Ellen Chauvin | Soaked & Sprouting

Soaked in God's Word, Sprouting Seeds of Faith

The Mercy Seat and B

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Bezalel. 

You’ve read his story in scripture. Like me, you may have skipped right over his name. Cause you know, the challenge of Biblical pronunciation, amen? You know what I’m talking about! I’ll bet you don’t raise your hand to read scripture aloud, until you’ve glanced over it to make sure you can say all the words. Right? So when I’m reading about Bezalel, I just call him B.

Even though B’s name is mentioned only nine times in scripture, we see that he was quite important. Why? He was called by God.

“See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.” Exodus 31:2 NASB

Bezalel was a skillful man. However, the Lord added more skill and understanding to him. He was supernaturally equipped and enabled by God to do the job assigned to him⁠1.  And what was that?

Bezalel was called to work on constructing the sanctuary. He helped make the curtains and he built the ark of the covenant.

“Now Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; its length was two and a half cubits, and its width one and a half cubits, and its height one and a half cubits;” Exodus 37:1 NASB

Not only that, Bezalel constructed the mercy seat.

“He made a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide.” Exodus 37:6 NASB

So what?

Horrors, I’m gasping here! You’re asking so what?  What’s the big deal about Bezalel building the mercy seat? 

An artisan from the tribe of Judah made a seat representing the mercy of the Lion of Judah.

Interesting fact: the original Hebrew word for mercy seat meant lid, or cover. It also means propitiation, which is a big word meaning to offer a gift to appease someone’s wrath. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest made atonement (or amends) for himself, the Tabernacle, and the people by a sin offering, which included sprinkling blood on this cover. It was here, above the mercy seat that God resided. 

The mercy seat points forward to Christ. Jesus was the offering to appease the wrath of God because of our sins. He is the propitiation for our sins. His death was the atoning sacrifice to save us from death. He took our place on the cross. When we place our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are covered by His blood. 

What better way to commemorate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus, than by remembering the mercy He had in choosing to take our place on the cross.

Today, I’m praising God for Bezalel. I’m thankful for his obedience to use his gifts for the glory of God. 

The Mercy Seat and B. What a beautiful reflection of Jesus.

Grace be with you,

Ellen

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1 Ex. 36:1-2

Do you know Jesus?

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1 Ex. 36:1-2

Are You Battle Ready?

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The other day, I was wandering through Exodus. No, no, it was not in the wilderness, as you might imagine. It was in the deliverance. 

Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day when you came out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, for the LORD brought you out of here by the strength of his hand.” Exodus 13:3a CSB

Goodness! For the first time, I saw something I’ve never seen in this particular verse. I saw Jesus. Remembering all that God has done brought Messiah to mind first and foremost. God gave Jesus to deliver me from my slavery to sin. And it’s only by the strength of His hand that I walk free today. 

and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. Romans 6:18 NASB

Meandering further in the passage, pondering the freedom we have with Christ, I found this:

And the Israelites left the land of Egypt in battle formation. Exodus 13:18 CSB

Though the Israelites had left the land of their captors, and been delivered from slavery, they had to remain battle ready. There would be skirmishes to fight. 

The same is true of us today. We will have battles. Yes, we are set free from the sin that entangles us, but sometimes our flesh wages war against our spirit. Sometimes we want to go back to Egypt, to what we knew. We don’t want to walk forward in battle formation into the unknown. And sometimes that crafty old devil knows we want to grow in Christ. He will try to trip us up. It’s a fight, for sure.

We must be battle ready. 

We must not break formation. How?

The LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to lead them on their way during the day and in a pillar of fire to give them light at night, so that they could travel day or night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people. Exodus 13:21-22 CSB

Follow the Lord. He will go ahead of us. In the brightness of the day He is there to lead us. And in the darkness of night, He will surely give us light to see. And He will never leave us to fight alone. 

What’s my take away? Stay battle ready, and keep moving forward. You will not fight your battles alone. Put on the full armor of God each and every day. Why? To resist the enemy and to stand firm. And when you armor up, know that God will lead you and light your way. 

Grace be with you,

Ellen