MERCYSEAT

HE MERCY SEAT
When Moses was given the pattern for the Tabernacle in
the wilderness he was cautioned to make everything exactly to
specifications. The reason for this was because it was to be a
visible representation of something in the invisible realm. It all
had to do with the Plan of God for our Salvation and Redemption.
Let's look for a while at what is called the Mercy Seat.
Exodus 25:17 And thou shalt make a mercy seat [of] pure
gold: Exodus 26:34 And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the
ark of the testimony in the most holy [place].
Not much is told us about its function. It was actually the
covering for the Ark of the Covenant. There were two cheru¬bims, one on either end of it. Their wings were spread over the
Mercy Seat, and they were looking down toward it.
Hebrews 9:5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing
the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
I like to think that the Shechinah, Glory of God, was
centered in the spot where the gaze of one met the gaze of the
other. Proof would be hard to come by, but I still like to think it.
Leviticus 16:2 And the LORD said unto Moses,-- I will
appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.
Once every year, on the Day of Atonement, the High
Priest would take blood into the Holy of Holies, and sprinkle it
upon and around the Mercy Seat. Thus the sins of the past year,
(see Rom 3:25) were atoned for. The Old Testament word is the
one used to say that Noah covered the wood of the Ark with pitch.
Blessed is the man whose sin is covered .
Hebrews 9:7 But into the second [went] the high priest
alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for
himself, and [for] the errors of the people:
Leviticus 16:15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offer¬ing, that [is] for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:
This ritual was repeated every year for hundreds of years.
And no one had their sins forgiven-- just covered, for that was the
best that animal blood could do. And it was NOT the blood that
did it. It was the obedience of the High Priest in performing the
ritual that accomplished the covering over of past sins.
Every time he sprinkled blood, he was enacting a prophecy
of the One, Christ Jesus, who would one day enter heaven, the
true Holy of Holies, with HIS OWN blood, and there obtain for
us, not just atonement, BUT FORGIVENESS AND MERCY
UNENDING.
Hebrews 9:9 Which [was] a figure for the time then
present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could
not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the
conscience;
I wonder if we have the spiritual capacity to fully grasp the
magnitude of what Jesus accomplished when He entered Heaven
with His own blood and sprinkled it upon the heavenly Mercy
Seat.
Hebrews 9:12 Neither 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].
The door of Salvation swung wide open to every inhabitant
of earth, and will remain wide open for as long as Jesus is in the
Heavenly Holy of Holies.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

When He is finished in that Holy of Holies, He will do an
even greater thing for His people who are looking for Him.
Jesus purchased for us FAR MORE THAN FORGIVE¬NESS OF SINS when He said, "It is finished" and gave up the ghost on Calvary.
Psalms 100:5 For the LORD [is] good; his mercy [is]
everlasting; and his truth [endureth] to all generations.
Psalms 103:17 But the mercy of the LORD [is] from ever¬
lasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteous¬
ness unto children's children;
Hebrews 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places
made with hands, [which are] the figures of the true; but into
heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
When He returns from His intercession, He will be ready
to finish the work portrayed by the ceremonies of the day when
the earthly High Priest sprinkled the Mercy Seat in the wilderness.
There was a second goat waiting for Aaron to return from
the "sprinkling" ceremony. There was a little "prophecy" for it to
enact too. But that is another story.