The Tabernacle in the Wilderness Series # 5
The Mercy Seat
By Pastor Jim May
Exodus 25:17-22, "And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel."
Forgiveness and reconciliation were made possible because the blood of the sacrifice (propitiation) was sprinkled upon the Mercy Seat once a year on the Day of Atonement. The root word for Mercy Seat or "Atonement Cover" is a Hebrew word that is spelled, “kaphar”, which means: To cover; To make atonement or reconcile; To appease, placate, cancel, or annul and finally; To cleanse, forgive, pardon, purge away, put off
It is at the Mercy Seat where man’s sin is covered by the blood. It is there that God makes atonement for that sin and reconciles man to Himself.
Just like you would do when you reconcile your checkbook, there was a debt that was owed by mankind, that he could never pay. He had “written checks” on his relationship with God when there was nothing in that account to cover the checks. Mankind had no means of making deposits into his “sin debt account” because nothing that he had, nothing that he could say, and nothing that he could do, had any value to it whatsoever in the Bank of Heaven. Mankind had sold the only valuable thing that he possessed that could be used as collateral. He had sold his eternal soul to the devil in exchange for an eternity without God. Needless to say, mankind got the worst end of the deal. Not only could he never repay his debt, but the debt, with penalties and interest, on top of more penalties and interest, just continued to grow and drive man deeper into slavery.
At the Mercy Seat, the payment for that debt was made, not by man, but by God, for God only could give something that was worthwhile as repayment for our debt of sin. In effect, God covered our “worthless checks”; He paid every debt we owed; and He redeemed, or bailed us out of our jail of slavery to sin and the devil; and He then signed over all that Heaven has to us as joint heirs to His only Son, Jesus Christ. He cancelled our debt of sin with His own blood upon the Mercy Seat.
By paying our debt with His own blood, Jesus fulfilled all of the requirements of the Law that were on our record. Then He blotted out the ink of that record and expunged any and all charges against us, canceling the death penalty, annulling the convictions and sentencing as passed by the Law, and appeased the requirements of a Holy God by simply saying three little words, “I FORGIVE YOU”!
Colossians 2:10-14, "And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;"
THANK GOD FOR THE MERCY SEAT!
Since this Mercy Seat was such a powerful and important symbol for every one of us, I thought we should spend a little time here, examining just what it was all about.
It was made of solid gold to the exact dimensions of the Ark of the Covenant. It was a beautiful piece of furniture, the most beautiful in the Tabernacle, but its natural beauty could never compare with it’s beauty in the realm of the Spirit.
The Book of Romans is filled with references to this great piece of furniture and of its fulfillment in Christ. Through God’s mercy at the Mercy Seat we can see, in symbolizism, the constant stream of love flowing from the God the Father through Jesus the Son to all humanity. The Holy Spirit makes this love real in our hearts!
The Mercy Seat, and God’s mercy displayed there, doesn’t give us license to sin and live, as we want. But what it does gives us is that great assurance to know there is ample grace and mercy available to all who will but come to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ and confess their sins and have them washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus!
Note the plan and design for constructing the Mercy Seat. Keep in mind that it was to placed on TOP of the ARK, that was to serve a two-fold purpose, both as a LID for the Ark of the Covenant and as the Mercy Seat where God’s Holy Presence would dwell in the midst of the people.
It was here from above the Mercy Seat that God would speak to Aaron as Israel’s High Priest. This is where the Blood of the slain sacrifice had to be sprinkled as an atonement for the sin of the nation before God would speak. The High Priest could never enter the Most Holy Place without the Blood applied to his own flesh because God has nothing to say to man apart from Jesus Christ and His work of redemption. ALL WE HAVE - the Holy Spirit, prosperity, healing, and salvation - ALL COMES THROUGH THE BLOOD.
Under the Old Covenant, God accepted the blood of a sinless animal as atonement for sin, but this was only a shadow of the blood of the Lord Jesus, which would be shed for us. As we stand sprinkled in the blood of Christ, God can be merciful, just and the Justifier of all who believe or have faith in the blood of His own Son.
Romans 3:23-27, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith."
The blood that was shed at the Brazen Altar is brought to the Ark of the Covenant and sprinkled upon the Mercy Seat and God is satisfied. In the Tabernacle we see a blending of judgment and mercy.
We will study the Brazen Altar at another time, but let me just say here that the grating, upon which the sacrifice was laid, was representative of the Judgment Seat of God. At that altar the sin of the whole nation was judged by a Substitutionary death.
