David Bahn – Reflections

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These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Numbers 34-36, Psalm 77.

Numbers 34:1-12

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders), ³ your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of the Salt Sea on the east. ⁴ And your border shall turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon. ⁵ And the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and its limit shall be at the sea.

⁶ “For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its coast. This shall be your western border.

⁷ “This shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line to Mount Hor. ⁸ From Mount Hor you shall draw a line to Lebo-hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at Zedad. ⁹ Then the border shall extend to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern border.

¹⁰ “You shall draw a line for your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. ¹¹ And the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and reach to the shoulder of the Sea of Chinnereth on the east. ¹² And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its limit shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land as defined by its borders all around.”

The LORD described the borders of the Promised Land to Moses in Numbers 34. See below for an interpretation of that outline. I am intrigued when I compare it to the borders of modern-day Israel. But I have no desire to make any political comment or connection in that regard.

I want to talk about traffic! We’ll come back to Israel’s borders then and now.

Years ago the street on which St. John Lutheran Church is located was being expanded from a tree-covered two lane road to a divided four lane thoroughfare. It was disruptive to traffic and frustrating to many of our members. The quiet lane was soon to become a busy traffic artery. Our peaceful lane would be transformed to a noisy traffic-congested road. It’s true: bigger roads don’t really solve traffic issues; they just invite more traffic! But I digress.

I shared with our members how the Apostle Paul spoke of the movement and placement of people groups and peoples throughout the ages. He spoke of how God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place” (Acts 17:26). It was God’s providential determination where people lived and when they occupied the land.

I will admit to the frustration of traffic congestion, expanded streets and highways only serving to bring more people, cars, trucks and motorcycles to our neighborhoods. But then I recall the rest of what Paul said. He spoke of places and boundaries God has set so “that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.”

The placement of Israel’s boundaries and borders was not just about their right to the land or God’s command to take the land. It was to fulfill a promise that God had given Abraham years earlier, that he would give Abraham’s descendants the land, so that they would be a blessing to others. “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,” God had promised.

The placement of Israel – and nations and tribes, churches and individuals down through the ages – was and is so that the grace and truth of God and his ways might be known, and people might be brought into a living relationship with him.

You nor I live where we do when we do by accident. God’s has placed us where we are here and now so that we may honor him and declare his glory among the nations. We and Abraham, Moses, and all God’s people throughout the ages are where we are so that we may be a blessing to those around us.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Numbers 31-33, Psalm 76.

Numbers 31:1-6

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” ³ So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian. ⁴ You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” ⁵ So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. ⁶ And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.

In Numbers 31, God commands Israel to go to war against the Midianites. Their destruction is to be decisive and total. This will not be a distant or clinical act of war. It will be brutally up-close and personal. Such passages are difficult for us to comprehend. And in the context of the current Middle East conflicts, few of us want to talk about war, much less read about the brutal treatment of women and children recorded here.

The command concerning Midian in Numbers 31 is one of the most troubling passages in the Old Testament. Yet the biblical narrative gives important background that helps explain why the judgment appears so severe.

The immediate context is the episode at Baal Peor in Numbers 25, where Midianite women enticed Israel into sexual immorality and the worship of Baal. The text tells us this was done through the counsel of Balaam (Numbers 31:16). The result was a devastating plague that killed 24,000 Israelites. In the biblical narrative, the attack on Midian is therefore presented as divine judgment for a deliberate attempt to destroy Israel spiritually, not merely a military conflict.

The command itself is described as the Lord’s “vengeance for Israel” (Numbers 31:3). In the Old Testament, such commands are rare and tied to specific moments in Israel’s history. Israel was not given a standing command to destroy other nations indiscriminately.

Passages like this tempt us to place God in the dock, as C. S. Lewis famously put it. We put God on trial for actions we deem troubling or unjust. That is a dangerous posture to take. And even when we struggle with such texts, we must not ignore the far more frequent testimony of Scripture concerning God’s mercy and kindness.

The Old Testament repeatedly describes the Lord as merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love (ḥesed). This refrain—especially from Exodus 34:6–7—became something of a creedal description of God’s character and echoes throughout Israel’s Scriptures, even as God also maintains his righteous judgment against evil.

