On The Sixth Day #16

Romans 3:25
propitiation, the sacrifice for sin, the mercy seat -- Greek: hilastērion [transliterated]

This Greek word is used in the Greek OT to refer to the “atonement cover,” also known as the "mercy seat" the cover that rested on the Ark of the Covenant in the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle. The atonement cover was prominent in the Day of Atonement ritual (Lev 16) and came to stand for the atonement ceremony itself. Paul characterizes Jesus Christ as God’s provision of final atonement for his people.

-- NLT Study Bible

So Jesus is the mercy seat.

hmmmmmmmm, ...


mercy seat, place of mercy, lid/covering of the ark of the covenant; Gr.: hilasterios,

LXX usage:

Exodus 25.17-22 "You are to make a mercy-seat/cover for the ark out of pure gold; it is to be three-and-three-quarters feet long and two-and-a-quarter feet high. You are to make two k'ruvim of gold. Make them of hammered work for the two ends of the mercy-seat/ark-cover. Make one keruv for one end and one keruv for the other end; make the k'ruvim of one piece with the mercy-seat/ark-cover at its two ends. The k'ruvim will have their wings spread out above, so that their wings cover the ark, and their faces are toward each other and toward the mercy-seat/ark-cover. You are to put the mercy-seat/ark-cover on top of the ark. "Inside the ark you will put the testimony that I am about to give you. There I will meet with you. I will speak with you from above the mercy-seat/ark-cover, from between the two k'ruvim which are on the ark for the testimony, about all the orders I am giving you for the people of Isra'el.

Exodus 31.7 the tent of meeting, the ark for the testimony, the mercy-seat/ark-cover above it, all the furnishings of the tent,

Exodus 35.12 the ark with its poles, mercy-seat/ark-cover and the curtain to screen it;

Exodus 37.6, 8-9 He made a mercy-seat/cover for the ark of pure gold, three-and-three-quarters feet long and two-and-a-quarter feet wide. He made two k'ruvim of gold; he made them of hammered work for the two ends of the mercy-seat/ark-cover — one keruv for one end and one keruv for the other end; he made the k'ruvim of one piece with the mercy-seat/ark-cover at its two ends. The k'ruvim had their wings spread out above, so that their wings covered the ark; their faces were toward each other and toward the mercy-seat/ark-cover.

Leviticus 16.2, 13-15 Adonai said to Moshe, "Tell your brother Aharon not to come at just any time into the Holy Place beyond the curtain, in front of the mercy-seat/ark-cover which is on the ark, so that he will not die; because I appear in the cloud over the mercy-seat/ark-cover. "Here is how Aharon is to enter the Holy Place: with a young bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. He is to put on the holy linen tunic, have the linen shorts next to his bare flesh, have the linen sash wrapped around him, and be wearing the linen turban — they are the holy garments. He is to bathe his body in water and put them on. "He is to take from the community of the people of Isra'el two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. Aharon is to present the bull for the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and his household. He is to take the two goats and place them before Adonai at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then Aharon is to cast lots for the two goats, one lot for Adonai and the other for `Az'azel. Aharon is to present the goat whose lot fell to Adonai and offer it as a sin offering. But the goat whose lot fell to `Az'azel is to be presented alive to Adonai to be used for making atonement over it by sending it away into the desert for `Az'azel. "Aharon is to present the bull of the sin offering for himself; he will make atonement for himself and his household; he is to slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. He is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before Adonai and, with his hands full of ground, fragrant incense, bring it inside the curtain. He is to put the incense on the fire before Adonai, so that the cloud from the incense will cover the mercy-seat/ark-cover which is over the testimony, in order that he not die. He is to take some of the bull's blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy-seat/ark-cover toward the east; and in front of the mercy-seat/ark-cover he is to sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. "Next, he is to slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, bring its blood inside the curtain and do with its blood as he did with the bull's blood, sprinkling it on the mercy-seat/ark-cover and in front of the mercy-seat/ark-cover.

Numbers 7.89 When Moshe went into the tent of meeting in order to speak with Adonai, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy-seat/ark-cover on the ark for the testimony, from between the two k'ruvim; and he spoke to him.

