1 Kings 2:29 (NKJV)
”And King Solomon was told, ‘Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the LORD; there he is, by the altar.’ Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, ‘Go, strike him down.’”

Many of the illustrations and formations in the Old Testament were a shadow of eternal things, a semblance of heavenly realities, and a prophetic declaration of what was to come. The Old Testament shines a light on deeper, unrealized truths that we now have.

In the Old Testament, the horn of the altar symbolized God’s mercy, foreshadowing Christ’s power to save. When someone ran to the altar and grabbed the horn, they were appealing for mercy, and this was usually granted.

When Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, he fled and held on to the horn of the altar, and Solomon, hearing this, forgave him at that instance. Appealing for mercy is recognizing that we deserve punishment but need atonement and a second chance.

However, man is man and will not always show mercy. There will be times of magnanimity where man will extend mercy to man, but because of who man is, he has his limitations. If man could always show mercy, he would be divine. Sadly, he is not.

But Jesus makes it clear that His expectation from us is to be carriers of His mercy. In fact, He calls us blessed when we show mercy, and promises that for that reason, we too shall receive mercy (Matthew 5:7). Jesus in us is God’s mercy to the world.

Christ is both the sacrifice on the heavenly altar, the heavenly altar itself, and the horn of the altar. Christ is the fulfillment of everything that the altar represents and the embodiment of God’s mercy. There is no greater mercy than what we have in Christ.

And taking that further, we are to be the embodiment of God’s mercy to man. Christ in us is the horn of the altar at work on earth. As mentioned earlier, it is not humanly possible to always show mercy except if the Lord of mercy Himself works in us.

Solomon did not recognize Joab’s plea for mercy when he held on to the altar. Solomon slew him right there at the horn of the altar. No mercy. Most of humanity will not accept each other’s pleas for mercy. We are different. God’s mercy flows through us to all.

After breathing on the disciples, Jesus said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them…” John 20:22-23. The Holy Spirit is the embodiment of Jesus in us and the authority of Jesus. We have His authority to show mercy.

Solomon had shown mercy once to Adonijah when he held on to the altar, but he was not prepared to do that for Joab. Since we have received unlimited mercy from the Lord of mercy, let’s go into the world and extend this same mercy to our broken world.

@ChineduOranye
RestlessPilgrim.org