seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Exodus 25:17 “Make an atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. 18 And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. 19 Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. 20 The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. 21 Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. 22 There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.
I have no clue how Moses figured this out. God must have put the image in front of him to see.
This is from the easy English commentary.
Probably they made the heavenly figures in the shape of animals. And probably they made them with people’s faces. And they had wings. They were like the models that other people made in ancient times. They made them to guard their temples. But those heavenly figures were on the top of the special box as God’s servants. Later, king Solomon’s temple had 2 much larger heavenly figures. They were about 18 feet (5.5 metres) high. Solomon’s workers did not fix them to the gold cover (2 Chronicles 3:10). This cover reminded the Israelites that God was willing to forgive them. They killed animals at the altar. And the blood of those animals united them with God again. The Hebrew word for cover is like another Hebrew word. It means, ‘God has made a way to forgive’. Leviticus 23:27-28 speaks about the special day each year when God forgave the Israelites’ sins. God was present over the special box. The cover was like God’s royal seat. Psalm 99:1 describes the LORD on his royal seat between the heavenly figures.
The special box would contain the two flat stones with God’s 10 commandments on them. While Moses was alive, that special box was always with the people. It was like a request to God that he would defeat the enemies along the way. Each night when they stopped, Moses spoke to the LORD again. He asked God to stay close to his people, the Israelites (Numbers 10:35-36). Many years later king David took that special box to Jerusalem. And the city became God’s royal seat on earth (Psalm 9:11).
The special box would contain the two flat stones with God’s 10 commandments on them. While Moses was alive, that special box was always with the people. It was like a request to God that he would defeat the enemies along the way. Each night when they stopped, Moses spoke to the LORD again. He asked God to stay close to his people, the Israelites (Numbers 10:35-36). Many years later king David took that special box to Jerusalem. And the city became God’s royal seat on earth (Psalm 9:11).
This quote is from the Blueletterbible.org site.
It was as if God, looking down from His dwelling place between the cherubim, saw the law in the Ark - and knew we were guilty of breaking His law. But atoning blood of sacrifice was sprinkled on the mercy seat, so that God saw the blood covering the breaking of His law - and forgiveness could be offered.
It is remarkable that even before God gave Moses the tablets of the Ten Commandments, God made provision for Israel's failure under the law.
We're going to mess up.... that's a fact because we are humans. God knows that because God controls time. He already knows what decisions [both good and bad] we will make. He knows which of us will choose Him. He can fast forward to the end if He so chooses. So from the beginning.... He had/has a plan.
