“Just what?” Natasha asked. “A fool’s errand?”
Bennett shrugged.
“You mean, is this thing really worth risking your life for?” said Natasha.
“Right.”
“Ever read Jeremiah 27:21–22?” she asked.
“I don’t remember,” said Bennett.
“I have a Bible,” Erin said. She pulled one out of her purse and looked up the passage.
“See that?” said Natasha, looking out over the water. “God promised to watch over the Temple treasures and ‘restore them’ to the Jewish people when the next Temple was to be rebuilt. What’s more, He kept that promise.”
“You’re saying if God restored the treasures once, He’ll do it again?” asked Erin.
“That’s what most rabbis believe,” said Natasha. “That’s certainly what my grandfather believed. So did Uncle Eli.”
“And the Ark?” asked Bennett. “Is that all Hollywood, or is there really a snowball’s chance somebody’s going to find it someday?”
“I think we’re really going to find it,” said Natasha.
“Is the Ark mentioned in the Copper Scroll?” Erin wondered.
“Actually, no, not once,” said Natasha. “Most scholars would tell you there’s no connection. After all, you have to remember that the Ark was never in the Second Temple, so it seems unlikely that it would have been hidden away with the other Temple treasures.”
“Then why are you so confident?”
“A few reasons,” said Natasha. “Remember the Temple Scroll we saw back at the museum? The really long one?”
The Bennetts nodded.
“It’s actually the longest of the Dead Sea Scrolls. But more important, it lays out remarkably detailed plans for the Third Temple and describes the First and Second Temple vessels and furnishings all being present and accounted for, including the Ark.”
“Really?” asked Bennett. “What does it say?”
Natasha closed her eyes and drew up the words from deep within her soul.
“That’s fascinating,” said Erin. “Are there any Scriptures to back that up?”
“There are,” said Natasha, “Take a look at 2 Chronicles 35:3.”
Erin quickly found the passage and read it aloud.
“Now, what does that tell us?” asked Natasha. “It tells us that when men did evil in the sight of the Lord — like erecting an idol in the Holy of Holies, which King Manasseh did in 2 Chronicles 33—the priests who were still faithful to God actually removed the Ark from the Temple to keep it from being desecrated. They kept it hidden, possibly on the move, for years, until it was safe to bring it back. And then, when Josiah cleaned up the corruption of the Temple and turned the people’s hearts back to God, he ordered the Ark brought back to the Temple, and the priests readily complied.
“Many Jewish scholars, and not a few Christian ones, see this passage as a precedent, proof that if God once protected the Ark and then made way for it to be ‘rediscovered,’ as it were, then He will do it again when the time for the Third Temple has come. But the passage that really got Uncle Eli excited a few weeks ago was Haggai 2:6–9.”
Bennett looked over Erin’s shoulder as she found the right page.
“You probably haven’t spent much time studying the book of Haggai,” Natasha said. “Join the crowd. I haven’t either. But about a month ago, Uncle Eli called us around one in the morning. He said he couldn’t sleep. He was reading the ancient prophets, and suddenly became convinced that he’d hit the jackpot.”
Erin read the passage aloud.
“I have to admit,” said Natasha, “I didn’t see it at first. But as Uncle Eli explained it, it began to make too much sense. Look closely.”
The Bennetts reread the verses.
“You see?” asked Natasha. “The Lord says He’s going to ‘shake the heavens and the earth.’ In fact, He says He’s going to ‘shake all the nations.’ As Uncle Eli pointed out, that’s exactly what He did last October in fulfilling Ezekiel 38 and 39. Then, look what happens next. The Lord says He will bring ‘the wealth of the nations’ to Israel. That’s happening too. Oil is over $200 a barrel. We’ve never had more money pouring in here. But, of course, that’s not all. According to Haggai, the Lord will then ‘fill this house with glory.’”
“A rebuilt Temple,” said Bennett.
“Exactly,” said Natasha. “The Third Temple, to be precise. Now look a bit farther. The Lord says He’s going to fill the Temple with gold and silver, which He says are His.”
“The Temple treasures,” said Erin, amazed.
Natasha nodded and said, “Now look at verse 9. ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’” she noted. “I asked Uncle Eli what that meant, and I have to admit, skeptic though I am, his answer intrigued me. He reminded me that the Second Temple, which King Herod helped construct, was an incredible physical structure — far grander and more impressive than the Temple Solomon had built. But it certainly didn’t have more glory than the first. Why? Because the First Temple had the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was the resting place of God’s glory. The Temple was originally built to be a home for the Ark, a home for God’s glory. So while the Second Temple was remarkable in every way, it couldn’t have more glory than the First Temple since it didn’t have the Ark.”
“Okay, keep going,” said Bennett, beginning to see where she was headed.
“Well, just think about it, Jon,” said Natasha. “Haggai was prophesying about a future Temple — a ‘latter’ Temple — that would have more glory than the Second Temple. There’s only one way the Third Temple could have more glory than the Second.”
She paused to let Bennett finish her thought, and he did.