The Holbrook news., 1911-10-06
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upon their heads" It is known Ql Kings IS. 4) that King Hezekiah brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense unto it."
 Before the beginning of our era, Jewish scholars began to seek expla- nations for the disappearance of the Ark. thus proving that it had previous ly vanished
 | One legend of the Talmud is that Solomon constructed a secret cave in- to which the national fetish was to be borne in time of peril, and that it was there concealed by King Josiah. ! before he was defeated and slain by King Pharoah-nechoh of Egypt. Some of the rabbis held that the Ark would reappear with the advent of the Mes siah. and others that it had been mira culously taken up into heaven. The latter belief is reflected in the Appeal ypse of John. The Mohammedan doc tors believe the sacred chest was thrown into Lake Tiberias and that on the day of the last judgment 1t will swim to the surface
 Adopting for a moment the improb- able conjecture that the Ark survived the restoration and was placed in the second temple. 1t would not be difi- cult to conceive what was it's final fate, if one recalls the number of times Jerusalem was sacked between the rebuilding of the walls and the complete raging of the Jewish capital by the Romans.
 It is certain that the Ark was no longer in Jerusalem when the city ended it's long agony by the Roman sword and firebrand in 79 A D. Neither Is 1t credible that the Ark was hidden in any of the secret chambers and caves which honeycombed the ground beneath the city. Nor is it probable that the Ark. had 1t still been in existence. could have escaped the pious curiosity of the Christians when they became the rulers of Jerusalem under Constantine. in the fourth cen tury of our era.
 No Trace of Ark In 1000 Years.
 For 46O years the Moslems held the city. but, with this prolonged oppor- tunity. did not recover the Ark, which was almost as holy to them as to a Jew. Godfrey of Bouillon, the Cru sader, captured Jerusalem in 1899, put 10000 Moslems to the sword. burned the Jews in their synagogue and plum dered the Mosque of Omar. For SS years the Christians held the Holy City. until Saladin retook it in 11S7. 1 During none of these revolutions was a trace of the Ark discovered. Nor has it been found during the eight cen turies that the Turks have been mas ters of the Holy Land.
 All Sunday school pupils know the story of the Ark It was built under | the supervision of Moses, on plans and | specifications minutely supplied by Je- hovah himself. It seems at times to | have acquired the power of locomo- | ton. and to have flown as a guide be- fore the Israelites in their wanderings | 'The Ark of the Covenant went be- fore them in the three days journey to | search out a resting place for them. | And it came to pass. when the Ark | set forward. that Moses said Rise up. | Lord. and let thine enemies be scat | tered And when it rested, he said, | Return. o Lord. to the many thous ands of Israeli" (Num. 10. 33-35-36)
 When the priests bearing the Arh | set their feet in the River Jordan, the waters parted and the Israelites jour neyed over dryshod. Carried about the walls of Jericho. it's magic influence | undermined the Notifications until | they crumbled at the blast of a trum- pet Captured by the Philistines and | set up beside their god. Dagon, the Ark compelled the stone image to bow before it and fall shattered to the earth. while Dagon's worshipers were smitten with plaques of bubonic fever and mice.
 David. one of the most astute of politicians recovered the chest from the Philistines. In his joy and per haps in his desire to impress his sub jects with the sanctity of the fetish, the King danced before 1t with all his might" Michal. his wife and the daughter of Saul, saw King David | dancing and leaping before the Lord, | and she despised him in her heart" 1" For this impiety she was condemned | to sterility. David's son. Solomon. set the Ark in honor of his new temple, and from that day to this. save for the | passage in II Maccabees quoted above. the holy chest has disappeared from history.