Ezekiel 43.14, 17, 20 These are the measurements of the altar in cubits (where a cubit equals one cubit and a hand-breadth); from the drain up one cubit high and one cubit wide, with a projection all around its edge of one span. This is the height of the altar: the depth of the hollow which is toward the great mercy-seat/ark-cover, below this, two cubits, and its width, one cubit; and from the little mercy-seat/ark-cover to the great mercy-seat/ark-cover, four cubits, and the width, one cubit. The altar shall be four cubits, and from the altar and above the four horns, one cubit. The altar shall be twelve cubits long, up to fourteen wide, in its four directions, and its projection which goes all around it on all sides is half a cubit, so the outcropping all around is a cubit. Its stairs face to the east. Then He said to me, `Son of man, thus said the Lord, the God of Israel: These are the ordinances for the altar on the day of its construction, for offering up whole burnt-offerings and pouring out blood on it. You shall offer a young bull for a sin offering to the priests, the Levites, who are the seed of Zadok, who approach me to minister liturgically to me, says the Lord God. They shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, and on the four corners of the mercy-seat/ark-cover, and on the step around it; and they shall make atonement for it.

Amos 9.1 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said, “Strike the mercy-seat/ark-cover and the gateway of the temple shall be shaken. And cut through to the heads of all of them, and I wil slay the remnant of them with the sword. He who flees shall not get away, and he who escapes from them shall not be delivered.”

Some translations even use the term ‘atonement seat’ for ‘mercy-seat/ark-cover.’

OK -- I've taken a little tangent pursuing Romans 3 verse 25 and the word 'propitiation'. The Greek 'hilasterion' is used in the LXX for the Hebrew word 'kapparah' which is the word for the 'mercy seat' lid of the ark of the covenant.

My interest is the breadth of meaning of 'mercy seat' as it refers to the faithful sacrificial death of Jesus of Nazareth on that execution stake outside Jerusalem those many years ago.

So I present now some food for thought -- at least my own.

Rom 3:25 -- Comparative English Translations

(ALT) whom God Himself put forward publicly [as] a mercy seat [or, propitiation] through faith in His blood, for a demonstration of His righteousness, because of the passing over of the sins having previously occurred in the tolerance of God,

(ASV) whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God;

(BBE) Whom God has put forward as the sign of his mercy, through faith, by his blood, to make clear his righteousness when, in his pity, God let the sins of earlier times go without punishment;

(Bishops) Whom God hath set foorth to be a propitiatio, through fayth in his blood, to declare his ryghteousnes, in that he forgeueth the sinnes that are past,

(CEV) God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life's blood, so that by faith in him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This also shows that God is right when he accepts people who have faith in Jesus.

(CJB) God put Yeshua forward as the kapparah for sin through his faithfulness in respect to his bloody sacrificial death. This vindicated God's righteousness; because, in his forbearance, he had passed over [with neither punishment nor remission] the sins people had committed in the past;

(DRB) Whom God hath proposed to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to the shewing of his justice, for the remission of former sins,

(EMTV) whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood, for a demonstration of His righteousness through the passing over of the sins having previously occurred, in the forbearance of God,

(ESV) whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

(Geneva) Whom God hath set forth to be a reconciliation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousnes, by the forgiuenesse of the sinnes that are passed,

(GNB) God offered him, so that by his blood he should become the means by which people's sins are forgiven through their faith in him. God did this in order to demonstrate that he is righteous. In the past he was patient and overlooked people's sins; but in the present time he deals with their sins, in order to demonstrate his righteousness. In this way God shows that he himself is righteous and that he puts right everyone who believes in Jesus.

(GW) God showed that Christ is the throne of mercy where God's approval is given through faith in Christ's blood. In his patience God waited to deal with sins committed in the past.

(HCSB) God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.

(HNV) whom God set forth to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God's forbearance;

(ISV) whom God offered as a place where atonement by Christ's blood could occur through faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because he had waited patiently to deal with sins committed in the past.

(KJV) Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

(KJV-1611) Whom God hath set forth to bee a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousnesse for the remission of sinnes, that are past, through the forbearance of God.

(LITV) whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood, as a demonstration of His righteousness through the passing over of the sins that had taken place before, in the forbearance of God,

(MKJV) whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness through the passing by of the sins that had taken place before, in the forbearance of God;

(MRC) Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;

(MSG) God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public--to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured.

(Murdock) whom God hath preconstituted a propitiation, by faith in his blood, because of our sins, which we before committed,

(NAS77) whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;

(NASB) whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;

(NET.) God publicly displayed him at his death as the mercy seat accessible through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed.

(NIrV) God gave him as a sacrifice to pay for sins. So he forgives the sins of those who have faith in his blood. God did all of that to prove that he is fair. Because of his mercy he did not punish people for the sins they had committed before Jesus died for them.

