First seven verses, there are
instructions from the Lord to Moses to build him a dwelling
place in the wilderness, a tabernacle. And then we have a description
in our text today of a couple of parts that were to be in the
tabernacle. That would be the Ark of the
Covenant and particularly the mercy seat that was a part of
it. So, look at verse 10 through
verse 22, Exodus chapter 25. and they shall make an ark of
sheetum wood, two cubics and a half shall be the length thereof,
and a cubic and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubic and a half
the height thereof. and thou shalt overlay it with
pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt
make upon it a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt cast
four rings of gold for it, put them in the four corners thereof.
Two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in
the other side of it. And thou shalt make staves of
sheetum wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put
the staves into the rings of the sides of the ark, that the
ark may be borne or carried by them. The staves shall be in
the rings of the ark, they shall not be taken from it, and thou
shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. and thou shalt make a mercy seat
of pure gold, two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof,
and a cubic 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 cherubim 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. That is, they were
to face each other. Toward the mercy seat shall the
faces of the cherubim be. And thou shalt put the mercy
seat above upon the ark. and in the ark shalt thou put
the testimony that I shall give thee. Now watch this. And there I will meet with thee. I will commune with thee from
above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon
the ark of the testimony of all things which I will give thee
in commandment unto the children of Israel. Now that last verse
I will meet there with thee at the mercy seat. I will commune
with thee from between the two cherubims that are made. Now Moses received from the Lord
God two very great revelations while he was upon the mount. One, he had given them the holy
moral law of God. That you have in Exodus chapter
20. Written with the very finger
of God, we read in the scripture, upon tables of stone, and then
they were brought unto the children of Israel, and God made a covenant
with them, and they agreed to keep the covenant. Now Moses
also and upon a mount was given the pattern and the design of
the tabernacle in the wilderness. Sometimes this is called the
tabernacle of witness number 17 and verse 7 18 in verse 2,
2 Chronicles chapter 24 and verse 6, and also by Stephen in Acts
chapter 7 and verse 44, where he said, our fathers had the
tabernacle of witness in the wilderness. Now, the record of
it you have in Exodus 25, as I mentioned in verse 1 through
7, there is a call for donations from the people in order that
the materials for the ark or for the tabernacle might be gathered
in. Speak unto them and tell them,
bring me an offering. I believe that's back in the
second verse. Now, he especially takes note
in chapter 25 and verse 8, and let them make me a sanctuary
that I might dwell among them. Let them make me a dwelling place,
a sanctuary that I might dwell among them. Now, the word sanctuary
here might bring a couple of things into our mind. First of
all, we might think of a place of refuge and a place of safety
where one might flee from an enemy or from danger, a place
to hide and escape from an enemy or even the law and its curse
and penalty. Then again, we think of the sanctuary
as a dedicated or a consecrated place, a place that might be
reckoned as holy or as sacred, implying a sanctified interior
in this particular place, a place hallowed out. a place for a chapel,
or a place for worship, or a place for meditation. Now certainly,
God did not intend the sanctuary to be a place of refuge from
danger, or the avenger of blood, or an enemy. It was not a place
to hide. It was not a place where one
might flee and enter in and be safe. In fact, the people were
barred from entering in to this most holy place where the ark
was and where the mercy seat was affixed. But it was to be
a sanctuary where God might dwell, dwell there among the people,
put his glory, typical glory as it were, there, Hebrews chapter
9 verse 1, calls it a worldly sanctuary, not worldly in the
sense of sinful, but worldly in the sense that it is in the
world or upon the earth. Hebrews 9, 24, such things are
called the figures of the truth. that these things that are there
are figures of better things to come. They are types of things
that would appear in reality in the coming of our Lord. Now,
the tabernacle in the wilderness was an elaborate building. It was a complicated building.
