Leviticus 16:14 And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.

What stuck out to me here was the instruction of performing this task eastward. It points to something much like the needle of a compass pointing towards the magnetic north. It is the same in this manner that an undeniable force is there. You may not see it, but it is there. If one is to understand that which is unseen, like the magnetic north force field, then one must come closer to discover what lay beneath.

This must be seen in reference to the mercy seat as this is where the instruction is given, beginning at the mercy seat, to find relevant meaning, look to the east. But where do we look? There are so many references to the east how can we know which one is relevant? Look also to the issue of mercy, after all mercy sits upon this seat.

Ezekiel 43:1-2 Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.

Here we find reference to looking to the east and seeing the glory of God appearing. Is this glory the mercy we should be looking for? If we think about the returning King in that day, we might miss that issue of mercy for He will come with another purpose.

Hebrews 9:5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.

A shadowing, His glory creating a shadow so that mercy is not prominent, but still exists. More hints, but yet no full clarity.

Psalm 115:1 Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.

Add truth to glory and mercy. Are you beginning to see a picture of the mercy seat?

Romans 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

Can we conclude anything yet, or is more needed?

Acts 23:20 He said: “Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about him. (NIV)

I am preferring the NIV translation here today because it better serves my purpose. It is not more accurate than other translations, it does not make things any clearer, it serves my purpose.

This is the information age and there is much to be read about anything and everything these days. Almost all of it has conflicting information that can be found if you look hard enough. Some of it is so opposed in viewpoint one or another of the sources is lying.

My use of the NIV translation serves my point in this, “on the pretext”. I once was in charge of data collection and analysis. One could arguably look at the data and say my work was accurate and valid. The truth behind any of it lay in the data collection. The source of the data was just as important as the collection and analysis.

If I were to analyze shipping methods to reduce spoilage of food items and I looked at handling, temperature, duration, and packaging, one can determine the best methods to reduce spoilage. None of that data would tell me anything about the product as it left the processing plant. The quality of the data is useless if the product left the plant rotten to begin with.

Such is the influence of “pretext” information. It serves a purpose to which you have no information to subjectively analyze. None of us have the time and financial resources to do a thorough analysis of information. We rely on the work of others and as long as we trust the source we accept the information. So what is the truth?

Truth is not knowledge. Truth is not understanding. Truth is not a thing to be examined.

John 14: 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Truth is a man and that man is God.

Trust me, I am well informed.