施恩座是甚麼？WhatIs the Mercy Seat?

作者: Stephen Nichols 譯者: Maria Marta

https://www.ligonier.org/blog/mercy-seat-connecting-dots/
https://plus.google.com/u/1/106695469993489516884/posts/gGUH6Wx3u2W

羅馬書三章21-26節很可能是聖經中最重要的段落之一。此段落的文字緊湊，是對因信稱義所展開的透徹與榮耀的討論。此段落在教義史上起著至關重要的作用是毫不奇怪的。 馬丁路德也曾長時間「駐留此地」。此段落的根源延伸擴展到整本聖經，這一點也不足為奇。 有兩個關鍵地方特別值得我們注意。 第一是帶我們返回出埃及記，第二是約翰福音將近結尾的部分。

首先，仔細想想埃及記廿五章22節。此處的上下文都涉及对會幕聖物佈置的描述，特別是對會幕的關鍵擺設-----約櫃的描述。約櫃的頂部是施恩座，它的兩端分別與兩個基路伯連在一起(出廿五19)。在這個地方，施恩座上，上帝與祂的子民相會。出埃及記廿五22節宣告：「我要在那裡與你相會」。

與羅馬書三章相關聯的，是希伯來語施恩座的希臘語對應詞。舊約聖經的希臘文譯本稱為《七十士譯本》，它將希伯來字kappuret翻譯為hilasterion（而希伯來字kappuret與贖罪[kippur]一字有關）。在新約聖經，希臘字hilasterion 通常被翻譯成「換回祭」（Propitiation）。「換回祭」在新約只出現少數幾次。 其中一次在羅馬書三章25節。保羅提到基督和祂的救贖之工時，說明上帝設立耶穌做「挽回祭」。基督代替我們，作了蒙上帝接納的犧牲的祭，平息了上帝憤怒，滿足了上帝的公義。

其次是約翰福音廿章12節。抹大拉的馬利亞來到基督的墳墓，才發現墳墓是空的。當她屈身往裡面觀看，「看見兩個身穿白衣的天使，坐在安放耶穌身體的地方，一個在頭那邊，一個在腳那邊。」（《聖經新譯本》） 而出埃及記廿五章記載著兩個雕刻的天使分別處在施恩座的兩端。

現在我們需要做的就是把這些點連接起來。 上帝希望與祂的子民相會，而無瑕疵的羊羔的血是使這次相會成為可能的唯一途徑。 舊約的施恩座和大祭司所灑的血，預示了基督的到來。 基督確實來了，基督確實作了犧牲的祭，基督也確實從死裏復活。毫無疑問，這些都是歷史事實。 會幕是真實的。 約櫃是真實的。 施恩座是真實的。 十字架是真實的。 空墳墓是真實的。 一個真實的婦人屈身往裡面觀看真實的天使。

基督是我們的施恩座。 在那裏，因著並藉著基督，上帝與我們相會。這些點是連接在一起的。

Stephen J. Nichols博士是Reformation Bible College的校長，也是Ligonier Ministries的教務主任，並主講5 Minutes in Church History這個播客頻道。

参閱：

挽回祭在希臘文暗示古時施恩座之意，因為他（保羅）告訴我們，凡用象徵性方式啓示給猶太人的，如今在基督裏都實體地彰顯出來了。

There seems to be an allusion in the word, ἱλαστήριον, as I have said, to the ancient propitiatory; for he teaches us that the same thing was really exhibited in Christ, which had been previously typified.

---摘自《羅馬人書註釋》Commentary on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans，80頁，约翰·加尔文（John Calvin）著/趙中輝、宋華忠譯，改革宗出版有限公司，2013六版。

What Is the Mercy Seat?

FROM Stephen Nichols

One of the most important paragraphs in the Bible may very well be Romans 3:21-26. This densely packed paragraph offers a thorough and glorious discussion of justification by faith. Not surprisingly, this paragraph plays a crucial role in the history of doctrine. Martin Luther camped out here. And not surprisingly, the roots of this paragraph extend throughout the Bible itself. Two key places deserve notice. The first takes us back to Exodus, while the second comes near the end of John’s Gospel.

First, consider Exodus 25:22. The context here concerns the description of the tabernacle and specifically the key piece of furniture in the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant. On top of the ark is the mercy seat, flanked on either end by two cherubim (Ex. 25:19). At this very place, at the mercy seat, God meets His people. Exodus 25:22 declares, “There I will meet with you.”

The connection to Romans 3 concerns the Greek word used for the Hebrew word for mercy seat. The Greek translation of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint, uses the word hilasterion to translate the Hebrew word. (The Hebrew word is kappuret, related to the word for atonement, which is kippur.) This Greek word, hilasterion, usually gets translated as “propitiation” in the New Testament. “Propitiation” only occurs a handful of times in the New Testament. One of those times comes in Romans 3:25. Referring to Christ and His work of redemption, Paul states that God put forward Christ “as a propitiation.” Christ is the acceptable, wrath-satisfying sacrifice on our behalf.

And then there is John 20:12. Mary Magdalene had come to the tomb of Christ only to find it empty. As she stooped down to look in, “She saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.” Back in Exodus 25, two carved angels took their places at either end of the mercy seat.

Now all we need to do is connect the dots. God desires to meet with His people, and the blood of the spotless lamb is the only means by which that meeting is made possible. The mercy seat of the Old Testament, and the blood sprinkled upon it by the high priest, prefigured Christ to come. Christ did come, and Christ did make the sacrifice, and Christ was raised from the dead. Make no mistake about it, these are historical realities. The tabernacle was real. The ark of the covenant was real. The mercy seat was real. The cross was real. The empty tomb was real. And a real woman stooped to look at real angels.

Christ is our mercy seat. There, in and through Christ, God meets us. The dots are connected.