Exodus 24:8-188And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words. 9Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: 10And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. 11And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink. 12And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. 13And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God. 14And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them. 15And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. 16And the glory of the Lord abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights. (Exodus 24:8‑18)
GOD MADE it clear to His people what He expected of them, and they answered, “All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.” Now they must give approval to this covenant through the sprinkling of blood. “And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.”
But the blood shed here was not for the remission of their sins. On the contrary it served as a sign of the death penalty for every offense or transgression of the law. The people promised obedience; now they undertook to obey under the penalty of death. What a solemn occasion this was! How little did they know their own hearts! Man in the flesh is a sinful being and he cannot keep the holy law of God. The law only brought a curse to one who sought to keep it. And this is as true today as then, for we read, “As many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse.” Gal. 3:1010For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. (Galatians 3:10).
How perfect the contrast between law and grace! “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” John 1: 17. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” Gal 3:1313Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (Galatians 3:13).
In 1 Peter 1: 2 we see how grace applies the blood of Christ in a totally different way to what we have here in our chapter. There we are said to be “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” Israel were an elect nation, but theirs was an earthly calling. We are “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” in that past eternity, to be before Him in love as His dear children, “accepted in the Beloved.”
Israel were sanctified, or set apart, by outward forms and ceremonies, but believers now are set apart to God by the power of the Holy Spirit at new birth.
We have been set apart “unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” With Israel it was the obedience of the law, but for us it is the obedience of Jesus Christ. The believer has a new nature that loves to obey like He did. If a father were to tell his little boy to go out and play, off he would go. The little fellow would be obedient in doing so, but it would be what he liked to do.
Then instead of the blood being sprinkled on all the people, to hold them good under penalty of death, here the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus is that which has put away all our sins and brought us life instead of death. Instead of setting out on a life of doing to gain life, we possess eternal life already now as a gift from God. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). Well might we lift up our hearts in praise and thanksgiving to such a Saviour for all that He has done for us, and to the Father that gave Him!
The children of Israel were about to begin their pathway of promised obedience to God, and what a long sad history it was to be. God knew it all beforehand. But He had before Him One in whom He would find all His delight, and so He instructs Moses in the next chapter to build the tabernacle, which brings before us the unfading glories and infinite perfections of Christ, His beloved Son.
ML-04/12/1970