It had many parts made of different materials of all kind. It had a courtyard. There were
two rooms in the sanctuary, the Holy Place and the Most Holy,
and they were of equal size, and they were called the Holy
Place and the Most Holy. And after, or before the gate,
there was a table of shewbread that was put there in the tabernacle,
and there was a candle stand, there was an incense stand where
it was burned constantly. It is interesting and maybe even
surprising that the first thing to be made was the Ark of the
Covenant, that box or chest or cabinet as we might think of
it. It is called a mercy seat. It is there that God met with
Moses and where the high priest came. Now the soul might expect
that these to be the last utensils that were made and placed in
the tabernacle, when in fact they were the first part of the
tabernacle that was constructed. Because here was the very heart
and center of that system of worship and the tabernacle in
the wilderness. And we must know some facts concerning
the ark and the mercy seat that we have read about. The ark,
as I said, was a chest-like box that was to be made and placed
there. And depending upon the measure
of the Jewish cubit, whether 18 or whether 21 inches, It was
in size approximately 58 inches in length, 31 inches wide, and
was made of sheetum wood, made or grown in the Arabian Desert. Now this was a very expensive
wood and also very durable and lasted a long, long time. It was to be overlaid with gold. Pure gold was to be overlaid
with in and without. And we read that a crown of gold
was to be around the top edge. On the four corners were rings
of gold with which the stays were inserted when it was time
to carry the ark to another place. And the Levites were in charge
of it, and were the ones that put it up, took it down, and
carried it from place to place. Each time, God led them to move
from one place unto another. And you can see the record of
these things in Exodus chapter 25, 10 through 15, that we might
read later. And from Exodus 25 and verse
16, we learn that the tablets, and he said something is to be
put inside of the tabernacle that I will tell thee or that
I will show thee of. And the tables containing the
law given at Sinai were placed in the ark. These were put inside
of that Ark of the Covenant that was to be built, sometimes called
the Ark of the Covenant, as in Numbers chapter 10 and verse
8. And there were other writers
and exegetes and preachers, as Edmund Robbins said in a sermon
on this subject, December 18 and 15, quote, a very sacred vessel, and it
was deaf for any to touch it or to look on it, but the priest
only was to enter in. And it was carried under cover
when it was time to move. For the people were not to look
upon it with their very own eye. Numbers chapter 4 and verse 5,
the priest took it down from the covering veil and they covered
the ark of the covenant when they journeyed, when they moved,
that none saw it, that it not be exposed to the open sight. And then consider, in Exodus
chapter 25, verse 17 through verse 22, the mercy seat was
formed, the lid, or the covering, as we might call it, or the top
of the ark of the covenant, and how it was made. It was exactly
the same dimension as the ark or the cabinet itself, or the
chair, and it was pure gold. And as we read on each end of
it, there was a cherubim The cherubim's wings were spread
out, as it were, perhaps toward the Ark of the Covenant, and
they looked at each other, or they faced each other. And the
Hebrew author puts it this way in Hebrews 9 and verse 5, calling
them the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat, unquote. So here
they stood, if we can have a picture in our mind, facing one another,
their wings outstretched, shadowing the mercy seat. Now, let's stay
with Hebrews chapter 9, verse 4 and 5 for a little bit, where
the focus falls upon the ark of the covenant, which was in
the holiest of all, that is, the second or the back room,
and verse 5 of Hebrews 9, and over it, that is, over the ark
or the chest, on the lid or mercy seat were the cherubims of glory,
or as some expositors prefer, the glorious cherubim that had
been made and designed and of gold. So going back to Exodus
chapter 25 and verse 8, let them make me a sanctuary that I may
dwell among them. And when all things were finished,
as said in Exodus 39 and 32, all things were made All things were set in their
places, the tabernacle was reared up, and Aaron and his sons were
washed and consecrated and dressed and set apart for the service
of the tabernacle. That you have in Exodus chapter
40 and verse 12 through 16. But let's hear Exodus 40, 33
through verse 38. if we might turn there to that
passage of the scripture. Again, it is Exodus chapter 40
and verse 33 through verse 38. And he reared up the court round
about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging
of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent
of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the
tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter
into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode therein,
and the glory of the Lord filled that temple. And how glorious
it was. And when the cloud was taken
up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward
