Archaeologists UNCOVER Potential Ark of the Covenant HIDING PLACE | Stakelbeck Tonight

the mystery of what has happened to the Ark of the Covenant at least as far as this wall is concerned we'll have to wait for some future time until there is more tangible evidence more solid archaeological proof of what may have happened to the ark what we're left with is speculation and theories and a lot of anticipation we're in Jerusalem to explore the Temple mount that was once home to Solomon's first temple which hous the Ark of the Covenant it was also the site of herod's second temple where Jesus taught and chased out the money changers it's considered the holiest place in Judaism and it's very important for Christians as well after all Jesus taught there for Muslims the Temple Mount is considered the third holiest site in Islam home to the aloa mosque and Dome of the Rock folks one thing is clear here this is the most disputed most coveted piece of real estate in the world and today with our good friends Danny the Digger Herman and Zev orenstein will explore the Temple Mount and Western Wall and even search for the Lost Ark of the Covenant that's next on stackle Beck tonight [Music] [Applause] [Music] Danny here we are what a majestic view of the holiest sight in the world this is the Temple Mount we are standing on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem a lot of commotion to say the least surrounding this site always but especially in recent months tell us why the Temple Mount is so important to Jews Christians Muslims to the entire world yes this is possibly the holiest GPS coordinate on the planet this place has seen so much violence so much sanctity so much religious Zeal it's really uncomprehended and uh you know just think of the view here 2,000 years ago when Jesus comes from the Galilee what did he see he saw the smoke of the animal sacrifice and he saw a giant white building the place that in the days of Solomon held the Ark of the Covenant the temple he saw the second temple Jesus before that as you said Solomon's Temple and in in his time there was a grand white Roman looking like Temple except that it was the Jewish temple but centuries later it was all in Ruins as the Romans destroyed it then the Muslims gave it the view that you see now and we have here the Dome of the Rock which is marking by Muslim tradition the supposedly the footprint uh and the mark where Muhammad ascended to heaven to get the prayers of Islam and accordingly a giant mosque next to it is called ala mus the far most mosque which is what the Surah 17 says about the night journey of Muhammad where he went on his winged horse and then went up to the Heavens to get the prayers of Islam so this is the Dome of the Rock is a shrine it's not a mosque just so people know the mosque is next door the al- AXA mosque which is the third holiest site in Islam behind Mecca and Medina Yes except that there's slight problem the Quran never said that happened in Jerusalem in fact the Quran never mentions Jerusalem not even not even once it said it happened in the far most musk which if you in Mecca could have been in the outskirts of Mecca could have been in Medina or could have been just a night vision which some Muslim Scholars argue as well we think that it's really in the mid sth century when the umiads were banned from doing pilgrimage to Mecca but they were controlling here in Damascus and they were the umiads were descendants of the Muhammad's ruling family the Muslim rulers at the time basically yes who were then ruling Damascus and Southern Syria okay but not Saudi Arabia they were banned from doing the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia to Mecca so they created and and branded Jerusalem formerly holy to Jews and to Christians now it will be holy to Islam now first of all look at the architecture it doesn't look like any mosque it's actually a complete replica of a Christian concentric octagonal Church okay it's really copying the concept of octagonal churches such as in capernium you can see to this day in a remains of an octagonal Church marking where Peter lived in capernium or in cesaria when we filmed there on the hilltop on the temos above the port there was an octagonal Church there's one also on Mount gzim up in Samaria that's the concept the second other interesting note is that the diameter of the Dome is identical in size to the diameter of the holiest Christian s in the world the Church of the Holy sep also here in Jerusalem old city just 500 meters apart but because it's in a higher spot and in an open platform it looks more Grand yeah but the building is clearly dialoguing with Christianity in in architecture in size and even the quotes inside from the Quran are only reflecting what the Quran thinks about Jesus yes he is important but he is a prophet not a messiah Islam's view of Jesus yes and he was born to a Earthly woman but not to a Heavenly Father these are the quotes inside so we have dating back over 3,000 years first Solomon's Temple the Ark of the Covenant was there the holy of holies God's divine presence dwelt right there on top of the Temple Mount uh then that Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians yes Temple rebuilt by the Jews returning from Babylon yes returning from Babylon Exile and then King Herod makes it into to a grand structure once again the second temple that is the temple where Jesus taught chased out the money changers yes and 30 years after he's out of the scene the temple is also out of the scene by the Romans destroyed the temple yes and then there's a Christian presence there the byzantines very minimal it seems that they deliberately left it in Ruins to show how Christianity took over Judaism the role of Judaism Jesus fulfills the Jewish prophetic Messianic message the sacrifice of Jesus now replaces the animal sacrifices that were in the temple so there was apparently a chapel there but nothing significant it was deliberately left in ruins for Christian uh narrative and when the Muslims arrive they see a big empty space once relating to the Jewish temple and they want to compete with Christianity so they make a replica of a church over the place where the temple used to be so they intentionally build the Dome of the Rock where the temple used to be and the Ala mosque interesting you and and I were on the Temple Mount today we had a rare opportunity to walk around up there and uh you made the point that Jews cannot pray on top of the Temple mount the holiest