Mercy seat
Encyclopedia
According to the Bible
, the mercy seat was an object which rested upon the Ark of the Covenant
, and was connected with the rituals of Yom Kippur
; the term also appears in the Pauline Epistles
, and has a significance in Christian theology
. The phrase mercy seat is not a translation of the Hebrew
term kapporeth, which appears in its place in the Masoretic text
, nor of the Greek
term hilasterion, which takes the same place in the Septuagint, but instead is the translation by William Tyndale
of the German
term Gnadenstuhl, from the same narrative position in the Luther Bible
; Gnadenstuhl literally means seat of grace, in the sense of location of grace.
Though kapporeth is probably derived
from kaphar, which is often considered to mean cover, the literal meaning of kaphar is wipe out, implying that kapporeth means thing of wiping out/thing of cleansing; the cognate
Arabic
term kaffarat (also generally taken to mean cover, but from which the word kafir
also derives) is used in modern legal contexts to refer to any mechanism of rectifying illegality (ranging from rectifying the failure to fast during Ramadan
to the rectification of murder
), for example the freeing of slaves after the slave has suffered shocking circumstances could be considered as a kaffarat. Similarly hilasterion etymologically means thing for propitiation, with Hesychius
writing that a synonym of hilasterion was thing for catharsis, while the Vulgate
translates it as propitiatorium. Thus it is unclear whether the kapporeth was the lid of the Ark, or merely sat on top of the Ark, possibly with the Ark having a cover beneath it.
, and was the same width and breadth as the Ark beneath it – 2.5 cubits long, and 1.5 cubits wide; the Ark and mercy seat were, according to this passage, kept inside the Holy of Holies
– the Temple's
innermost sanctuary
, the Sanctum Sanctorum
, which was separated from the remainder of the temple by a thick curtain (parochet), because the ark and mercy seat were associated with the presence of Yahweh
. The account also states that two golden statues of cherubim were placed at each end of the mercy seat, facing one another and the mercy seat, with their wings spread in order to enclose the mercy seat; according to the Books of Samuel
, these cherubim together formed a seat for Yahweh. Although a literal interpretation of the Book of Exodus would conclude that the mercy seat, along with the remainder of the Ark, was constructed according to the commands of Yahweh at the time of Moses
, textual scholars
regard the passages referring to its construction as originating from the priestly source
, which they date to the 7th Century BCE.
According to the Biblical directions, the Holy of Holies could only be entered at Yom Kippur
, and even then could only be entered by the Jewish High Priest
, who was covenanted to do so in order to sprinkle the blood of a sacrificial bull
onto the mercy seat, as an atonement
for himself and his family, the other priests, the Tabernacle
, and the people of Israel
; the directions specify that incense
was first burnt in the Holy of Holies so that a cloud rose up and appeared above the mercy seat. Biblical scholars regard this ritual as an evolution from the simpler sin offering for the first day of the seventh month, given in the book of Ezekiel
; though the masoretic text
renders this as the seventh day of the month, the Septuagint has ... first day of the seventh month, and scholars think that the sin offering on this day exchanged days with Rosh Hashanah
, which in Ezekiel's day appears to have been celebrated on the tenth of the month.
, most translations are usually inconsistent as they instead generally translate hilasterion as propitiation where it occurs in the Epistle to the Romans
. The Epistle to the Hebrews recounts the description of the Ark, Holy of Holies, and mercy seat, and then goes on to portray the role of the mercy seat during Yom Kippur as a prefiguration of the Passion of Christ
, which it argues was a greater atonement, and formed a New Covenant
; the text continues by stating that the Yom Kippur ritual was merely a shadow of things to come, which in Christian theology
is often taken as meaning that the ritual became obsolete
once Jesus had died. The Epistle to the Romans states that Jesus was sent by God as a propitiation
, while, perhaps in a reflection on Ezekiel's atonement ceremony, the Second Epistle to the Corinthians argues that Jesus had become a sin offering.
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, the mercy seat was an object which rested upon the Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
, and was connected with the rituals of Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
; the term also appears in the Pauline Epistles
Pauline epistles
The Pauline epistles, Epistles of Paul, or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen New Testament books which have the name Paul as the first word, hence claiming authorship by Paul the Apostle. Among these letters are some of the earliest extant Christian documents...
, and has a significance in Christian theology
Christian theology
- Divisions of Christian theology :There are many methods of categorizing different approaches to Christian theology. For a historical analysis, see the main article on the History of Christian theology.- Sub-disciplines :...