in all of their journey. But if the cloud were not taken
up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was
on the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the
sight of all of the house of Israel, and watched them throughout
all of their journey. God, as it were, took up his
residence, filled the tabernacle with a glory, and gave a mighty
seal confirmation of this thing and of this truth we read of
glory of clouds of fire and such like as long as they journeyed
in the wilderness falling back to what he said in Exodus chapter
12 and verse 17 Thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold. Verse 21, thou shalt put the
mercy seat above the ark. Verse 22, and there will I meet
with thee. And let us now focus upon this
mercy seat that has been made and set up. to catch the significance
of the mercy seed and what occurred there and what it signified. To restate something, I would
like for Brother John Owen to take the pulpit for a moment
and give us an account of this matter. John Owen writing in
the book of Hebrews chapter 9 and verses 3 through verse 5, and
I'm quoting now, from Owen Commentary. The Ark and the Mercy Sheet wherewith
it was covered was the most glorious and mysterious utensil in the
tabernacle and afterward in the permanent temple. The most imminent
pledge of the divine presence was the mercy seat, the most
mysterious representation of the holy properties of his nature
and of Christ, the words of John Owen. There are three things
most wonderful about this mercy seat and let's note them. Number
one, it was where God most strongly manifested his presence during
that time and that economy. It was here that God put his
typical presence. God was known among the people
and he dwelt there between the cherubim. 2nd Kings 19 and 15,
Psalms 80 and verse 1, Psalm 99 and verse 1, Isaiah 37 and
verse 16. It was there that God put his
presence and met with Moses or with the high priest. Number
two, a fact. It was a place where the individual
Jew could not come. The layman Jew, as we might call
him, the people in the camp were not allowed to enter into that
place. They could not approach in their
own person, only in a representative high priest who made for them
an offering and a sacrifice. They must have one, therefore,
appointed by God to appear and to approach and to act in their
behalf. And the high priest was the one
appointed and approved of God to appear in their behalf and
make a sacrifice for their sin. For God appeared there in a cloud. Leviticus chapter 16 and verse
2. Now the third thing about this
mercy seat was the place where the blood of atonement was applied
when it was brought into the tabernacle. Leviticus chapter
16 again. It was here and only here that
the blood of atonement was sprinkled by the high priest and at the
appointed time. The day of atonement, for example,
in Leviticus chapter 16, the high priest would make his preparation
dress in his proper clothes, wash and all of those things,
make a sacrifice. And he would take the blood of
that sacrifice and sprinkle, enter in the holy place, then
into the most holy place. There he would sprinkle the blood
upon the mercy seat on the day of atonement once a year. You
have that in Exodus. 1634, Hebrews 9 and verse 7. When Aaron went in to that place,
he carried with him burning coals of fire from the sacrificial
offer, and he carried incense beaten small to release the fragrance
and the aroma. And he put the incense in the
coals of fire there upon that plate to cause a cloud of incense,
a sweet smell, a sweet savor, and a sweet fragrance to fill
the place with that delightful odor when he entered in there
to do the work of a ministry. And he was to do this that he
die not, Leviticus chapter 16 and verse 13. And for both his
sin and the sins of the people, he carried that blood to the
mercy seat and sprinkled it there. And this is called, in Leviticus
chapter 16 and verse 16, an atonement. He made an atonement for himself
and for the people." Because of the uncleanness of the children
of Israel and because of their iniquity in all of their sins. Now the question naturally comes
before us of what was the mercy seat typical. All these things
were typical, but what were they typical of? And the mercy seat,
what was it typical of and what did it typify? What's the significance? of that gold mercy seat and the
sprinkling of the blood upon it. And then we ask, have we
a gospel mercy seat? Have we under this covenant a
mercy seat where with God one may meet and our sins may be
atoned for and put away? Because remember, all of these
things were patterns or typed to post pictures of things that
were to come. Now before we answer this matter,
let us remind ourselves what was inside of the Ark in the
Tabernacle in the Wilderness. And the answer is the Tables
of the Covenant. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 4
called in Leviticus or excuse me exodus 25 and verse 16 and
you shall put in the ark of the Testimony which I shall give
you again Exodus 25 21 Deuteronomy 31 26 take this book of the law
and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of of the
Lord your God. And hear this, quote, that it
may be there for a witness against thee. against the people, that
