The Mercy Seat
by Stan Smith
by Stan Smith
Where does God live in the earth? In Moses' days, He gave detailed instructions about the tabernacle where He would dwell. There were three rooms: the outer court, where sacrifice for sin took place; the inner court, where priests maintained a testimony before God; and the Holy of Holies, the innermost room where the ark of the covenant was placed. And there God dwelt, on what He called "the mercy seat."He could have called it anything, really. The Bible names two other places where He sits, the throne and the judgment seat. But when He described where He wanted to live among His own people, He called it the mercy seat.
Our bodies are temples - the Greek word means not just temples, but holy of holies - for the Holy Spirit. Our hearts need to contain not just a throne or even a judgment seat, but a mercy seat, a place where God can feel at home.
When I was a teen-ager, I heard that someone had seen a vision of God as a man with a suitcase, going from one place to another, and wanting nothing so much as a place to rest His feet. But wherever He went, His people tried to capitalize on His presence and get Him to do something for Him.
As soon as I heard of the vision, I prayed that I would be a man with whom God could feel at home. Many times over the years, I have invited God to sit in the car with me when I was driving or to sit in the comfortable chair in my living room. Over the years, I've learned that He feels most at home sitting in a mercy seat.
In the church today, there are moments when God makes His glory felt. And one of the first effects of His presence is that people feel ashamed of their judgments against one another and of the offenses they have harbored in their hearts.
God's presence awakens us to His mercy, mercy not only towards us but also towards everyone around us.
If we are merciless as we walk out our faith, it is only because we are out of touch with God's presence. He sits on a mercy seat.
Psalm 136 shows that God's mercy takes many unexpected forms. It shaped the heavens and the earth, and set the sun to rule the day and the moon to rule the night. Jesus said this is evidence of God's love towards all humanity, for He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good.
Then the Psalmist details the events of the exodus and wilderness wanderings, and shows a recurring theme of God's mercy towards Israel. He brought Israel out of Egypt, opened the Red Sea before them, gave them victory over hostile armies in the wilderness, and gave them a heritage in the land.
But another side of mercy emerges. The same events that brought mercy to Israel brought judgment to their enemies. God brought Israel out of Egypt, first crippling Egypt's economy and then releasing the plague of the firstborn. He opened the Red Sea before Israel but used this same miracle to decimate Egypt's army. He gave victories in the wilderness to Israel but slew their opposing kings, Sihon and Og.
Judgment and mercy can be two sides of the same coin. For God to show mercy to one person, He must judge another. It's not that God lies awake at night trying to figure out how to judge those whose ways displease Him. It's that He has committed Himself to showing mercy to His covenant people, and this moves Him to vanquish their enemies.
Covenant is the issue. The mercy seat is part of a piece of furniture called "the ark of the covenant." God sits not only on a mercy seat, but He is enthroned on His covenant. Psalm 103:17-18 says, "The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them."
The story of Israel's exodus from Egypt is a chronicle of their wrangling with God at every turn, while He blessed them in spite of themselves again and again. They were in covenant with Him, and He poured out mercy on them.
So we misunderstand God's mercy if we think it means He will always be good to everybody. He gives some mercies to all, like sunshine or rain. He reserves other mercies for those who walk in covenant with Him, even when it means He must come down hard on their enemies.
The mercy seat had an interesting history. At first it was kept in the Holy Of Holies, the innermost chamber in Moses' tabernacle. Then in the days of Eli the priest, it was carried into battle and captured by the Philistines. They found it too hot to handle and returned it to Israel. David brought it up to Zion and kept it in a rude tent, where for a few decades it was on display. Then it was returned to the Holy Of Holies, this time in Solomon's Temple.
This means that for about a thousand years, the ark of the covenant was hidden in the holy of holies in Moses' tabernacle or Solomon's temple. God's presence rested on the mercy seat. But He was hidden from His people, accessible only once a year as the high priest walked through the rituals of the Day of Atonement.
But for about forty years, this was changed. David's tabernacle put the ark on display. Not only the high priest but anyone who wished could come and peer into the tent to behold God's glory. David ringed his simple tabernacle with worshipers who served God with prophetic song, day and night.
Centuries later when the ark was again hidden in the holy of holies, Amos prophesied, "On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name." (Amos 9:11-12)
The early church quoted this prophecy when wrestling with the theological issues of taking the gospel to the Gentiles: could God's covenant mercies extend to other nations? The words of Amos satisfied them that they could.
I love prophetic worship and believe it is one of the major things God is doing in the earth today. But the restoration of the tabernacle of David is more than music. It is His way of extending of covenant mercies to those outside the community of faith.
If ever the tabernacle of David was restored, it happened when Jesus came.
John 1:14 says the Word was made flesh and dwelt, or "tabernacled" as the Greek word says, among us. He wasn't like the tabernacle of Moses or the temple of Solomon, where the glory of God was hidden. He put God's glory on display through His works, His teachings, and His love. He was a mercy seat. People who came to Him found encouragement in the things of God.
He also showed the prickly side of mercy. He rebuked religious leaders and rulers of the land; He didn't always play to public expectations; He often spoke sharply to His disciples. But even then, there was always an undercurrent of mercy.
He made the glory of God accessible. The leper could not come near the temple, but He came to Jesus and found healing. The woman with the issue of blood likewise was shut out, but she touched Jesus and was healed. The Syro-Phoenician woman with a demonized daughter was a gentile, and even she was able to coax a life-changing word out of Jesus. Zacchaeus the tax-collector could get no further than the outer court of the Temple, but He found a new life when he met Jesus. The list goes on, but Jesus proved to be a temple on two legs who went to those who could not get to the sanctuary.
Then when Jesus left the earth, He poured out His Spirit on us so we could live as He lived. And today as never before, ordinary Christians are stepping into the supernatural works of Jesus.
A generation ago, we thought the gifts of the Holy Spirit were only for the "priests" and only to be released in the sanctuary. Now we are learning that every believer is a priest, and the earth is the Lord's. Wherever we go and whoever we meet, God is ready to move.
We see Jesus, looking at multitudes and moved with compassion towards them. He is looking for mobile tents filled with His presence, so He can send us to them, bearing grace and mercy to transform their lives. Be a mercy seat.
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