Christ's Blood on the Mercy Seat

Upon the Mercy Seat, he found what looked to him to be dried blood. Today, we know that this is blood and that it is human. We believe It is the very Blood Christ shed for our sins. This concept was entirely new to Ron, and we have never found any reference in any ancient records which speak of such a concept. But as we have studied, we realized- to our understanding- this was the only way it could have happened and fulfill the type perfectly.

God, in His dealings with His creation of man, teaches us His great truths in the only manner in which we can understand them- through types, similes, examples and parables. Christ, when He preached to the people, spake only in parables:

MAT 13:34 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

In our previous articles, we have briefly studied the sacrificial system, sometimes called the sanctuary service, and we understand that it is the "type" for the true work of the True Sacrificial Lamb and High Priest.

The design of the plan of salvation features Christ as the Perfect Sacrifice on earth. His ministrations in the Heavenly Holy and Most Holy Places, which are His official offices of Mediator and High Priest, He assumed after His death and ascension into Heaven.

But in between His death as the Sacrifice for sin, and His assumption of His Priestly role in Heaven, lies the antitype on which it all hinged- the presenting of His Blood to His Father.
 

Many people believe that His Blood, to perfectly fulfill the type, had to be presented to His Father in Heaven. But that wasn't possible- Christ died on earth, not in Heaven. He was in the grave when His Sacrifice was accepted. It had to be accepted before He would be resurrected.

Others believe that His Blood had only to fall upon the ground to be considered "offered" to the Father. But, we have to look carefully for the "type" to this "antitype.

God gave extremely explicit directions as to the offering of the blood by the priests and high priest. The least little deviation from His instructions- if the sacrifice was not perfect, for example- and the priest was struck dead. Remember what happened to Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu when they offered "strange" fire before the Lord at Sinai-

NUM 3:4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD,...

God required His Holy Things to be kept undefiled. He would not accept an offering that was not perfect and did not meet all the requirements in its presentation. We cannot believe the Father would allow His Son's Blood to be offered simply upon the ground- for the earth is defiled. But more than that, it belongs, for the time being, to the prince of this planet, Satan.

Since every other type was met in antitype so precisely, this presenting of Christ's Blood to His Father would also have been perfectly fulfilled. Also of consideration is- how was Christ to offer His Own Blood when It was shed after His death? Was He to offer it after He arose from the dead, when He went to Heaven? No- for His sacrifice had to be accepted by His Father before He would be resurrected. The evidence that it was accepted by His Father can also be seen in those who were resurrected at the same time as Christ:

MAT 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

Between the time Christ died on the cross and the time He arose, His Blood was presented to His Father and it was accepted by Him. Yet no human hands physically presented His Blood. From the beginning, the plan was perfect.

600 years before Christ would die, God arranged to have the representation of His Throne, the earthly Ark with its Mercy Seat, hidden deep within the earth just below where His Son would die on the cross. And upon this Mercy Seat, Christ's Blood would fall. In the earthly service, the high priest offered the blood, but Christ, the True High Priest, was dead. His Father had arranged that even in His death, Christ would sprinkle the required Blood upon the Mercy Seat.

When Christ died, the earth quaked. The rock was split right below His cross and this crevice extended right down into the hidden chamber which contained the undefiled "earthly" Throne of God- the Ark with its Mercy Seat. After He was dead, when the centurion stuck his spear into Christ's side and pierced His spleen, the Blood and water came out, falling down through that crack and was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat.

Then, early the next morning, the same unseen Hand that caused the first earthquake, caused another earthquake at the moment the Sacrifice was accepted by the Father. The Son was commanded to life and came out of His grave, a victor over death for eternity.

And to prove this victory, many saints also came out of their graves at the same time, never to taste death again. Although Christ gave His life, the decision as to whether the Sacrifice was acceptable belonged to His Father.

God  made wonderful provisions for this Ark. No man could defile it- only the high priest could come nigh unto it, and even then, if he did not comply with God's requirements, he too would be struck dead. It remained the only place on earth that could receive Christ's Blood as the sin offering, for it was the only object on this planet that had not been defiled by man. God would not allow man to defile His earthly Throne, nor did He allow man to destroy the Tables of the Law beneath that Throne. The payment of every sin was made just above that eternal Law.

PSA 89:14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

Perfect "justice" demands the death of the sinner. But perfect "mercy" provided a substitute for the truly repentant sinner.

PSA 85:10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

The mercy of God the Father, which could never have been seen without the existence of sin, is finally manifested for all mankind when He allowed His only begotten Son to die. The "truth" of His Law was covered with the Blood of His Son- and provided salvation for all mankind from the condemnation of that Law through the righteousness of Christ. 

What does the discovery of the Ark of the Covenant mean today? What is the connection with what we have just discussed?

The Ark was built to hold the precious Law and above the Law was the Mercy Seat where God's Presence was manifested. The Perfect Law required perfect obedience- anything less demanded the death of the sinner. God's Presence and His Law are inseparable. No man can come nigh unto Him and live- except through Christ, Who shed His Blood on that very Mercy Seat, between God's perfect Law and God Himself. Christ's Blood didn't shatter those Tables of Stone- It shattered the chains which bound us to sin and death:

PSA 85:10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

"Mercy and truth" met together on that mercy seat. "From the earth" shall spring "Truth" when the Ark and the Tables of Stone can be revealed to all the earth. And as we sit here today, our "Righteousness" is looking down from Heaven, as our great High Priest pleads His Blood on our behalf before His Father.

And when the entire world can see that very Ark that God manifested His Own Presence upon, then they will see for themselves that His Law is real. It wasn't nailed to the cross- only the Law contained in ordinances which pertained to the sacrificial system was done away with. His Law will abide forever.

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