Covenant Testimony (Part II)

How do children learn about the lives of their parents or grandparents? Usually, this is passed down by word of mouth. Children generally do not have reason to doubt what their parents tell them about their lives or their grandparents' lives. Parents' stories become that of their children and are held trustworthy without need for secondary affirmation. This is oral tradition, and is one of the means by which the stories of the Old Testament were handed down for generations to come that they might know the works of the Lord:

Psalm 78:1-8, "A Maskil of Asaph. 

        Listen, O my people, to my instruction;
            Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

      I will open my mouth in a parable;
            I will utter dark sayings of old,

      Which we have heard and known,
            And our fathers have told us.

      We will not conceal them from their children,
            But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
            And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.

      For He established a testimony in Jacob
            And appointed a law in Israel,
            Which He commanded our fathers
            That they should teach them to their children,

      That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born,
            That they may arise and tell them to their children,

      That they should put their confidence in God
            And not forget the works of God,
            But keep His commandments,

      And not be like their fathers,
            A stubborn and rebellious generation,
            A generation that did not prepare its heart
            And whose spirit was not faithful to God
            [continues on with the works of God toward early Israel]."

Facts, customs, and widespread beliefs regarding the Ark of the Covenant and thereby Israel's wilderness wandering:

• Wikipedia - general description of the ark of the covenant
• National Geographic - overview of history and theorized discoveries
• Jewish Encyclopedia - overview, biblical references, and non-biblical references

• Jordan River Crossing with Ark
• Joshua 4:1-9, "Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, 'Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, and command them, saying, "Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight."' So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; and Joshua said to them, 'Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel . . . Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day . . . Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. He said to the sons of Israel, 'When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, "What are these stones?" then you shall inform your children, saying, "Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground." For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.'"
• Gilgal Education Center - References the above Joshua passage where God tells Joshua that He dried up the Jordan so that "all the peoples of the earth" might know the power of the Lord.
• Jewish Virtual Library - Notes various Scripture references to this Gilgal camp of Joshua and the twelve tribes.
• Science Daily - Five stone-ringed camp-sites in the Jordan river valley have been identified by Prof. Adam Zertal, which he identifies with various references to Gilgal in Scripture. According to Prof. Zertal, "Gilgal" was a type of foot-shaped (symbolic of possession of the land on which they treaded) campsite for the early Israelites.
• General Source - Description of the mosaic Madaba map and its proven accuracy.
• Madaba Map, and Galgala or the Twelve Stones - Shows the label and symbol for Galgala from the Madaba Map and ties in the Old Testament account of the tribes crossing the Jordan and camping at Gilgal for circumcision and Passover, as their first campsite across the Jordan and thereby where they would have placed the twelve stones. An image of the corresponding map Section 2 is linked here, showing Galgala.
• Science Daily - Notes that the Madaba Map portrays a site labeled Dodekaliton, meaning "twelve stones", lying adjacent to Galgala outside of Jericho in the Jordan River valley. This is significant. But the accompanying reinterpretation of Galgala/Gilgal with a quarry cave and the stones with excavated rock do not agree with the Scripture narrative of the Jordan River crossing.

• Philistine Capture of the Ark and its Return to Israel
• I Samuel 5:1-11, "So they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them and said, 'What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?' And they said, 'Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.' And they brought the ark of the God of Israel around. After they had brought it around, the hand of the LORD was against the city with very great confusion; and He smote the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them. So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as the ark of God came to Ekron the Ekronites cried out, saying, 'They have brought the ark of the God of Israel around to us, to kill us and our people.' They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines and said, 'Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, so that it will not kill us and our people.' For there was a deadly confusion throughout the city; the hand of God was very heavy there." 
  
• I Samuel 6:13-19, "Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and they raised their eyes and saw the ark and were glad to see it . . . The Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the box that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices that day to the LORD. When the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Ekron that day.       These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a guilt offering to the LORD: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages. The large stone on which they set the ark of the LORD is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.
        He struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter."
• Times of Israel - Jewish people yet remember Tel Beit Shemesh as the Biblical Beth-shemesh to which the Ark of the Covenant was returned by the Philistines. The site today has sculptured iron and rock memorials which tell the story. 
• Archaeological Institute of America - Tel Beth Shemesh is a site of current archaeological excavation and is considered a geological intersection point for the Israelite, Philistine, and Canaanite civilizations during the Late Bronze and Iron ages (1550-540 B.C.).
• Some archaeology - Tel Beth-Shemesh is a 7-acre mound that overlooks the Sorek Valley. The mound has been identified based on the preserved Arab name of a nearby town, Byzantine sources, and the Biblical text's description of the mound's geography. Archaeology dating to the period of the Judges reveals influence of Israelite presence, as pig bones are entirely absent among the animal remains unearthed.
• I Samuel 7:1-2, "And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the LORD and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD. From the day that the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, the time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD."
• Shmunis Family Excavations - Archeologists identify a mound 12 km west of Jerusalem, named Deir el-Azar in Arabic, with ancient Kiriath-jearim. The Arabic name appears to derive from the name of Eleazar, son of Abinadab, who kept watch over the ark when it rested at Kiriath-jearim (I Samuel 7:1). The monastery of the Ark of the Covenant is found at Kiriath-jearim, along with remains of a Byzantine-era church, uncovered in the early 20th century, which likely commemorates the ark tradition.
• Times of Israel - Modern Jewish news site also identifies Old Testament Kiriath-jearim with the hill of the monestary Deir el-Azar, named in English "Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant", resting atop a prior Byzantine structure located 7 miles west of Jerusalem. According to Jewish interpretation of Scripture, the Ark of the Covenant was portrayed to have been located at Kiriath Jearim for 20 years following its return from Philistine capture.
• Find a Dig - The site of Kiriath-jearim offers a expansive view of the Jerusalem skyline in the east and the Mediterranean in the west. The site houses the Monastery of the Ark of the Covenant, which is also known as Notre Dame de l’Ache d’Alliance.

