If both words, "mercy-seat" and "propitiation" come from one Greek word hilasterion, and the place for the mercy-seat is only in the holy of holies, "the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man," and that "tabernacle is to come down from God out of Heaven," upon the earth, and Christ himself is our "mercy-seat" accompanying that "true tabernacle" when it comes, who can tell us from whence came all we hear about "Christ leaving the mercy-seat" when he comes, and also what authority, force, or truth there is in the declaration. Will Christ leave himself when "he comes?" Because Christ is sometimes called our propitiation, and because the same Greek word hilasterion, is once translated "propitiation," Rom. 3 : 25, and once "mercy-seat," Heb. 9 : 5, our brother seems to draw the unwarranted conclusions : (1) that Christ must always be regarded as identical with the "mercy-seat;" (2) that the "mercy-seat" is connected with the true tabernacle which is "coming down from God out of Heaven"; (3) therefore it is improper to speak of Christ as leaving the "mercy-seat" or priestly office. We will venture to suggest that, on account of the intimate connection existing between the office and the officer that fills it, the same term is often used in a double sense—sometimes referring to the person, and sometimes to the place. The word "court" is a familiar example. It may mean the place where judicial business is transacted, or the judge who sits on the bench. So the term "church" sometimes means the meeting-house, and sometimes the organized membership habitually worshiping in it. Every Bible student will readily recall the interchangable use of "king" and "kingdom" in some of the prophetic books. Observe: Christ is not called our "mercy-seat," but hilasterian, a word that is once translated "mercy-seat" in connection with Paul's description of the tabernacle service. The "mercy-seat" was certainly a place in the Jewish tabernacle. Nor was it identical with any high-priest, who was permitted to visit it only once a year. The attempt to prove that Christ's priestly office will be eternally perpetuated, because the tabernacle of God is coming to earth, seems far-fetched and futile. Indeed, Paul argues that if Christ "were on earth, he would not be a priest," and there is abundant evidence that the propitiatory work of our great High Priest will be succeded by the judicial work of our coming king. —Bible Banner.