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10-10-15. Exodus 24:1-18. The Blood Of The Sacrifice Opens The Way To God-my devotional

10-10-15. The Blood Of The Sacrifice Opens The Way To God-my devotional

Exodus 24:1-18                                                                               Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 24:7,8                                                                           10-10-15

mosaic-covenant-concluded

“Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” 8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Part 1: Approach God’s Mountain Only By The Blood Of The Sacrifice (1-8)

 

Verses 1-8, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, 2 but Moses alone is to approach the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.” 3 When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” 4 Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” 8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

 

God wanted all of the leaders of Israel to come up to him to enter into a covenant relationship with him. He could not invite three million people up the mountain and so he called the elders. God has always inviting people to come to him. He has never stopped doing that.

 

We also learn some important points of leadership development from God’s invite. Moses was not just leading the people all alone. How could he? There were three million or more. There were others that God wanted to be involved. They were the elders and leaders among the people. The setting up of the twelve stones showed that these elders were representative of the twelve tribes. Moses came alongside seventy elders. In verse 13,  Moses also made Joshua his aide. It appears that Moses was instructed by God to take Joshua onto the mountain. It is doubtful that Joshua was able to go into the presence. if God as Moses did. He at least went up. He stayed the entire time. We see him coming down with Moses 40 days later. The elders also went part way, but ultimately it would be Moses who alone would go all the way into presence of the Lord.

 

Never forget to involve the elders and the leaders. God has raised them up for a purpose. They must never be ignored, nor reduced to a “rubber stamping” administrative body. They are called to approach the Lord. As we serve Jesus, bring people along side us and disciple them. Train them so that they can enter into leadership roles in the church.

 

The people responded well. They were ready to obey. They wanted to belong to God. Look at verses 3 & 7, “When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” …Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” God moved in the peoples’ hearts. They were inspired to respond very positively, declaring their willingness to obey the words of God.

 

Whether or not they were able to obey the Lord is another story. Actually, there was no way that they could reach the level of obedience. The obedience that God demands is perfect obedience, which human beings are incapable of producing. God meant for this problem to arise, so that his peoples’ only recourse would be to despair of their own feeble efforts to obey and come to the Lord through offering up his prescribed sacrifice. I can say that God is concerned with our willingness.

 

Normally the people could never approach the Lord, because of their sins. But God made it possible, through the offering up of sacrifices. Look at verse 4, “Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord.”  Before the invitation could be accepted, the blood of the burnt and peace offering must be shed. In verse 8, the blood that Moses sprinkled on the people probably pertained to their leaders and representatives. It could hardly be sprinkled on three million people. Even the most distinguished people in the Israelite society, could not approach God, based on their own goodness. Only those who have been made holy through the shedding of blood could approach the mountain.

 

To understand what is happening here, we need to understand the Bible’s’ view of sin and forgiveness. God is the sovereign judge of the entire universe. He is also absolutely holy. As the holy judge of all, God condemns sin and judges it worthy of death. People, lost in sin, are also destined to be condemned. But in the Old Testament, God accepted the death of an animal as a substitute. The animal’s shed blood was proof that one life had been given for another. It symbolized that life was spared as a result. That is why God wanted to make a coveneant with his people and seal it in blood.

 

Moses sealed the covenant in blood. He sprinkled half the blood from the sacrificed animals on the altar to show that a sinner can now approach God because something had died in his place. After sprinkling the blood, Moses read the Book of the Covenant. The people responded, “We will obey the Lord.” Then Moses sprinkled them with blood. The penalty for sin had been paid.  The covenant was sealed, their sins were forgiven. And now they could be reunited with God. They became God’s holy people.

 

Lessons in this passage point to the future sacrificial death, or atonement through Christ.  It points to the new covenant made possible though the shed blood of Jesus shed for our sins. The blood of Jesus not only cleanses our sins, but it binds us to God, and we become his covenant people. On our own, without our Savior Jesus, could never approach the throne of God. God is holy and we are not. But the blood of Jesus makes it possible for believing sinners to come near. Ephesians 2:13-18 reads,

 

“13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” (NIV)

 

Hebrews 9:9-10:2 sums it up well.

 

“This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. 10 They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order. 11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! 15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. 16 In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17 because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19 When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20 He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” 21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. 10 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.” (NIV)

 

Entering into this new relationship in Christ, through the blood of Jesus, is the beginning of our new life. Peter wrote: “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:10) God invites us to be his covenant people. He invites us, even though he knows that we are unholy. He makes us holy, new creations, through the shed blood on the cross. Praise God for his wonderful grace.

 

Part 2: Fellowship Is Possible In God’s Presence By His Grace (9-11)

 

Moses and the priests and elders of Israel represented the nation as they ate a glorious fellowship meal before the Lord. Verses 9-11 read, “9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up 10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. 11 But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.”

 

In verse 10 we may be confused as to why the elders can see God and not die. But it becomes more understandable, when we discover the word, “seen”, means to “comprehend” God. No person has ever fully “comprehended” God at any time. God accepted the blood sacrifice that was made on the altar and he forgave them and allowed them to approach. He opened their hearts to comprehend him. They marveled at his beauty and they ate and drank in his presence. This symbolized the love relationship that God wanted with his people. Real fellowship among God’s people must be before the Lord.

 

Part 3: God’s Salvation Plan Unfolding And It Is Glorious (12-18)

 

Verses 12-18, “12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.” 13 Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. 14 He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.” 15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.”

God called Moses back up the mountain to give him the law and the commandments. What a privilege Moses was given. He was about to be given the most important stone slabs in all of human history. He was chosen to present to the world, the Ten Commandments. These commandments would change the course of human history. These stone tablets have been the focus of billions of hearts since they were first made around 1400 BC, and Moses was called to bear them to the world. What a glorious mission from God!

 

We can see how glorious the giving of the Ten Commandments was. Look at verse 17, “To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.” It looked like the entire top of the mountain was on fire. I have recently seen something like this, where super-charged volcanic ash cloud in Patagonia sparked with dramatic lightning. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQtKuj-M2vU)  It is quite majestic. It set the stage for and very unusual and unique covenant ratification ceremony.

 

God’s plan for world salvation was unfolding and it was glorious.

 

Prayer: Lord, how can I ever approach you and be a member of your people? It is impossible, but you made it possible by the blood of the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus. Thank you for drawing me near by your grace.

 

One Word: Answer God’s invite to draw near through faith in the blood.

 




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