. The phrase mercy seat is not a translation of the Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
term kapporeth, which appears in its place in the Masoretic text
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
, nor of the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
term hilasterion, which takes the same place in the Septuagint, but instead is the translation by William Tyndale
William Tyndale
William Tyndale was an English scholar and translator who became a leading figure in Protestant reformism towards the end of his life. He was influenced by the work of Desiderius Erasmus, who made the Greek New Testament available in Europe, and by Martin Luther...
of the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
term Gnadenstuhl, from the same narrative position in the Luther Bible
Luther Bible
The Luther Bible is a German Bible translation by Martin Luther, first printed with both testaments in 1534. This translation became a force in shaping the Modern High German language. The project absorbed Luther's later years. The new translation was very widely disseminated thanks to the printing...
; Gnadenstuhl literally means seat of grace, in the sense of location of grace.
Though kapporeth is probably derived
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
from kaphar, which is often considered to mean cover, the literal meaning of kaphar is wipe out, implying that kapporeth means thing of wiping out/thing of cleansing; the cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
term kaffarat (also generally taken to mean cover, but from which the word kafir
Kafir
Kafir is an Arabic term used in a Islamic doctrinal sense, usually translated as "unbeliever" or "disbeliever"...
also derives) is used in modern legal contexts to refer to any mechanism of rectifying illegality (ranging from rectifying the failure to fast during Ramadan
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
to the rectification of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
), for example the freeing of slaves after the slave has suffered shocking circumstances could be considered as a kaffarat. Similarly hilasterion etymologically means thing for propitiation, with Hesychius
Hesychius of Alexandria
Hesychius of Alexandria , a grammarian who flourished probably in the 5th century CE, compiled the richest lexicon of unusual and obscure Greek words that has survived...
writing that a synonym of hilasterion was thing for catharsis, while the Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
translates it as propitiatorium. Thus it is unclear whether the kapporeth was the lid of the Ark, or merely sat on top of the Ark, possibly with the Ark having a cover beneath it.
In the Hebrew Bible
According to the Biblical account, the mercy seat was manufactured from pure goldGold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, and was the same width and breadth as the Ark beneath it – 2.5 cubits long, and 1.5 cubits wide; the Ark and mercy seat were, according to this passage, kept inside the Holy of Holies
Holy of Holies
The Holy of Holies is a term in the Hebrew Bible which refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem where the Ark of the Covenant was kept during the First Temple, which could be entered only by the High Priest on Yom Kippur...
– the Temple's
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
innermost sanctuary
Sanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
, the Sanctum Sanctorum
Sanctum sanctorum
The Latin phrase sanctum sanctorum is a Latin translation of the biblical term: "Holy of Holies" which generally refers in Latin texts to the Holiest place of the Tabernacle of Ancient Israel and later the Temples in Jerusalem, but also has some derivative use in application to imitations of the...
, which was separated from the remainder of the temple by a thick curtain (parochet), because the ark and mercy seat were associated with the presence of Yahweh
Yahweh
Yahweh is the name of God in the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jews and Christians.The word Yahweh is a modern scholarly convention for the Hebrew , transcribed into Roman letters as YHWH and known as the Tetragrammaton, for which the original pronunciation is unknown...
. The account also states that two golden statues of cherubim were placed at each end of the mercy seat, facing one another and the mercy seat, with their wings spread in order to enclose the mercy seat; according to the Books of Samuel
Books of Samuel
The Books of Samuel in the Jewish bible are part of the Former Prophets, , a theological history of the Israelites affirming and explaining the Torah under the guidance of the prophets.Samuel begins by telling how the prophet Samuel is chosen by...
, these cherubim together formed a seat for Yahweh. Although a literal interpretation of the Book of Exodus would conclude that the mercy seat, along with the remainder of the Ark, was constructed according to the commands of Yahweh at the time of Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
, textual scholars
Textual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts...
regard the passages referring to its construction as originating from the priestly source
Priestly source
The Priestly Source is one of the sources of the Torah/Pentateuch in the bible. Primarily a product of the post-Exilic period when Judah was a province of the Persian empire , P was written to show that even when all seemed lost, God remained present with Israel...
, which they date to the 7th Century BCE.
According to the Biblical directions, the Holy of Holies could only be entered at Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
, and even then could only be entered by the Jewish High Priest
Kohen Gadol
The High Priest was the chief religious official of Israelite religion and of classical Judaism from the rise of the Israelite nation until the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem...
, who was covenanted to do so in order to sprinkle the blood of a sacrificial bull
Korban
The term offering as found in the Hebrew Bible in relation to the worship of Ancient Israel is mainly represented by the Hebrew noun korban whether for an animal or other offering...
onto the mercy seat, as an atonement
Atonement in Judaism
Atonement in Judaism is the process of causing a transgression to be forgiven or pardoned.- In Rabbinic Judaism :In Rabbinic Judaism, atonement is achieved through some combination of*repentance*Temple service Atonement in Judaism is the process of causing a transgression to be forgiven or...
for himself and his family, the other priests, the Tabernacle
Tabernacle
The Tabernacle , according to the Hebrew Torah/Old Testament, was the portable dwelling place for the divine presence from the time of the Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan. Built to specifications revealed by God to Moses at Mount Sinai, it accompanied the Israelites...