Yet we see at the Ark of the Covenant, which was built at the same height as the Brazen Altar, was the SEAT OF MERCY. Here the whole nation of Israel was reconciled.
2 Corinthians 3:5-6, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."
At the Brazen Altar, the Letter of the Law meant death, but at the Mercy Seat, the Spirit of the Law, fulfilled in Christ, brings life.
The Mercy Seat was not something to be taken lightly. It was serious business with God. Let me show you a story of what happens when man tries to approach God by by-passing His requirements of the bloodstained Mercy Seat.
1 Samuel 6:19-20, "And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter. And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up from us?"
When we stop seeking Mercy, we come under the penalty of the LAW – and that penalty is DEATH. If man wants to look upon the Tables of Stone, which had no life in them, we will have to put aside the Blood. If we reject the Blood, we fall to the level of the Law, which can only bring death to fallen man.
The Law could only thunder, demand, command and condemn. It was God’s perfect standard of righteousness, but it was powerless to deliver anyone. Jesus had to die to vindicate the righteous claims of God and to satisfy divine justice. Because Jesus was judged for us, now we can be restored to fellowship with God.
It is also important to notice also that this structure is called a Mercy SEAT. This is the one and only seat in the whole Tabernacle. It was called a seat, and yet no man ever sat upon this seat. It is a place reserved only for the Son of God.
Hebrews 10:11-14, "And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."
Hebrews 12:1-2, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
The fact that Jesus "sat down" is significant of HIS FINISHED WORK. Christ presented His own Blood at the Throne of God, and having done so, He sat down. He is now seated as our Heavenly High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. He is now seated on a Throne of pure gold, a seat for Deity, even the ETERNAL SON OF GOD.
There were some other details about this Mercy Seat that we also need to look at carefully.
Exodus 25:18-20, "And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be."
In the Cherubim and the Mercy Seat, which were made of one seamless piece of gold, melted into a large block from the jewelry and offerings of the people of Israel. Having identified that the Mercy Seat represents Jesus Christ, we should also identify the two cherubims at each end of the Mercy Seat. These cherubims are not angels because angels can have no part in the Mercy Seat. They are not made One with Jesus and they cannot be connected with our salvation.
What was the arrangement of this single piece of beaten gold?
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are One in our plan of Redemption. Thus, we see the Father and the Holy Spirit gazing down with satisfaction upon the Blood-stained Mercy Seat, representing the Son and the finished work of Redemption. Father, Son and Holy Spirit all coming together as One to commune with man because of the blood of the sacrifice.
The Shekinah
Above the Mercy Seat and between the two Cherubim, the High Priest could witness the very Presence, Glory and Brightness of God in a visible manifestation. From this bright light and glowing power God spoke in an audible voice.
There is a great example of this in Numbers 7:89 when Moses entered into the Holy of Holies to dedicate the Tabernacle upon its completion, "And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him."
The Hebrews called this manifestation of the visible Glory or Brightness of God the "Shekinah." Although this word never occurs in the Bible, it does occur in many other Hebrew writings.
The Ark of the Covenant is the only piece of furniture upon which God dwelt in Brightness with a visible presence. No oil was needed here. The priests never had to trim these wicks, for there were no wicks. This light was a permanent light and it flooded every corner of the Holy of Holies. There was no one dark place in this room. It was filled with the light of God’s love.
1 John 1:5-7, "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
No other piece of furniture in the Tabernacle was like the Ark and the Mercy Seat. Though the Lampstand was a source of Light that burned always, it also needed trimming and refilling with oil every day to keep burning. Every other piece of furniture within the Tabernacle was powerless and dark if "the Shekinah" glory of God upon the Mercy Seat Ark was not there.
Let us never forget that everything in the Church becomes nothing more than an empty form and meaningless ceremony if "The Presence”, “the Shekinah”, is not there!
So what is "the Presence" in the Church? What is this “Shekinah” that must manifest its presence in the church today? It is the "glory of God” expressed in the very presence of Jesus Christ."
Hebrews 1:1-4, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they."
Without Jesus as the head of the church, there is no church. Without the presence of the Holy Ghost, there is no “Shekinah” glory. The “Shekinah” isn’t just for inside the church though. The glory of God should be like a beacon of light, “a Shekinah”, about us everywhere we go so that others may see Jesus in us.
Matthew 5:14-16, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
Lord help us to shine with your “Shekinah”. Let us shine for you in this dark and sinful world!
