Zionism - The Occult Guild of Antichrist

Written by Alton Raines

A Christian Perspective

As shown in the arrogance of Menachem Begin (Israeli Prime Minister, 1977-1983) who stated boldly, "Our race (speaking of the Jews) is the Master Race. We are divine gods on this planet. We are as different from the inferior races as they are from insects. In fact, compared to our race, other races are beasts and animals, cattle at best. Other races are considered as human excrement. Our destiny is to rule over the inferior races. Our earthly kingdom will be ruled by our leader with a rod of iron. The masses will lick our feet and serve us as our slaves." - Menachem Begin." Now imagine if any non-Jew of reputable influence ever said such a thing in the 20th century! Imagine the outcry and ramifications! Does this sound like the 'Israel of God' of which Paul spoke? Begin merely uttered what millions of zealous Jewish Zionists believe in their
hearts, and example in their Apartheid rule of the land of Palestine today.
Right now, across the globe, born-again, fundamentalist, bible-believing, evangelical Christians are being led down a path to destruction through a Satanically calculated deception, the roots of which were cultivated in ages past set forth for the final conflict between good and evil on earth. They haven't a clue they are deceived, in fact, they have filled themselves with the cancer of religious pride so as to become perfectly deluded, thinking themselves the correctors of the foolish and those in error. While wrapped up in useless controversies over denominational dogma or mesmerized by modern Christian media with 'end-times' speculations such as 'The Rapture,' a far more sinister undertow of self-imposed blindness drags the Church closer and closer toward the 'great falling away', or 'final apostasy.'
Part and parcel to the Zionist objective by more than one faction of the religio-political movement is the establishment of a third temple in Israel,[1] to be erected on the site of the former temple (destroyed in 70 A.D) on the mount of David, presently occupied by the Islamic 'Dome of the Rock,' which enshrines what they believe to be the stone upon which Abraham was to offer up his only son Isaac as a sacrifice.
This grand desire for a new temple in Jerusalem is shared, as well as financially and politically bolstered, by tens of thousands of evangelical churches (there are actually more non-Jewish Zionists in the world than Jewish due to the overwhelming number of pro-Israel Christians). Repeated
attempts by various parties to lay a foundation stone and claim to the holy site since the 60s has always met with extreme opposition by both Islamic and secular Israeli factions, sometimes resulting in riots and bloodshed. The elusive 'third temple' appears to be just beyond the grasp, held at bay by remarkable forces, both seen and unseen. The question is, who is more frustrated... those who presume themselves to be laborers for Christ, or those who are of the occult guild of Antichrist?
What is the purpose of this third temple & who will it serve?"We should not forget... that the supreme purpose of the ingathering of (Jewish) exiles and the establishment of our state is the building of the temple. The temple is at the very top of the pyramid" [1]
There is only one purpose or need for a third temple, and that is for Jews to return to the full Mosaic Law and temple services which involve animal sacrifice for sins. Equally, there is absolutely no use or need for a temple if there is no Ark of Covenant, upon which the blood must be offered, which has been curiously missing since before the time of Christ. It seems highly unlikely that the present guild of priests in training for temple services[2] would even exist if there were not reliable knowledge of the whereabouts of this centerpiece of the temple and its primary function. All other necessary artifacts for temple service, including the Shemen Afarshimon [3] - an original vial of anointing oil for the high priest - and the reappearance of the
red heifer (the ash of which is vital to temple services) are in the possession of these Jewish priests today. The anticipated 'High Priest' is ultimately the awaited Messiah himself. For the Jews, his first appearing. To Christians, his Second Coming from heaven. But in both cases prophecy says first will come the deceiver, The Son of Perdition -- Antichrist.
