“When ye see the Ark of the Covenant…”

(This article is directed to Seventh Day Adventists, lay-ministers, lay-ministries and independent SDA churches.)

“When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.” Jos.3:3

THE ARK COVERED:
Let us just state one fact, none of them actually saw the Ark. The Ark was hidden underneath the vail from the holiest as instructed. (Num.4,5) At no time was it visible in the open. Yet, in faith, they knew it was there and they were to follow it.
They had known the man who had built it, the man who had placed the ten commandments inside it. They had themselves heard the voice proclaiming the ten commandments. They knew the priests that had entered into the Most Holy and they knew the men who had been assigned to carry it.
The command from God didn’t require them to “see” it personally, it required it for them to see it in faith and follow it in faith.
Why were they to walk after the Ark?

THE TIME FRAME:
Israel had been wandering in the wilderness as prophecied for 40 years. Moses had just died and Joshua has taken over the leading role.
God’s people had recently faced great tribulation. An army had plotted against them, their enemies had even called for a known prophet to curse them. When it didn’t succeed, the leaders and the prophet plotted to deceive them. Beautiful women was sent in to seduce the men in Israel. It seemed like a good thing to unite with them. Wasn’t the Midianites also children of Abraham? And the Moabites, weren’t they also from Abrahams family, his brother? And wasn’t Moses himself married to a Midianite? They were. But they didn’t have God’s law with them. Their religion was a religious mixture. Their forefathers Midian and Lot had worshipped the true God. But as they mingled and married with pagans their religion had changed into idolatry. And now they were tempting Israel to follow them in their sins at the very border to the promised land. It seemed like a good thing to many, to make friends and unite in a peaceful union. But it was a deception. Before they knew it they were mixing their faith with that of the Moabites and the Midianites.
“And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.” (Num 25:1-2, See also 4.Mos.31,16 for reference to the Midianite women)
I’m sure they felt like peacemakers in the world, but the truth was that they were working against God’s true peace. A union between a mixture religion and the truth would taint the true and no one would be left to represent the unfalsified truth of the Creator of the universe.
After this tribulation, those who remained faithful or who turned from their ways got ready to cross the Jordan river into the land God had promised.
The experience of Israel is compared to God’s people in the end times. In Revelation, we learn of a harlot with the “wine of fornication”. She has daughters. (Rev.17,2 & 5) The power has similar roots as God’s people. A woman in the Bible represents a church. An unfaithful one is called a harlot and a faithful one is called pure and holy. (Ezek. 23; Rev.12,17 etc) The harlot is, therefore, a symbol of a church that has gone astray, mixed sin with truth and is forcefully and seductively trying to make everyone follow in her footsteps. Do they not all believe in Christ, why not unite? It’s a false Christian power, a false prophet. And what differs between the church of the harlot and God’s people are that God’s people keep Gods commandments (Rev.14,12) and she tries to lure God’s people into fornication or disobedience to God. She is a temptress.
She appears as a peacemaker in the eyes of men for she works together with the kings of the earth, all nations and even through the merchants. The merchants in old Mesopotamia were the very ones who brought the religion of Babylon to the world. They are and have always been the influencers of the masses. Surely all these standing together seem like some sort of unity and therefore must be a good thing? But they are leading people into perdition. It doesn’t matter how many follow or support something if it’s wrong or sinful, God is not persuaded by the masses to change His character and His law. In the end time, it says the whole world will follow the beast. Gods enemy: “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him” (Rev.13,8) This is what we call a majority. God’s law says, however:
«Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.» Exo. 23:2

THE PROMISED LAND
The promised land, Canaan, symbolizes the land promised to us who believe. (See Heb.3-4) It’s God’s true rest. The mansions Christ spoke about. (Joh.14,2) Our hope. But there was one important message that was given right before they were to enter the promised land.
When the time had come for them to go into the land, when the Captain of the host of the LORD had come, they were given a special message to guide them in their final steps. (Jos.5,14)
The Ark of The Covenant was to be a special sign for them that it was time to break up and go. It would go before them and lead them through the final obstacles before they could possess the Promised land. And that is when they are told: “When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.”
It was the Ark that would first enter into the waters and as long as it was standing in the middle of the river they could all safely cross over to the other side. The Ark then followed after them and joined them.

