The God Between
- Kerry Morris
- 19 hours ago
- 4 min read
I’m not sure anyone knew what to expect when God showed up.
After months of building all sorts of ornate furnishings for the Tabernacle, Moses went about setting everything up. He lit the gold lamps, he put incense on the gold altar. He put God’s covenant with Israel, inscribed on stone tablets, inside a large gold box and covered it with something called the “table of atonement”. On top of that were two handmade gold cherubim, facing each other. The whole thing was surrounded by multiple layers of curtains and walls to shut out all outside light and noise [1].
This would have been hard work, likely noisy work. There would have been a lot of groans and noises as these heavy pieces were put into place. One can imagine Moses and a handful of priests standing inside the temple, looking around, breathing a little heavy, wiping sweat from their brow.
Now what?
“Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. Moses could no longer enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. [2]”
The furniture and furnishings were the same, everything was the same. Except now the place felt overwhelming, glorious, holy to the point of being unsafe. God showed up.
The Space Between
But where was God, exactly? Most of the religions of that time oriented God around an object. If God is the sun, I point myself to the sun to worship. If God is a statue, I bow before the statue. But in this tent temple that Israel built, where was one to look in order to face God?
Some might have expected God to animate one of the gold cherubim, causing its face to glow or even move. Or perhaps God would animate the incense like a great supernatural cloud. It would be very convenient if God were to climb inside the gold box with the stone tablets, like some divine genie who could be carried anywhere.
But God did not settle in any of these places.
“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…[3]”
God did not settle on any one object. God inhabited the space between.
Between The Law and Mercy
The gold box, known as the Ark of the Covenant, contained stone tablets that detailed all the rules the nation of Israel was to live by. The lid of the box, the atonement cover, was a place where blood from a sacrificed lamb would be sprinkled. God, looking down from somewhere above, would have to look through the blood of sacrifice to see the law.
This is a profound symbol of mercy and forgiveness. The law exists, and we are accountable for it, but mercy is always available. God promised to be in that space, in the tension between human failure and divine love. God is not only mercy, nor only law, or some middle ground between the two. God fully encompasses the fullness of the law and the fullness of mercy simultaneously.
A Different Axis
The two cherubim were set up to face each other, one oriented to the left and the other oriented to the right. But that is not where their attention was focused.
“The cherubim will face each other and look down on the atonement cover [4].”
They were looking down, at the mercy seat and the law. The cherubim’s attention was focused on a vertical axis. They were not looking around, their attention focused on the various causes and powers in the world around them. They were primarily aligned around an axis that stretched from the ground of earth to God in heaven.
And where did God’s presence descend? Between them.
Seeking The God Between
I can imagine myself walking into that tent before the presence of God descended, looking with bewilderment at the array of holy-looking things in that space.
“God, the cherubim on the left looks so ornate, are you there?" “No” ”Well, the one on the right looks just as grand, are you there?” ”No” ”What about this ornate box, perhaps you are inside?” ”No, my child.” ”But, where then?” ”Between.”
I want certainty. I want to plot God on a grid I define. I want to align God with a group I know. I want to define God in words I understand.
”God, are you mercy or justice?” ”Yes.” ”But are you the size of the universe or the size of a human heart?” ”Yes.” ”But is what my neighbor believes about you true, or is what I believe about you true?” ”Yes.”
My human mind tries to anchor God to something I can control, or at least understand. But the presence of God runs wild in places beyond my understanding.
From that place of divine uncertainty and humble faith, I can hear a promise.
“Between…I will meet you there.”
Thank you for reading. If this post resonated with you, please consider sharing it
FOOTNOTES
[1] Exodus 40:16-33 NLT
[2] Exodus 40:34-35 NLT
[3] Exodus 25:22 NLT
[4] Leviticus 16:13-17
[5] “Then make two cherubim from hammered gold, and place them on the two ends of the atonement cover. The cherubim will face each other and look down on the atonement cover.” Exodus 25:18, 20 NLT
Comments