A Wedding Date

And you shall put this ark in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is over [the ark of] the testimony, where I will meet with you. Exodus 30:6

Meet – Where would you go to keep an appointment with God?  Does that question sound strange to you?  In an age when we think of God’s presence everywhere we are, the stipulation that God will meet the sons of Israel in a particular place seems very odd.  God is everywhere.  Why would we have to go to some designated spot to meet Him?  Why does God make such a big deal out of this particular place?

The significance of God’s appointed meeting place is found in the relationship between the testimony and the mercy seat.  The testimony is the Torah, God’s instruction book about life.  It contains all those provisions that make life work in blessed harmony.  Of course, as a consequence of spelling out those provisions, the Torah also reveals our sinfulness.  Although it was intended to show us how to be holy, it had the effect of displaying our sin.  There isn’t much point in God meeting me over a copy of the Torah.  I would be condemned.  The meeting would be over.

So, God meets me above the mercy seat, the place of atonement, which covers the testimony.  The mercy seat was the lid of the ark.  Once in place, it covered the commandments, offering a way to blot out my guilt.  God meets me in the place where we can actually converse, the place where my sin is covered by His grace.  What’s amazing about this particular stipulation is that the necessity of grace has been a part of the covenant community since God initiated the covenant.  God’s appointed meeting place is just one more demonstration of the fact that deliverance has always been the operation of grace.

The Hebrew word ya’ad (meet) has two rather interesting meanings.  The first, of course, is about pointing out a place of meeting, specifying or designating a gathering place.  But this word is also used in Exodus 21:8-9 to describe choosing a wife.  The common link between the two meanings is the idea of appointing.  Isn’t it fascinating that even the word associated with the gathering place of God has marriage connotations?  The trust, loyalty, fidelity and commitment involved in marriage are displayed in our encounter with God at the mercy seat.  Atonement is not simply forgiveness.  It is a wedding ceremony with the Most High.  It’s a place where vows are exchanged.  We become His because He has chosen us.

I wonder if we think about atonement when we get married.  Probably not.  We don’t realize that the deepest meaning of a wedding is not about the union of two human beings.  It’s about God’s love affair with us.  It takes God’s grace to make the greatest wedding possible.  His wedding vows can only be given in the place of atonement.  I wonder if the vows we make to each other on our wedding day would be deeper and stronger if we realized that atonement is behind this divinely-ordained ritual.  I wonder if our choosing a partner would become a much more significant and important process if we first thought of marriage as becoming God’s partner for eternity.

Topical Index:  Mercy