(NIV) God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—

(NKJV) whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,

(NLT) For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when He held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,

(NRSV) whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed;

(NRSVA) whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed;

(NRSV-CE) whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed;

(RSV) whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins;

(RSVA) whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins;

(RV) whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, by his blood, to shew his righteousness, because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God;

(TNIV) God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—

(WEB) whom God set forth to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God's forbearance;

(Webster) Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

(WNT) He it is whom God put forward as a Mercy-seat, rendered efficacious through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness-- because of the passing over, in God's forbearance, of the sins previously committed--

(YLT) whom God did set forth a mercy seat, through the faith in his blood, for the shewing forth of His righteousness, because of the passing over of the bygone sins in the forbearance of God--

On The Sixth Day #15

Romans 3.21-31 God's Covenant Justice -

But now, quite apart from Torah, God's way of making people righteous in his sight has been made clear — although the Torah and the Prophets give their witness to it as well —and it is a righteousness that comes from God, through the faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah, to all who continue trusting. For it makes no difference whether one is a Jew or a Gentile, since all have sinned and come short of earning God's praise. By God's grace, without earning it, all are granted the status of being considered righteous before him, through the act redeeming us from our enslavement to sin that was accomplished by the Messiah Yeshua.
God put Yeshua forward as the kapparah [mercy seat, place of mercy, lid/covering of the ark of the covenant; Gr.: hilasterios, LXX: Exodus 25.17-22; 31.7; 35.12; 37.6, 8-9; Leviticus 16.2, 13-15; Numbers 7.89; Ezekiel 43.14, 17, 20; Amos 9.1] for sin through his faithfulness in respect to his bloody sacrificial death. This vindicated God's righteousness; because, in his forbearance, he had passed over [with neither punishment nor remission] the sins people had committed in the past; and it vindicates his righteousness in the present age by showing that he is righteous himself and is also the one who makes people righteous on the ground of Yeshua's faithfulness.
So what room is left for boasting? None at all! What kind of Torah excludes it? A Torah that has to do with legalistic observance of rules? No, rather, a Torah that has to do with trusting. Therefore, we hold the view that a person comes to be considered righteous by God on the ground of trusting, which has nothing to do with legalistic observance of Torah commands. Or is God the God of the Jews only? Isn't he also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, he is indeed the God of the Gentiles; because, as you will admit, God is one. Therefore, he will consider righteous the circumcised on the ground of trusting and the uncircumcised through that same trusting. Does it follow that we abolish Torah by this trusting? Heaven forbid! On the contrary, we confirm Torah.

• "But now …"!!! so far [1:1 – 3:20] what has been established?
  
  • the court was in session
    
  • everyone was accused and in the dock
    
  • everyone was guilty
    
  • everyone was to be condemned
    
• had God made big mistakes
  
  • when he created everything
    
  • when he promised Abraham and called Israel
    
• would he go back on his promise, his covenant
  
  • yes, the world was full of wickedness
    
  • yes, God as judge must judge rightly and impartially
    
  • but – the world was also filled with those
    
    • who were oppressed by the wickedness
      
    • who cried out to God for the vindication he promised
      
• God now faces the problem of his righteousness – sort of a "catch-22"
  
  • if some had behaved well and others badly – problem solved
    
  • if Israel had behaved well and the nations badly – problem solved
    
  • but the complexity is that
    
    • Israel was called to be the solution for the WHOLE world
      
    • Israel was unfaithful to its calling [commission]
      
  • justice demands condemnation for all wickedness – and all are wicked
    
  • covenant demands a way of salvation and his intended way [Israel] has failed utterly
    
• N Wright puts it this way:
  
  • in Genesis 12 God calls Abraham to undo the problem
    
  • caused by Adam in Genesis 3 and thereby
    
  • get the original project [Genesis 1 and 2] back on track
    
  • now, faced with a world gone wrong
    
    • God has made this covenant and
      
    • he must be true to it
      
    • but the covenant people have let him down completely by being just another part of the world that needs saving
      
    • he cannot save ONLY them without being accused of partiality and unfaithfulness to his covenant
      
• what should be done? – can anything be done? – by whom?
  
• if it were a question only of God's justice, the answer would be simple: utter condemnation and destruction
  
• but that covenant thing makes it a question of God's covenant justice – his covenantal righteousness
  
• so what does 'righteousness' mean in the context of covenant?
  
