave him the, the green light to go see the arc of the covenant and to actually test the blood of Christ. Think about these things guys before you email them to me. Okay. Please. I mean, just, just stop for a second before you hit that send button, read what you're writing and think about it. Okay. Just think about it for a second before you send me this stuff. Cause it's really frustrating. So let's answer the question. What is behind the veil? What does that mean? Well, hopefully now you already understand what was behind the veil. It was empty. Now that does beg the question. What did the high priest do for all those years in the second temple? You know, when he went in there and there was different theories about that and they still went through the motions. They still went through the protocol. Okay. But what was behind there? It was empty. There was no arc of the covenant. So what does that mean? What does that point to? Well, let's answer that question here and then we'll be done. Hebrews chapter number 10, look at verse number one. The Bible says this, for the law, having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things can never with those sacrifices, which they offered year by year, continually make the comers. They aren't too perfect, but I'm supposed to believe in your supposed to believe that there's coming a time where the blood of Christ is going to get polluted by the anti-Christ the arc of the covenant is going to be compromised. And we have to go back to the animal sacrifices because he's going to somehow wipe the blood off the mercy seat. And then, well, no blood, no salvation. So does that, I mean, look, if you got the Holy ghost, even if you're not reading the Bible, I'll bet you there's red flags going off. There's something inside of you saying, you know, stop, put the brakes on. There's something wrong here. Okay. Read this. What does this say about animal sacrifices? Look at verse two, for then would they not have ceased to be offered because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. Okay. So the writer here is trying to make it very clear that these were a picture. Okay. That whole sacrificial system of the old Testament, the old covenant was a shadow to point to Jesus Christ and the ultimate sacrifice, which was from what? Well, the Bible says he was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. It covers all time, all eternity. Okay. So again, these things were meant to teach to point to Christ verse three, but in those sacrifices, there is a remembrance again, made of sins every year. Okay. And think about that. Think about the process here. Every year, the high priest would have to get himself right. And then you'd have to get his garments on and go into the Holy of Holies with the blood and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and be like, okay, we're good for another year. I didn't die. You'd be able to go out and the people would rejoice. Well, see you next year. Okay. You know what though? You know, what's crazy is that's how most people teach salvation today, right? That seriously, that's how most people teach salvation on a sacrificial system. Again, the good old probation, right? You're saved as long as you did good for today. As long as you ask for forgiveness today, you're good to go. Okay. It's never been like that. It's never been like that. The whole point of the arc was to teach you preservation. That was the whole point. Look at verse four. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Again, what was the point? It was to point to Christ. It was to show them, hey, look, something innocent has to die in your place. And this isn't cutting it, but there's one who will shed his blood and that will cut it for all eternity. And there's no man, no devil, no spirit that's going to be able to go into the earth and take away the blood and remove it from the earth. And all of a sudden we've got to start sacrificing animals again to be saved. That's ridiculous. That is a lie from the pits of hell. That is what that is. Verse five. Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body, okay, a body has thou prepared me. Now what is that body? That is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse seven. Then, I'm sorry, verse six. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou has had no pleasure. So the Bible tells you that God did not have pleasure in that. But yet again, today, the big thing is, well, guess what? It's coming back. It's coming back. And you will have the great pleasure to clean up after the Jew. Hey, that's what we're supposed to believe. Completely contradictory to what we're reading here. Verse number eight. Verse seven says, then said I lo, I come in the volume of the book. It is written of me to do thy will, O God. Verse eight. Above when he said sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin, thou wouldest not. Neither has pleasure therein, which are offered by the law. Verse nine. Then said he lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second. Okay. So what does that mean? Take away the first. Take away the first covenant. Okay. If you were to read through the entire book of Hebrews, which obviously we highly recommend, you will find that the new covenant is better than the old covenant. It says that. It tells you that. It uses that language. The new covenant is better. Okay. But the Zionists and the Jews, of course, they, you know, they're up to the same old tricks. Okay. They were doing this in Galatia. They were doing this in Ephesus, coming in and trying to pervert the saints and saying, Oh, you know, did you have Moses or have Paul said that you don't have to be sacrificed or you don't have to be circumcised, you know, and they're always trying to bring back in their laws and bring back in their traditions. Okay. And Zionism dispensationalism is nothing new. It's the same old Jewish fables that have been, you know, trying to permeate and enter into the church since the new Testament was founded. Okay. It's all the same stuff. The devil just changes its names. Okay. The names of these things just changed, but the tactics are the same. Look at verse 11. I'm sorry. Verse 10. By the witch will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all