Exodus 25:17-22 And you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof… I. THE DESIGN OF THE APPOINTMENT. "And there I will meet with thee." Meeting with God — communion with God; and instruction from God — these are in the text the declared purposes of the solemnities observed before the ark, and they are also the great objects to be always associated with the public assemblies of the Christian Church. II. SOME OF THE PECULIARITIES OF THIS INSTITUTION. — 1. It was altogether of Divine appointment. 2. Another significant fact is that the name "mercy-seat" is manifold in its meaning. By St. Paul, in Romans 3:25, the mercy-seat is called a propitiation. The mercy-seat is the place of propitiation, whither the sacrificial blood was carried, and the red showers were cast around by God's high priest. "There I will meet with thee," saith the Divine word. Only through a sacrifice can God be approached. The mercy-seat is also called a "covering," because, as it concealed in the thick darkness the contents of the ark, it so became an emblem of the completeness of the process of Divine forgiveness (Psalm 32:1). The Hebrew word for the mercy-seat is Capporeth, derived from Caphar, a covering, the word which, in Genesis 6:14, represents God as directing Noah to pitch the ark within and without. About eighty times the word is used in the Old Testament, and is rendered in our version atone, or atonement. Thus early, even, as the ministry of Noah, the doctrine of shelter through substitution was preached to the world. The position occupied by the mercy-seat is equally significant; it was "upon the ark," within which was contained the handwriting of God — the covenant; the promises of God, and His requirements. III. THE SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS WHICH WERE TYPIFIED BY THE MERCY-SEAT. 1. To the mercy-seat we must resort to obtain the assurance of the forgiveness of sin. 2. To the mercy-seat we repair in all times of trial and distress. So long as communion with God is unimpaired we have a specific for all human woe. 3. Thither also we repair for renewed supplies of grace and strength. We can only rightly perform our work for the Lord, as we obtain from Him fresh impartations of heavenly power. 4. It is thither that we must by faith bear the wants of the Church and the world. (W. G. Lewis.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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