  • it includes all of the aspects of simple justice: punishment of the guilty
    
  • but also includes the way God is true and faithful to the covenant to 'put everything to rights'
    
    • human beings
      
    • the world – kosmoV
      
• v. 22 is Paul's declaration that the 'good news' of Jesus of Nazareth, Israel's Messiah, demonstrates how God has solved all these problems
  
• the faithful death of the Messiah unveils
  
  • God's faithfulness, his covenantal righteousness, his promise keeping
    
  • his way of reconciling the world gone wrong
    
  • his way of saving human beings lost in sin and guilt
    
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

...

On The Sixth Day #14

Romans 3.9 – 20 Jews As Well As Gentiles Are Guilty of Sin

So are we Jews better off? Not entirely; for I have already made the charge that all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, are controlled by sin. As the Tanakh puts it,

"There is no one righteous, not even one! No one understands, no one seeks God, all have turned away and at the same time become useless; there is no one who shows kindness, not a single one! [Psalm 14:1-3; 53:1-3]

"Their throats are open graves, they use their tongues to deceive. [Psalm 5:9]

Vipers' venom is under their lips. [Psalm 140:3]

Their mouths are full of curses and bitterness. [Psalm 10:7]

"Their feet rush to shed blood, in their ways are ruin and misery, and the way of shalom they do not know. [Isaiah 59:7f]

"There is no fear of God before their eyes." [Psalm 36:1]

Moreover, we know that whatever the Torah says, it says to those living within the framework of the Torah, in order that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world be shown to deserve God's adverse judgment. For in his sight no one alive will be considered righteous on the ground of legalistic observance of Torah commands, because what Torah really does is show people how sinful they are.

• Paul's answer does not contradict his claim in 3:1-2 that Jews have an advantage.
  
  • that advantage has not done them any good
    
    • they have disobeyed God's word
      
    • and incurred God's punishment
      
• how can Paul conclude that the entire world is guilty before God on the basis of evidence from the OT that Jews are sinful?
  
  • He argues "from the greater to the lesser":
    
    • If the law shows that the Jews, God's own people, are guilty,
      
    • then how much more are the Gentiles, who have not had the benefit of God's instruction, also guilty
      
• Paul's quoting of the OT is purposeful and usually encompasses a far wider passage from which the quote is taken, he cites
  
  • psalm 14:1-3; 53:1-3
    
  • psalm 5:9
    
  • psalm 140:3
    
  • psalm 10:7
    
  • isaiah 59:7f
    
  • psalm 36:1
    
• in each wider passage the charge against the wicked is framed within or followed by God's promise of
  
  • rescue [by His own action] those who are helpless before evil
    
  • and faithfulness to His covenant despite everything else
    
• this is the buildup up to 3:21 and what follows thereafter
  
• it's a hint for those who know scripture that he's getting ready to talk about the solution
  
• but he returns once more to talk about Jews and Torah
  
  • an appeal by a Jew to the covenant and Torah – Torah itself tells him "You have broken me."
    
  • Torah brings exacting knowledge of sin – not faithfulness to God's covenant
    
• V. 20 -- some recent scholars have understood the phrase 'erga nomou', ("works of the law") to refer not to obedience to the Mosaic law generally, but specifically to portions of the law that pertain to things like circumcision and dietary laws which set the Jewish people apart from the other nations
  
  • (e.g., J. D. G. Dunn, Romans [WBC], 1:155).
    
• other interpreters, like C. E. B. Cranfield (" 'The Works of the Law' in the Epistle to the Romans," JSNT 43 [1991]: 89-101) reject this narrow interpretation for a number of reasons, among which the most important are:
  
  • The second half of Rom_3:20, "for through the law comes the knowledge of sin," is hard to explain if the phrase "works of the law" is understood in a restricted sense;
    
  • the plural phrase "works of the law" would have to be understood in a different sense from the singular phrase "the work of the law" in Rom_2:15;
    
  • similar phrases involving the law in Romans (Rom_2:13; Rom_2:14; Rom_2:25; Rom_2:26; Rom_2:27; Rom_7:25; Rom_8:4, and Rom_13:8) which are naturally related to the phrase "works of the law" cannot be taken to refer to circumcision (in fact, in Rom_2:25 circumcision is explicitly contrasted with keeping the law).
    
• interpreters who reject the "narrow" interpretation of "works of the law" understand the phrase to refer to obedience to the Mosaic law in general
  

• NT Wright says, "appealing to the Torah is like appealing to the policeman who caught you in the act" -- he just knows you're guilty

(Source material is from N T Wright, John Wesley, Martin Luther, ESV Study Bible, Orthodox Study Bible, NLT Study Bible, NET Bible, et. al.)