The author traces the linkage between the ancient words “mercy seat” and “atonement” with the New Testament idea of propitiation.
Propitiation is an interesting word. By definition it means an appeasement of wrath. It is used by the Greeks, owners of the language of the New Testament, to refer to “soothing the anger of the gods” (Adam Clarke). The Greeks were notorious for their mythology about the gods. These gods could become angry with humans, or even each other, and bring down terror and judgment. To end this judgment, their wrath had to be appeased by some labor. Even in the Book of Acts we read of Paul going to Athens and referring to these many gods. He, accordingly, preached to the people of the one true God.
Of course the idea of an angry god that must be appeased was not unique to the Greeks, nor is the idea gone today. Dwight Pentecost writes,
The concept of god, universally held by all the heathen, is of a god who is angry and must be placated before any blessing can be expected from him. And all heathen religions seek to change the attitude of their god toward man so that they may receive kindnesses and mercies from his hands. It is only in the Word of God that we have pictured for us the true character of God—a God of love, a God of mercy, a God of grace, a God who, even though He must punish sinners because He is a holy God, loves sinners and seeks to pour forth mercy and grace upon sinners if a way can be found to turn loose the torrent of His love toward them.
This view of an angry god needing appeasement in order to change his actions also fails to recognize the fact that God is unchanging, and, yet that is one of His attributes (Mal. 3:6). Just as He is a God of justice that must punish sin, He is also a God of unchanging love and mercy.
It is when we see the true character of God that we can fully appreciate this aspect of propitiation. It is one of the great doctrinal words of salvation. While other aspects of salvation deal with our position and man’s aspect of salvation, propitiation deals with God’s aspect. His holy standard must be met, judgment must be meted out. God’s standard is perfection and can only be met by God Himself. So, that is what he did. God judged His own Son for our sins. “And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:2).
Atonement
There is no mention of the word propitiation in the Old Testament. That is because it points us to the cross, and the work of propitiation had not yet been completed. In the Old Testament, the word used is “atonement.” Atonement is merely the covering of sin.
The Day of Atonement was one of the high days of the children of Israel. It was the only day on which the high priest could go behind the veil in the tabernacle, into the holy of holies. This poignant sacrifice is described in Leviticus 16 and pictures for us the work of Christ on the cross. There was just one sin offering (v. 5), yet two goats were required in order to illustrate two great aspects of Christ’s death. First, we see that blood is required. The high priest would go behind the veil, taking with him the blood of the one goat (v. 15). Hebrews 9:22 says, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”
Then the high priest would confess the sins of Israel over the live goat, and send it into the wilderness to bear away the iniquities of the people (vv. 21f). What a picture this is! Yet it is only a picture. No one was ever saved by the Day of Atonement, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Heb. 10:4). So how would sin be taken away? To this we cry with John the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). Only God’s perfect Son could truly deal with sin.
A Solo Work
The second thing we see is that it is a work that is between the high priest and God alone. Of course a priest is an intercessor, and the high priest went before the Lord on behalf of the people. But, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest went behind the veil alone to do his work. When Christ, our Great High Priest, went to the cross to deal with our sin, God the Father veiled the scene in three hours of darkness while He dealt with Him alone regarding our sin. And when that work was done, the physical veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom.
It is significant that the Scriptures record how the veil in the temple was rent. The temple veil was far too high for any man to reach the top, so if a man had attempted to tear the veil, he would have grabbed the bottom and torn from bottom to top. But the veil was torn “top to bottom,” signifying that God on high tore down the veil that separated us from Him. We can now go freely to the mercy seat, where previously only the high priest could go. The separation caused by sin is now done away with. W.E. Vine put it this way: “Christ annuls the power of sin to separate between God and the believer.”
Satisfying the Holiness of God
Thirdly, we see why this work had to be done. God is a just and holy God. His standard is perfection. His laws must be satisfied. His wrath against sin must be satisfied. When the high priest came into the holy of holies, he would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat. The mercy seat was where the Shekinah glory dwelt. It was the lid of the Ark of the Covenant which contained, among other things, the stone tablets on which the Law had been written. The Law condemns us, for we cannot possibly keep it all. Because of our infractions, we have incurred the wrath of God.
But over the Law that condemned us is the mercy seat. How appropriately named! One would think from the description that it might be called God’s seat of judgment. But it is God’s character to be merciful; to find a way to have His law satisfied and show mercy simultaneously. It was here that the blood was sprinkled. Christ, the Son of God, shed His own blood to appease the wrath of God. 1 John 2:2 says, “And He [Christ] is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” The word used for “propitiation” is the same Greek word used for “merciful” when the publican cries out, “God be merciful [propitious] to me a sinner” (Lk. 18:13) and the same word used for “mercy seat” in Hebrews 9:5.
Only God Could Do It
The last thing we see is that only God could have formulated and executed this plan. He gave the details for the Day of Atonement to Moses. They were to be followed precisely. If they weren’t, the priest would die and there would be no atonement. He could only come at the prescribed time in the prescribed way. The high priest could only go behind the veil once a year, picturing for us the one-time sacrifice of Christ.
Christ, our High Priest, is the only One who could satisfy the just demands of the Law completely and permanently. He didn’t just atone for our sins; He satisfied the wrath of God against us and cleared the way for sinners to be forgiven. And now we can sing with the hymn writer:
O the love that drew salvation’s plan.
O the grace that brought it down to man.
O the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary.
Only God could have formulated and executed this plan.