The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1911-08-18

upon their heads" It is known On
Kings IS, ~ that King Hezekiah
brake in pieces the brazen serpent
that Moses had made; for nto 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 1t
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
c%ulously taken up into heaven. The
latter belief is reflected in the ADocal-
ypse of John. The Mohammedan doe
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-
bic conjecture that the Ark survived
the restoration and was placed in the
second temple, it would not be diff
cult to conceive what was it's final
rate, II one recalls the number OF
times Jerusalem was sacked between
the rebuilding Of the walls and the
complete razing Of the Jewish capital
by the Romans.
1t is certain that the Ark was no.
longer in Jerusalem when the city
ended its long agony by the Roman
sword and tirebrand in 70 A. d.
Neither is it credible that the Ark was
hidden in any OF the secret chambers
ana caves which honeycombed the
ground beneath the city. Nor is it
probable that the Ark. had it still been
IN existence, could have a the
plous curiosity Of the Christians when
they became the rulers of Jerusalem
under Constantine, in the fourth CEN
fury Of our era.
No Trace Of Ark In 1000 Years.
For $50 years the Moslems held he
city, but, with this prolonged oppor-
tunlty. 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
Io,ooO Moslems to the sword, burned
the Jews in their synagogue and plum
dered the Mosque of Omar. For SO
years the Christians held the Holy
CIV until Ca1oI;n ro%~a1. -
during none of these revolutions was
a trace of III Ark discovered. Nor
has it been found during the eight cen.
turles thai the Turks have been mas.
tiers of the Holy Land.
All Sunday school pupils know the
story OF the Ark. 1t was built under
the supervision Of Moses, on plans and
specifications infinitely supplied by Je-
hovah himself. 1t seems at times to
nave acquired the power of locomo-
ton, and to have flown as a guide be-
fore the lsraelites 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.
n 1t came to pass, when the Ark
set forward, that Moses said Rise I'D.
Lord, and let thine enemies be scat
tered. And when it rested, he said
Return, 0 Lord, to the MANY thous-
of Israel" (Num. 10, 33-35-36D
When the priests bearing the Ark
their feet in the River Jordan, the
parted and the ~Israelites Jour-
neyed over dryshod. Carried about the
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 we're
with plaques of bubonic fever
and mice.
David, one of the most astute OF
recovered the chest from
The Philistines. In his Joy and per-
in his desire to impress his sub
jects with the sanctity of the fetish.
King danced before it with all his
Michal, his wife and the
laughter Of Saul, saw King David
and leaping before the Lord
she despised him in her heart"
For this impiety she was condemned,
sterility. David's son, Solomon. set
he Ark In honor of his new temn,e
from that day to this, save for tha
in II M%accabees quoted above.
he holy chest has disappeared from