The prophet Daniel foretold the time of the coming of Messiah, noting that he would appear after seventy weeks of years (as Hebrews counted time) from the signing of a decree to free the Jews from captivity in Babylon to return and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. This took place in 444 B.C. [4] when Artaxerxes Longimanus, king of Persia (464-423 BC), signed such a decree and allowed the Jews to return. Exactly as according to the prophecy of Daniel, Y'shua of Nazareth (Jesus) presented himself before the people and to the temple as Messiah and King -- only to be rejected by the ruling religious authorities who had conspired against Him from the time of his equally foretold birth.
During the ministry of Christ, he declared publicly, "Tear down this temple and in three days I shall raise it up again," confounding the religious leaders and rabble alike. He was, of course, speaking not of the temple of stone and mortar, but of his own body as the final temple and final sacrifice for sins, as well as his triumphant resurrection from the dead (three days and nights in the tomb) -- forever putting away the need or use of the temple sacrifices of animals, which were merely a representative propitiation until the Messiah should come, offering his own life and blood as the price paid in full, acceptable unto God. The redemption of mankind from spiritual oblivion was not forged in the earthly elements of temples and rituals, but in the very person of Christ, made
manifest in the flesh, bringing eternal reconciliation, putting away forever those material elements which merely foreshadowed His fulfillment and accomplishment in the incarnation.
He presented himself to the temple on the same day the Pascal (Passover) lamb of sacrifice would be brought in and examined by the chief priests as to whether it was worthy and fitting for the task (being without spot or blemish). Not realizing it, they examined the true and final lamb of offering in the court of the temple when facing Jesus, "the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world," and despite finding no error in him, and being utterly silenced by his wisdom and authority, unable to truly judge him wanting, they nonetheless rejected him and proceeded to enact the final skullduggery which would result in his midnight arrest through the betrayal of his disciple Judas, the conviction in a kangaroo court of the Sanhedrin, and subsequent crucifixion at the hands of the Roman judiciary, which occupied Judea at that time.
Even Pontias Pilate, the appointed governor of the region, found no fault in Jesus and sent him back to the Jewish religious authorities, under King Herod (a Jewish puppet of the occupying Roman regency). In the end, the chief priests who conspired against Jesus resorted to the lowest level of psychological and political terrorism in order to force Pilate's hand, which he quickly washed publicly in a basin to proclaim that he had no blood on his hands in the matter of the death of Jesus of Nazareth. Pilate even went so far as to make use of a special appeasement to the people, as it was the time of the feast of Passover, and offered the people their choice between a convicted zealot insurrectionist, Barabbas, or Jesus, to be set free. The crowd,
urged on by the ruling class of Jews, cried out for the crucifixion of Jesus, and the release of Barabbas. (Oddly enough, the name Barabbas means "son of the father" in Hebrew, and many have speculated that the Romans did not comprehend that the people were actually calling for Jesus, who called himself the 'Son of the Father' in his ministry).
Nonetheless, it was Jesus who was sentenced to the cross and Barabbas freed. And as was prophesied, and as He often told his followers, he would rise from the dead on the third day. Christ Himself was the true and final 'temple.' Even as His apostle to the gentiles, Paul, later declared to the Athenians, "God, that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by human hands" (Acts 17:24). It is little understood that when Christ died, the great veil in the temple which enshrouded the Holy of Holies from sight was rent from top to bottom by an unseen force, thus revealing to the people both that access to God's grace was thrown wide open to all, and that the temple service which had been carried out by the Jews was a sham -- for the Ark was not present for the sacrifices and had not been for some time. This was another way of revealing that Christ was the substance/fulfillment of everything put forth symbolically according to the Law, including the Ark, which was itself a picture or type of Christ.
It is only upon the true altar of God, through Christ, by his own blood, that God is satisfied with the final propitiation for sins. As scripture states, "...there remains no further sacrifice for sins."(Hebrews 10:26). Thus, the Ark of Covenant has
no purpose and cannot serve God or any human being in any way, shape or form.
However, it CAN be used to deceive -- and that is exactly what is planned.
Everything Old Is New Again
Powerful forces again seek to re-establish what should never be again, what was destroyed and left desolate (without the Spirit); they seek to re-enact services and sacrifices which, if offered, are utterly and entirely Satanic in the eyes of God and a grievous blasphemy...
