Mercy Seat

This is known in Hebrew as the kapporet.

This was the solid gold lid put on the Ark of the Covenant. It had 2 cherubim at the ends to cover & make the space in which Yahweh/God appeared & lived. It holds major significance in Judaism & minor significance in Christianity. The Ark of the Covenant is mentioned only once in the Quran.

The design of the Mercy Seat was heavily detailed in the Book of Exodus (25:17-22). The space between the 2 cherubim was considered the earthly throne of God, the place where His presence (often described the Shekinah glory), where He would live & commune/communicate with Moses.

The Ark & Mercy Seat were kept in the Holy of Holies. This was the Temple’s innermost sanctuary which was separated from the other parts of the Temple by a thick curtain called a parochet. The Holy of Holies could only be entered by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. This is the holiest day of the year in Judaism.

The ritual described, in detail, in Leviticus chapter 16. The High Priest would sprinkle the blood of a sacrificial bull onto the Mercy Seat as an atonement for the sins of his own & his family. A sacrificial goat would be for the sins of the people of Israel. This act of sprinkling the blood would be a symbolic covering of the sins of the people. This allowed for a temporary reconciliation between a holy God & His sinful creation. The blood was a substitute representing a life given in place of the lives of the people who transgressed against God’s law.

For Christians the Mercy Seat is seen as a powerful foreshadowing of Jesus. The New Testament, in Hebrews & Romans, draws a direct & profound connection between the Old Testament ritual & Jesus’ work on the cross.

Jesus on the cross was a greater atonement & the formation of a New Covenant (Hebrews 9:3-15). The continual sacrifices for sin under the Mosaic Law/Covenant became obsolete following Jesus’ one-time sacrificial death, as the Lamb of God.

The author(s) of Hebrews explains that Jesus is the ultimate High Priest (Hebrews 9:11). Unlike the Old Testament priests who HAD to offer sacrifices for sins, Jesus was without sin (or original Sin for that matter) & offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice “once for all.”

The blood of the bulls & goats could only give a temporary “covering” of sin(s) (Hebrews 10:4). Jesus’ own blood, that was shed on the cross, is presented as a perfect & final atonement. THis provides a permanent solution to the problem of sin & guilt.

At the moment of Jesus’ death, the veil of the Temple that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the building was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). This is understood as a symbol that the separation between God & humanity had been removed. Thus through Jesus’ sacrifice, believers now have direct access to God’s presence.

The Greek word for Mercy Seat used in the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) is hilasterion. This is a term that carries the idea of an atoning sacrifice. In Romans 3:25, the Apostle Paul uses this exact word to describe Jesus: “…whom God puts forward as a propitation (or Mercy Seat) by His blood, to be received by faith.” This verse teaches that God’s righteous wrath against sin satisfied God’s justice in the Old Testament.

In this way, Jesus is seen as a fulfillment of everything the Mercy Seat represented. The place where God’s holiness & justice meet His mercy & love & the means by which humanity can be reconciled with God. The Mercy Seat was a physical representation of a spiritual truth, one that Christians believe was fully realized in the person & work of Jesus.

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