it may be there for a witness against thee. Though some say
it was beside the ark, it seems inside. But what was in the ark,
and this under the mercy seat of pure gold covered by it, was
the table concerning the law, the Ten Commandments, that which
had been given yonder at Mount Sinai when Moses went up into
the mountain that he might receive it. Now, the law, you notice,
was called a covenant, but was broken by the people a thousand
times over again and again. Now, the mercy seat, let's get
it, over the ark, solid gold. was the only place where atonement
could be made under that economy and under that system of worship
that God had established. It was the only place where God
would meet with a sacrifice for the sins of the people. It was
the only place where the wrath and the curse of the law was
turned off of the transgression of the people by the blood of
a sacrifice that was sprinkled there. Now, there can be no doubt
that Jesus Christ, the Lord, is our true mercy seat, that
this was typical of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that it was
a type of him and his atoning blood, for only in Christ is
there an atonement made, and only the blood of the Lord is
able to put away our sin, that he both fulfilled the law and
also endured its curse. He gave it no reason, no grounds,
to be against him or to smite him, but he also bore his curse,
not for himself, but but for his people. He kept all of its
righteous requirements and then endured the penalty, the curse
of the law, as Paul calls it. Now, to arrive at this, we need
to diligently consider the matter. They so say, those who skilled
in the Hebrew and in the Greek, that the word mercy in Exodus
chapter 25, is the Hebrew word kaporath, meaning a lid or a
covering of one kind. And it comes from the root word
kaphar, which is used of the Ark of Noah in Genesis 6, 14. God said, pitch it within and
without with pitch. That is, it means to cover it. cover it within and cover it
without. so that the flood cannot get
in and destroy those that are inside. Further, it means to
expiate. It means to placate. It means
to cancel out a debt of sin, to make an atonement, to make
a covering, to cover sin over. Here's the broken law inside. Here's the gold mercy seed and
the blood sprinkled upon that mercy seat. So if we go to the
New Testament and to Romans chapter 3, there is an amazing thing
that Paul has written to them in this place concerning our
Lord Jesus Christ. Romans the third chapter And
we're interested in verse 25. Speaking of Christ now, whom
God has set forth a propitiation through faith in his blood to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sin that are
passed through the forbearance of God. It is interesting that
the same word that is translated here by our English word, propitiation,
in Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 5 is rendered mercy seat. Same word rendered in one place,
propitiation, and in the other as mercy seat. First note, however,
him God set forth in Romans 3, 25. You may notice that the alternate
reading or rendering in the margin is foreordained. Whom God set
forth, whom God foreordained or predestinated, him God foreordained. He set him forth as his purpose
in his decree, the emphasis in Romans 3 in verse 25, is not
that Christ gave himself as a propitiation, though he certainly did and made
one, but the apostle emphasizes here that God did set him forth
as such. that God set Christ forth as
a propitiation or a mercy seat. God purposed him to be such. God set him forth publicly as
the propitiation for sin as he died upon the cross. As God did
so, order the mercy seat in the old economy. The mercy seat was
where atonement was made. It was where the broken law was
satisfied by an atonement of God's appointing. It was where
God received propitiation for sin. It is where God and the
people were reconciled by that offering, all which was typical
of the Lord Jesus Christ. James Haldane wrote on Hebrews
9 and 5, Christ is the true perpetuatory or mercy seed and whom God is
revealed as just as well as the justifier of them that believe,
unquote. What is propitiation? A big long
word. the New Testament sin we find
this word three times in the New Testament that is in the
King James Version Romans 3 25 in 1st John 2 and 2 and in 1st
John 4 and verse 10 he is the propitiation of for our sin. For God sent him to be the perpetuation
for our sin. And the word involves the idea,
or should I say the doctrine, of expiation, the taking away
or the removing of sin. An expiatory thing or place is
meant by it, to conciliate by atonement. And here's a mercy
seat covering a sin by that atonement. John Owen gave this explanation
of propitiation, that whereby the law is covered God appeased
and reconciled, sin expiated, and the sinner pardoned." End
of quote. There is propitiation. In addition, the same word that
is translated propitiation is translated to make reconciliation
Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 17 and that pure rather that publican
in Luke chapter 18 and 3 God be merciful propitious God be
propitious to me, the sinner. And finally, mercy seat in Hebrews
chapter 9 and verse 5. We've already mentioned it, but