"Of how much sorer punishment, do you suppose, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the (new) covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10:29) and "But Christ being made an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle (temple), not made with human hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purification of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:11)
Knowing this will result in the greatest of blasphemies, nonetheless, millions of Christians seek and look forward to the a third temple and support various Jewish organizations which also desire a return to sacrifices! There appears to be a form of Christian madness in these times whereby many believe that the hand of God can be forced, the events of prophecy summoned, bringing about the end -- not realizing that by even attempting such, they place themselves in the role of the agency of evil. The
patience Christ and the Apostles exhorted for all believers regarding the Second Coming has been replaced by a zealous, unbiblical anxiety for what they perceive as the Lord's delay. There is almost an air of contempt that they are being made to suffer in this sinful world so long, as though this were something unusual or peculiar. Jesus even spoke to this, and gave stern warnings for such foolishness. But today it falls on deaf ears, tickled and dulled by candy-coated Gospel pablum, as well as deceptive teachings such as the 'pre-tribulation rapture' of the church, which has lulled millions worldwide into a sense of false security and distorted prophetic understanding. This has been a multi-billion dollar enterprise of brainwashing through contemporary Christian media. Quite a number of those chiefly involved in the 'Pre-Trib' message have ties to occult figures who are clearly working for the dark side.
To return to a temple made with human hands, to the Ark, to the services, to the sacrifices of animal blood is to commit a phenomenal blasphemy. It is to count as unworthy, as unclean, as insufficient and useless the blood sacrifice of The Christ, as Paul declares plainly in Hebrews 9 & 10. This is the desire, goal and plan of Antichrist, to fulfill by Satan that original vanity-driven claim for which he was cast out of the abode of God: namely, that he would seize the throne of God.

The Ark of Covenant is a throne [5], its lid of gold is called the Mercy Seat whereupon God, appearing in the form of the Shekinah Glory, appeared in the days of the tabernacle with Moses -- a copy or replica of the heavenly Ark or throne of Christ, who in his incarnation, when he ascended to the true Heavenly tabernacle, offered his blood once for all, then sat down at the right hand of Majesty on High. It was over this heavenly Ark that Satan at one time was called 'the anointed cherub who covers'; he is quite familiar with the substitutionary role which, under the sway of his intense vanity, drove him to seek worship of himself. But that role was stripped from him.
Untold millennia ago, even before this present world was formed, the great archangel of God to whom was given the highest of all positions and responsibilities was cast "as profane" from the heights of the dwelling of God for his grievous sins and subsequent violence. He seduced nations of angelic beings to worship him, profaned his sanctuaries and was filled with wrath upon his banishment. So skillful was he in his masquerade of the pre-incarnate Christ (the
image of the invisible Godhead), being the most glorious of all created beings, that he brought confusion among the angelics, leading many astray to follow him. These were banished to the black darkness of the lower heavens, 'wandering stars' for whom the final eternal gloom of a final hell is reserved in the day of judgment of the ungodly. These beings are referred to by Paul as "principalities and powers in celestial realms above" who, in league with Satan, are manipulating events to culminate in this final blasphemy involving a 'temple of God.' There, through the agency of the final Antichrist, "... that man of sin (shall) be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God." (2 Thessalonians 2:4). The 'seat' he will take must be the Ark of Covenant, as it is the only legitimate 'throne' for such a temple.
Consider then the implications of that seat being occupied by the prefect representative of Satan, in the person of the 'Son of Perdition.' That throne has been taken away, perhaps hidden, until a transition takes place. For Christ will at some point leave the true throne of heaven and descend to the earth to remove the unholy abomination, "whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming" (2 Thess. 2:8).