Should you want to see how often the Old Testament bears witness to God’s mercy and steadfast love, consider these passages:

Exodus 34:6–7; Numbers 14:18; Psalm 23:6; Psalm 86:15; Psalm 103:8–13; Psalm 136:1–26; Isaiah 54:10; Lamentations 3:22–23; Jonah 4:2; Micah 7:18–19.

Yet the fullest revelation of both God’s justice and his mercy is seen in Jesus. On the cross, God did not ignore the judgment sin deserves; he took it upon himself. And there we see most clearly the God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love toward us.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Numbers 28-30, Psalm 75.

Numbers 28:1-8

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the people of Israel and say to them, ‘My offering, my food for my food offerings, my pleasing aroma, you shall be careful to offer to me at its appointed time.’ ³ And you shall say to them, This is the food offering that you shall offer to the Lord: two male lambs a year old without blemish, day by day, as a regular offering. ⁴ The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; ⁵ also a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with a quarter of a hin of beaten oil. ⁶ It is a regular burnt offering, which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord. ⁷ Its drink offering shall be a quarter of a hin for each lamb. In the Holy Place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the Lord. ⁸ The other lamb you shall offer at twilight. Like the grain offering of the morning, and like its drink offering, you shall offer it as a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

Numbers 28–30 establishes a structured pattern of worship for Israel — daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly offerings — reminding the people that their relationship with God touched every part of their calendar and life.

There were Daily offerings

• Two lambs every day — one in the morning and one in the evening
• Offered with grain and drink offerings

Weekly offering (Sabbath)

• Two additional lambs offered on the Sabbath

Monthly offering (New Moon)

• Bulls, a ram, lambs, grain offerings, and a goat for a sin offering

Festival offerings

• Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
• Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
• Feast of Trumpets
• Day of Atonement
• Feast of Tabernacles

In the biblical system:

• sacrifice comes from God’s command
• it is limited and regulated
• it ultimately points beyond itself

The New Testament interprets the entire system as preparing for Christ. Hebrews says: “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4).

The Lamanai Archeological Site pictured above was also a place of sacrifice for the Mayan people. But the sacrifices differed in one major way: they were made to feed their gods, to sustain them and the cosmos. The sacrifices outlined in these chapters were not meant to sustain God, but to maintain the covenant relationship between God and his people. They reminded Israel again and again that sin is serious, that forgiveness requires sacrifice, and that life with God touches every day of life.

But even these sacrifices were never the final answer. They pointed forward to something greater. As the writer to the Hebrews reminds us, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” The endless rhythm of offerings — morning and evening, Sabbath and festival — prepared God’s people for the day when one perfect sacrifice would finally be offered.

That sacrifice was Jesus. He did not come to offer another lamb, but to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And because of his once-for-all sacrifice, we no longer bring bulls and goats to the altar. Instead, we live every day — morning and evening, week by week, season by season — in gratitude and faith toward the One who has done what no sacrifice before him could ever accomplish.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Numbers 19-21, Psalm 72.

Numbers 20:2, 6-12

Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. … ⁶ Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them, ⁷ and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸ “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” ⁹ And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him.

¹⁰ Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” ¹¹ And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. ¹² And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

No, Moses! Don’t do it! Don’t strike the rock. I know you are tired and frustrated. I know the people you have been leading day after day wear you down. They grumble against God, criticize you, and make your life miserable. I know you have carefully written down the decrees of the LORD. You have recorded every statute and rule. You have overseen the building of the Tabernacle according to the proper specifications. You have done everything you were supposed to do.

Now the people are thirsty. They need water. God has told you to speak to the rock. Speak — not strike — Moses. Don’t hit the rock!

But Moses does strike the rock, and he will suffer the consequences. He will not enter the Promised Land. He has heard the reports — including those of Joshua and Caleb. The land is flowing with milk and honey. Its inhabitants are large and foreboding, but Israel will prevail. They will conquer the land. They will enter it. But Moses will not experience it.

I wonder if it broke Moses’ heart. I wonder how disappointed he was. I wonder how deeply this saddened him.

There may be a hint in the New Testament as to why striking the rock was so consequential. After all, it seems like such a small thing — two strikes against a rock — yet it disqualifies Moses from entering the land.

I do not want to push the point too far, but Paul writes that Israel “all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). In the wilderness the rock was struck so that water might flow and the people might live. In the fullness of time Christ himself would be struck – pierced on the cross – for our sins. He is the living water that flows for the salvation of the world.

