Exodus 25:21-22 You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you. There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the testimony, all that I command you for the children of Israel.

James 2:13 For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Dear Fellowship of the Burning Heart:

Before I had really studied the Old Testament tabernacle and its furnishings, I thought that the mercy seat was merely the lid to the ark of the covenant rather than a separate furnishing, but as one observes in Exodus, it is considered a separate furnishing.

The Lord did not appear over the ark but over the mercy seat. It was here where the annual sacrifice of atonement was made. It was here where God’s special presence hovered. It was here where Moses would meet with God and receive his instructions.

The word “mercy” is a word full of richness. While often compared to grace, its focus is on relieving the misery and suffering of its object. Compassion and pity are sometimes used to describe it. The mercy seat functioned to relieve the misery and suffering that sin exacted on humanity, by providing atonement for sin each year. The two animals associated with this annual ritual, the sacrificial lamb and the scapegoat, present a moving picture of relief: the sacrificial lamb atoning for sin by providing the blood sprinkled on the mercy seat and the scapegoat bearing the sin of the people and carrying it away from them  into the wilderness.

One of the predominant descriptions of God’s character, emphatically expressed in the Old Testament, is that he is a merciful God, full of compassion and loving kindness. He looks on our plight, knowing full well that we deserve it, and yet has pity on us. Often in the Scriptures, and the Psalms particularly, the cry from those in misery is: “Lord, have mercy!”

Micah 7:18 Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, And passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, Because he delights in loving kindness.

The mercy seat poised at the center of the most holy place is a reminder that our God is a God of mercy and grace. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of mercy. In him,

Mercy and truth meet together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Psalms 85:10

So integral to his character is the quality of mercy that he states: For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6

It is a quality he expects to find in us. He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, To love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

Matthew 5:7 ASV  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Because God is “rich in mercy” (Ephesians 2:4), we can count on him to respond to our cries for help.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need.

Jude 1:21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

Will you claim the mercy of God through Jesus Christ today?!