Experiencing God's Presence #88

Experiencing God's Presence #88

I will meet with you there and talk to you from above the atonement cover between the gold cherubim that hover over the Ark of the Covenant.

Exodus 25:22

When we realize that the Tabernacle and all its articles of worship were a reflection of heavenly realities, we can begin to understand how the images and symbols apply to us. We can know that when God said He would meet and speak with Moses from above the atonement cover of the Ark, He was giving a picture of the basis of our relationship with Him. He meets us at the place of atonement.

For us, in this post-Tabernacle era, that means He meets us in our relationship with Jesus, where sins are covered and communion with a holy God can deepen unhindered. Between the cherubim—the angelic beings who surround His throne and who gaze at the divine blood that was spilled—the holy Presence pursues us. This is where we respond to Him. Outside of this place, we can’t know Him. We can know of Him, and we may be able to hear His voice sometimes, but we can’t know Him in that experiential, face-to-face interaction that defines relationships and makes them rich. Only at the covering can we draw close.

That’s why God seems so distant when we try to relate to Him with a strong sense of guilt and shame. We assume a rift where there is no rift, an offense where there is no offense, a grudge where there is no grudge. Everything that would hinder a relationship with Him has been covered. He has chosen to be blind to that which separates us. And He refuses to interact with us in deeply meaningful ways when we don’t fully believe that. But when we realize what atonement has accomplished—and completely count on His favor—He freely meets us there.

Lord, I choose to fully believe that I am covered—that my offenses no longer exist and that I am in holy fellowship with You as Your child. In this freedom from all that separates us, please make Yourself known to me.