Glory to Jesus for the Parts 1 – 5 of this series on seeing Jesus in the Old Testament. I am so sure you are being transformed from Glory to Glory by beholding Jesus! (2 Cor 3:18)
Now, let’s consider another exciting picture of Jesus in the Old Testament. Did you remember the tabernacle of Moses? Hmm…
…the outer court…
…inner court…
…and the holy of holies…
Can you remember now?
…the outer court can be accessible by everyone…
…the inner court by levetical priests on duty and the High Priest…
…the holy of holies by ONLY THE PRIEST…once in a year…
Got it? I guess so! Now inside the Holy of Holies was a specially crafted work called the ARK OF TESTIMONY! Hmm… Inside the Ark were the 2tablets upon which the Law was written; on top of the Ark was a fully golden slab called the MERCY SEAT!
‘…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…’ (Exo 25:21)
So, the Mercy Seat was placed ABOVE the ‘testimony’ (i.e. the LAW). Hmm… Now, on top of the Mercy Seat were 2 Cherubim…and the Bible specified how the 2 Cherubim should be placed!
‘…Make one cherub AT ONE END, and the other cherub AT THE OTHER END; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat…’ (Exo 25:19)
Wow! This is about to get really interesting! One other thing you need to note is that whenever the High priest goes into the Holy of Holies, He must sprinkle blood on the Mercy seat (Lev 16:14)…while the Cherubim have their eyes focused on the Mercy Seat!
‘…And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; THE FACES of the cherubim shall be TOWARD the mercy seat…’ (Exo 25:20)
Can you remember the Cherubim at the Garden of Eden…holding flaming swords…to prevent Adam from the Garden…because of his disobedience? (Gen 3:24) Hmm… So, the Cherubim facing the Mercy Seat connotes the eyes of God looking at the Mercy seat! Now, when the High priest sprinkles blood on the Mercy seat…the eyes of the Cherubs behold the blood…and God speaks to the High priests from the Mercy Seat!
‘…And there I will MEET with you, and I will SPEAK with you from ABOVE the mercy seat, from BETWEEN the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony…’ (Exo 25:27)
Before we see the picture of Jesus in this, let me do a quick recap of all I just wrote above.
– Inside the Holy of Holies is the Ark of Testimony.
– The Ark contains the LAW (signifying the rebellion of the children of Israel to God’s commandments).
– But on the Ark was the Mercy Seat (signifying Grace is always above the Law)
– The High priest must sprinkle blood on the Mercy seat (signifying that it takes a Sacrifice to blot out sins)
– There are two Cherub Angels at the two ends of the Mercy seat… with their faces looking towards the Mercy seat!
– It is from the Mercy seat between the 2 Cherubim that God speaks and communicates!
Hope you got that? Now where does the picture of Jesus come in here? Hmm… Follow this story briefly.
On the day Jesus resurrected, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb…but did not see Jesus there! So, she started weeping…standing outside the tomb. She stooped down again to look into the tomb…but this time…she saw something different!
‘…and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain…’ (John 20:12)
Wow! 2 angels in white…sitting…one at the ‘head’…and the other at the ‘feet’…of where Jesus’ body was laid! Can you catch the picture??? Compare with what we learnt earlier!
‘…Make one cherub AT ONE END, and the other cherub AT THE OTHER END; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat…’ (Exo 25:19)
So, who are the 2 angels sitting at the tomb? THE 2 CHERUBIM! Therefore the Mercy Seat is a picture of ‘where Jesus laid’! It’s always all about JESUS!!! No wonder the High priest must sprinkle blood on the Mercy seat! It’s a picture of the death of Jesus!
Now listen carefully: in the Old Testament, the 2 cherubim had swords to prevent man from the Garden! Therefore, humanity had a reason to WEEP! But after…Jesus resurrected, the 2 cherubim asked Mary Magdalene:
‘…then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?’ (John 20:13)
Wow! You don’t know how surprising it is to God when you are ‘weeping’ over sins that Jesus have taken away! If you are a believer, Jesus has taken the punishment of the ‘swords of the Cherubim’ on your behalf! You are now welcome to the ‘Garden of Eden’…to eat the Tree of Life FREELY!!! Hmm… In fact, after the angels asked Mary why she was weeping, Jesus appeared to Mary right there and the Bible says…
‘…Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be THE GARDENER…’ (John 20:15)
Wow! Jesus appeared to Mary in the form of a Gardener! Indeed, the 2 angels are the Cherubim of the Garden of Eden! If you are a believer, you now have full access to the goodies in the Garden! The Cherubim are no longer holding swords! They have used it on your Shepherd already on your behalf!
‘…Awake, O SWORD, against My Shepherd…’ (Zec 13:7)
In conclusion: never forget: There are 2 Cherub Angels at the 2 ends of the Mercy seat… with their faces looking towards the Mercy seat! It is from the Mercy seat between the 2 Cherubim that God speaks and communicates! Indeed, the 2 angels are the Cherubim of the Garden of Eden and the angels at the tomb! If you are a believer, you now have full access to the goodies in the Garden! The Cherubim are no longer holding swords! They have used it on your Shepherd already on your behalf! Therefore Rejoice!
Glory to Jesus!
Amen.
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