What are the consequences of sin? Humanly speaking, there are always consequences. Sin leaves its mark in this life. But the full weight of sin’s consequences was laid on Jesus. He was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. Through his death we are forgiven and redeemed. And by his grace we will enter the Promised Land — the life of the world to come.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Numbers 16-18, Psalm 71.

Numbers 16:1-11

Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. ² And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. ³ They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” ⁴ When Moses heard it, he fell on his face, ⁵ and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the Lord will show who is his, and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses he will bring near to him. ⁶ Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company; ⁷ put fire in them and put incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!” ⁸ And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: ⁹ is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, ¹⁰ and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? ¹¹ Therefore it is against the Lord that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?”

Does this story ever get old? Is it ever resolved. The people – Korah, along with Dathan, Abiram, and 250 leaders of Israel in this case – challenge the authority of Moses and Aaron. They argue that the entire congregation is holy and that Moses and Aaron have exalted themselves above the people. Moses responds by placing the matter before the Lord. God judges the rebellion decisively: the earth opens and swallows Dathan and Abiram with their households, and fire consumes the 250 men offering unauthorized incense.

“Korah’s rebellion reminds us how serious it is to resist the order God himself establishes among his people. Yet the story of Israel in the wilderness is far from over. Sadly, this will not be the last rebellion, nor the last time the Lord must discipline his wandering children – though again and again he will also show mercy.”

Notice this! Korah and his crew puff themselves up, but Moses falls down before the Lord. Three times in Numbers 16 (v. 4, 22, & 45) Moses falls down. It makes it clear how true it is that “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).

Even Jesus himself did not simply disregard the authority structures God had allowed to exist. When he was brought before the high priest Caiaphas, he remained silent under accusation. But when the high priest placed him under oath – “I adjure you by the living God” – Jesus answered (Matthew 26:63–64). Even in the midst of injustice, he acknowledged the seriousness of the office.

More than that, Jesus completely humbled himself – even to the point of death on the cross. And now he sits exalted at the right hand of God on high. So we must learn not only from the ignominious end of prideful Korah and his clan, but more so from Jesus to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God for in due time he will lift us up.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Numbers 13-15, Psalm 70.

Numbers 14:11-19

And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? ¹² I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

¹³ But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, ¹⁴ and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. ¹⁵ Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, ¹⁶ ‘It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ ¹⁷ And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, ¹⁸ ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ ¹⁹ Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”

In the midst of Israel’s wanderings toward the Promised Land, an important lesson on prayer emerges. The spies are sent to scout out the land and return with two dramatically different reports. The majority report can be summarized simply: “Don’t go there! The people there will squash us like ants! We’ll be killed the first step we take into the land.” Joshua and Caleb, however, bring a report springing from courageous faith: “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it” (Numbers 13:30).

Then (predictably) comes the grumbling of the people. You’ve brought us out here to die. We don’t need to go into this dangerous place. We’re going to die in the desert.

Then comes God’s anger at their faithlessness.

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.’”

Moses has been formed by the challenges and victories he has experienced, and he is stronger for it. He has spoken with God on Mount Sinai. He has endured the criticisms and disappointments. He has seen the Red Sea parted and the manna from heaven.

Bolstered by these experiences, Moses stands in the gap before the Lord on behalf of the people, serving as a priest for them – a glimpse of the greater mediator who would one day stand in the gap for all.

In doing so, he makes his boldest appeal:

“Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, ‘It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised.”

See what Moses is doing? He is calling God on his promise. He is taking God at his word.

Centuries later a man by the name of Martin Luther prayed for his friend and colleague Philip Melanchthon. According to accounts preserved by friends and later biographers, Luther found Melanchthon nearly unconscious. Luther took hold of him and began to pray very forcefully and directly to God.

In his own way, Luther was doing what Moses had done.

Luther later described what he did something like this (paraphrased from various early reports):

“I prayed for Philip with great urgency, because the need was extreme. I pleaded God’s promises and reminded him that he had commanded us to pray. I besieged God with his own promises. I threw the sack at the door.”

It was Luther’s vivid way of saying that he laid the whole matter before God and pressed God’s promises in prayer.