and every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. So it's like, just in case you didn't get it at the beginning of the chapter, let me give it to you again. These things were never meant to take away sins. So hypothetically, let's say that the anti-Christ was able to take away the blood of Christ. Okay. Well, guess what? Those animal sacrifices aren't going to be able to save your sins. Okay. They're not going to be able to save you. Verse 13 from henceforth, from henceforth, expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. See, that's the truth. God's enemies will be made his footstool. Okay. But the devil comes along and says, Oh no, but you have to understand that the anti-Christ is going to come back and pollute the blood. He's going to pollute the blood. And then, Oh yeah, we'll have to go back to a sacrificial system. Verse 14, for by one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Now what does forever mean? Eternal forever. Okay. By one offering. Okay. But the dispensationalists and some of these other people out there are reading it for by one offering hath he perfected temporarily in this age them that are sanctified forever in this age. No, for by one offering he has perfected forever them that are sanctified one offering one and done once and for all. That's the message that the book of Hebrews communicates very clearly. It wasn't until the anti-Christ comes in and pollutes the sanctuary. Okay. That is nonsense. Verse 15 where of the Holy ghost also is a witness to us for after that he had said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them. After those days sayeth the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them for 17 and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more done forever. Verse 18. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Okay. Well guess what? The blood of Christ that basically gives us the remission of sins past, present, future. We've done entire sermons on this before. We've done entire studies on this before. That's how it is. Okay. It is once and for all. What's the whole point of the two witnesses coming during the tribulation? What's the whole point of the 144,000 where the angels flying in the midst of the air, preaching the ever lasting gospel of peace if it was just for this age. Doesn't make sense because it's a lie. It's not true. The sacrifice of Christ is forever. Okay. It is forever. Verse 19, having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. By the blood of Jesus. Okay. What does that mean? That means there's no need for the old arc of the covenant. It's been replaced. It's been replaced by a better thing. By the son of God. Let me read that again. Having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Okay. We don't need to build a temple and have the arc and the veil to go through all of that again. We have what's called the avenue of or direct access to God. We can pray and ask the Lord for our needs. Pray for one another. And you guys all know this. Now look at verse 20. This is where we're going to stop right here. By a new and living way. Okay. A new, think about that. A new and living way. Okay. Meaning living over and over and over again. Okay. Meaning not ceasing by a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us. Meaning set apart for us through the veil that is to say his flesh. Verse 21. And having an high priest over the house of God. And of course, verse 22. Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience in our bodies washed with pure water. So what was behind the veil? Nothing. That's what was behind the veil. Absolutely nothing. So in other words, God was telling the Jews, God was telling the world, guess what? The holiest of holies is not back there anymore. He's not here anymore. He is now in the world. Now you have to call upon him and he dwells inside of the believer. He dwells in the veil of our hearts, which was rent the moment that you and I received the word of God and became born again, became saved. So again, just think about that. You know, when these people are coming at you with, Oh, but the Jews in the temple, in the veil, look, God tore that to expose what they had been doing this whole time. And not that it was all bad, obviously they were going through the religious program that God had established until Christ came on this earth. But God, by tearing that veil, sent a very strong message to the world and really throughout all of eternity. Guess what? This system is over. It's done with, it's not coming back because we have a new and living way, a better way. So what's behind the veil again is what? It is absolutely nothing. So hopefully that kind of makes sense and gets you thinking. Okay. And that's another goal of me preaching this is to get you to think because we're talking about some pretty deep subjects on Sunday morning in regards to Daniel 70th week, Matthew chapter 24 and things of that nature. So think about that and don't forget these things. Okay. When somebody comes at you with this stuff, you know, about the Ark of the Covenant, now you're hopefully you're on with some scriptures, Jeremiah three, really, you know, definitely one that you want to have on hand because God tells you, Hey, look, there's coming a day where you're not even going to look for it. You're not going to remember it. So, I mean, I could have just read that and been done with a whole entire service if we would have been good to go, but you know, all this other stuff I believe is definitely necessary for you to get you to think and to get you to see that God is definitely 100% done with that old system. He's not bringing it back for this elect Jewish people. No, God is in the midst of his people. We are dwelt with the Holy Ghost. So enough rambling for me. Let's go ahead and pray. Thank you so much, Lord, for this church and for everything that you do for us, Lord. We just pray you bless the fellowship after the service. Bless the soul winning this week to come, Lord. And we do also ask that you would help heal all of those that are sick, Lord, and help the rest of us to not catch it. And we thank you for the health that you've given us. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.