“We know where the Ark of the Covenant is, and we’ll get it when it’s time, when we need it.”
Pastor Jim Scudder says he heard that extraordinary declaration during a presentation at Jerusalem’s Temple Institute, where preparations for a future Jewish temple intersect with one of Scripture’s most captivating mysteries.
Speaking with Charisma Media, Scudder recounted visiting the institute while investigating temple preparations, including priestly training, garments and sacred implements.
“So, I feel like it’s in Jerusalem or it’s in Israel. I don’t believe it’s anywhere else,” Scudder said.
He believes the Ark will be found. His research has included following the red heifer project and speaking with people cultivating biblical plants intended for temple incense.
But the Ark is only part of a much larger story emerging from Israel’s soil.
Scudder described walking the ancient pilgrimage road connecting the Pool of Siloam with the Temple Mount. The journey brings visitors into the physical setting of biblical events, following the route worshippers traveled toward the temple.
“So today you could experience something where you’re actually walking on these various steps and I’m positive Jesus walked on these very steps,” he said. “To me that’s very impactful and meaningful.”
He also pointed to Hezekiah’s Tunnel, ancient seals bearing biblical names and the Pool of Bethesda as discoveries illuminating Scripture’s historical record.
His response to claims that the Bible gets history wrong was emphatic.
“They’re wrong because every time I’ve researched this, the Bible always gets it right,” Scudder said. “Even when archaeology gets it wrong, the Bible gets it right.”
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Yet the struggle surrounding Israel reaches beyond excavations and ancient artifacts. Scudder sees a spiritual war against the Jewish people, driven by hostility toward God and His purposes.
Reflecting on a visit to Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, he warned that the hatred responsible for past atrocities is resurfacing.
“Our societies, our enlightened Western societies are turning against the Jews again,” Scudder said. “And it just makes me say there’s something unnatural about this. There’s something that’s supernatural about this hatred of the Jewish people.”
He turned to Revelation 12, where a great red dragon seeks to destroy a woman’s child.
“The dragon is trying to consume the child when it’s given birth and God protects that child,” Scudder said. “And we look at that and we say, well, it says that the dragon is Satan.”
“I believe the woman is Israel. The woman gives birth to the Messiah.”
Scudder connected that conflict to Herod’s attempt to kill Jesus. The opposition continued through the crucifixion, but Christ’s resurrection defeated Satan’s designs.
“When Jesus died on the cross, I believe Satan thought he had won,” Scudder said. “He had thwarted God’s plan of redemption.”
Israel’s future, he explained, includes the intense persecution of the Tribulation, which he connects to the “time of Jacob’s trouble” in Jeremiah 30. Through it all, God’s covenant remains secure.
Scudder described God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as “unconditional, unilateral, eternal.” Pointing to Genesis 15, he emphasized that Abraham was asleep when God established the covenant.
“It wasn’t even if Abraham does this, I’ll do this. Abraham was asleep,” he said.
“God Himself goes through that without Abraham. So, this is a promise from God to Himself and He cannot lie.”
That conviction also shapes his rejection of replacement theology. Drawing on the olive tree illustration in Romans, Scudder explained that Gentile believers receive blessings through being grafted in.
“Some of the branches were broken off because of unbelief. And we get to be grafted in,” he said. “We get to share some of the blessings and promises that God made to Israel. We get to rule and reign with Christ.”
Scudder urged care in connecting headlines to prophecy, warning against setting dates for Christ’s return or naming the Antichrist. Studying what lies ahead should strengthen faith and inspire service.
“It’s good for us to know what the Bible says about the end times,” he said. “We should know the whole Bible and I think it inspires us.”
His appeal for standing with Israel was equally direct.
“I think it’s a slam dunk for Christians that we have to support Israel, especially since there’s this spiritual war against them.”
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