THE END TIME EVENTS
This great event has perhaps an important message to God’s end-time people who are standing at the border of the true promised land. The signal that they were to prepare to cross over was the Ark. But it was them walking after it that lead them into the river, or they would not have been able to cross it.
The discovery of the Ark of the Covenant might just be Gods sign to His end-time people that it’s time to “remove from your place, and go after it”. What would this mean symbolically? It means that when we learned of the discovery of the Ark we were to stand in order together and get ready for the final event. We were to be alerted and start walking in faith. To follow the Ark means to follow God’s lead. The Ark itself was only a representation of God’s leadership. A visible sign of Israel’s true great leader. God used the Ark to test their willingness to follow Him.
The discovery of the Ark of the Covenant is a story of God’s great mercy. What happened in the Jordan river tell a similar story as the blood on the mercy seat does. Jesus performed the symbolism of his death and resurrection, the baptism, at the same river not far from where this event took place. Just like the Ark standing in the river was what made it possible for God’s people to cross over to the promised land, in the same way, it is the blood of Christ that makes it possible for us today to enter God’s promised land. Both stories mirror each other. Only by grace and God’s miracle for our sake, can we have a hope of entering the true promised land.
Beholding the discovery of the Ark is beholding the blood, following its lead is to follow the authority it represents. The law inside the Ark.
Were God’s people meant to see the Ark in faith when God’s servant witnessed of it, as it was covered by Golgatha hill, and follow it in our days? What would be the consequence of not following its lead?

“AND THE PRIEST ..BEARING IT”
God’s people today is intensely divided. They all come up with different ideas, different interpretations of prophecy, a different understanding of important Bible scripture. They fight and cannot agree. They come with time prophecies that fail. All of this, the lack of unity in the understanding of the end time events, is the consequence of not following God’s lead. They all think they are following God’s lead, they might even all have great answers to prayers. God loves His people whether they have understood everything correct or not. He doesn’t wait with answering peoples prayer and helping them because they don’t say or think everything correct. God is a merciful and patient God. But to create unity and harmony in the end time is crucial for God’s people’s wellbeing. God’s people desperately needed a clear leadership in its final years to help them move forward in order.
It wasn’t just the Ark that went before Israel. Remember: “And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come.” (Jos 5:14) This great Captain was to go and lead them, not just a chest of gold. But the chest of gold, the Ark, was a visible sign to the people that they were being led by that very Captain of the host. Because they would not be able to see Him. They were to show their obedience to the Captain by following the Ark, the symbol of His leadership.
If we take this into consideration in our days it’s not to avoid to ask the question, if God’s people had received the discovery of the Ark and followed the Ark when they saw it (in faith) would they also be in a spiritual union when faced with the temptations and dangers ahead? Would the captain of the host lead them as in one flock?
Being God’s people does not mean we can take for granted that God will gather and lead us in a union. Remember God’s plan for His people in the past could not take place because they refused His leading. Jesus said: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Mat 23:37) We see here that the unity under His protection and lead was only possible if His people cooperated with Him. The conditions for unity are no different for God’s people today. God’s plans for His people cannot take place if they don’t listen to Him and the messengers sent to them.

Many rejected the Ark discovery, they did not see it as a sign and they did not follow. Nor would they believe Gods witness. This might have added to the disunity that has come over God’s people in the end times. If we want to go together with the Lord we have to follow Him and His lead. If we at one point step away from his leading we subject us to temptations and will stumble.
The verse doesn’t just mention to look at the Ark but also to the priests bearing it. This might be another great help in the confusion. In the New Testament we learn that God’s priests are now those sharing the gospel. (1Pe_2:9; Rev 1:6). The priests had also other trademarks, they were God’s truth bearers. In the story by the Jordan river the priests literally physically carried God’s truth on their shoulders. In the same way, God has His truth bearers today. This is very important to understand in order to handle the different diversities we see among God’s people.
God adds advanced light to light that has already been given. That means that those who are chosen to give additional light already have received God’s previous light. If God were to give the additional light to someone who has rejected the previous light, He Himself will contribute and even lead people into the confusion that exists today among God’s people. The truth would then be divided up and no one would represent it fully. But as we see in the Bible, God always, without exception, build the blocks of light on the previous blocks of light. That is why you never see in the Bible someone coming from Moab or Ammon for instance to be a prophet to God’s people. God always chooses the ones who already have the roots and represents His truth correctly. This means that when God chooses people to represent the Ark, to “show” the Ark to man, He chooses the ones who already have a correct understanding of the truth.
This means that if the Ark had been accepted as a sign to follow, God’s people would at the same time have seen “the priests” bearing it and know that they had to have accepted the previous chains of light. This would help in the confusion on who is telling and even interpreting the truth correctly.
Many people do preach the Ark of the Covenant discovery, but not all are chosen by God to do so. The enemy of God will always have false preachers to share the truth in order to confuse the truth. But God’s people are not to listen to them. Those God has chosen will be able to bring evidence of their election for people to see and hear. One of such people is Ron Wyatt. The truth he represented is therefore important. The pillar truth that had previously been given by God, he had received and believed. He had received God’s previous truth as it had come to him and represented it together with the Ark. Under no circumstance would Ron be allowed to share this great discovery and enter the cave with the Ark if he represented a falsified version of the truth.
Yet others popular men have preached the Ark discovery after him who rejects the truth’s that Ron represented with the Ark. It is evident that these people are not bearers of the Ark after Gods election. They just claim to be. For they themselves have not “followed the priests bearing it” by rejecting what they represented together with the Ark. Neither do they have the Ark. These are evident not God’s elected messengers as they don’t build on the truth given, but try to steal the Ark discovery to fit with their own ideas and doctrines they have been taught. Taking it from it’s designed message and messengers to a path that have long rejected God’s truth in the past. But their falsehood is evident as they cannot show for having been in the cave with the Ark or near His holy things while Ron Wyatt did. Ron remains as a representant for the truth along with the Ark, while they just use Ron’s story to present their own ideas.

