The Ark of the Covenant and the Virgin Mary, Holy Queen and Holy Mother 5/23/13 7/16/14

Jeremiah Hiding the Ark of the Covenant

In his book, Hail, Holy Queen, Dr. Scott Hahn referenced Sacred Scripture in order to establish Mary as the "New Eve," the long-lost ark of the covenant, and someone to be exalted on high. He used the following holy books to argue for her majesty and employed many others: Genesis, 2nd Samuel, Jeremiah, Daniel, Luke, John, and Revelation.

In his book, Hahn noted Jeremiah's solitary role in "conceal[ing] the ark in order to prevent it from defilement when Babylonian invaders came to destroy the temple [of Jerusalem]" (Hahn 51). Scholars have dated this event at around 587 B.C.; the ark had been missing ever since the invasion (Hahn 51). Hahn also quoted Sacred Scripture, the deutero-canonical/apocryphal text, and referred to the ark's concealment*:

And Jeremiah came and found a cave, and he brought there the tent and the ark and the altar of incense, and he sealed up the entrance. Some of those who followed him came up to mark the way, but could not find it. When Jeremiah learned of it, he rebuked them and declared: “The place shall be unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows his mercy. And then the Lord will disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord and the cloud will appear, as they were shown in the case of Moses, and as Solomon asked that the place should be specially consecrated.” (2 Maccabees 2:5-8)

Although the ark had indeed been lost during the Babylonian Exile, St. Luke wrote that the ark was finally found in the Virgin Mary. Luke used some passages from 2nd Samuel in order compare its striking parallels with the Virgin's life: Mary traveled to the house of Zechariah in the hill country of Judea, as King David had done with the ark of covenant (Luke 1:39, 2 Samuel 6:2-3). Both figures traveled over the Judaean highlands in order to reach their destination. Both stories began with the two having "[arisen] and went" (Luke 1:39, 2 Samuel 6:2), which associated the two figures with each other -- or three rather. Moreover, Elizabeth's question to Mary paralleled King David's question to the Lord after He struck Uzzah on the spot (Luke 1:43, 2 Samuel 6:9). The unborn John the Baptist's leap to Mary's greeting also resembled King David's dance before the ark of the covenant, following his triumphant entrance into Jerusalem (Luke 1:41, 1:44; 2 Samuel 6:5, 6:14-17). Interestingly, Zechariah, Elizabeth's spouse, had been attending to his priestly duties at the temple of Jerusalem during this time, about twenty-five miles north of Hebron, his hometown. The angel Gabriel had told him that his son would be Christ's forerunner before he dumbstruck Zechariah for his momentary doubt (Luke 1:18-22). In other words, there appeared to be some connection between Zechariah's priestly duties at Jerusalem and King David's entrance into the same city. Either way, both sets of figures had been present in the hill country of Judea when these events happened. Finally, Hahn closed his account of the two stories by reinforcing their connection: "…the ark remained in the hill country for three months (2 Samuel 6:11), the same amount of time Mary spent with Elizabeth ([Luke] 1:56)" (Hahn 64).

King David and the Ark of the Covenant

All these related gestures from the Old Testament to the New established Mary as the 'ark of the covenant', since both had borne the Word of God, but in different ways. The ark bore the Word of God in stone tablets, manna "the Bread of Life," and the iron rod of Aaron; the Virgin Mary carried the Lord, the Word of God en-fleshed.

St. John also demonstrated this same parallel in his book entitled Revelation, which he wrote after the Virgin's death. After the seventh angel had blown his trumpet, the ark of the covenant appeared in all of its splendor and glory: "Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail" (Revelation 11:19). As mentioned earlier, Jews around the time of the Babylonian Exile lost the ark of the covenant, which was then God's presence in the temple of Jerusalem. Great sadness ensued when this prized possession was lost. Yet, John wrote this in order to capture the attention of his audience for Revelation 12:

A great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery. And another portent appeared in the sky; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads . . . And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron . . . . (Revelation 12:1-5)

The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun (1805-1810) by William Blake

Daniel 7 held the key for unlocking the dragon's unknown name. In Daniel; dragons, creatures, and beasts represented dynasties. The beast in Revelation was King Herod's dynasty because the rise of the Davidic and messianic king threatened his claim to power. Herod killed most of the infants of Bethlehem in order to circumvent any threats to his illegitimate reign (Matthew 2). Moreover, "seven Herod's" ruled in line from Antipeter, and the "ten Caesar's" from Rome's imperial line corresponded to the dragon's seven heads and ten horns in Revelation (Hahn 58). In other words, John wrote a historical narrative and employed dramatic metaphors and characters in order to link Rome's fall with Christ's victorious reign. John described the Virgin and Christ Jesus as the dragon's wartime enemies: "Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus" (Revelation 12:17). All who had new life in Christ became offspring of Mary, and all who had considered themselves to be followers in Christ also needed to believe that they were the children of Mary, as brethren in Christ and Mary as their mother.

Finally, Jesus referred to the Virgin as "woman" (John 2:4, 20:13, 20:15, 19:26), which hearkened back to Eve's name in the Genesis, "'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man'" (Genesis 2:23). Even while the Romans crucified Him, Jesus repeated the New Eve's name and prophetic fulfillment from Genesis: "When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, your son!' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home (John 19:26-27). Mary fulfilled Eve's title as "mother of all living" (Genesis 3:20) and fought the dragon in Revelation, the "ancient serpent" and "deceiver of the whole world" (Revelation 12:9, Genesis 3:13).

Although the Virgin was not divine like her Son, she is our exemplary intercessor par excellence and our Heavenly Mother of the Most High. Amen.

Virgin Mary and Jesus

*The block quote was taken from another Bible translation: Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.