Thus, it is the desire and will of the architects of eternal evil, the grand Illuminati, to construct this third temple, not for God, but for Satan -- in the mad belief that if that throne can be occupied by the absolute unholy, Satan can fulfill his original, willful, declarative rebellion:

"For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High (God)." (Isaiah 14:13)
A Sucker Punch
Somehow, Christendom has fallen under a spell of delusion, believing that aiding the Jews in this endeavor for a third temple is a good thing. Yet, the Jews presently have no God, as it is declared, "Who is the liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son. Whosoever denies the Son, the same does not have the Father either: he that acknowledges the Son has the Father also" (1 John 2:22). Neither do they have a covenant, for the first was abolished and the New Covenant, with new blood, with "better promises" was established in Christ Jesus, who is Lord, Messiah and King.
The Zionist Occult empire operates by the same condemned racist lie perpetrated by their forefathers, the lawyers and the self-absorbed ruling Jewish class that dominated all of Israel; those sociopathic, self-serving legalists who perpetually devised schemes above, around and even within the Law, in order to line their own pockets, subjugate the masses under religious tyranny and fear, and as Christ said, 'do the will of (their) father, the devil.'
The lie of the 'chosen people' was first challenged by John the Baptist to the faces of the religious rulers, who often prided themselves as the children of Abraham for a boast; John upbraided them for their self-righteousness and borrowed piety on the back of Abraham and all the faithful, saying God could raise children of Abraham from mere stones -- for Abraham according the flesh meant NOTHING -- and later by Jesus as well, in several altercations face to face with chief priests who invoked the name of Abraham to justify their deceit, faithlessness and evil deeds. Jesus told them, "
Before Abraham was, I AM."
There was, and remains, a 'chosen people,' but they are not by race, or culture or even religion. Rather, as John wrote, "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13) and this, the Israel of God, is defined clearly this way: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision (Jewishness) availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God." (Galatians 6:15-16). This transition of who and what true Israel is was also declared by Christ when he told the parable of the Vineyard owner in Matthew 21, afterwards saying plainly "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." (Matthew 21:43).
Zion in the world walks entirely contrary to this truth; it defies it, opposes it and is the enemy of it, forever. As shown in the arrogance of Menachem Begin (Israeli Prime Minister, 1977-1983) who stated boldly, "Our race (speaking of the Jews) is the Master Race. We are divine gods on this planet. We are as different from the inferior races as they are from insects. In fact, compared to our race, other races are beasts and animals, cattle at best. Other races are considered as human excrement. Our destiny is to rule over the inferior races. Our earthly kingdom will be ruled by our leader with a rod of iron. The masses will lick our feet and serve us as our slaves." - Menachem Begin." Now imagine if any non-Jew of reputable influence ever said such a thing in the 20th century! Imagine the outcry and ramifications! Does this sound like the 'Israel of God' of which Paul spoke? Begin merely uttered what millions of zealous Jewish Zionists believe in their hearts, and example in their Apartheid rule of the land of Palestine today.

The "Zion" which Christians should be embracing is not of this world:
"But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." (Hebrews 12:22).
We are told time and time again in the scriptures, we are sojourners in this world; that we should not seek the things of the world, for it is quickly passing away; that the great exemplars of faith as recorded in Hebrews 11 sought a "better country" -- not meaning any material land on earth, but the Kingdom of God itself, and "a new heaven and a new earth," forthcoming, "wherein righteousness dwells."
By this deceptive clinging to a claim of Abrahamic inheritance and descent, this one, tiny, corrupt tribe among the 12 tribes of Israel, which in times past usurped the temple sanctuary and controlled a phony priesthood, serving in a temple that had become nothing more than a tomb, unrecognized by God as anything more than an empty shell and a lavish testament to their unpardonable sin, (if only for the faithful few for whom it was a house of prayer) demands to be recognized as "Israel," even to the vexation of Torah true Jews who know better. Vainly the Jews gave lip service to the former greats of the tribe of Judah, such as King David, and even raised Abraham to the status of a demi-god in their revolting syncretism influenced by the Helenization, and their envy of pagan philosophy and a more pleasing, self-serving spiritual cosmology; all the while
killing the prophets and stoning those sent to her for salvation time and time again. So polluted were they that they could not even recognize their true King when standing face to face with him despite the vast record of the prophets which described Him in unmistakable terms; when he would come, where he would be born, how he would be born, that he would heal the blind, restore hearing to the deaf, make the lame walk and even raise the dead. And the clearest picture of all, that he would offer himself up as a sacrifice for sins.
