Five Minute Friday :: Flee

Whither shall I go from thy spirit?
or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Psalm 139:7
• Five Minute Friday :: Flee Linkup

Psalm 139:7-10

⁷ Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
⁸ If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
¹⁰ Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

Almost every translation of verse 7b says "flee!" That sounds fast—probably desperate and frightened. We claim to know God best in the loving, compassionate Savior Jesus Christ. After all, he lived a human life like ours (though in a very different place and time), so he "gets" pressure, temptation, disappointment, anger, sorrow, and joy. But even so, don't we often look askance on our own shortcomings and try to hide from God as well as from other humans?

This week I've been studying the book of Hebrews in preparation for my weekly scripture reflection. The assigned passage is a study in law and gospel.

Hebrews 4:12-16

¹² Indeed, the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³ And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.

¹⁴ Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested [or tempted] as we are, yet without sin.

¹⁶ Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Exodus 25 instructs, "you shall make a cover of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width." (verse 17) and continues, "there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat... verse 22

Scholars who know Hebrew explain the root of kapporet that Martin Luther translated as Gnadenstuhl or "mercy seat" is a place of covering that logically would extend from the physical gold covering of the ark to covering for sin, made especially clear as every year they sprinkled blood on it.

It's only a slight exaggeration to say Luther perceived Jesus Christ in [almost] every passage in the Hebrew Bible. For Luther the Gnadenstuhl, the definitive mercy seat, the place of grace, was the cross of Jesus Christ.

After explaining that Jesus as high priest, as mediator between heaven and earth in his resurrection and ascension, knows us and sympathizes – resonates! – with us, Hebrews 4:16 advises us to "approach the throne of grace with boldness in order to receive mercy."

Do we still want to flee from God?
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