Mercy and Judgment

 September 5, 2022

Thirty-one years ago, Harrison Ford burst forth on the big screen in “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” with  plot twists and turns that kept audiences glued to the edge of their seats. It’s still one of my favorite movies. The story centered around a plot by Nazi sympathizer Rene Belloq to recover the lost Ark of the Covenant for its supposed occultic powers to be used in the service of the Nazis in the 1930s. This fanciful story has its roots loosely set in Exodus 21, which describes the construction of the Ark of the Covenant, and in the Biblical prohibitions against touching or looking into it.

The Ark itself was a box approximately 3 /34 feet long by 2 1/4 wide and high, covered in gold and containing stones of Ten Commandments, a pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded. The lid, called the Mercy Seat, had two Cherubim, angelic beings with wings outspread to cover the Ark. It was to be kept hidden from view, seen only once each year by the High Priest when he entered the Most Holy Place with blood from the sacrifice which would be sprinkled on the Mercy Seat. The symbolism couldn’t be much plainer.

The Law which exposed to us our sins, lay next to the manna—God’s provision for his people, and Aaron’s rod which budded, a symbol of legitimate authority. All was covered by the Mercy Seat on which was sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice by the High Priest. The Covenant, ie, the unbreakable commitment of God to his people was based on the Law which ordered society, the manna of God’s provision, and the rod of God’s legitimate authority. But over all is God’s mercy. And all the work of salvation is hidden in the intimacy of the Father’s communion with the Son through the Holy Spirit. 

Judgment without mercy is hopeless, but covered with mercy, it secures the orderliness of life and the release from our sins through the loving gift of the salvation of God.