, and the people of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
; the directions specify that incense
Incense
Incense is composed of aromatic biotic materials, which release fragrant smoke when burned. The term "incense" refers to the substance itself, rather than to the odor that it produces. It is used in religious ceremonies, ritual purification, aromatherapy, meditation, for creating a mood, and for...
was first burnt in the Holy of Holies so that a cloud rose up and appeared above the mercy seat. Biblical scholars regard this ritual as an evolution from the simpler sin offering for the first day of the seventh month, given in the book of Ezekiel
Book of Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....
; though the masoretic text
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
renders this as the seventh day of the month, the Septuagint has ... first day of the seventh month, and scholars think that the sin offering on this day exchanged days with Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...
, which in Ezekiel's day appears to have been celebrated on the tenth of the month.
In the Pauline Epistles
Though the term mercy seat usually appears as the English translation for the Greek term hilasterion in the Epistle to the HebrewsEpistle to the Hebrews
The Epistle to the Hebrews is one of the books in the New Testament. Its author is not known.The primary purpose of the Letter to the Hebrews is to exhort Christians to persevere in the face of persecution. The central thought of the entire Epistle is the doctrine of the Person of Christ and his...
, most translations are usually inconsistent as they instead generally translate hilasterion as propitiation where it occurs in the Epistle to the Romans
Epistle to the Romans
The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
. The Epistle to the Hebrews recounts the description of the Ark, Holy of Holies, and mercy seat, and then goes on to portray the role of the mercy seat during Yom Kippur as a prefiguration of the Passion of Christ
Passion (Christianity)
The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...
, which it argues was a greater atonement, and formed a New Covenant
New Covenant
The New Covenant is a concept originally derived from the Hebrew Bible. The term "New Covenant" is used in the Bible to refer to an epochal relationship of restoration and peace following a period of trial and judgment...
; the text continues by stating that the Yom Kippur ritual was merely a shadow of things to come, which in Christian theology
Christian theology
- Divisions of Christian theology :There are many methods of categorizing different approaches to Christian theology. For a historical analysis, see the main article on the History of Christian theology.- Sub-disciplines :...
is often taken as meaning that the ritual became obsolete
Supersessionism
Supersessionism is a term for the dominant Christian view of the Old Covenant, also called fulfillment theology and replacement theology, though the latter term is disputed...
once Jesus had died. The Epistle to the Romans states that Jesus was sent by God as a propitiation
Propitiation
Propitiation is appeasing or making well disposed , especially a deity, thus incurring divine favor or avoiding Divine retribution.-Christian theology:...
, while, perhaps in a reflection on Ezekiel's atonement ceremony, the Second Epistle to the Corinthians argues that Jesus had become a sin offering.
Cultural references
- The term "mercy seat" can refer to misericordMisericordA misericord is a small wooden shelf on the underside of a folding seat in a church, installed to provide a degree of comfort for a person who has to stand during long periods of prayer.-Origins:...
s (literally translating as mercy), the small ledges in medieval European church pewPewA pew is a long bench seat or enclosed box used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, or sometimes in a courtroom.-Overview:Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the Protestant Reformation...
s, which offered relief while standing through long prayerPrayerPrayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
s. - Teen Mania MinistriesTeen Mania MinistriesTeen Mania Ministries is an Evangelical Christian youth organization located in Garden Valley, Texas. Teen Mania focuses primarily on four key programs, with a few additional smaller endeavours....
presented a stage dramaDramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
based on judgement and redeption offered at the Mercy seat during their 2005 Acquire the Fire tour - Hymnist John NewtonJohn NewtonJohn Henry Newton was a British sailor and Anglican clergyman. Starting his career on the sea at a young age, he became involved with the slave trade for a few years. After experiencing a religious conversion, he became a minister, hymn-writer, and later a prominent supporter of the abolition of...
