UPON the ark was a cover, or lid, made of solid gold, and called the mercy seat. Two cherubim of glory overshadowed it, beaten out of the two ends of the mercy seat, so as to be of the same piece of pure gold.
The first time we read about the cherubim was when God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eder because of their sins. He then placed the cherubim at the entrance of the garden where, with the flaming sword, they kept anyone from entering paradise or eating of the tree of life. The cherubim represent the character of God in righteousness and judgment against sin. Here, however, instead of executing judgment which sinful man deserved, with their wings touching each other, their faces were looking down upon the mercy seat. The sword of judgment had fallen upon the victim whose blood was sprinkled there, and all God’s holy claims against sin were satisfied by that blood.
In Romans 3:2525Whom 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; (Romans 3:25), we read of Christ, “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness,” and the word propitiation is the same as that in Hebrews 9:55And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. (Hebrews 9:5), namely, mercy seat. So we see that the mercy seat upon the ark shadowed forth Christ Jesus. He is both the one and the other. The ark in which the two tables of testimony were preserved, was thus the basis, or foundation, of the mercy seat. It was as the righteous One that the Lord Jesus was fit to sustain and, through His death and resurrection, become the mercy seat, that throne of grace, where God can rest, yet “meet and commune” with poor sinful man (Ex. 25:2222And 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. (Exodus 25:22)). Therefore, the mercy seat and the ark were never separated; they were as one. Apart from the ark, there was no mercy seat, and apart from the righteous One there can be no grace (1 John 2:11My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (1 John 2:1)).
Furthermore, if there is to be a throne of grace, it must be “established in righteousness.” If grace is to reign at all, it must “reign through righteousness.” God could not show grace to sinners unrighteously; He must deal with sin in such a way as to “declare His righteousness,” so that He could be just in justifying the sinner.
How wonderful it is! And how does He accomplish it? By the blood of Christ. The blood of bulls and goats sprinkled on the mercy seat in the tabernacle could never take away sin (Heb. 10:44For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. (Hebrews 10:4)), but it was accepted by God for that time (Lev. 17:1111For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11)), until Christ, the true victim, should come. Now that His precious blood has been shed, He has obtained eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:1212Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12)). Now the sinner who believes can come right into God’s presence, and worship, and talk with Him. This is God’s way of approach into His presence; there is no other way.
Thus, we see that while the cherubim represent what God is as a Judge against sin, nevertheless, the blood of the mercy seat held back from God’s people that judgment. The blood spoke of death, which was the wages of sin, but its penalty had already been met. God’s righteous judgment, therefore, will never fall on those who put their trust in Jesus. No, that judgment has spent itself on that blessed Saviour and Substitute. Now God can say, “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” Heb. 10:1717And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 10:17).
ML-05/17/1970