“And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat.” – Exodus 25:22
In Old Testament times, once a year, on Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood of an innocent animal on the mercy seat. After the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on the mercy seat, all God saw of the ark of the covenant was the blood, and no longer the rebellion and failure of man as we referenced yesterday. However, under the old covenant, the blood of animal sacrifices only covered the sins of the children of Israel for one year. What happened on Yom Kippur was only a shadow. Our Lord Jesus is the substance. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and His sacrifice on the cross was once and for all (see John 1:29, Hebrews 9:12)!
In Exodus 25:17–22, the Lord told Moses, “you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold…. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat…. of one piece with the mercy seat. And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. You shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.”
Where will the Lord speak from? From above the mercy seat. That is what our ministry is all about. We are preaching from above the mercy seat, preaching about his mercy and grace, about His shed blood and about His finished work. There are people who are preaching from the judgement seat, preaching about the law and how we have fallen short. The wages of sin is death. But this ministry is all about the Lord’s mercy, grace, favour, love, and protection.
Under grace, Jesus died our death on the cross. He was punished with the death we deserved for our sins. He gave up His protection on the cross so that we may walk in divine protection today. Hallelujah! Doesn't this just fill your heart with assurance and peace today?
Today's Prayer
Father God, thank You that the Lord Jesus is Your Lamb who on the cross took away my sins once and for all. Thank You for meeting with me and speaking to me from above the mercy seat, and for reminding me that I am in such a place of intimacy with you. Because You love me, I believe that Your mercy, grace, favour, love, and protection are mine. Amen.
Today’s Thought
Jesus is the Lamb of God who was punished with the death I deserved for my sins. He gave up His protection on the cross so that I can walk in divine protection today.
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Prince, Joseph. The Prayer of Protection Devotional: Daily Strategies for Living Fearlessly In Dangerous Times.