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Saturday, June 7, 2014

Pastoral Ponderings ~ The Mercy that Shines from the Glory of God

“Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth”[1]
          When the Psalm-writer speaks of God “enthroned between the cherubim,” he pictures the mercy-seat that had its home upon the ark of the testimony. The mercy seat was framed by two beautifully sculpted figures of the Cherubim. In the midst of these Cherubim figures, God would meet with Moses and speak to him regarding his people, and his plans for his people. The mercy seat was a tangible picture of the glory of the God enthroned in the midst of the angels of heaven, dwelling in the midst of the people of God on earth.
          When twenty-first century Christians read of the one who is “enthroned between the cherubim,” we hold on to this beautiful Old Covenant picture of God seated among the heavenly hosts, but we now have this grand-finale-vision of God as revealed to us in the last book of the Bible.
          There we learn that there is one who is seated on the throne of heaven, the throne that is at the center of everything. This throne is the center of the spiritual realm, where the one seated there rules all things according to his supreme might, power, and authority. This throne is also the center of the material realm, for it is this One on the throne who created the space, time, and matter that make up our universe, the immense and beautiful world in which we live.
          When we consider the glory of this One who sits on the throne, that he has the appearance of jasper and carnelian in his radiant glory, that he is surrounded by an emerald looking bow of colors that is the source of the rainbows we see when the sunshine hits a moisture laden sky, and that he is surrounded by four living creatures who connect us both to creation, and to the Cherubim that surround his throne, we have picture-upon-picture that fill our hearts with thousands of words that rise up to God in faith, hope, and love.[2]
          The children of the New Covenant enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus.[3] There we do not come to an earthly Tabernacle. We do not come to an earthly ark memorializing the first covenant through Moses. We do not come to an earthly Temple. We do not come with a priesthood hierarchy where only these priests enter the Holy Place on our behalf, and only the High Priest enters the Most Holy Place for us, and that only once a year. We do not come to a golden mercy seat with lifeless figures of heavenly Cherubim speaking of far more than such earthly substances can reveal.
          No, we come into the very presence of the Living God through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. We come to the throne of grace and receive mercy in our time of need. We come to the mercy seat of God in its reality; not a symbol in the most artistic beauty man could create, but the very throne room of God, and the One who sits on the throne, the Glorious One who is surrounded by the Cherubim who constantly tell us of the holiness of his glory.
          And then there is that beautiful, simple, heartfelt, yearning prayer of the Psalm-writer: “shine forth!” Shine forth, O God, as the Glorious One enthroned between the Cherubim! Shine forth, O God, as the bright and glorious sun you created to center our galaxy! Shine forth as the pillar of fire that protects your people from harm, and destroys their enemies in judgment! Shine forth to save us, O God!
          I notice that, in the context of the whole of Psalm 80, there is a thrice-repeated phrase that may have been a chorus to this song. Three times the writer cries out, “Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.”[4]
          To the Psalm-writer, there would have been a longing that God restore his people from whatever trouble they were experiencing at the time. The Psalm describes some kind of traumatic episode in the life of God’s nation. The writer knew that, when all was well between God and his people, they were protected from their enemies. He also knew that the things he saw going on around him were an undeniable expression of the removal of God’s favor. He knew the seasons of blessing his people experienced when they were walking in right fellowship with God, and that this was not one of those times.
          So, his chorus of petition asked God to restore his people to their former glory. He wanted to feel the smile of God’s face shining upon them. He wanted to be saved from what he was going through, and what he saw his people going through.
          The book of Revelation gives God’s people a glimpse into the glory of the heavenly throne room, and the perspective of God that supersedes anything we see taking place in the world. No matter how bad it looks for the people of God, or the world in general, even if life experiences look like beasts rising up from land and sea to destroy the church, there is a perspective from the heavenly mercy seat that tells God’s children that he will restore us to paradise, to something better than the Garden of Eden.
          God will restore us to the experience of sinlessness. He will restore us to himself, he will bring us to our homeland, he will lead us into that city whose builder and maker is God, where we will be his people, and he will be our God, and he will shepherd us forevermore, never separated by anything whatsoever.
          As I pondered these thoughts this morning, I was mindful that I need to understand the 144,000 quickly because I have an appointment to teach on this tomorrow morning.[5] Today, it seemed as though God wanted me to step back and take a look at the big picture, the grand tapestry of revelation, and remember that everything we understand of the book of Revelation, and how it fits into the context of all the rest of Scripture, is that there is One who sits on the throne of heaven, which is his mercy seat to his children, and the throne of judgment to his enemies. From this throne, everything else will make sense, even if we cannot translate the beautiful imagery of the Revelation into plans that walk us through the times and seasons God has set by his own authority.
          In fact, instead of begrudging that God gets to know things he will not tell us, and instead of defiantly trying to turn the signs and symbols of the Revelation into a timeline that makes us feel secure because of where we have plotted ourselves in the grand scheme of God’s timeless plan, we are to come to this throne room of God with all the imagery of the mercy seat. God is seated on his throne. He is glorious and glorified between the Cherubim, between the four living creatures, in the midst of the twenty-four elders.
          Our God in heaven was glorious before time began, he has revealed his glory all through the history of the world, he has given us emblems of his glory to help our faith picture the realities we cannot see, and he tells us to think of his presence as a mercy seat, as a throne of grace to which we come for the mercy that will help us in our time of need.[6]
          The conclusion is not to get sidetracked by the artwork on the signs that point us to this throne, but to come to this throne knowing that the one who sits there will fulfill every sign and symbol of the book of Revelation to the surprise and worship of his children, who will enjoy the feeling of finally arriving at the end of the book and smiling with wonder that “that” is how he did it.
          Instead of holding back worship until we “get” what a sign or symbol means, let the signs be signposts to God’s glory. Look where they are pointing. We will end up expressing ourselves something like this:
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
    who was and is and is to come!”[7]
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”[8]
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”[9]
          Somehow, and I am not altogether sure my mind has settled on how this will be, tomorrow morning’s consideration of the 144,000 who are sealed for the day of redemption will work in our hearts to feel some sense of the worship that fills the heavenly throne room. At the very least, we can look forward to a coming day when we will all be filled with the “fullness of joy” because “at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”[10]

© 2014 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)







[1] Psalm 80:1 ~ NIV; from Psalm 80:1-19
[2] Revelation 4 presents this vision of the One seated on his throne.
[3] Hebrews 10:19
[4] Psalm 80:3, 7, 19
[5] I know that God will have me right where he wants me by the time our home church meets for Sunday morning worship and fellowship.
[6] Hebrews 4:14-16
[7] Revelation 4:8
[8] Revelation 4:11
[9] Revelation 5:13
[10] Psalm 16:11

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