Lost Ark of The Covenant? Found?

I heard a story this morning on NBC Today Show with Matt Lauer. He was speaking with a professor Tudor Parfitt that is claiming to have located the lost Ark of the Covenant. The interesting twist about his story is that he says that the Ark is located in a museum and that curators are unaware of what they have and its significance.

Most of us are familiar with the Biblical account of the Ark as mentioned in Exodus 25. We know that it was representative of the 'Presence' of God to the Nation of Israel as they wandered in the desert , kept in the Tent of Testimony and eventually was carried into battles and into Temples.

"And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more" (Jeremiah 3:16)

The point was that Jesus was a better Covenant that the Ark and there would no need for the Ark any longer.

The last mention of the Ark was in 2 Chronicles 35:3 where the priests were advised not to carry the ark on their shoulders any longer. Now from this point most of what we hear and read about the Ark is extra biblical, and I want you to know that the following information is based solely on that information: It is surmised that the Ark was then taken from placed to place spirited away by priests, kings, and raiders in attempts to hide and or preserve the Ark.

Jewish tradition holds that the priests hid the Ark before King Nebuchadnezzar plundered the temple and the Only Jesus would reveal its location upon His return thus proving Himself to be the true Messiah.

Another twist:

The professor Tudor Partiff on the Today Show, said that the Ark he is referring to is actually a temporary Ark that Moses had fashioned as a stand in until the Ark we read about in Exodus was designed and place in the Most Holy Place in the Tent of Meeting.

His version of the Ark he claims was a tub shaped case that was built over the remnants of the previous Ark by a lost Tribe of Israel the a Southern African tribe called the Lemba who he has used DNA to prove their ties to their Egyptian origins.

Hmmmm? I don't want to attempt to answer for you whether or what this artifact is that he has located, but I would ask you to consider this:

If you were in the possession of an ancient relic such as the Ark of the Covenant or a the Shroud of Turin or a hunk of wood from the cross of Christ or the spear that was thrust into the side of Christ on the Cross; well you get the point. What would it do for you?

Would you be compelled to bow in its presence and thus treat it as an idol? Would you cast it aside and say I have the real thing in Christ? Would you rush to e-bay?

I guess the real question what have you done with Christ? Jesus in His fullness is revealed to us. We have direct access to the throne of God because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. What do we do with that?

-Blessings,

John M