Thrum Thursday: Mercy

I haven't talked much about my Intro to OT class I'm taking at RCC. It's really, really been good. It's like going to hear three sermons in a row every Monday night. Dr.Straight is a wonderful teacher.

There's been a lot that I've learned, and a lot that's been reaffirmed. One thing that was mentioned a couple of weeks ago, though, that I wanted to write about had to do with mercy. We've all probably heard the definitions of grace and mercy: Grace - getting what you don't deserve and Mercy - not getting what you do deserve. Focusing a bit more on mercy, here's some food for thought:

In the Tabernacle was the Holy of Holies, the place where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. It contained three things: Aaron's rod, a pot of manna, and the Ten Commandments. On top of the Ark, between two cheribim (angels), was a space called the Mercy Seat. God's Shekinah glory, His very Presence, presided over the Mercy Seat. The cheribim were bowed down, faces shielded from the gaze of God.

So we see the Law (Ten Commandments) and God's presence (Shekinah glory) being seperated by the Mercy Seat. The Ten Commandments pointed to the fact that all men had broken the law and were therefore sinners. God's glory represented the holiness of God. Men as sinners were seperated from the holiness of God by the Mercy Seat.

Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood of sacrifice on the Mercy Seat to atone for his and the people of Israel's sins. Take a minute and imagine this in your mind....The Law, broken by all men, lay in the Ark. God's Presence hovers above. And in between, there's the Mercy Seat, with the blood of sacrifice on it.

Dr. S. said that when you read in the OT cries from the people of "God have mercy on me" it could simply by translated as "mercy me!" In other words, "God don't look on my sin (the Law I have broken), but instead see the blood sprinkled on top of Your Mercy Seat. "

Now, fast forward to the New Testament, and the morning Mary found the tomb empty. Read John 20:1-18, but especially verses 10-12:

Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

Do you see the picture repeated again, one angle at the head and one at the foot? Between them lay the last Mercy Seat, the very spot where Jesus' dead body was placed, the ultimate and final sacrifice through which God will forever and ever see us instead of our broken sinfulness. A beatiful picture!

May His mercy be forever upon us.