Why Was There No Ark in the Second Temple? - Timeline of Messiah

This article is a mixture of translations and purports examining the period around the First Exile of Judah to the return, and on, in between, until the bloody demise of the Second Temple. This is an effort to briefly define all the most relevant components of prophecy and the timelines and events stipulated from the biblical traditions. These momentous years for the nation of Israel are a period in which there is much more information preserved in various historical accounts and archaeological finds than for the Pre-Exile era but the quantities are still scant. The bulk of the data still comes from frequently contrary biblical sources but the overall picture emerging is very clear about specific events which I have found to be largely marginalised and misrepresented by all sides of the theological debate.

It is critical to understand that Jehovah, the God of Israel, had one purpose in re-establishing the Hebrews with the Second Temple, and without the Ark of the Testimony (Dan.9:24, 2Macc.2:4-7). The scroll of Daniel in the ninth chapter deals with the approach of the seventieth year for the Babylonians, from the great destruction of Jerusalem (see Rashi-Dan.9:2) and her Temple (Jer.29:10), by introducing a three tiered prophesy. Daniel supplicates Jehovah-God so that His Countenance may shine forth once more over the desolation of the Sacred Place (Dan.9:17). Hence it is proper to examine some of Daniel's amazing prophecy through a literal reading of the Hebrew text.

Daniel 9:24:

"Seventy weeks of years allotted onto your people and onto your holy city to restrain the opposition to law, even to (seal) (up all) sin(s), and to atone for wickedness, and to usher in a righteousness for all-the-ages, and hence seal vision and prophecy and to anoint [the] Holy of Holies.

Daniel 9:25a:

And you must also know and understand, it is from [the] origin of a word going forth unto a restoration.

Daniel 9:25b:

And to a rebuilt Jerusalem until an anointed prince [is to be] sixty-two weeks and seven weeks. She shall be restored and rebuilt, street and dry-moat, even in [the] constraint of those eras."

Now, as regards Dan.9:24, Holy of Holies is actually the Ark of the Covenant being mentioned here although there is an ambiguity present since the Most Holy Place is also known by the same Hebrew term. During the ordinance of Atonement Day/Yom Kippur the High Priest performed the rituals in accordance with Torah in the Holy of Holies and the sacrifice was known to be accepted every time the lot came up in the right hand, and the crimson strap turned white, and the westernmost light shone on, despite having been kindled first and not topped up (Lev.16:5-10, Isa.1:18, Bab. Talmud, Seder Moed, Mas. Yoma39a-b). The miracles ceased forty years before the second desolation. As it is written: ...he-shall-cause-a-refrain of-sacrifice and oblation... (Dan.9:27). The Ark could not be used in the Second Temple, because it was doomed, therefore it was never brought out of seclusion. The Ark had one side reserved for the ordinances from Moses and Aaron onward, but the other side was for Messiah alone (Lev.16:14).

There is a period of time allotted onto the holy city, being seventy weeks of years, seventy times seven (490) years, a well attested biblical construction, to restrain the opposition to law, even to seal up all sin, and to atone for wickedness, and to usher in a righteousness for all the ages, and hence seal [up the] vision and prophecy of those who were sent of Israel as God's messengers, and to anoint (the Ark of the Covenant, aka the) Holy of Holies (Lev.16:14, Dan.9:24), and it is decreed that we must also know and understand it is from [the] origin of a word going forth unto a restoration it is a sum total of another seventy years from the word to Jeremiah that he must remove the Ark (Dan.9:25a, 2Macc.2:4-7) unto the Second (Herodian) Temple. And to a rebuilt Jerusalem until an anointed prince (Prince-Messiah) is to be sixty-two weeks and seven. She shall be restored and rebuilt, street and dry-moat, even in the constraint of those eras (Dan.9:25b). We shall see how this implies that the basic Sanctuary, the city walls and the various gates are rebuilt by the fulfillment of the double exile and return seventy period, commencing 597BC, but the revival of buildings and greater engineering works take place during a more extended period, and in a time of continuing conflict, as accounted in the Apocrypha and other records. The mainstream Christian theologians purposely mistranslate the text to read: ...the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times (KJV). Their lies are necessary to support the proposition that the final week of years was fulfilled in that early era, not according to the later one. They frequently use the conflation of kings in Nehemiah, muddling the chronology as a means to an end.

Here we witness an amazing sequence of prophecy, but firstly we must ask, who is this anointed prince? At the Semitic root of this word for prince, being one of renown, is a report, so that it might also be read as an anointed one whose report is made known (cf. Isa.53:1). The lineage of Zerubbabel ben Shehaltiel (1Chron.3:19, Ezra3:2, 8, 5:2, Hag.1:1, 12-15, 2:2-4, 21-23, Zech.4:6-10, Matt.1:12-13) is thus, for he was a prince in waiting, although none of his line ever actually reigned again over Judea, let alone Israel. Other kings of Judah reigned, those who could not be legitimate candidates for Messiah through their alternative lineage.

Then the blessing from Jacob to Judah remains unresolved from this brief examination and the remnant of Daniel 9 must be dissected in a forthcoming hub article.