ARK OF THE COVENANT DISCOVERED IN JERUSALEM - PART 1

One day, in 1978, Ron Wyatt, an American Christian archaeologist , decided to go sightseeing near the Damascus Gate, in Jerusalem. Walking along an ancient stone quarry, known to some as "the Calvary Escarpment," he was talking with a local authority about Roman antiquities. Without warning, Ron's left hand pointed to a site being used as a rubbish dump and said, "That's Jeremiah's Grotto and the Ark of the Covenant is in there." Even though these words had come from his own mouth and his own hand had pointed, he had not consciously said or done these things. The man with him, quite out of character, also reacted strangely. He said, "That's wonderful! We want you to excavate, and we'll grant you your permits, put you up in a place to stay and even furnish your meals!"Ron knew that this was a supernatural event but he also knew that not all supernatural events originate from God (Revelation 16:14). So he returned home to the US, and began to research as to whether or not the Ark could be in that area. He discovered that 2Chronicles 35:3 is the last reference to the Ark of the Covenant, verse 19 tells us that this was in the year 621 BC, just 35 years before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by Nebuchadnezzar. It says that the Ark was in the temple at that time. When the Babylonian army besieged Jerusalem, they built a siege wall around the city, not allowing anyone or anything in or out of the city. Therefore, the Ark of the Covenant most probably remained within the Babylonian siege wall. As it was not captured by Nebuchadnezzar and taken to Babylon, we must assume that it was hidden underground. This matched perfectly with the area that Ron had pointed to, it would have been within the Babylonian siege wall, in an underground chamber. Ron and his two sons dug several times at that site, uncovering a wealth of information. They began by digging straight down, at the base of a cliff face, a cliff face known to many as Golgotha. In the 1800's General Gordon recognized that the site matched the biblical description of Calvary, the site of the crucifixion of Christ. The Bible describes a tomb hewn out of rock, in a garden nearby, it was the tomb of a rich man who donated it to Jesus (Matt. 27:57-60). In the vicinity is just that, and the tomb has been hurriedly extended, suggesting that the person that lay in it, was not the person it was designed for. The first find that they uncovered were recesses cut into the cliff face, three 'bookshelf-like' cut outs. Ron's thought was that these could be the recesses that held the signs that the Romans put above the cross of Christ. In Matthew 27:37, Mark 15:26 and Luke 23:38 the Bible says that the superscription was written "over" Jesus, which fits with what Ron found. In the book of John, the Bible says that, "a title," was "put on the cross". The Greek word for "on" is "EPI". EPI can also be translated as "over" or "above". The translators in Matthew, Mark and Luke decided to translate EPI as "over", because it would have not made sense to say that a sign was put (EPI) on his head, but in John they translated EPI to mean "on" because it would make sense to put a sign on the cross. However, they could have translated EPI to say, "a title" was "put above/over the cross". Further excavation revealed an altar stone protruding from the cliff face like a shelf. Ron felt that perhaps this was the remains of a Christian altar, suggesting that the early Christians knew that this was a place of significance. The foundation to a first century building was also uncovered, which was believed to be a church, again adding more significance to the site. At last Ron uncovered the clinching evidence that convinced him this was the site of the crucifixion. Four cross holes cut out of the rock, one higher up than the rest on a platform and set back. The other three were in a line lower down and infront. The upper cross hole would have held the 'featured' criminal, and we know from the Biblical account that the two cross holes either side held the two thieves when Christ was crucified. In this case, only three of the four cross holes were used. Using ground penetrating radar Ron detected a large round stone, thirteen feet in diameter and two feet wide. He tried to uncover it, but it was buried underneath about twenty feet of earth. He considered the strong possibility of it being a very large tombstone. Could it be the tombstone that fitted the nearby tomb? Ron went back to the tomb in the garden to see if the stone would fit. He measured the width of the channel that held the tombstone, and what the diameter would have been. Amazingly, the channel was designed to hold a stone with a width of two feet! And the diameter would have also fitted the stone that he found - thirteen feet! The Bible does say that, " a great stone" was rolled infront of Jesus' tomb. Ron's attention was drawn to the cross hole that was higher than the others. If this was the site of the crucifixion of Jesus, then this would undoubtedly be His cross hole. A square-cut stone had been placed in the cross hole, acting as a plug. It had finger grips on each side, and when Ron removed it he noticed a large crack in the bedrock, extending from the cross hole. It looked to Ron like an earthquake crack, and the Bible does say, in Matthew 27:51, "and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent". One day during the excavation Ron was feeling very down-hearted, as if God could not use him any more. He thought that he must have done something wrong and that God had decided to take him off the job. Whilst sitting at the site and contemplating the circumstances, he heard a voice that said, "God bless you in what you are doing here Ron Wyatt." More than startled, Ron turned to face the man. He was surprised as he wondered how anyone would know his name, and furthermore, Ron had never told anyone else what he was doing there. Ron replied, "Thank you, are you from around here?" and the stranger simply replied, "No." Trying to prompt a conversation, Ron said, "Are you a tourist?" and again the stranger replied, "No." But