There are times when you can do the same. You can throw the sack at the door of God’s grace and pray the strongest prayers of all – prayers grounded in God’s Word and promises.

Prayer is not powerful because of the one who prays. It is powerful because of the God who hears – the God who has given his promises and invites us to hold him to them in prayer.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Numbers 10-12, Psalm 69.

Numbers 12:1-8

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. ² And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. ³ Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. ⁴ And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. ⁵ And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. ⁶ And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. ⁷ Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. ⁸ With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

I wish I could say I cannot identify with Moses as he is criticized by Miriam and Aaron. But I do know what it is to be criticized. Whether justly or not, criticism stings. It can distract from the important work to which we are called. It can make a leader timid and hesitant. I remember a time decades ago when criticism left me nearly in tears, wondering what I could do to please the people of the congregation I was serving.

But criticism does more than unsettle a leader. When people undermine a legitimate leader — one whom God has called and placed in a position of service — God’s work can suffer. God’s people become discouraged, and the mission can stall.

In forty-five years of ministry, there have been only a few times when I have faced criticism. Those moments are memorable, but they do not define me. Nor does criticism prove very much, except that it can strengthen God’s servant and deepen his resolve to follow God’s ways.

In Moses’ case, God spoke to him face to face — not through dreams or visions, but directly. Their relationship was unique. I have never experienced that kind of unmistakable clarity, but I have known the conviction of God’s call and purpose. Like many who serve the Lord, I have had to stay the course in the face of challenge and criticism.

Such is often the life of those who lead God’s people. Too often the people themselves are tempted to complain and long to return to Egypt — remembering the cucumbers, leeks, onions, and meat they once had. Never mind that they were slaves. Never mind the tears they shed in their suffering.

We can fall prey to the same temptation. Let’s go back to the old ways. Let’s do things the way we used to. But God calls his people forward. His purpose is that we proclaim his glory and follow the leadership of those who seek to speak his word and carry out his mission.

These days I find myself more often in the place of following than leading. And I gladly honor my pastor and the leaders God has placed around me. I will follow as they lead us in God’s mission to make disciples and proclaim his grace.

Will you join me in following as we follow the One who leads us all?

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Numbers 7-9, Psalm 68.

Numbers 7:89-8:4

And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him.

8 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to Aaron and say to him, When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.” ³ And Aaron did so: he set up its lamps in front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses. ⁴ And this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was hammered work; according to the pattern that the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

We may rightly think of God’s holiness as his majestic purity, righteousness, and glory. Behind the word holy, and all of those attributes is the idea that God is different. Indeed, God is really different.

I think about that as I consider the character of God as revealed in this section of Numbers in contrast to the news I’ve been watching recently – especially the coverage of the war in the Middle East. Destruction, death, violence, chaos, blame, recrimination, and terror run rampant. These are the products of man’s whims and ways. We dream up ways to harm each other.

Man rebels against God. We align ourselves with the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. We go our own way, determine for ourselves what is good and evil. The results? Families are fractured. Relationships are ruptured. Peace is destroyed. Joy is stolen. Hope is killed.

But God is really different. He is the author of peace, joy, grace, love, and blessing. Not only so, but he offers man the opportunity to embrace those blessings by means here of the Tabernacle with its mercy seat, lampstands, and ark of the covenant.

The mercy seat was the gold cover of the Ark of the Covenant where the presence of the LORD was revealed between the cherubim. It is the place from which God speaks to Moses and guides Israel during their journey in the wilderness (Numbers 7:89). It represents both God’s holiness and his mercy — the place where atonement is made and where God meets with his people.

God does not want man to remain in a state of unholy separation from himself. He provides a manner by which he can speak to his people from the place of his mercy. I love the image of the wings of the cherubim spread over this very special place. After the fall, cherubim guard the entrance to Eden (Genesis 3:24). Their wings covering the mercy seat symbolize the holiness of God being guarded, emphasizing that sinful people cannot casually approach God’s presence.

We no longer hear from God by means of the Tabernacle’s mercy seat. We have an even better place of his voice. The mercy seat was the place where the atoning blood was sprinkled and where God met his people in mercy — a reality that ultimately points us to Christ. He spoke words of mercy, grace, and forgiveness from between two thieves, and opened the way for all who look to him to hear a voice of kindness and welcome. Jesus promises in Jon 6:37, “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”