, writer of Amazing GraceAmazing Grace"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton , published in 1779. With a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God,...
wrote the hymn Approach, my Soul, the Mercy Seat. Gordon GanoGordon GanoGordon James Gano is an American musician. He is best known for being the singer, guitarist and songwriter of American alternative rock band Violent Femmes.-Early life:...
of the Violent FemmesViolent FemmesViolent Femmes were an American alternative rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, initially active between 1980 and 1987 and again from 1988 to 2009...
named his 1987 gospelGospel musicGospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
side project The Mercy Seat. - Nick CaveNick CaveNicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
wrote the song The Mercy Seat for his 1988 Tender PreyTender PreyTender Prey is the fifth album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released in 1988 on Mute Records.Tender Prey contains Cave's 'signature' tune "The Mercy Seat", which he has subsequently played at almost all of his live performances since 1988, and was covered by Johnny Cash...
album; his 'signature tune', it has been performed at nearly every concert since 1988. The song tells the story of a condemned man facing death on the electric chairElectric chairExecution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
seeking redemption in the afterlife. This song was later covered by Johnny CashJohnny CashJohn R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
on his album, American III: Solitary ManAmerican III: Solitary ManAmerican III: Solitary Man is the third album in the American series by Johnny Cash released in 2000. The album was notable for being Cash's highest charting solo studio LP since his 1976 One Piece at a Time , an album that reached No. 2 Country based on the title cut...
. The American electro-industrial band StromkernStromkernStromkern is a band that blends electronic music and hip-hop. The band was formed in 1994 by James "Ned" Kirby.Kirby was originally a DJ in Madison, Wisconsin as a teenager, experimenting under the moniker "Flowers for Ravers" before founding Stromkern. Disenchanted with the music he was receiving...
had also covered this song in 1997 on their album Flicker Like a CandleFlicker Like a CandleFlicker Like a Candle is the debut release by electro-industrial band Stromkern. It was first released in 1997, and later expanded to a full length album in 2001 as the Millennium Edition...
. - Alternative rockAlternative rockAlternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Ultra Vivid SceneUltra Vivid SceneUltra Vivid Scene was an American alternative rock band, started by Kurt Ralske.Former Nothing But Happiness and Crash guitarist Ralske started Ultra Vivid Scene in 1987, was signed to 4AD Records in 1988, and released his first UVS EP, She Screamed, in 1988...
also had a song entitled "The Mercy Seat". - Neil LaButeNeil LaButeNeil N. LaBute is an American film director, screenwriter and playwright.-Early life:LaBute was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Marian, a hospital receptionist, and Richard LaBute, a long-haul truck driver. LaBute is of French Canadian, English and Irish ancestry, and was raised in Spokane,...
wrote his 2002 play The Mercy SeatThe Mercy Seat (play)The Mercy Seat is a 2002 play by Neil LaBute that was among the first major theatrical responses to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Set on September 12, it concerns Ben, a man who worked at the World Trade Center but was away from the office during the attack, with his mistress, Abby, who is also...
based on an urban myth of a man who escaped the September 11 attacksSeptember 11, 2001 attacksThe September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
because he was seeing his mistress and contemplates running off with her. The play starred Liev SchreiberLiev SchreiberIsaac Liev Schreiber , commonly known as Liev Schreiber, is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s, having initially appeared in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywood films, including the Scream trilogy of...
and Sigourney WeaverSigourney WeaverSigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...
and was both commercially and critically successful. - The song 123 by the Indigo GirlsIndigo GirlsThe Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...
mentions the term "mercy seat." - Anders MangaAnders MangaAnders Manga is an American recording artist with a loyal underground following of fans worldwide. He was nominated for "Best Band" in 2006 by Gothic Beauty Magazine and has released 6 albums since 2005, most recently, "Infinite Gaze to the Sun" in winter 2009.-Personal life:Anders' father, Jerry...
's 2006 album Welcome to the Horror Show features a track called "The Mercy Seat." - Karen WheatonKaren WheatonKaren Harris Wheaton Towe is an American Pentecostal preacher, Gospel music singer and recording artist based in Hamilton, Alabama whose career has spanned the late 1970s until the present time. She has toured throughout the U.S. performing at events that also featured preachers and Christian...
has a song called "Mercy Seat" on her 1997 album I'm Still Here. This song has also been covered by other contemporary Christian musicians. In addition, the song is a prime example of both Wheaton's neo-gospel style of music and of her theological outlook in terms of lyrics making direct references to markers of salvation in the Bible. - Cass MccombsCass McCombsCass McCombs is an American songwriter and performer. Called "unobtrusively brilliant" by John Peel, he has received widespread critical acclaim for his five LPs and one EP.- History :Cass McCombs was born in Concord, California...
has a song called You saved my lifeYou Saved My LifeYou Saved My Life is an Australian factual television series that screened on the Nine Network in 2009. It was hosted by Tara Brown.You Saved My Life follows the stories of people who have been rescued in an emergency situation and reunited with their rescuers. It has a similar premise to the...
and the lyrics goes "my fate's mercy seat, Sought blood to gulp and flesh to eat" it's in his 2009 album CatacombsCatacombsCatacombs, human-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place can be described as a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman empire... - AA Bondy mentions the Mercy Seat in his 2008 Daytrotter version of the song, "The Mightiest of Guns": "... and the people dragging crosses down the street, see 'em put a child upon the mercy seat."