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- ark of the covenant:
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- "The ark went before Israel in the wilderness journeys 'to find them a place to rest' (Num 10:33). The ark was instrumental in the crossing of Jordan on dry land under Joshua (Josh 3) and in the capture of Jericho (6:7-11). Joshua prayed before the ark after the defeat at Ai (7:6) and after the subsequent victory at Mount Ebal with the ark present (8:33). In the days of Eli the ark was in the tabernacle at Shiloh (1 Sam 3:3). Eli's sons took it into battle against the Philistines, and they captured it, and because of this, it was said, 'The glory has departed from Israel' (4:3-22). The Philistines held the ark until a plague convinced them that it was too dangerous to keep, and they ceremoniously sent it back to Beth Shemesh (5:1-6:16). The men of this place also suffered a plague for looking into the ark, and it was removed to Kiriath Jearim (6:19-21). Here it was treated with due respect, kept in the house of Abinadab under the care of his son Eleazar (7:1-2)." (The New International Dictionary of the Bible, © 1987 Zondervan, p. 89)