The Ark was to unite God’s people to go as in one accord in their final journey. Right now many of God’s people are in peril. Debates, and many interpretations. Many look up to preachers and leaders and follow each their own. They choose their teachers all after what they feel fit their already understanding or even wishes.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers” (2Ti 4:3)

But there is one path that is lead by the Lord Himself in these final days. Our own captain of the host of the LORD. Watch the Ark and those who are specially chosen to bear it to the people. Notice what they teach and if they have added the new light with the old light and not gone their own path.
God will always have chosen workers who are specially selected to help people by guiding them to the “truth source”.
By following the Ark and watching those who are bearers of it, God can help you navigate trough truth and errors in the end time. This is yet another blessing and light that many of God’s people have missed out on because they didn’t follow the lead of the Ark.
Instead, they are partly defenseless as their brethren share one new (or old yet false) understanding after another causing division and strife. And the result is little unity of understanding.
Individualism is great in today’s society and also among God’s people. They think they are clever enough themselves, they think that the ideas and thoughts they have are divine, and they don’t see that God moves in order. The attitude is that if the truth fits your personal understanding then it has to be the truth. But God has always had His lightbearers who steadfastly move forward adding light to light.
And among them, there are people who start wandering off the path to the left and to the right taking each a crowd with them. It’s crucial to not reject light God has given if you want to continue on God’s straight and narrow path without stumbling.
Keep therefore also an eye on the people God has elected to help show people the Ark of the Covenant and notice what they believe and tell you. And if you are uncertain, notice if their truth is built on the same truth Ron represented or if it diverse you away from that pillar faith to that of another religious group or church. Then they are among those that are unrightfully stealing the discovery for their own personal gain. They will see Ron’s death as an opportunity for them to change the direction of the truth that goes with the message. Thinking themselves grand, as if God made a mistake in the man He chose not knowing the truth he represented at the time. God is not ignorant. He chose Ron for the very reason that he represented Him and the future events correctly. Ron was inside in the cave with the Ark and they that give a different gospel or a different view on the end time events were never invited in.

THOSE AMONG GOD’S PEOPLE THAT ARE SAYING THERE IS NO ARK DISCOVERY
These people are removing the sign for God’s people to break up and walk in unity the last part of the journey. It’s like turning off a light that shines in the darkness. They encourage people to look away from the Ark and those bearing it to themselves. These are causing people to be lead away from Christ leading while at the same time claiming to actually follow God’s leading. But they are not the first to do it.
“…in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.” (Jer 23:21)
Their rejection and their persuasion of people to not “follow the Ark” are part of the cause of the great disunity that followed within God’s remnant church. They hindered God’s people to walk gathered in God’s leading.
Instead of seeing the Ark as a sign to follow it in order to walk in order, they have removed the light from the path. The result is that preachers, independent and congregational alike, each come with their own truths. “Listen to me,” says one great preacher, “No, listen to me,” says another.
These men do not understand that they have taken peoples attention from God’s true light to themselves ripping up the body of Christ and leaving masses unprepared for the final events.

Today
“Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” (Heb.4,7)
“When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.”
Believe in this discovery, accept the sign God has given to you. Prepare and get up for the time is very short. Find peace in God’s leading. And God will go before you and after you and compass you.