Nexus - 0406 - New Times Magazine-pages

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Again, if Ron had not found the Crucifixion site with the crack in the cross- hole, the link between the blood and the Crucifixion might never have been made. If conclusive evidence is found to link the Ark of the Covenant and the Crucifixion site, it would mean that the prophet Jeremiah concealed the Ark in exactly the right location some 600 years earlier. TUNNEL SEARCH ABANDONED Ron Wyatt has pursued his search for the original access tunnel since 1982 and has followed many leads. He and his team have used sub-surface interface radar to search for voids crossing from the Old City to the excavation. They have followed hopeful trails, only to be met with disappointing rock barriers. In 1992, in desperation, Ron even attempted to reach the cavern by digging straight down from above with pneumatic The Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. hammer drills. Unfortunately, over several come down through the rock and ‘leapt through the air' to start trips to the site, he and the team had managed only to get through again by splitting the lid of the stone case directly below. three metres (10 feet) of solid limestone and incur thousands of The team began the detective work of investigating the extent dollars in expenses, so they abandoned the attempt. of the crack in the ceiling. One team member sat up by the ledge outside and Wyatt entered the chamber to push a rigid metal tape © THE WORLD'S MOST EXPLOSIVE ARTEFACT up through the crack in the ceiling. The tape emerged on the left- I am now often asked, "How do the Israeli authorities react to hand side of the elevated cross-hole, making the crack a total of the find?" six metres (20 feet) through solid rock. Speaking frankly, from the information I am able to acquire it is To add to the mystery, it appeared that some of the black sub- evident that the authorities do not know how to handle this dis- stance had run down the ceiling crack leading from the cross-hole covery. They have a right to be nervous. and had dripped through the gap in the stone lid, landing inside Some time ago, an Israeli team was granted a permit to under- the stone case. Some of the substance had also splashed onto the take an excavation under the Temple Mount. After a short while lid of the case. Wyatt took samples of this black substance for it was reported that workmen had been seen lugging crates into later analysis. the excavation tunnel. This aroused the curiosity of the authori- Thaw faund that tha tunna 1 THE WORLD'S MOST EXPLOSIVE ARTEFACT T am now often asked, "How do the Israeli authorities react to the find?" Speaking frankly, from the information I am able to acquire it is evident that the authorities do not know how to handle this dis- covery. They have a right to be nervous. Some time ago, an Israeli team was granted a permit to under- take an excavation under the Temple Mount. After a short while it was reported that workmen had been seen lugging crates into the excavation tunnel. This aroused the curiosity of the authori- ties who sent in men to investigate. They found that the tunnel penetrated to a spot close underneath the Dome of the Rock—ani high explosives were being set in position, presumably to blow up the place. If you didn't know, the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, together named the Haram al-Sharif, comprise the thir most important place in the world for the Moslem people. Just think what sabotage of that site could do; it might well provoke an Islamic jihad, a "holy war". The Israeli Government claims that it wants to maintain goo relations with the Moslem people and does not want to disturb the peace. However, both Jews and Moslems lay claim to the Temple Mount, but some Israelis want to demolish the Moslem Dome of the Rock to build a Third Temple on the site. Possession of the Ark could encourage extremists to wage war in order to achieve this aim. The Ark of the Covenant would be the most covete item for such a Temple. So we have Jewish extremists, angry Moslems, and a thir potentially explosive factor: the Ark of the Covenant find. The US News and World Report put it well: "In a land torn by competing historical claims, archaeology is a weapon." While the authorities (and by this I mean a handful of tight- lipped officials) know of the Ark's location, they have decided that the matter is too politically volatile for them to go public. An THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT? Preliminary testing of these deposit samples taken from the crack leading from the cross-hole has shown the substance to be human blood. Ron Wyatt's theory is that it is the blood of Christ that was copiously spilled when the Roman soldier thrust his spear into Yeshua (Jesus) to confirm that he was dead on the cros: Biblical history records that at 3.00 pm, when Jesus died, an earthquake struck. Was this the cause of the crack? If it can ever be proved that this mysterious black substance is the blood of Jesus, this would mean that His was the last blood to be spilled on the Mercy Seat (lid) of the Ark of the Covenant. In every sense of the original Hebrew belief in the sacrificial system, this would indeed make this the last sacrifice, and would be con- sistent with prophecies that the Messiah would be the final sacri- fice. (In ancient times, the blood of a sacrifice was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat once a year.) Tests on the retrieved samples are ongoing and are proving very interesting for they may well confirm early indications that this substance is the blood of man born of a "virgin birth". This may not be so outlandish considering the report in New Scientist maga- zine (7 October 1995) about a three-year-old boy's blood cells containing only female X chromosomes. This is an important development for Christians who believe that Jesus was born of only one parent, the Virgin Mary. NEXUS - 59 Continued on page 84 OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 1997