The Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail are real!
In reply to some earlier posts, The Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail are both real!!!!
Read the book of Exodus in the Bible if you want to know more about the Ark of the Covenant. This is where God resided, and it was placed in the innermost part of the Tabernacle, which was called the Holy of Holies. (Exodus 26:33)
(also check in Exodus 25 where God tells Moses how to build the Ark of the Covenant.)
The Ark itself had no power. That was proved in the Bible as well, when Eli's son, Phinehas and Hophni, put their faith in the Ark to help them win a battle instead of trusting God. (Of course God wasn't too inclined to help them seeing as how they were living in utter defiance to God and God had warned their father Eli to discipline his sons.) (Read 1 Samuel chapters 4-6)
Another important passage in the Bible about the Ark of the Covenant is in 2 Samuel chapter 6. Uzzah tried to straighten the Ark of the Covenant because it was about to fall off an ox cart. God struck him dead for touching it because God has specifically told them not to touch it.
This is why poles were used to carry the Ark. This is why you see the loops to put the poles through on the Ark in the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie.
The Bible also mentions that Obed-Edom was blessed for as long as the Ark was at his place. (which is where it was left for about 3 months after the whole death of Uzzah incident)
David finally did get it to Jerusalem by the way.
Now, on to the Holy Grail.
It is a real artifact in the sense that Jesus obviously used a real cup to hold the wine that he gave his disciples to drink at the Last Supper.
Now the Bible does not mention anything about anybody holding out this same cup or any cup for that matter, to catch Jesus' blood at the crucifixion. The Bible does say that Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus so he could bury Him in a tomb. (John 19:38-42) The Bible does say that someone offered Jesus something to drink on a hyssop branch because Jesus said that He was thirsty. (He said this to fulfill Scripture, by the way) (This is mentioned in Matthew 27:45-49 and again in Mark 15:35-36 and in John 19:28-30)
And let me assure you, the Grail certainly does NOT grant eternal life to those who drink of it. That would mean eternal life on this temporal earth, which would not be possible because the earth won't be here forever. One day God will build a new Heaven and a new Earth. (Revelation 21:1) There's only one way to eternal life and Heaven and that's through Jesus Christ. (John 14:6)
(By the way, don't stop there. While you're reading, be sure to go ahead and read John chapter 20! and Luke chapter 24! and Mark chapter 16! and Matthew chapter 28!)
(all of which tell about the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ!!!!!!!!) (and after you read all those, if you want to know why Jesus did all that for us, read John 3:3 and John 3:16!!! Romans 10:9 also explains it well!!!) (Jesus loves everyone and died for us all to save us from our sin. He rose again and is alive forevermore!!! He wants to save you all you have to do is ask Him to. admit you're a sinner (we all are- Psalm 53:3), repent of your sin (that means tell Him you're sorry and quit doing it) and ask Him to come into your heart (Revelation 3:20) and be your Lord and Savior!!! And He'll do it immediately!!!)
So, thank you for indulging me. Remember the Indiana Jones movies are fun and they do have some things right about Biblical artifacts, but some of it is just made up. Read the Bible to get the true account and see what the movies are based on.
As far as the Dead Sea Scrolls go, I believe they contain the book of Isaiah, but I would need to do some more research on it. That might be interesting for Indy to go after, but it has already been found. That's the difference with his other artifacts. As I already said, the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail most certainly exist, but they have not been found yet. (and they don't have all the powers attributed to them in the movies. The power to smite and to heal is God's and God's alone.)
I had heard of the Garden of Eden storyline and I don't particularly care for it. Being a Christian, I am kind of wary of some Biblical artifacts for Indiana Jones to be messing with. At least Raiders of the Lost Ark did show that the Nazis were punished for mishandling the Ark, much as Uzzah was. And Indy was right in that no man can see God and live, in the sense that we can't look at God because His holiness is to bright to look at and He can't have sin in His presence. Moses came the closest when he saw the back of God, while God covered him with His hand when He passed by, so Moses never saw His face. Just after being in the presence of God, his face was glowing and he had to wear a veil when he went back to the Israelites, because it was so bright.
Anyway, I kind of like the idea of Indy going after Noah's Ark. That would be interesting. I pretty much liked "Indiana Jones and the Genesis Deluge", although obviously there were some things really off in it. (Like say, having Noah still be alive in Indy's time. Noah died a long time ago and is in Heaven. They kind of used him like Merlin was used in some of the other books, as a mystical figure with power to control his fate.) Again, like I said, some things are true straight out of the Bible, and other things were made up, so keep that in mind when you watch the Indiana Jones movies and even as you think about plots for the 4th. movie. And always go back to The Book for the true account. (that's The Holy Bible, by the way. It's still THE number ONE best seller of all time!!!!)