• Modern Tradition on the Ark Outside of Israel
• II Chronicles 35:1-3, "Then Josiah celebrated the Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover animals on the fourteenth day of the first month. He set the priests in their offices and encouraged them in the service of the house of the LORD. He also said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the LORD, 'Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; it will be a burden on your shoulders no longer. Now serve the LORD your God and His people Israel.'"
• Jeremiah 3:14-18, "'Return, O faithless sons,' declares the LORD;
              'For I am a master to you,
              And I will take you one from a city and two from a family,
              And I will bring you to Zion.'
'Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding. It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land,' declares the LORD, 'they will no longer say, "The ark of the covenant of the LORD." And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again. At that time they will call Jerusalem "The Throne of the LORD," and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the LORD; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.'"
• Josephus' War of the Jews, Book 5, Chap. 5, Par. 5, " . . . [description of the Temple at the time of Roman conquest of Jerusalem] Now the seven lamps signified the seven planets; for so many there were springing out of the candlestick. Now the twelve loaves that were upon the table signified the circle of the zodiac and the year; but the altar of incense, by its thirteen kinds of sweet-smelling spices with which the sea replenished it, signified that God is the possessor of all things that are both in the uninhabitable and habitable parts of the earth, and that they are all to be dedicated to his use. But the inmost part of the temple of all was of twenty cubits. This was also separated from the outer part by a veil. In this there was nothing at all. It was inaccessible and inviolable, and not to be seen by any; and was called the Holy of Holies. Now, about the sides of the lower part of the temple . . . "
• CNN - The Ethiopian Orthodox Christians yearly celebrate a festival called Timket, in which models of the Ark of the Covenant, called a Tabot, are brought out of the churches and carried through their towns. Ethiopia is considered to be the Old Testament kingdom of Sheba, and is held by some to hide the Ark of the Covenant.
• General Source - The Ethiopian tabots which are brought out from the churches on the day of the Feast of Timket, corresponding to Epiphany, are always hidden from public view by ornate coverings. The sides of the tabot are square, generally 6 in. x 6 in. During Timket, a priest carries the covered tabot on his head while the worshipers and procession accompany with cries of joy and liturgical dancing. This procession appears similar to the bringing of the Ark into Jerusalem during the time of King David (II Samuel 6:12-19).
• Ethiopian Tourist Site - Affirms the festival of Timket, and notes that the procession with the tabot replicas of the Ark ends with baptism by the priests sprinkling blessed water on the worshipers. This is done to remember Christ's baptism by John the Baptist. The festival of Timket with the carrying of the tabot dates back to the time of Ethiopian Emperor Gebre Meskel, who ruled in Ethiopian calandar years from 515 to 529 (or AD ~530)
• Sacred Sites - St. Mary of Zion Church in Ethiopia claims to house the Ark of the Covenant.Ethiopia, also named Abyssinia, is rooted in the kingdom of Axum which existed from ~150 B.C. to ~600 A.D. The Axumite rulers had commercial and diplomatic contact with Persians, Byzantines, Greeks, and Egyptians. The Axumite kingdom archeology boasts the worlds tallest obelisks or stelae, cut from single blocks of black granite. The tallest obelisk weighed 5 tons and was 33.3 m tall. Ethiopian legend says that the Queen of Sheba from Ethiopia [see II Chronicles 9:1-12 for reference to Solomon and the Queen of Sheba] bore a son to King Solomon of Israel. This son, named Menelik, later came to visit Israel and return after a time back to Ethiopia after facing jealousy from the Israelite elders. The legend says that Solomon commanded the elders first-born sons to journey back to Ethiopia with Menelik. One of these was the son of Zadok the High Priest, Azarius, who is said to have secretly taken the Ark with him [note that tradition of a removal of the Ark from Israel during the days of Solomon is not in agreement is the II Chronicles 35:1-3 passage above, but the story does affirm a physical Ark], revealing the theft to Menelik only once distant from Jerusalem. Since the theft had succeeded without harm befalling the departing group, Menelik judged they must have God's blessing.
• Ethiopian Jews - Known as Beta Israel, the Ethiopian Jews hold to traditions saying that their ancestors came to Ethiopia in company with Menelik, considered the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, when he returned to Ethiopia from Israel. Tens of thousands of Ethiopian Jews were brought to modern-day Israel during Operation Moses and Operation Solomon.