ARAMAIC WORD STUDY – MERCY SEAT – חוסיא 

Hebrew 9:5:  “And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.”

The Greek word for mercy seat is hilasterion and is not a word found in extra-Biblical literature, it appears to be a word that Paul might have coined in the Greek to follow the Hebrew word ha kapporet which comes from the root word kaphar which means to cover.  The word kippirim is from the same root meaning to atone. The word also is used for cleansing, purifying, wiping something clean.   Ha Kapporet is often rendered as mercy seat which is a rendering the Jews avoid.   The word in Aramaic is chusaya which also means mercy seat, payment, pardon or remission.  All the words mean propitiation. 

Paul speaks of Jesus being the Mercy Seat i.e., the propitiation for our sins.  The high priest would enter the Holy of Holies once a year where the Ark of the Covenant was.  The cover or the top portion of the ark was the Ha Kapporet – propitiation where symbolically the presence of God rested.  Of course, His presence was everywhere, but there was a special presence upon the Ha Kapporet, just as there was a special presence upon Jesus as He Himself was God incarnate and the Ha Kapporet or propitiation for our sins.  The High Priest would sprinkle the blood of the sacrificed lamb on the Ha Kapporet as the propitiation or cleansing of sins. He would literally sprinkle it upon the presence of God.  This, of course, symbolized the shedding of the blood of Jesus God in human form upon the cross shedding His blood to pay the price for our sins.

In Exodus 25:20 we learn the cherubims on either side of the ha kapporet were facing each other while the ark was in the tabernacle.  However, when the ark was placed in Solomons Temple II Chronicles 3:13 tells us that the cherubims were facing labyith which our English translations render as inward.   However in the Jewish Talmud in Baba Batra 99a we learn that that labyith should be rendered as walls.  The cherubims did not face each other in Solomon’s Temple.  The sages teach that his is because it was not really God’s temple but Solomon’s temple.  The tabernacle was built to precise specifications of God with artisans appointed by God Himself. Solomon’s Temple was not built to God’s precise instructions.  Solomon used bronze where he should have used gold and copper where he should have used bronze.  He built the temple on the backs of slave labor and imposed heavy taxes on the people to pay for the construction rather than seeking volunteers to build the temple out of a love for God.

The cherubims covered the ha kapporet with their wings.  Some say it was to protect the presence of God but does God’s presence need protection?  Some say, and rightly so that the cherubims role was to attend to God on His throne.  Every king had attendants on either side to meet their every need so they did not have to waste time with minute details and were able to give their kingdom full attention.  But really, does God need attendants to fetch him his morning coffee and bagel?  Why were the cherubims covering the mercy seat?

I had a rabbi once told me that their purpose was to show God’s approval.  When they covered the mercy seat and the blood was sprinkled upon the presence of God the cherubims facing the presence of God showed Gods approval, satisfaction and acceptance of the sacrifice.  Hence, as the temple was not built according to God’s direction and was, in fact, a monument to Solomon more than to God II Chronicles 3:13 tells us that the Cherubims faced labyith, not inward but toward the walls, not over the presence of God but away from the presence of God as God was showing His displeasure over Solomon building the temple as a monument to himself and not to God.

Today Jesus is the Mercy Seat.  He is the propitiation for our sins, His blood is the covering for our sins and when we accept Jesus as our Savior what we are doing is accepting His gift of atonement for our sins.  But, soft, what direction do the cherubims face?  Are they facing the presence of God indicating that He is taking pleasure in our redemption or are the facing outward, away from His presence showing that He is providing redemption but He is not taking pleasure in it?

How can that be?  For the Jews, the whole purpose of redemption is to restore one’s relationship with God.  However, to the Christian or most Christians redemption is to save us from going to Hell.  We seek Jesus as the propitiation for our sins for our own sake to cover our own gizzard and the relationship is sort of secondary.  So when Jesus our Mercy Seat applies His blood for our redemption the Cherubims look away for they do not approve of our motives.  However, Jesus in His mercy still redeems us.  

It is sort of like the old love story where a woman marries a rich man for his money and enters a relationship for the purpose of escaping a life in poverty.  Yet after some time, she falls in love with the rich man and even if the rich man goes broke she will stay with Him because she now loves him.  The rich man knows she married him for his money but once married he does his best to woe her and win her love.

Perhaps people are scared into salvation because of the threat of hell but when God has you in a relationship, you can bet He will do everything to woe you and win your love and those cherubims will one day turn and face God’s presence, for now, our relationship with God has the right motives and is true love. Even if hell turned out to be one massive party you would have no desire to go there, your only desire is to be with the One you have grown to love.