The ark of the covenant

[Vort]

@Carborendum's recent post on The Veil reminded me of some studying and pondering I did years ago when I read the Old Testament very carefully. It was a great opportunity for me, and very fruitful. I learned a lot by careful reading and pondering.

One of the surprising (to me) things I learned was about Moses' ark of the covenant, a box that the children of Israel carried around with them (but only the priests; no one else was allowed contact) in the wilderness, and that contained sacred things such as the rubble of the stone tablets upon which were written by the finger of God the original law brought by Moses to Israel, manna, and a flowering branch.

I had known these things, more or less, but until I read the account carefully, I did not realize what the ark of the covenant actually was. And what it was was not merely an acacia-wood holy box. It was the throne of God, a place where God himself would sit between the cherubim upon the mercy seat and rule over Israel.

That symbolism was staring me in the face when I was reading, and I was shocked that I had never before realized it. I asked around, and it seemed that no one else realized it, either. But it's right there, not even hidden or anything, undisguised, as plain as the nose on my face. How could we fail to see what is openly described to us?

I wonder how many other things in our lives are like the ark of the covenant, plain as day for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, but mysterious and arcane to everyone else.

[Just_A_Guy]

48 minutes ago, Vort said:

@Carborendum's recent post on The Veil reminded me of some studying and pondering I did years ago when I read the Old Testament very carefully. It was a great opportunity for me, and very fruitful. I learned a lot by careful reading and pondering.

One of the surprising (to me) things I learned was about Moses' ark of the covenant, a box that the children of Israel carried around with them (but only the priests; no one else was allowed contact) in the wilderness, and that contained sacred things such as the rubble of the stone tablets upon which were written by the finger of God the original law brought by Moses to Israel, manna, and a flowering branch.

I had known these things, more or less, but until I read the account carefully, I did not realize what the ark of the covenant actually was. And what it was was not merely an acacia-wood holy box. It was the throne of God, a place where God himself would sit between the cherubim upon the mercy seat and rule over Israel.

That symbolism was staring me in the face when I was reading, and I was shocked that I had never before realized it. I asked around, and it seemed that no one else realized it, either. But it's right there, not even hidden or anything, undisguised, as plain as the nose on my face. How could we fail to see what is openly described to us?

I wonder how many other things in our lives are like the ark of the covenant, plain as day for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, but mysterious and arcane to everyone else.

I believe Don Bradley’s book on the 116 lost pages makes the case that Moroni’s stone box was a sort of Nephite equivalent of the Ark of the Covenant, with each item in the Nephite box having an equivalent to each item in the Israelite Ark.  

I lent my copy of the book to my FIL 6 months ago and haven’t gotten it back yet, so can’t go into more detail than that.  But I think you’d enjoy the book.  

[Carborendum]

51 minutes ago, Just_A_Guy said:

I believe Don Bradley’s book on the 116 lost pages makes the case that Moroni’s stone box was a sort of Nephite equivalent of the Ark of the Covenant, with each item in the Nephite box having an equivalent to each item in the Israelite Ark.  

I lent my copy of the book to my FIL 6 months ago and haven’t gotten it back yet, so can’t go into more detail than that.  But I think you’d enjoy the book.  

• Tablets
• Manna
• Aaron's rod

Vis-à-vis: 

• Plates
• Liahona
• Breastplate & Urim & Thummim
• Sword of Laban

The plates and tablets seem to be analogs.  I can see that.

The Rod and the Sword seem to be analogs.  They are both sacred relics that represented rulership.  Kind of weak, but could be.

But manna vs Liahona or breastplat/urim & thummim?  How does that work?  Food from heaven vs revelation from heaven?  Maybe?

[mikbone]

Holy of Holy!

[laronius]

A little known fact about the box Joseph retrieved the plates from. It also contained a 1400 year old Big Mac that had not deteriorated one bit. Nothing short of a miracle.

[Just_A_Guy]

5 hours ago, Carborendum said:

• Tablets
• Manna
• Aaron's rod

Vis-à-vis: 

• Plates
• Liahona
• Breastplate & Urim & Thummim
• Sword of Laban

The plates and tablets seem to be analogs.  I can see that.

The Rod and the Sword seem to be analogs.  They are both sacred relics that represented rulership.  Kind of weak, but could be.

But manna vs Liahona or breastplat/urim & thummim?  How does that work?  Food from heaven vs revelation from heaven?  Maybe?

Enjoy!

https://evidencecentral.org/recency/evidence/the-nephite-ark

[Carborendum]

14 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

Enjoy!

https://evidencecentral.org/recency/evidence/the-nephite-ark

I liked the plates vs tablets explanation.  And I get the idea that there was more than just the ark, but the priest's breastplate and ephod, etc. So, those made sense.

But when I read his explanation of the Liahona vs other items, it seems that we are getting further and further from clear analogues to just stretching / reaching to match up non-existent parallels.

I suppose there's nothing wrong with trying to make the parallels.  And who knows?  Maybe I'm just blind, and he really has a point.  But it just seems kind of weak to me.