again, consider the prayer of the publican in the parable of
the Lord in Luke's gospel chapter 18. A Pharisee and a publican
went up to the temple to pray. Our Lord tells us in that parable,
praying in the temple. The publican prayed, God be merciful
to me, a sinner. Some say the sinner. A very literal
translation is, God be propitious to me, the sinner. And that's
how we look at his prayer. Thomas Goodman says the prayer
is to this effect, Lord be mercifully propitious to me from thy mercy
seat. Look upon me. in propitious mercy,
provide for me a propitiation for my sin." And Linsky, who's
good on the text, notes that it includes the strong confession
of the publican, to me, the open sinner, the great sinner, the
sinner with the article, the sinner of all sinners. And some
conclude this shows the publican to be a Jew, whether by birth
or by proselyte, for he uses Old Testament language and expression. This also shows that the Jews
had been accustomed to thinking of and looking toward the propitiary
or the mercy seat under the old economy. To find their perpetuation,
for find their pardon for their sin, and that they might be put
away from the mercy seat. Here and only here was sin atoned
for under that economy. But again, these things were
typical of our Lord Jesus Christ. By Him, propitiation was made. By Him, sin was atoned for by
His own blood. From His death and person, mercy
flowed out unto those that were given unto him. Christ, therefore,
is the true or the real mercy seat and propitiation. And I agree with the Puritan
Goodwin, what makes the law was called, what under the law was
called a mercy seat is under the gospel called the throne
of grace. Hebrews 4 and verse 16. This is where Christ officiate.
This is where Christ dispenses grace and mercy to help us in
time of need. A seasonable help for his people. is found at the mercy seat or
at the throne of grace. Our sins being perpetuated by
the death of Christ, therefore, two things are met together. Justice and mercy have met together. Our sins received a just reward
in the death of Christ and mercy is freely exercised. Justice and mercy met. Christ now consider the type
and the anti type the type the law Was in the art the law which
sets forth the righteousness and the requirement of God But
which was transgressed by the people and so they fell under
the curse of the law It set them under death and Christ bore the
curse of the law. In order to redeem the elect
from that curse, he both fulfilled it personally, endured the curse
in the stead and behalf of his people, he being the exact place
and one where propitiation occurred. Consider again that the mercy
seat under that old economy was made of pure gold. Pure gold, as pure as could be. A most precious metal in all
periods of history to the human family. It would not decay. It would not rot. It would not
tarnish and it would not perish on its own. It is typical of
the full and absolute deity or godhood of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. He was very God, God manifest
in the flesh, so that we have indeed a divine mercy seat, not
made of gold material, but the divine Son of God. Again, As
God only communicated or spoke with Israel from the mercy seat,
so has he spoken to us in his Son. Hebrews chapter 1, 1 and
2. He has revealed himself in Christ. Christ has come and has revealed
the Father. and any that come to God must
come by the Lord Jesus Christ. Sinners only meet God at the
mercy seat, which is Christ. They can only come to God by
Christ. There is no other way. For we
get our spiritual and our saving benefit from Christ, not from
Mary, not from the preacher, and not from the pope, and not
from the church. The only but glorious channel
of conveyance from God to sinners is the Lord Jesus Christ. Only He can bring us the grace
of God. The only meeting place for God
and man to be saved is the Lord Jesus Christ. There is one mediator
between God and man, the Lord or the man, Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy
2 and verse 5. where sin was covered, typically
in the Old Testament, and the honor of God's law is maintained. And Christ is the mean whereby
absolute deity, Christ, gave to absolute deity, God the Father,
and all sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the elect, where
our high priest entered into that tabernacle in the heavenlies
itself by his own precious blood, not the blood of an animal or
a goat or whatever, but by his own precious blood, having obtained
eternal redemption as said Moses of the mercy seat in Exodus 25
and 16 there will I meet with you and I will commune with you
from above the mercy seat and so how does God meet us in mercy
how does God commune with us well the answer is from the true
mercy seat, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. He will teach us. He will show
us the Father. He is our God-ordained mercy
seat, pure gold, pure divinity, absolute God. absolute divine
is our blessed mercy seat the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore
a perfect sacrifice was made to a perfect God to perfectly
put away the sin of the elect when Christ died and his blood
by his blood entered into the holy places and sat down at the
right hand of God as we learn in the book of Hebrews