this time continued to say, "I have come from South Africa and am on my way to the New Jerusalem." Ron was shocked, knowing that the New Jerusalem is a city referred to in the Bible as being in heaven. After the man had left, Ron asked the others in the Garden if they had seen this man. Surprisingly they all answered, "No." but there was only one way in, and one way out of this area, through which the man would have had to have exited. This was a great encouragement for Ron at a time when he needed it most as he felt that God was now still blessing his work.It became too dangerous to continue digging down the cliff face. So, Ron had to dig down at various angles. He soon found himself within a cave system. He worked with a small Arab man who would crawl in through the gaps that were too tiny for Ron to easily enter. The conditions were damp, with plenty of dust and little oxygen. Sometimes Ron had to squeeze himself through the smallest of holes. One day he asked the man to crawl in through a tiny entrance to a cave, as usual. When he had done so, he rushed out with terror in his eyes, screaming, "What's in there! What's in there!" The man hurriedly exited the cave system and refused ever to return. Excitedly, Ron extended the entrance to this chamber and crawled in. He found himself crawling across rocks that were piled up almost to the roof. Growing more and more tired, Ron began to move the rocks aside, in order to reveal what was underneath. He uncovered some dry rotted wooden boards which when he moved aside revealed animal skins. Something shiny was under the animal skins. Moving them aside, Ron uncovered the Table of Shewbread, from the first temple. Continuing to shift aside more rocks and wood, he then found a stone casing. The lid had cracked and had been moved aside. Ron shone his flashlight down through the crack and saw a chest of beaten gold. He knew he was looking at the Ark of the Covenant. Overwhelmed with emotion and suffering from pneumonia Ron passed out for 45 minutes in that chamber. It was January 6th 1982, when Ron made this amazing discovery. He tried to photograph it with a Polaroid, but the photos turned out foggy. He returned with a colonascope, but again the photos turned out foggy. Also in that cave Ron found the seven branch candlestick, a giant sword (with no inscriptions, but possibly Goliath's), an ephod, the wilderness tabernacle, the altar of incense among other things. Ron has returned to the cave on occasion, and since his first visit the cave has been completely tidied up. Ron has been told (although he stresses he does not hear voices, and is not a prophet) that the time is not yet for the world to see this discovery with their own eyes. The time is coming when the inhabitants of the world will have a universal, religious law enforced upon them. This law will force man to break God's law, by penalty of disenfranchisement (being unable to buy or sell, Rev. 13:17). Some time after this law has been passed, God will allow the tables of stone (The 10 Commandments) and a good clear video of the Ark of the Covenant to be put on public display. (For more information on the proposed law download a small booklet here.) "It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law." Psalm 119:126. Whilst in the chamber, Ron noticed a dried, black substance in an earthquake crack in the roof, above the Ark of the Covenant. He noticed that this black substance was also on the lid of the cracked stone casing. Obviously, this substance had dripped from the crack in the roof, and provision had been made for it to land on the Ark of the Covenant, as the stone lid had been cracked and moved aside. Ron wondered what substance could be so sacred, that God made provision for it to land on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant. He remembered the earthquake crack at the foot of the cross hole, and suddenly an awesome realization as to what had happened, came over him. Ron traced the earthquake crack, and indeed it was the same crack as the one at the cross hole. The dried black substance in the crack was tested and proved to be blood, apparently the blood of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that when Jesus died there was an earthquake and the rocks were rent (Matt. 27:51). A Roman soldier speared Christ in His side in order to make sure He was dead, and blood and water poured out (John 19:34). Ron discovered that this same blood and water poured down through the earthquake crack and fell upon the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant. Human cells normally have 46 chromosomes. These are actually 23 pairs of homologous chromosomes. In each pair of chromosomes, one of the pair is from the mother and the other member is from the father. Therefore, 23 chromosomes come from the mother and 23 from the father. In each set of 23, 22 chromosomes are autosomal and one is sex-determining. The sex-determining ones are the X chromosome and the Y chromosome. Females are XX, so they can only contribute an X chromosome to their offspring, whereas males are XY, which allows them to contribute either an X or a Y. If they contribute an X, the child is female, whereas if they contribute a Y, the child is male. The fascinating finding in this blood was that instead of 46 chromosomes, there were only 24. There were 22 autosomal chromosomes, one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. This evidences that the person to whom this blood belonged to had a mother but no human father, because the normal contribution of paternal chromosomes is missing. 1John.5.8, 9: "And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son." What does Daniel 9:24 mean, when it says, "To anoint the Most Holy."? The rest of the verse refers to events that occurred at the cross. Did this also, then occur at Jesus' crucifixion? The Hebrew word for Most Holy is, "qodesh haq-qodeshim". It is used several times in the Old Testament and always refers to the Most Holy place, or furniture in the Most Holy place ie. the Ark of the Covenant. This then must be a prophecy that Christ, on the cross, will anoint the Ark of the Covenant, with His blood.