Subscription Lists

The mercy seat was a literal part of the furniture of the tabernacle in the wilderness and subsequently of the Temple in Jerusalem. Someone authorized the mercy seat, specified how it was to be constructed, what functionality it was to have, and guarded its sacred purposes. In addition to that, an entire nation of people was willing to stake their eternal future on the legitimacy of that piece of furniture and the rites associated with it. Our focus today will be on the real connection that existed between the mercy seat and mercy!

If the Old Testament is to be believed at all – if it has any truth – then the plan for the mercy seat and its significance originated with God Himself. Though Moses revealed the plan and saw to its execution in the building of the Tabernacle, it was not Moses' plan that was put into place; it was God's. The people of Israel did not see the Tabernacle as Moses' tent; they saw it as God's Holy place of worship and service. When Nadab and Abihu failed to recognize the sovereign authority of God in declaring the conditions of acceptable service within the Tabernacle, they literally paid with their lives (see Leviticus 10.1-2). In protecting the ceremonies connected with the tabernacle from corruption, God affirmed and reaffirmed His Sovereignty and hence, the legitimacy of the forms of worship connected with the tabernacle.

Those who saw Nadab and Abihu perish in fire sent from heaven had mightily impressed upon them the sacred nature of the tabernacle and its appointments. Year later others would see the same lesson emphasized when Uzzah died instantly for violating God's instructions for transporting the Ark of the Covenant. His death came when he put forth his hand to steady the Ark as it was being returned to Israel (see 2 Samuel 6.1-8). The Ark of the Covenant was not a temporal piece of furniture to be tampered with; it was a part of God's Divine plan by which mercy would be legitimately and systematically extended to all who approached it in keeping with His decrees!

Yet, consider the fact that at least these three men (Nadab, Abihu, and Uzzah) died within a few paces of the mercy seat! What a paradox! Shouldn't mercy have been extended toward men who were near the mercy seat, however errantly? Why should they have paid the ultimate price for their errors? Why was the mercy seat, at least in these instances, a place of no mercy? The answer to all these questions actually resides in the facts already cited! God authored the mercy seat! It was His plan and not man's! Men had no rights at or near the mercy seat except those explicitly given by God Himself! This fact is a fact that Nadab, Abihu, and Uzzah overlooked or ignored. God had every right to jealously protect His sovereignty from encroachment! Had God not so acted, the very purpose of the mercy seat would have been compromised and mercy itself would have been seen as being in the hands of men and not God!

The next time you hear someone speak of “being saved” listen carefully to what follows. If they cite God's word correctly and in its context, heed His word. If they say something like “invite Jesus into your heart...” ask yourself by what authority they speak! They have no more right to trifle with God's mercy seat today than did Nadab, Abihu, and Uzzah!

Questions:

1. How did the mercy seat become a place of no mercy as regards Nadab, Abihu, and Uzzah?

2. What did God have at stake when it came to the rules and regulations governing the tabernacle, how the mercy seat was to be approached, and when it was appropriate to do so?

3. What does God's sovereignty have to do with mercy?

4. If God is not treated as Sovereign, who actually becomes the custodian of mercy? From whom do we as erring humans really need mercy – God or man?

"Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life" from Tom Kelley

What I Drive