WHERE ARE THE TABLETS OF THE LAW? From Sinai
to Heaven: The Ark of the Testimony and its Final Destiny
The Tablets of the Law, written by the finger of
God and given to Moses on Mount Sinai, are one of the most sacred and enigmatic
objects in biblical history. These tablets, also called the "tablets of
testimony," contained the Ten Commandments, the heart of the covenant
between God and Israel. But what happened to them? Do they still exist? Are
they on earth, hidden, or have they been transferred to heaven? Below, we
explore these questions from Scripture, tradition, and spiritual symbolism.
1. The Tablets and
the Ark: Testimony of the Covenant
God gave Moses two stone tablets, inscribed on both
sides with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 31:18; 32:15). These were placed inside
the Ark of the Testimony, built according to the pattern shown by God (Exodus
25:16; 40:20). The Ark, covered by the mercy seat and guarded by two cherubim,
represented God's throne among his people.
The tablets
were the “testimony” of the covenant, a legal and spiritual expression of the
relationship between the Creator and his chosen nation. According to ancient
treaty custom, both tablets likely contained identical copies of the covenant,
as if one were for God and the other for Israel.
2. Disappearance of
the Tablets: Silence and Mystery
The Bible never directly describes the fate of the
tablets after the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians (586 BC).
Unlike other sacred objects, the Ark and its contents are not listed among the
looted objects. This has fueled several theories:
a) Hidden in the Temple
Jewish
tradition holds that King Josiah or faithful priests hid the Ark in a secret
chamber beneath the Temple Mount before the Babylonian invasion. This view is
reflected in the Talmud (Yoma 53b) and other rabbinic texts.
b) Hidden by Jeremiah
The book of 2
Maccabees (2:4-7) tells how Jeremiah, by divine inspiration, hid the Ark in a
cave on Mount Nebo, and that its location will remain unknown until the end of
time.
c) Destroyed or lost
Some scholars
believe the Ark may have been destroyed, looted, or lost during the exile.
However, the biblical silence could rather indicate divine intervention to
preserve it.
3. The Ark in
Heaven: Revelation 11:19
A key
revelation appears in Revelation 11:19:
“And the temple
of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of his covenant was seen in his
temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an
earthquake, and great hail.”
This text can be interpreted as a symbolic vision,
but also as a literal statement: the true Ark is in heaven, in the heavenly
temple. This coincides with Hebrews 8:5, which says that the earthly sanctuary
was only a shadow of the heavenly one. If this is so, then the Tablets of the
Law would also be in heaven, as a perpetual testimony of God's eternal
covenant.
4. The Spiritual
Purpose: Beyond the Stone
God promised in Jeremiah 31:33 that he would write
his law on the hearts of his people. The disappearance of the physical tablets
may signal a transition from the external to the internal covenant. Christ, as
mediator of the new covenant, embodies the living law. The tablets are no
longer merely in stone, but in the character transformed by the Spirit.
5.
Conclusion: From Sinai to the Heavenly Throne
The Tablets of the Law
are not an unimportant lost object. They represent the legal, moral, and
spiritual foundation of the relationship between God and his people. Whether
hidden on earth or present in heaven, their testimony remains alive. At the end
of time, as Revelation suggests, they will be revealed again as part of divine
judgment and final restoration.
In this sense, the tablets continue to speak: they call us to live according to the law written in the heart and to await the full manifestation of the Kingdom of God, where justice, truth and holiness will be established forever.
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