1 kings 8:9 / Heb 9:4

nonconformist · Jun 7, 2005

Heb 9:4 having a golden altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant covered around on all sides with gold, in which was the golden pot having the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;

1Ki 8:9 Nothing was in the ark, only the two tables of stone which Moses put there in Horeb, when Jehovah cut a covenant with the sons of Israel as they went out of the land of Egypt.

Whats up with this difference? In 1 kings were they beside the ark? Were the stolen?

Contra_Mundum · Jun 9, 2005

Ex. 16:33-34, Aaron, by command given to Moses (even before the Tabernacle/ark is ordered or constructed) prepares a bowl of manna for preservation
Ex. 40:20, Moses places the Testimony (tablets) within the ark as commanded (Ex. 25:16, 21)
Nu. 17:10-11, Moses places Aaron's budded rod with the ark

We are not informed exactly what happened to the bowl of manna or Aaron's rod in the intervening centuries, until in 1 Kings there are only the stone tablets in the ark, so our guesses are only that. Between the Tabernacle (a "temporary" dwelling) and the Temple (a "permanent" dwelling) the items disappear from the record.

My supposition (guess) is, rather than that these items were removed by vandals, actually beyond a certain time God simply did not miraculously preserve these more perishable, i.e. "temporary" things (edible manna, flowers on a dry stick). Thus, the empty bowl, devoid of significance without its contents, and the brittle rod indistiguishable from any other, were removed by a divine appointment of which we have no record. The primary import of both was unto the wilderness generations. Whereas the written Testimony (as well as the written record of the acts themselves) had permanence. Information has always been superior to sign. Interpretation dominates over presentation. :2cents:

nonconformist · Jun 9, 2005

Originally posted by Contra_Mundum
Ex. 16:33-34, Aaron, by command given to Moses (even before the Tabernacle/ark is ordered or constructed) prepares a bowl of manna for preservation
Ex. 40:20, Moses places the Testimony (tablets) within the ark as commanded (Ex. 25:16, 21)
Nu. 17:10-11, Moses places Aaron's budded rod with the ark

We are not informed exactly what happened to the bowl of manna or Aaron's rod in the intervening centuries, until in 1 Kings there are only the stone tablets in the ark, so our guesses are only that. Between the Tabernacle (a "temporary" dwelling) and the Temple (a "permanent" dwelling) the items disappear from the record.

My supposition (guess) is, rather than that these items were removed by vandals, actually beyond a certain time God simply did not miraculously preserve these more perishable, i.e. "temporary" things (edible manna, flowers on a dry stick). Thus, the empty bowl, devoid of significance without its contents, and the brittle rod indistiguishable from any other, were removed by a divine appointment of which we have no record. The primary import of both was unto the wilderness generations. Whereas the written Testimony (as well as the written record of the acts themselves) had permanence. Information has always been superior to sign. Interpretation dominates over presentation.