Yesterday, we wrapped up with some intriguing questions. This Sounds of the Season post will offer a few answers and further our examination of Christmas Past and Emmanuel, God With Us.
About those questions; we should always read Scripture with that ‘inquiring mind’ that wants to know. 🙂 What I asked came from Genesis 3. However, the potential answers come much later. And those answers will help open the curtain for a bigger view of what we celebrate at Christmas.
Sounds of the Season – The Ark?
The Ark of the Covenant in the wilderness
No, I’m not talking about Noah. I mean the Ark of the Covenant. In Exodus 25, God instructed Moses about how to build the Ark. The Ark’s lid was to have one Cherubim on each end. They were to face each other. Between them was the mercy seat. This is where the priests would sprinkle some of the blood of their sin offering in order to make atonement for the sins of the people. The wings of the Cherubim were to extend toward one another over the mercy seat. What in the world does that have to do with Christmas?
Sounds of the Season – Unchanging
Our Father is the same yesterday, today, tomorrow, and forever! Notice what He said to Moses:
There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony…
Now, back to the Garden and those inquiring questions. Genesis 3 records Adam and Eve being driven from the Garden. Genesis 4 records Cain and Abel being born. It also is a record of the first worship war and the first murder. If we don’t read with questioning minds, here are some questions we won’t ask:
- How did Cain know his offering was unacceptable?
- Who told Him?
- Where did he go to make his offering?
Based on God’s instructions to Moses, wouldn’t the place to meet with God be between the Cherubim? The Cherubim were instruments of God’s grace in more than one way. But what about that flaming sword? As I said, even one Cherubim was more than enough to keep Adam out of the Garden. Many people, all much smarter than me, believe the sword was aimed at Satan. It kept Adam’s path to God open so fellowship between God and Man could continue. If fellowship was not God’s intent, why would anyone have brought an offering? Satan had already disrupted perfect fellowship between God and Man. Wouldn’t his agenda be to stop it completely?
Sounds of the Season – Emmanuel & Christmas Future
If you saw the previous post, you know I’m borrowing from Dickens and his classic, A Christmas Carol. Christmas is celebrating God With Us. There is coming a day when we will see Him face to face. We will live in the light of His presence. We will enjoy God With Us (actually, us with God!) for eternity. Our Father’s plan is to give back to us what we lost in the Garden: unending fellowship with Him. That’s a mind boggling thought!
Sounds of the Season – Emmanuel, God With Us!
Just a snippet of what I’ll call Christmas Present. It starts here:
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
How many heavenly beings are in a multitude of the heavenly host? Don’t you love asking questions? Now, do you suppose there were some Cherubim present? We aren’t told, but I have to believe there were. Why? Jesus, God in the flesh, came to meet with Man. He came to die. His blood was to be poured out for our sins. He is our mercy seat!
I’ll finish this up tomorrow. I hope you ponder some of this. If you do, how does God With Us apply to you, today, at the end of 2015? Please come back tomorrow. As always, your comments are welcome!
Soli Deo Gloria!