Hearing His Voice #37

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

God gave Israel a picture of His presence—a chest containing specimens of His Word, His provision, and His authority. This Ark had an atonement cover, a “mercy seat” on which the priest would sprinkle sacrificial blood as a sacred symbol of the price paid for our forgiveness. And this, God said, is where He would meet and talk with Moses.

That’s because our conversations with Him are based on a completely clean relationship. We don’t live in the Tabernacle era anymore, of course, but the symbolism is the same. Our defiance of the divine order—and we’re all guilty of it, whether we realize it or not—has been thoroughly covered and removed. God no longer meets us in the place where sacrificial blood was sprinkled on an ark; He meets us in our relationship with Jesus, whose sacrificial blood was sprinkled in the depths of our souls. We may think there are obstacles between us and God, but not if we’ve confessed our sins and received His forgiveness.

Outside of this place of covering, 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 the 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—and silent—when we try to relate to Him out of a strong sense of guilt and shame. We assume a rift where there is no rift or a grudge where there is no grudge. God has chosen to be blind to that which separates us. And when we fully believe that, He interacts with us in deeply meaningful ways.

Lord, I choose to fully believe that I am covered—that my offenses no longer exist. Thank You that I can freely meet with You and hear from You. In this freedom, please let me hear Your voice.