site in Judaism yet Jews are not permitted to pray there it's been under Muslim control essentially for the past 1,400 years I guess Muslim religious authorities control the Temple Mount today tell us a bit about that in the sixth day war the Israeli power Troopers uh were attacking from the West okay or so the jordanians thought since we knew that they were expecting us to come from the West we made a classic maneuver and came from the East the muru forces entered through uh the Lion's gate right down here so they came from the back and put the flag of Israel on top of the Dome of the Rock and the jordanians turned around and saw oh my God the city is conquered it was a very Swift uh Victory but then shortly after mosed the famous One eyy General rushes to the site takes the flag down no one even got a photo of it of this moment and invited the W the Muslim religious Authority and in a symbolic way gave them the keys and he said you can keep it but the Western Wall and the plaza in front of it is going to be now a Jewish praying place and that was the status quo for a very long time [Music] [Music] here we are we're in Jerusalem we're at the foot of the Western Wall so what is this place and why is it so important yeah Israeli soldiers are about to make an oath to the state and the Army in front of it and technically the wall is just a supportive wall of the Temple mount that was around the temple so the really important site the Western Wall obviously very important the retaining wall but the big one was up above it up there but since we don't have have it anymore Judaism adopted the Western retaining wall or more specifically part of the western retaining wall because it was accessible it was visible and also when you're standing here you are very close to where the holy of holies where the arc used to be the Ark of the Covenant yes so both being accessible being close to where the arc used to be and being 2,000 years old these three reasons combined branded the Western retaining wall is so holy youth groups come here and dance and sing and chant for the Shabbat holidays on Passover it's amazing amazing to see all the crowds gathering around here this place always has its very special Dynamics yes the the wall starts here it does not end here like you said only 11% is visible so you are going to take us deep beneath the Western Wall right now and we've got some exciting things to show everyone right totally this way let's go well Danny here we are we are now beneath the Western Wall and this is one of the most fascinating even a sort of mysterious section of the wall tell us what we're looking at right now and man it is massive this is you're actually touching now a colossal size stone that is estimated to be more than 400 tons in weight tons yes and this is a continuation of the famous sprain Plaza of the Western Wall technically it's the same Western retaining walls sometimes you see people putting notes here yes so where we just were and I prayed there and you and I didn't an interview there that is a continuation but you can see that this the general public cannot see yes this was um surveyed in the 19th century by British Scholars but after The Six Day War we started Excavating it exposing it and it's really a problem because above our heads is the Muslim quarter so instead of digging Muslim quarter of the old city yes so instead of digging from the top we are digging from the side and we formed a tunnel parallel to the Western Wall all the way to the northern Edge exposing the full length of the Western World from the southern end to the Northern end okay and that was already completed many years ago but the research still continues elsewhere around here these are the Western Wall tunnels and yes this must have great significance this portion of the wall because we're getting closer to a very special place right yes it's both an archaeological site a tour attraction and a holy place because the whole reason this wall is also considered holy is because when you're standing here you are at the closest to where the holy of holies where the ark used to be but now if we go that way we get to an even closer spot so it's actually maintained by the ministry of religion and it's considered a holy place [Music] [Applause] [Music] it's getting narrow in here Danny tell me where we are right now along the western wall tunnels again this this is the Western Wall amazing and above our heads is daily life of the Muslim quarter and again it shows you how huge the Temple mount the complex above is because that Plaza is so massive above it makes sense that this is a long wall that keeps going and going seemingly underground here and at some point they left a a section with glass floors so you can see that it continues also beneath us I wanted to ask you that how deep down does this wall go where where was street level 2,000 years ago during the time of King Herod at the Western Wall the street level is about 5 m beneath the pran plaza and the Bedrock itself is another I don't know 5 m or so now meters for an American audience what would meters be uh 15 16 ft like three times in three times in a bit I'm not I was an English major not a math guy so you are very good now what's amazing in this case is that here is the Western World Peace mhm why isn't it in place Eric this is the Roman destruction of Jerusalem 70 AD wow this is the destruction of the temple and Jewish Jerusalem gone so we have sign of that destruction right before right beneath our feet right now yes this is before year 70 that stone is after year 70 wow okay unbelievable that is unbelievable we are walking history right [Music] now Eric this is more of the Western Wall but this area this spot specifically is also so Holy by many Jews in fact many Jews that will come here will put their keep on because this is like the Western World praying Plaza it's a holy place and why here is a diagram showing what we think the Temple Mount used to look like and we started at the Western Wall we moved into the tunnels and now that we are here we are at the closest point to where the holy of holies of the temple used to be the closest point to where the Ark was held yeah and the Ark which included of course God's divine presence The Ten Commandments yes and that's why also many people will put notes Here specifically because it's so close physically to God's presence the wow the holy of holies the place of the Earth the Shak Glory now this is not visible to the general public but this