Nonetheless, they were absolutely corrupted to the core, and either could not see, or would not see and rejected Him outright. Their vain claim to Abraham and the theft of his righteousness is rooted in their greed and devotion to the world of the flesh, of money, of power and control; misunderstanding that Abraham's seed were not counted as such according to race, or anything of the flesh, but according to faith and the promise given to that faith, which they feigned in ghastly religious piety according to rudiments of Law twisted to their own advantage (which has since resulted in the cult of 'Judaism'), not realizing in their zeal for law, "...It (the law) was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come (Christ) to whom the promise was made" (Galatians 3:19). The more they sought to rob the righteous of the chosen status by the Law, the more the Law judged them and condemned them to eternal death. Nevertheless, according to God's gracious choosing and election, a precious remnant was always preserved -- the faithful. These were the children of promise, of faith. Mystically ordained, even foreordained in eternity past,
predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. It had nothing to do with race. These of the faith were and remain the only 'chosen people' of God who have any claim to any inheritance, and only through Christ.
It was said by God unto Abraham that he would be the father of nations, numbering as the sands of the sea and the stars of the heavens at a time when he was of advanced age and his wife far past her ability to conceive. Do the Jews number such in this world? Have they ever? No, they never have. Not even close. Put your thinking caps on... the mystery of the ages is unraveled, and quite evident.
This single tribe, most of which is not even authentic today being Askenazi Jews and their descendants, is not 'Israel' -- neither do they have any right to lay claim to it by name or locale -- like Esau trying to buy back his birthright which he sold for a single meal, "For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears." (Hebrews 12:17). The Zionist Jews who occupy that land of Palestine are nothing more than squatters, placed there by a world conspiracy orchestrated by the British and the United Nations. They have simply taken the seat of an ancient Royalty which is no more of this world, for it was completed with Christ Jesus, a Jew of the Royal house of David, whose throne is heavenly (that is, of the incorruptible and eternal), not earthly (the corruptible),
until all his enemies are put beneath his feet.
Zionist Jews today are no different than the ruling class of Jews in Christ's time, and make the same outrageous, wicked claims for the express purpose of stealing an inheritance which is not theirs, in the form of the land of Palestine and every benefit thereby derived. Worse, they openly and boldly manipulate the world, and law, and through extortion seek an absolute Teflon status in the political world system, as a recent Kinesset ruling demonstrates -- a global illegality in questioning any element or fact of the Holocaust! One by one, Israel is working to have these laws adopted around the world under the phony banner of 'hate-speech' legislation. The Anti-Defamation League has even gone so far as to suggest that the New Testament Gospel is hate literature, seeking now to make every Bible believing Christian a criminal under "hate-crime" legislation, with support of US State Department. These are the same Zionists these evangelical Christians have been in bed with for generations. It must be a rather rude awakening!
It's A Slow Dance Of Death
So what is driving Christian evangelicals to support antichrist Zionist Israel in spite of all this? Hoodwinked by many false converts from Judaism, who so over-emphasize the Jewish roots of Christianity to a complete dominance (naturally reducing the Christian experience to mere religion as is the result of the Judaistic poison), as well as by a myriad of Tele-evangelists/Preachers who feed their spiritually starving congregations with a litany of Old Covenant 'types and shadows' obsessions (some even going so far as to lead their congregations back to practices under the Mosaic ordinances, from observing Passover to various feasts and rituals), as well as the "Jewishness" obsessed 'Messianic' Christians (Jews who have converted to Christianity but who retain a varying degree of Jewish culture and religious tradition and fleshly pride, some to the dissolution or subordination of Christ's accomplishments at the cross -- some overshadowing the Christic New Covenant ordination and rebirth) hinging everything on a single element of prophecy - - the 'rebirth' of National Israel.

