God prescribed a particular procedure for the atonement of His people, to cleanse them from their sins. The details of this procedure were assigned to the High Priest, who interceded for the people according to God's instruction:
“Then Aaron (the High Priest) shall offer the bull of the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. Leviticus 16:11...Moreover, he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. v.14....He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities. v.16.... for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD. v.30
The High Priest was a man. Being human, he had inherited a sin nature from Adam, as had the whole human race. Since all of humanity is contaminated with sin for which we have no human solution, God Himself provided for the atonement of everyone's sins. Precisely the same provision for everyone. There can be no competition for God's favor. There are no custom-designed plans for individual salvation achievement. God's Justice is perfectly fair.
Sin must be judged. Before atoning for everyone else's sin, Aaron was required to make atonement for himself and his family. No human existed without sin, therefore only the blood of an innocent animal could serve as a substitute to receive God's judgment. The animal had done nothing wrong, but was judged for the wrongs of humanity. This represented atonement, or reconciliation for the sinners, and acceptance into God's grace.
The mercy seat was first described by God in Exodus 25:17-22, as God gave Moses specifications for its design and purpose. “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends. The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.
Cherubim are angels, of a particular type. They are not little fat, naked babies with wings. They are mighty and powerful, superior beings. We don't know much about them, except that they perform certain services as assigned by God. One of these creatures is a cherub, singular. The plural form of the word is cherubim (cher-ub-eem). The cherubim and other heavenly creatures are mentioned in Bible passages about the heavenly realm, the throne room of God, and in certain historical accounts of God's special dealings with His people, Israel. God ordered that sculptures of two cherubim be placed on top of the mercy seat, which covered the Ark of the Covenant. This was not for decoration.
Inside the Ark of the Covenant were Aaron's rod that budded, a pot of manna and the broken tables of the law. These items represented God's authority, God's perfect provision and God's standard of life for His people. The people had rejected the authority, had mistrusted the provision, and had failed to obey God's law. They were to carry this ark and keep it with them always, as a reminder of God's provision and their sin. Then God made provision for the atonement of their sin, with a special covering on that ark.
“Then Aaron (the High Priest) shall offer the bull of the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. Leviticus 16:11...Moreover, he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. v.14....He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities. v.16.... for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD. v.30
The High Priest was a man. Being human, he had inherited a sin nature from Adam, as had the whole human race. Since all of humanity is contaminated with sin for which we have no human solution, God Himself provided for the atonement of everyone's sins. Precisely the same provision for everyone. There can be no competition for God's favor. There are no custom-designed plans for individual salvation achievement. God's Justice is perfectly fair.
Sin must be judged. Before atoning for everyone else's sin, Aaron was required to make atonement for himself and his family. No human existed without sin, therefore only the blood of an innocent animal could serve as a substitute to receive God's judgment. The animal had done nothing wrong, but was judged for the wrongs of humanity. This represented atonement, or reconciliation for the sinners, and acceptance into God's grace.
The mercy seat was first described by God in Exodus 25:17-22, as God gave Moses specifications for its design and purpose. “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends. The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.
Cherubim are angels, of a particular type. They are not little fat, naked babies with wings. They are mighty and powerful, superior beings. We don't know much about them, except that they perform certain services as assigned by God. One of these creatures is a cherub, singular. The plural form of the word is cherubim (cher-ub-eem). The cherubim and other heavenly creatures are mentioned in Bible passages about the heavenly realm, the throne room of God, and in certain historical accounts of God's special dealings with His people, Israel. God ordered that sculptures of two cherubim be placed on top of the mercy seat, which covered the Ark of the Covenant. This was not for decoration.
Inside the Ark of the Covenant were Aaron's rod that budded, a pot of manna and the broken tables of the law. These items represented God's authority, God's perfect provision and God's standard of life for His people. The people had rejected the authority, had mistrusted the provision, and had failed to obey God's law. They were to carry this ark and keep it with them always, as a reminder of God's provision and their sin. Then God made provision for the atonement of their sin, with a special covering on that ark.
"...and there," God said, "I will meet with you." The word translated mercy seat in Moses' writings means "propitiation"--satisfactory substitute. The two cherubim represent God's perfect Righteousness and God's perfect Justice. God cannot accept less than His own perfect Righteousness. God's Justice rules on the acceptability of the sacrifice. They look upon the blood offering and are satisfied. God deals with the sins of His people by receiving a satisfactory substitute for His own righteousness, to cover their transgressions.
Of course, this involved the blood of an innocent animal, which required the death of that animal on behalf of the one seeking atonement. You'd need to have faith in God's promise to believe in a system like that. Very few people had that kind of faith, which explains why they came up with so many goofy man-made ordinances, to try to establish their own righteousness, supplementing the plan of God. (Okay, we'll do the sacrifices, Lord, but it doesn't seem quite enough. Besides, it's so gross!)
The result was a lot of ritual with no faith in the reality being portrayed in those rituals. Man's faithlessness never hinders the plan of God. It just confirms the arrogance of man. Arrogance is a choice. God's plan just moves on. He always had the solution to our sin problem: His Own Righteousness in the person of His Uniquely-Born Son, whose innocent blood would be shed for all mankind.
"...being justified* as a gift by His grace* through the redemption* which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness*, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;* for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness* at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." Romans 3:24-26
*Justified: declared righteous. A gift by His grace: we couldn't do it, He did it. Redemption: purchase price. To demonstrate HIS righteousness: our righteousnesses are no good. Passed over sins previously committed: saved them for judgment. Demonstration, I say, of HIS righteousness. I guess Paul thinks we may not be getting it. Are we?
The unbeliever rejects God's solution. To the unbeliever, God's Own Righteousness doesn't seem enough to atone for us. Natural man wants to earn points, jump through hoops, impress God. Do something to boast about. That won't work.
"Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law." Romans 3:27-28
Salvation is free because Jesus paid.
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