I have a new 30-day scripture writing plan for you. This one was inspired by my toddler. When I first started reading the Bible to her, she latched onto Psalm 23 and the “baa-baas” so I started looking for other verses that talked about sheep and shepherds. That grew into this scripture writing program.
As I put this list together, I was struck by the progression from God appointing human shepherds like Moses and David, to God being disappointed with human leaders, to God’s promise that He will take over directly as the Good Shepherd. Then, that leads to Jesus as both Shepherd and sacrificial lamb who saves God’s people/sheep from their sins.
There is a strange verse in one of Paul’s letters where he says, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body—for the sake of his body, the church—what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ” (Col. 1:24, NET). I describe it as “strange” because it seems odd that Paul would say there is anything lacking in the suffering of Christ. Jesus suffered a lot, and His perfect sacrifice cleansed sin for all time. There was nothing deficient about it.
Yet, Paul says there was something missing and he had a role in helping the church by suffering in a way that “filled up” what was “lacking in the suffering of Christ.” And other verses indicate we may play a role in that as well.
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Learning To Comfort Others
“Why does God allow suffering?” is one of the biggest questions people ask. We won’t tackle that entire question today, but we will talk about one facet of the answer.
Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow toward us, so also our comfort through Christ overflows to you. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort that you experience in your patient endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer. And our hope for you is steadfast because we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort.
2 Corinthians 1:3-7, NET
Sharing in the sufferings of Christ is directly related to receiving and giving comfort. Much of Christian life is meant to be lived in community, and here we see another example of this. The church (meaning the body of believers) is supposed to give comfort to one another in the same way that God comforts us. Suffering produces patient endurance and it also produces compassion.
I think this might give us a clue as to what Paul meant when he said there was something “lacking in the sufferings of Christ.” Jesus experienced the same types of temptations and sufferings that are common to humans and has deep sympathy for all of us (Heb. 4:14-16). He did not, however, experience every specific type of suffering that human beings can. He has no first-hand experience of pregnancy symptoms, childbirth, or losing a child. He didn’t get to experience growing old and having his body and mind fail him. He didn’t live with the specific stress of global warming, AI, and atomic bombs hanging over his head. Those are things other people in the church can experience, though, and then we can empathize with others going through the same things.
Taking Comfort Into The Future
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The more experiences we have, including suffering, the better equipped we are to comfort others and build up the church. Suffering is an uncomfortable way to learn, but it is effective and it is a way that Jesus learned (Heb. 5:8). He’s not asking us to do anything He didn’t do.
Dear friends, do not be astonished that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in the degree that you have shared in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice and be glad.
1 Peter 4:12-13, NET
When Jesus returns, we will rejoice that we had the chance to share in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. That seems a strange idea, but perhaps the idea that suffering teaches us compassion for others can help explain why.
The Feast of Tabernacles (Chag Sukkot) begins a week from today. Keeping this Feast with a Messianic mindset points us to the time after Jesus returns when He sets up God’s kingdom on earth for 1,000 years. The “firstfruits” will be spirit beings, part of God’s family and serving alongside Jesus (see “Rethinking Heaven: Capturing A Vision Of The Resurrection“). During that time, scripture indicates that one of the things God’s people will be doing is teaching and working with people who came through the great end time tribulation (see article “What Will God’s People Do In The Future?“).
This isn’t directly stated anywhere in scripture, but I suspect that just like we are comforted now by Jesus’s role as our sympathetic Hight Priest and the empathy of other believers, those people in the future will be comforted by the experience-based empathy of those serving in the Family of God. What we all learn from suffering in our lives today benefits the entire church now, and it will continue to make us more effective and sympathetic helpers in the future.
One of the Bible verses that I find both intriguing and frustrating is found in the book of Hebrews. When talking about Jesus’s role as high priest, the author reminds readers of how the earthly sanctuary in the temple was laid out. The author describes the ark of the covenant, then says, “And above the ark were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Now is not the time to speak of these things in detail” (Heb. 9:5, NET).
I would very much like to know what the author would have said if they had taken the time to “speak of these things in detail.” Unfortunately, we are left with questions that we really can’t answer. We can, however, look at what else the Bible has to say about the mercy seat.
Mercy and Atonement
Our pastor made a comment in a recent sermon that prompted me to take another look at this topic. He read from Exodus 25:17-22 and pointed out that the mercy seat was centralized in the tabernacle. It’s where God met with Moses. God wanted them to remember that He speaks from the mercy seat (not a judgement seat).
