1 Kings 8:20-21 "Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
King Solomon makes reference to the ark of the covenant. The ark was a boxlike structure which contained the stone tablets of the law given to Moses. The lid of the box was called "the mercy seat." Above the seat were two cherubim (angels) with their wings spread over the box. Once each year (on the Day of Atonement) the high priest would enter the most holy place of the tabernacle/temple. Once there he would sprinkle the blood of a goat which had been sacrificed to cover the sins of the people of Israel. Don't miss the symbolism here! After this was done ... when God looked down at the tablets of the law within the ark ... he did not see the broken law ... instead he saw the blood of the sacrificial goat which had been sprinkled upon the mercy seat. So instead of meting out judgment ... God gave mercy!
All of this is symbolic, of course, of the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. For as God looks down upon us from heaven ... he does not see us in our sin and rebellion and the law which we have broken. Rather he sees us washed in the blood of his Son! Praise God for Christ's sacrifice on our behalf. Because he died (and then rose from the dead) --- WE LIVE!
Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj
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