THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"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. Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. 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." 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." Exodus 24:4b-8

Moses had finished briefing the people of Israel on the guidance from God and had then written down "everything the Lord had said". After resting overnight, we read that "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". His actions were part of the standard preparations that took place when a covenant making ceremony was about to occur. In this instance, Moses and the people of Israel were about to seal their covenant with God at Mount Sinai. The twelve stone pillars erected around the altar represented all the Israelite people who were divided among the "twelve tribes of Israel".

Once the altar was constructed, the second part of the covenant ceremony began. This involved young bulls sacrificed as fellowship offerings to God. Moses took half of the bull’s blood and sprinkled it on the altar…an act meant to serve as a sin offering to establish or restore a covenant relationship between the people and God.

The ceremony then turned toward a renewing of the covenant. In our scriptures we read where Moses "took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people." This Book of the Covenant included the words of God from Exodus 19, the Ten Commandments of Chapter 20 (also referred to as the Decalogue) and the case laws listed in Exodus 20:22 to 23:33. And just as we saw at the beginning of Chapter 24, the people, upon hearing God’s guidance, responded by saying, "We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey." What didn’t happen at the beginning of the chapter that happened now is what Moses did to the people. For the scriptures tell us that Moses took the blood (the other half of the sacrificed bull’s blood), and sprinkled it on the people saying, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words." In other words, the blood sealed the covenant between God and His people.

This wasn’t the first time that blood played a role in the lives of the people of Israel. You’ll remember that it was the blood spread along the doorposts of the Israelite homes in Egypt that resulted in the angel of death "passing over" those residences as all the firstborn of Egypt were killed. Blood had brought salvation to Israel’s future generation.

Fast forward to the days of Jesus…days that we are to be reflecting on during this Lenten season.
And as we reflect, we should remember the words of John as He spoke about Jesus who was walking toward him. John said, "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) Indeed, Jesus was to be the unblemished Lamb of God who would offer Himself up as a sin sacrifice for all mankind. As He hung from the cross…broken, battered and bruised…Jesus shed His blood as a sign of His Father’s covenant with His children. The blood of Jesus had brought salvation to all of creation’s future generations. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

Question: Do you have a covenant relationship with your personal Savior, Jesus Christ…the One who bled and died so the price for your sins could be paid in full…the One who by shedding His blood allowed you to enter into eternal life with Him and the Father? If so, then continue to strengthen your covenant relationship with Him each and every day. If not, then the time is now to enter into that covenant. For as He shared His Last Supper with His disciples, Jesus "took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Today, we repeat these actions of Jesus during the church sacrament of Holy Communion. The emphasis is still on the blood of the covenant as it was shed to bring forgiveness of sins but this blood no longer came from any animal sacrifice but instead from Jesus…not sprinkled on an altar or people but drank as a symbolic connection between man, God and eternal life…and not just for Israel but for all.

Are you a child of the covenant? It’s not too late.

Thanks be to God for His covenant with us and His love as shown in the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ…the Lamb of God and our Savior. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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