One would be hard pressed to find any evangelical Christian that does not fully believe that the UN creation of the nation of Israel in 1948 was fulfillment of major Biblical prophecy, and regard it as a wonderful thing. Yet, it escapes their grasp, that what happened in '48 was not the prophesied rebirth of Israel, for the prophets state plainly that ALL Israel will be restored to the land, not merely the singular tribe of Judah, and certainly not what is presently there, being largely Askenasi Jews (Turkish converts to Judaism). Pining over the furthest prophesies of a golden-age Millennium where the Messiah rules and reigns over the entire earth from a throne in Jerusalem, evangelicals have allowed themselves to be swallowed whole by the fraudulent Zionist contingent, which is today nothing more than what Paul called "the concision" 2000 years ago -- "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we (believers in Christ) are the (true) circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." (Philippians 3:2).
Nothing has changed. They remain the same, anti-christ, worldly, greedy, extorting, violent, carnally rooted, spiritless, godless workers of iniquity about which a good portion of the New Testament letters give ample warning. But apparently to no avail among the evangelical churches today, punch drunk on Zionism (or a mixture of Zionism and "Dominion Now" theology which urges Christians to regard themselves as masters of this world on behalf of Christ and place a strong emphasis on worldly politics, power and control), somehow driven by guilt or a ruse into a false humility towards the Jews; still clinging to dead mandates (such as taking the Gospel "to the Jew first, then the Greek," which was accomplished and ended when Paul finally realized their judgment was complete and gave up on them), blind to their support and political allegiance to that which is fully anti-christ and which seeks the ultimate blasphemy against the God of Heaven, these churches, these Christians empower the greatest evil on earth today.

The warnings are clear -- To have no union with them, to watch for their devises and schemes always -- who better to know of such things than a member of that very religio-political mafia than Paul himself, in both the flesh and in the mind?
"Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinks that he has reason that he might trust in the flesh, I more so: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ." (Philippians 3:4).
He knew them well, for he knew himself, and his experience on the road to Damascus, when he was changed from Saul into Paul, from a murderer of Christians in his Zionist zeal, to a follower of the ever-living Christ and conformed to a man of peace, he made plain the warning about the "enemies of the cross."
The churches are without excuse in this despicable pro-Israel politic, which is stained in the world with much blood, rooted in the corruptions of the flesh, hopeless for reformation, condemned to the eternal grave, drowning in sin and founded upon the unpardonable blasphemy of the Spirit of Grace.
Notes[1] Rabbi Shlomo Chaim Hacohen Aviner, cited in Grace Halsell, Forcing God's Hand (Washington: Crossroads International, 1999), p. 71.
[2] http://bayzan.net/article_view.php?id=200 (See 5.3.1 Training the Priests - The Temple Mount Yeshivas)
[3] October issue, 1989, National Geographic Magazine. Discovered April, 1988 in Cave 13, Qumran/ location of many of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
[4] Some scholars place the decree at 457 BC, or distinguish between two different decrees, one to return to rebuild the city, and a second to rebuild the temple. Either way, Y'shua of Nazareth (Jesus) is the only person to appear at that time which fulfilled all of the Messianic prophecies to the letter.

[5] http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/ark.html - Its upper surface or lid, the mercy-seat, was surrounded with a rim of gold; and on each of the two sides were two gold rings, in which were placed two gold-covered poles by which the ark could be carried (Num. 7:9; 10:21; 4:5, 19-20; 1 Kings 8:3,6). At each end, there were two cherubim over the ark, with their faces turned toward each other (Lev. 16:2; Num. 7:89). Their outspread wings over the top of the ark formed the throne of God, while the ark itself was his footstool (Ex. 25:10-22; 37:1-9).
Source: Rense.com