You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its width. You shall make two cherubim of hammered gold. You shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end. You shall make the cherubim on its two ends of one piece with the mercy seat.The cherubim shall spread out their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another. The faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the covenant that I will give you.There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the covenant, all that I command you for the children of Israel.
Exodus 25:17-22, WEB
Here, “mercy seat” is the traditional English translation and has been since 1530. However, the modern NET version uses “atonement-lid” because the noun kapporet “is formed from the word ‘to make atonement.’ The item that the Israelites should make would be more than just a lid for the ark. It would be the place where atonement was signified. … The value of this place was that Yahweh sat enthroned above it, and so the ark essentially was the ‘footstool.’ Blood was applied to the lid of the box, for that was the place of atonement” (NET footnote on Ex. 25:17).
You don’t see it in English, but the connection with atonement is there in the Greek as well. In Hebrews 9:5, “mercy seat” is translated from hilasterion (G2435). This word is “related to an appeasing or expiation, having placating or expiating force, … a propitiation” (Thayer). Thayer’s dictionary further explains the word is “used of the cover of the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies, which was sprinkled with the blood of the expiatory victim on the annual day of atonement … hence the lid of expiation, the propitiatory.”
Linguistically, the Hebrew or Greek words for “mercy” aren’t linked to the part of the ark of the covenant we now call the “mercy seat.” However, the atonement or propitiation of our sins happens because of God’s mercy. He does not need to lift the consequences of sin off of humanity; He does it because of His great love, grace, and mercy.
As my pastor pointed out in Exodus 25:17-22 , the mercy seat was centralized in the tabernacle as part of the Holy of Holies and that is where God met with and spoke to His people. The author of Hebrews tells us that “the place where” earthly priests “serve is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary” (Heb. 8:5, NET). This means there is a mercy seat/atonement-lid in God’s heavenly realm. The tabernacle and later the temple were patterned after a “heavenly sanctuary,” and that is where Jesus performed His duties as High Priest.
And above the ark were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Now is not the time to speak of these things in detail. So with these things prepared like this, the priests enter continually into the outer tent as they perform their duties. But only the high priest enters once a year into the inner tent, and not without blood that he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.The Holy Spirit is making clear that the way into the Holy Place had not yet appeared as long as the old tabernacle was standing. This was a symbol for the time then present, when gifts and sacrifices were offered that could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper. They served only for matters of food and drink and various ritual washings; they are external regulations imposed until the new order came.
But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things to come. He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation,and he entered once for all into the Most Holy Place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption.
Hebrews 9:5-12, NET
Jesus is the fulfillment of all those atonement sacrifices in the Old Testament and the final High Priest needed. We still keep the Day of Atonement as God commanded, but now instead of looking forward to the Messiah atoning for our sins we give thanks that Jesus serves as the only High Priest over God’s people and that the atonement He made on the heavenly mercy seat covers all sin for all time.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 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. This was also to demonstrate his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness.
It’s significant that God chose to meet with His people from the mercy seat or atonement lid. It was so much a part of ancient Israel’s conception of God that He is frequently called the one who “sits enthroned above the cherubim” (1 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 6:2; 2 Kings 19:15; Psalm 80:1; 99:1; Isaiah 37:16).
Now when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the atonement lid that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim. Thus he spoke to him.
Numbers 7:89, NET
Remember, normal people couldn’t just walk in to see the Holy of Holies. God could choose to appear to people outside of this space (and occasionally did), but people couldn’t just waltz in whenever they wanted to have a talk with God. There were rules separating the holy and common, rules for who could enter the temple, and rules keeping everyone but the high priest from going in where the ark was kept and even he only went in once a year. Sin separates people from God (Is. 59:1-2) and it cannot be removed except by atonement sacrifice. When Jesus died, the veil in the temple ripped in half from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45).
Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.
Hebrews 4:14-16, NET
Access to God opened up at the moment Jesus made the ultimate atonement sacrifice as the propitiation for the sins of all people. Through Jesus’s atoning sacrifice, we can boldly approach God’s seat of mercy and grace whenever we want. We get to meet with God freely, going directly to the Father in prayer through the name of Jesus Christ. That is an incredible privilege and gift.
Almost a decade ago I wrote a blog post called “Grace to Build An Ark” inspired by a sermon I’d heard on grace. Even now, whenever I think of grace I think of the story of Noah.