is really the holiest portion of the Western Wall the only way to see it to come here is to join a tour of the Western Wall tunnels and then you also get to this [Music] [Music] point wiev it may be the greatest archaeological mystery in all of history the location of the Ark of the Covenant Indiana Jones found it but in real life it has never been found but the room where we are standing right now may hold some very important Clues tell us about it so we're here again in the city of David site of biblical Jerusalem we are standing inside a sistern a sistern that would have held water dating back some 2 and 1/2 th000 Years first temple period Jerusalem but when you look at this sistern there is one wall that is not covered in plaster which seems to be a bit strange if you look over here you could see that one wall just does not fit in it looks like it was almost hastily put together that's right like a rush job that's right this wall is directly adjacent to the Western Wall of the Temple Mount and one of the great mysteries for Generations has been what happened to the Ark of the Covenant the question is when was was it lost and for that story we have to go back some 2700 years to the time of the biblical King Hezekiah the prophet Isaiah that's right prophet Isaiah first temple Solomon's Temple you have King Hezekiah the prophet Isaiah the Kingdom of Israel has been exiled by the Assyrians sakb and now Hezekiah is ruling the kingdom of Judah and he knows that Jerusalem is next the kingdom of Judah is next and the Assyrians come to Jerusalem and they surround the city and they were bloodthirsty the syrians were Fierce and brutal but the prophet Isaiah says Hezekiah don't worry by the way the king of sakb came so shall he return he will not enter Jerusalem not a single Arrow will fall within the walls of Jerusalem and the next morning the entire Assyrian army is gone now how many you're talking about well over 100,000 according to the Bible and now hezekiah's son Manasseh who was not like his father he did not walk in the ways of the Lord biblical scholars believe the wicked King Manasseh for his own reasons prepares these Subterranean hiding places around and beneath the Temple Mount perhaps some place like we're standing right now absolutely biblical scholars believe it could be somewhere in this vicinity now why is he so concerned about the Ark of the Covenant it's not because he was a deeply religious person he wasn't he was anything but anything but but he understood that the Ark of the Covenant at least for him represented a National Treasure treasure and therefore he has the same interest that perhaps the prophet Isaiah also does at the time when he prophecies that Jerusalem is going to fall that he understood that at some point the temple Treasures the temple itself it's not going to save Israel if they sin and so Manassa said I'm going to come up with hiding places to hide away the Ark of the Covenant a few Generations go by and now Josiah the righteous King Josiah is ruling and he begins to see so to speak the writing on the wall and he gets the feeling that it's time to hide away the ark and so what does he do for one last time there is a big national celebration of the Passover holiday and so now we're reading from 2 Chronicles chapter 35:3 where Josiah says to the Levites who are consecrated to the Lord who taught all of Israel put the holy Ark in the house that Solomon son of David king of Israel built as you no longer carry it on your shoulders see now to the service of the Lord your God and His People Israel so seemingly Josiah is telling the Levites that's it you're going to carry the ark one last time and then you're going to hide the way for it to be saved for some future time Josiah maybe saw or felt the Gathering storm on the horizon in the form of the Babylonians that's right King Nebuchadnezzar leveled this place leveled the first temple that's right and and so we have a clue from the Bible because the Bible tells us that when Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon destroys Jerusalem it actually lists the treasures from Jerusalem that are taken out of Jerusalem and into Babylon and among those Treasures one thing is missing and that is the Ark of the Covenant conspicuous by its acts absolutely there are lots of mysteries people say perhaps the ark is in Alexandria Egypt perhaps in Ethiopia but one other prevalent theory is perhaps it's still in Jerusalem perhaps it never left I know people at home are probably thinking okay the Wall's there just knock it down and see what's behind there you've excavated so much else here uh at the city of David but kind of a political Hot Potato right what one of the significant aspects of Jerusalem it's historically significant it's religiously significant it's politically significant and in the Middle East when you throw all those ingredients into the pot at the same time it can be volatile and therefore the mystery of what has happened to the Ark of the Covenant at least as far as this wall is concerned we'll have to wait for some future time until there is more tangible evidence more solid archaeological proof of what may have happened to the ark what we're left with is speculation and theories and a lot of anticipation Zev thank you so much my friend always a pleasure with you and you always bring us the absolute cuttingedge stories here in Jerusalem from the city of David thank you my friend pleasure is always mine what a fascinating day it's been exploring the sights of the Temple mount with our good friends Danny the Digger Herman and Zev orenstein from the Western Wall and its tunnels to the possible location of the Ark of the Covenant this place is brimming with history Intrigue and Holiness now what's even more significant is that this is the place where Jesus is coming back not DC Paris London or Berlin the King of Kings is coming back to Jerusalem in Revelation 2212 Jesus says of his return behold I am coming quickly and my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work folks let's remember that even through these contentious times Jesus is the one who empowers us and yes he is coming back so be encouraged stackle back tonight my allnew nightly series on current events through a bold biblical lens make sure you hit the Subscribe button so you never miss an upload and tap the Bell icon so you're notified every time a new video is posted and don't forget to share your thoughts insights and comments below thanks for watching and God bless