MERCY SEAT
CHRISTIANITY OASIS HAS PROVIDED YOU WITH THIS MERCY SEAT STUDY. MANY HAVE HEARD OF THE MERCY SEAT BUT MOST ARE NOT AWARE OF WHAT THE MERCY SEAT IS FOR OR WHAT IT MEANS. LET US SEEK AND FIND THE TRUTH OF THE MERCY SEAT TOGETHER, SHALL WE?

BOOK OF EXODUS

CHAPTER 25

            Daily Bread welcomes you back and invites you to join us today as we find out what the Lord told Moses when he went up into Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights. Keep in mind as you sojourn through the Bible that there are times when it may not be as exciting or entertaining as others.  Just remember that the information given has hidden secrets for us.

            But before we begin our spiritual journey into today's study we first have a Daily Bread Stick that is rather interesting to note.  God has some favorite numbers and one of them is 40.  These are some of the times the Lord used the number 40.

·                     40 days and 40 nights of the Great Flood.

·                     The days of embalming were completed in 40 days.

·                     Moses was in the mount for 40 days and 40 nights.

·                     When Israel arrived at the Promised land after being in the wilderness for 40 years, they spied out the land for 40 days.

·                     There were 40 years of peace in the days of Gideon.

·                     Goliath provoked the army of Israel for 40 days.

·                     King David reigned for 40 years.

·                     The angel of the Lord fed Elijah and it strengthened him for 40 days and 40 nights.

·                     Ezekiel layed on his right side to bear the iniquity of Israel for 40 days.

·                     God gave Nineveh 40 days to change their evil ways.

·                     Jesus fasted and was tempted for 40 days and 40 nights by satan.

·                     Jesus was seen for 40 days after His resurrection by His deciples.

Pretty COOL huh?

Notice that in most of these examples, forty days is the time that God chose for periods of cleansing or testing of one's faith of one kind or another.  If you want to establish a new good habit or break an old one, let the number 40 days "stick" in your mind.

            Now we rejoin Moses as God talks with him on Mount Sinai.  The Lord said to Moses, Tell the children of Israel to bring me an offering and to give it willingly from their hearts.  These are the things that you will take from them; gold, and silver, and brass, blue (blue cloth) and purple (in ancient times cloth was made purple with dye from snails or clams), scarlet (a kind of rich cloth) and fine linen, and goats' hair, and rams' skins dyed red, and badgers skins and shittim wood, oil for the light (candlestick), spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense (fragrance), onyx stones and stones to be set in the ephod (a linen apron worn in ancient Hebrew rites), and in the breastplate (a vestment worn in ancient times by a Jewish high priest and set with 12 gems bearing the names of the tribes of Israel).

            Let the children of Israel make me a sanctuary so I can stay among them.  You will make a tabernacle (tent type of sanctuary, a temporary shelter) and furnishings for it with designs that I will show you.  They will make an Ark of shittim wood.  (The ark was the sacred chest that God's things were put into for safety and protection.  You could think of it as God's treasure chest.)  It will be plated with pure gold, inside and out and it will have a crown of gold all the way around it.  You will make four rings for it for each corner, two on one side and two on the other and you will make two poles of shittim wood and plate them with gold.  You will put the poles into the rings by the sides of the ark so the ark may be carried with them when they travel.  The poles will remain in the rings of the ark, they will not be taken from it.  And you will put the testimony that I will give you into the ark. 

            You will make a mercy seat of pure gold.  (The mercy seat is God's throne on top of the ark.)  And you will make two cherubims (type of angel)  of beaten gold, one on each end of the mercy seat with their wings stretched toward heaven, covering the mercy seat with their wings and their faces will look one to the other, toward the mercy seat.  The mercy seat will be the top of the ark and inside the ark you will put the testimony that I will give you.  That's where I'll meet with you and talk with you from above the mercy seat between the two cherubims that are on top of the ark of the testimony of all the commandments I will give you for the children of Israel.

            You will also make a table of shittim wood and plate it with pure gold with a crown all around it.  You will make it with four rings of gold and two poles so it can be carried with them.  And you will make dishes and spoon and bowls and covers all of pure gold.  There will always be shewbread (unleavened, sacred bread) set on the table in front of me. 

            You will make a candlestick and it's stem, branches, bowls, knops (ornamental knobs) and flowers will all be made of pure beaten gold.  (There is a detailed description of the candlestick in Exodus 25:31-38.  The light mentioned in Exodus 25:6 is this candlestick.  They didn't use candle wax, but if you turn to Exodus 27:20, you'll find that they used pure olive oil.)

            You will use a talent (about 100 lbs.) of gold to make all these things and make sure you follow the pattern that was shown to you in the mount.

            This is a picture of a model of the tabernacle, so you can have an idea of what it looked like.  It was God's sanctuary, built to His design and fully portable to take it wherever the Lord led the children of Israel through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. 

            Chapter 26 and Chapter 27 tell all about what the other offerings were used for in the making of God's tabernacle if you would like to study them.  It is very detailed with the ancient measurements and there are many ancient terms used as well, so you may want to have a dictionary handy when you study it. Do keep in mind these ordinances were given to the Israelites in the OLD Covenant. We now have Jesus as God's sacrifice for us and what He wants from us now is to sacrifice our time and to LOVE him and ALL others. A way to sacrifice your time for Him is to study His Word, Prayer, sharing the TRUTH of Jesus with others and anything that is not selfish and/or worldly.

            When we return, we'll find out more about what God and Moses talked about up in the mount, so be sure to come on back for more Daily Bread. 

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