Many Christians struggle to understand the relationship between grace and obedience, and between mercy and law. Some say that the law is done away with and grace is all that matters, while on the other extreme some say that law-keeping and obedience are the key to salvation. The story of Noah helps us understand that grace and mercy are linked with, not separate from, obedience to God’s commands.
Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil. Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart. Yahweh said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground—man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky—for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in Yahweh’s eyes.
Genesis 6:5-8, WEB
Verse 8 can also be translated, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” The word “grace” or “favor” comes from the Hebrew word chen (H2580). In this context, the “expression ‘find favor [in the eyes of]’ is an idiom meaning ‘to be an object of another’s favorable disposition or action,’ ‘to be a recipient of another’s favor, kindness, mercy.’ The favor/kindness is often earned, coming in response to an action or condition” (NET translation note on Gen. 6:8). This might not sound like what you think of as “grace,” but it actually aligns with the New Testament well because “grace” was originally understood as part of a reciprocal covenant relationship.
The idea of “grace” as a free gift that God is obligated to give without having any expectations of the recipients was not originally part of the Greek language or of Christianity. Several centuries before Christ’s first coming and until at least the 4th century after, charis (the Greek word translated “grace” in the Bible) was understood as something that involved obligation and reciprocity ( Relational Grace: The Reciprocal and Binding Covenant of Charis, 2015, Brent Schmidt, ch. 2 and 3). This meaning infused Greek, Roman, Jewish, and later Christian society to the point that everyone knew “receiving charis implied entering into reciprocal covenantal relationships” (Schmidt, p. 63).
With that background, we can see the similarities between us and Noah. We live in a world full of people who don’t follow God, but God has offered us grace and a relationship with Him. This grace is not something we could earn and God offers it freely, but He does expect a specific response after He makes the offer.
Noah found favor/kindness/grace in the eyes of the Lord. God then moves to provide Noah with salvation, and He does it by giving Noah specific instructions to follow.
This is the history of the generations of Noah: Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. Noah walked with God. …
God said to Noah, “I will bring an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them and the earth. Make a ship of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ship, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch. This is how you shall make it. …
Everything that is in the earth will die. But I will establish my covenant with you. You shall come into the ship, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. …
Thus Noah did. He did all that God commanded him.
Genesis 6:9, 13-15, 17-18, 22, WEB
God told Noah exactly how to build the ark and what to put in the ark. This is very much like what He does with us when He tells us what He expects from people who accept salvation through Jesus Christ. The salvation would not happen without God, yet at the same time He expects us to be active participants in the process of our salvation.
Learning about how God extended grace to Noah, brought salvation to him and his family, and expected obedience to His commands help us understand the similar process that God invites us into. Grace and salvation come to us through Jesus Christ, and we need to accept that salvation the way Noah did: by trusting God, listening to His instructions, and doing what He says.
ARC team applications for my new book are now open!
I am so excited to announce my first Christian Historical Fiction book release (though if you’re subscribed to my newsletter or follow me on Facebook you already know about it). As some of you may know, I’ve written fiction for years but mostly only published my non-fiction. That is all changing on September 1 with the release of Down to the Sea.
Boston in 1699 is a haven for pirates, but only if they keep a low enough profile that the authorities can pretend not to notice. Unfortunately for Red Flag Raphe, he drew the wrong sort of attention. Executions for maritime crimes must happen in England, though, and the merchant who testified against him is sailing there on the same ship. With Raphe’s crew still at large, it is the perfect opportunity for escape and revenge.
Healer-in-training Miriam Nevell hopes this trip to England will help her father leave behind his dealings with pirates for good. It seems she can’t do the same, though, when harsh treatment of the condemned pirate traveling on the same ship prompts her to stand up to both the ship’s captain and her father.
Raphe hadn’t believed there was any genuine kindness left in this world. When his pirate crew and their allies arrive, Raphe vows that Miriam won’t suffer as a result of his rescue. Even if that means spending his entire fortune to ransom her and then coercing her into a hasty marriage that just might save her reputation or endanger both their hearts.
Coming September 1, 2026. Down to the Sea will be available through sellers other than Amazon, but that is the only one with a live pre-order link so far. I will share links to other sellers as they become available.
Have you ever read or heard a teaching that stayed with you for years? One that has stuck around in my head was part of a message I heard from the rabbi in the Messianic group I met with for several years. He spoke on the Hebrew word hinneh, which is sometimes translated “Here I am!” I think of that every time I read this phrase in the Bible, and since it’s held such interest for me for so long I wanted to revisit the topic.
