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My Daily Blessing from My Daily
Bible Reading
with meditations
by my mother, Poetess Gertrude Sanborn
JANUARY
27
Exodus 25:15 -- Exodus 28:1
THE
MERCY SEAT--CAN WE FATHOM IT?
Exodus 25:17
"And thou shalt
make a mercy seat of pure gold. . ."
The "mercy
seat"--the beautiful mercy seat!--that was the "place"
in the wilderness tabernacle where God, in full holiness
and majesty, met man! The "mercy seat" was a work of
art. It was placed on top of the ARK OF THE COVENANT
where "the Testimony," Aaron’s rod, and some manna was
kept. The "mercy seat" was crafted from one piece of
gold, according to God’s specifications.
Upon this
forty-five-inch by twenty-seven-inch symbolic golden
plane was the throne of God, in picture form. It was
there where the Old Testament saints, in the person of
their high priest, met God once a year.
Between the
golden cherubim on the mercy seat, animal blood was
poured. It was for the "atonement" of all Israel. It was
a forward look to Calvary. It was there the "holy blood"
of Jesus was shed on the cross. The "mercy seat"! Can we
ever fathom it? Can we really understand what Jesus did
for us at Calvary?
Until the
cross, the temple veil protected the mercy seat. It kept
the common people away from the ark. When Christ died,
the veil was torn in two from top to bottom. God did
that! It was on the cross that Jesus Christ poured out
His blood. He forgave the sin of the world for those who
now believe. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we, who are
born-again, are told that we can have forgiveness of
sin. We now "have boldness to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus" (Hebrews 10:19). Jesus paid it all
so we could have access to the Heavenly Father.
It is there
to the mercy seat in Heaven that the believer can come
to God in prayer. It is there that we can plead the
blood of Christ for our forgiveness and blessings. H.
Stowell has written "truth" in beautiful words,
"From
every stormy wind that blows, from every swelling
tide of woes, there is a calm, a sure retreat; ‘tis
found beneath the mercy seat. There is a place where
Jesus sheds the oil of gladness on our heads, a
place than all beside more sweet; it is the
blood-bought mercy seat. Ah! Whither could we flee
for aid, when tempted, desolate, dismayed; or how
the host of hell defeat, had suffering saints no
mercy seat?" (ysw)
"God had to
cripple Jacob to get him to surrender."
Many a wound
brings us to great gain. Our weaknesses make us
hold to Him. It seems, when
we are well and healthy, we go on our merry way Unmindful of the
Lord and His claim on our lives. He has to
"cripple us" to get us to slow down and depend on Him! (GGS)
(Genesis 33:25)
And
Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he
said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly
return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo,
Sarah thy wife shall have a son. (Genesis 18:10)
Under God's Care,
Yvonne S. Waite
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