Feb. 4th

Post date: Feb 01, 2018 7:52:49 PM

A little talk by Fr. Karl

Why a Pilgrimage to Ethiopia?

Ethiopia is a country twice the size of Texas, with 70 million people (60% Orthodox Christians, 1% Catholics, 20% Muslim).

We will visit Addis Ababa (capital), Lake Tana (start of the Blue Nile River), Lalibela (where the Templar Knights carved exquisite churches out of rock) and Axum (where the ‘lost ark of the Covenant’ rests).

Moses built the golden Ark at the foot of Mt. Sinai of acacia wood and covered with gold. On the lid were 2 gold cherubim (angel figures)—this was the mercy seat or throne of God.

In 1200 BC, Moses and the Israelites carried the Ark through the Sinai Desert, across the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Eventually King David united the 12 tribes and brought the Ark to Jerusalem (Zion). His son, Solomon, built a magnificent Temple and placed the Ark in the Holy of Holies around 955 BC.

About 680 BC, it disappears from mention in the Bible without any explanation. Why? King Manasseh placed a carved image of Asherah, a pagan deity in the Holy of Holies—an Abomination of Abominations! So, the Ark must have been removed by faithful priests who sought to preserve it from this blasphemy.

The next king, Josiah, destroyed all Manasseh’s idols and asked for the Ark to be returned, but it wasn’t. The Temple was destroyed in 598 BC by the Babylonians, but the Ark is not mentioned in the long list of Temple treasures taken.

Where did they take the Ark? They went to Aswan, Elephantine Island in the Nile in southern Egypt. Historians know the Jews built a Temple there—which could only be to house the Ark of the Covenant. It stayed there for 200 years. Then the Egyptians came, and the Temple was threatened. So, taking the Ark, the Jewish community moved south into Sudan and eventually up the Nile tributaries to Lake Tana in northwest Ethiopia where Jews already lived. They built a monastery on Tana Kirkos island to house the Ark. (130 miles away is Axum, the ancient capital of Ethiopia.)

Frumentius, a Christian youth, was captured and became a trusted part of the royal family. As an adult he invites Christian traders to come to the area and he builds churches. Eventually he goes to the Patriarch Athanasius in Alexandria asking for bishops. He himself was ordained and returned as the first bishop. Now called St. Abuna Frumentius. In 331, the King is converted to Christianity and moves the Ark from Lake Tana to a church dedicated to St. Mary of Zion in Axum.

The monastic military order called the Knights Templar went on the Crusades to Jerusalem and excavated under and near Abraham’s Rock of Moriah (on which both Temples had been built; the second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD). It seems the Knights Templar were looking for the Ark. The Muslims built the golden Dome of the Rock, ca. 690 on this same site. The site is sacred to Jews, Christians and Moslems.

The Knights Templar were excellent builders and King Lalibela invited them to come. They carved the rock hewn churches in Ethiopia.

We read “The Sign and the Seal, the Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant” by Graham Hancock. This book is full of historical investigation and true adventure revealing how the author located the Old Testament’s most important relic.

It is kept in a sanctuary chapel’s Holy of Holies and guarded day and night by a monk. In the Old Testament times it was carried where God (Yahweh) directed the Israelites to move or to fight an enemy. In the1850s, it was used by the Ethiopians to thoroughly defeat the well-equipped huge Italian Army.

It was used in the Timkat (Epiphany) ceremonies, however, now replicas are used. There are huge processions, exuberant dances & singing. Gebra Mikail, the guardian monk, never left the sanctuary chapel throughout the ceremonies. Graham Hancock could hear him chanting and smell the frankincense. He was offering up a fragrance pleasing to the Lord.

Thus, the Ark’s presence was proclaimed and yet not revealed.

From all 20,000 Orthodox churches throughout the country, replicas of the Ten Commandment Tablets are carried in their local Timkat ceremonies. Graham Hancock who visited Axum during the processions said, ‘my heart is glad, and my very soul rejoices, and my flesh also shall rest in hope.’