The word hinneh and the root word hen are both “An interjection demanding attention,” such as “look!” “behold!” or “see!” The root hen is used about 100 times, and hinneh “occurs over a thousand times” in scripture (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament [TWOT], entry 510). Hinneh “emphasizes the immediacy, the here-and-now-ness, of the situation” and is often “used to point out people” (TWOT, entry 510a). In scripture, it is often used to “introduce a fact upon which a following statement or command is based,” such as “Behold, I am going to proclaim liberty” (Jer. 34:17).
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Answering God
Like many Hebrew words, hinneh includes multiple nuances of meaning. In general, though, we can say that this word calls attention to something important and focuses on here-and-now immediacy. With that in mind, there are several times that God calls to a person and they answer by saying, hinneh. Here’s one:
After these things, God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
He said, “Here I am.”
He said, “Now take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.” …
Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.
Yahweh’s angel called to him out of the sky, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
He said, “Here I am.”
He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
Genesis 22:1-2, 10-12, WEB
Abraham was responsive. When God called to him, he immediately answered hinneh: see me here, now, ready to do what you say. This is the same reaction that Moses had at the burning bush (Ex. 3:3-5). This is what the little boy Samuel said when God called him (1 Sam. 3:1-10). It’s how Isaiah responded when God said, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” (Is. 6:8, WEB). Hinneh is the sort of responsive readiness we should have when God makes Himself and His desires known to us.
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When God Says Hen
There are also some verses where God uses the root word hen to call attention to what He is doing or say, “Here I am!” Two are found in passages from Isaiah that Paul references in Romans 10. Romans is a book where Paul spend a lot of time talking about how God relates to Jewish and Gentile believers. In this chapter, he said that he desired salvation for his fellow Israelites and lamented that “they did not submit to God’s righteousness” (Rom. 10:4, NET). He quoted extensively from the Old Testament in this section, showing that belief in the Lord Jesus is necessary for salvation and in order to believe, people have to hear the good news.
How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How timely is the arrival of those who proclaim the good news.” …
But I ask, have they not heard? Yes, they have …But again I ask, didn’t Israel understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; with a senseless nation I will provoke you to anger.”And Isaiah is even bold enough to say, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I became well known to those who did not ask for me.”
One of the reasons that God opened up salvation to non-Israelite nations was to provoke the Israelite people to jealousy that would inspire them to finally turn back to following Him faithfully. Let’s look at the context for two of the places in Isaiah that Paul quotes in this passage, where God says, “Here I am!” and uses the exclamation hen.
And now, what do we have here?” says the Lord. “Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing, those who rule over them taunt,” says the Lord, “and my name is constantly slandered all day long. For this reason my people will know my name; for this reason they will know at that time that I am the one who says, ‘Here I am.’” How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains the feet of a messenger who announces peace, a messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
Isaiah 52:5-7, NET
“I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; I appeared to those who did not look for me. I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ to a nation that did not invoke my name. I spread out my hands all day long to my rebellious people, who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable, and who did what they desired.
Isaiah 65:1-2, NET
God will not be mocked or slandered, either by those who claim to be His people or by His declared enemies. He acts powerfully for the sake of His name and reputation, and for the people who are called by His name. He shows up, saying, “Here I am!” to bring deliverance and salvation and to beg people to come into a life-giving relationship with Him.
Crying Out To God
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God can always hear when people cry out to Him. There are some things, though, that scripture indicates will make Him stop listening. Sin separates us from God so that He will not hear us (Is. 59:1-2). We can take steps to fix that, though, by repenting of our sins, asking God’s forgiveness, and changing our actions.
Then your light will shine like the sunrise; your restoration will quickly arrive; your godly behavior will go before you, and the Lord’s splendor will be your rear guard. Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond; you will cry out, and he will reply, ‘Here I am.’ You must remove the burdensome yoke from among you and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully. You must actively help the hungry and feed the oppressed. Then your light will dispel the darkness, and your darkness will be transformed into noonday.
Isaiah 58:8-10, NET
When we have a right relationship with God, He will respond, “Here I am!” when we call out for Him just like we will say, “Here I am!” when He calls for us. I had never noticed this aspect of hinneh before; I’d always just thought of it as how we can respond to God. Seeing these scriptures where He says, “Here I am!” underscores how important it is to Him that the relationship between Him and His people goes both ways. He wants us to respond to Him when He speaks, to see Him when He acts, and to benefit from His immediate presence in our lives.
