Our Coming King

Two things were given at Sinai: The Law (Exodus 20-23) and the Tabernacle (Exodus 25-31 and 35-39). The Tabernacle was the place for atonement to satisfy the gracious nature of God, and the Law was the reflection of God’s perfect justice. In Romans 3 Paul wrote of the Lord’s desire to forgive. Paul declared God’s actions in the death of Christ were such “that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). Three times as many chapters were given in Exodus to the Tabernacle design and completion than to the Law (consisting of the commandments in Exodus 20 and His Judgments in Exodus 21-23).

The ceremony on the Day of Atonement pointed to the need for the propitiation of God’s wrath. God was reconciled with His people, and the scapegoat symbolically removed the sin of the camp. Christians believe the LORD intended these things to anticipate better blood than that of bulls and goats, eternal reconciliation made possible with the LORD, and the removal of sin and guilt through the Messiah, the suffering Servant, who would be High Priest, the sacrificial Lamb of God, and the King of kings.

As Paul reflected on God’s desire to be both the Just One and Justifier, which is the very presentation in Exodus 34:6-7, he referred to “propitiation” (Romans 3:25), using the term that in the Septuagint used to refer to the mercy-seat on top of the Ark of the Covenant. As in Exodus 34:6-7, Paul described God’s desire to justify together with His firm commitment to never clear the guilty. And as in Exodus and Leviticus, in his letter to the Romans Paul pointed to the only remedy: atonement.