The Way
The Blood of the Covenant
A covenant sealed in blood and shared at a meal
Story
Moses told the people all the words the Lord had spoken. The people cried out with one voice. All the words the Lord has spoken, we will do. Moses wrote down every one of those words. Early the next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. Young men offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as peace offerings, and smoke rose above the altar.
Moses poured half of the blood into basins, and the other half he splashed against the altar. Then he opened the book of the covenant and read it aloud for the people to hear. When he had finished, the people answered again. All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will obey. Moses took the blood from the basins and sprinkled it on the people. See, this is the blood of the covenant the Lord has made with you, in keeping with all these words.
Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up the mountain. When they saw the God of Israel, beneath his feet was something like a pavement of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. God did not lay a hand on them, and they beheld God, and they ate and drank. Some time later the cloud covered the mountain for six days, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. Moses went into the glory that blazed like a consuming fire, and he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Walk this scene on the map →God's Words
Come up to me on the mountain and wait there. I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written to teach the people.
Look, this is the blood of the covenant the Lord has made with you in keeping with all these words.
We will do everything the Lord has said, and we will obey.
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: Ex 24:1–18
Background
In the ancient Near East, covenants were often made with a ceremony of slaughtering animals and eating together. The blood sprinkled at the making of the Sinai covenant points ahead to the blood of the covenant that Jesus spoke of when he lifted the cup at the Last Supper.
Pause and Reflect
Even when my resolve falls apart, do I hold on to God's faithfulness?