Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: OVERSEAS VACATION (08/13/15)
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TITLE: Ark of the Covenant Found | Previous Challenge Entry
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08/19/15 -
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Following a twenty minute walk from our hotel. I arrived in the shadow of the garden flora across from the tomb of Christ. I walked toward the sepulcher and pondered the sign hung across the entrance.” HE IS NOT HERE FOR HE IS RISEN.”
“Would you like a personal tour?” A tap on my shoulder identified the figure offering the interrogatory. The strong pleasant tone matched the appearance of this tall white haired man.
“Is there more to see? I was here with our tour group a couple of days ago and…”
“There is much more to see. More than meets the eye.” The man’s steady countenance evolved into a brief smile.
“Why not?” I shrugged.
“We walked north stopping in front of the ruins of an ancient wine press. I expected him to speak, but it was I that spoke first. Pointing to a gap in the rocky escarpment above the press. “There is Jeremiah’s Grotto and inside is the Ark of the Covenant.”
The man nodded agreement and explained that if I would return here, I would be afforded room and board and any kind of assistance needed in excavating the area.
During the flight home I was in a battle of emotions ranging from utter terror to grandiose joy. “What made me point and say Jeremiah’s Grotto and the Ark of the Covenant? This would never come out of my mouth, unless divinely prompted by the Holy Spirit!” But yet it seemed ridiculous, even insane.
Once home I attempted to forget the experience, and shared it with no one.
One night, nothing but an Angel stood at the foot of my bed. His dazzling aura and piercing voice rendered me frozen. “You are the chosen one to reveal the Ark of the Covenant and tablets of the law.” As quickly as he appeared, he disappeared. I slept no more that night. The next day I made plans to return to Jerusalem.
Just as the old man at the tomb promised; equipment, workers; even a permit to dig from the Israeli Antiquities Authority were provided.
Drilling through solid rock and removing debris from the site was demanding work. But in three days we found a tunnel that wound about for hundreds of yards beneath the old city. On both sides of the tunnel path there were dozens of hewn burial crypts. Some open, containing nothing but debris, others, covered over behind a wall of piled up stones. Anyone of these rooms could house the Ark, but which one?
The task of locating where Jeremiah hid the ark from the invading Babylonians 2600 years ago was loathsome. Days, then weeks passed. I began wondering why I was ever here. “Lord, I can’t continue.” Discouraged and sick with double pneumonia. "I had enough”! I called the airline for the next available flight home.
The next day my assistants were let go. My final task was to fill in the tunnel shaft. Inching through the narrow opening once more to bring up some left behind tools, I noticed light flickering some yards off. Flashlight in hand I approached the glow. Twenty yards to the left revealed an illuminated space. Standing there were four men amongst a large gold table, a candle stand and the Ark of the Covenant! I fainted.
One of the “men” who was actually an Angel revived me. I scanned the room from object to object and then peered at the Angels. I was told they were assigned to guard the Ark since the days of Moses. The one who revived me lifted the mercy seat cover off the Ark and told me to remove the stone tablets. At his command I placed them on a nearby rock ledge. The Angel placed a video camera next to them.
“The camera contains footage of the Ark.” When the mark of the beast becomes law, the tablets and the camera’s content will be revealed to the world.” You may speak to whomever about what you saw here today, but you cannot take anything from here.”
My life is not the same now. “Why I was chosen for this mission, I do not know. I do know God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things.”
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