We have a covenant with God (Exo 21-24)

We have a covenant with God

Exodus 20:22-24:11
Key verse 24:6-8

Now same-sex has been legalized. In that spirit, some people and politicians have also tried to legalize sexual with children (pedophilia), claiming that same-sex marriage is not different from sex with children. Adultery is not a serious social issue anymore. See how violent movies and games are. This society is becoming numb to stealing, killing and injuring people, and damaging others’ properties. A while ago, a boy in our neighbor stole bikes from many houses. We warned him but he did not care. People have no sense of what is right and what is wrong. In this corrupt age, we Christians are also losing moral standards and ethical codes as God’s people. What must we do? Today we are going to talk about how to live as God’s people in this corrupt age and what to teach our children and our Bible students. I pray that God may give us a holy desire to live as his people.

Here is the simple structure of Exodus 19-24a, which shows how God made a covenant with Israel.

·         Preparation for the covenant (Ch 19)

·          The contents of the covenant

o    The Ten Commandments (20:1-17)

o    The laws (20:22-23:33)

§   Israel’s obligations (20:22-26)

§   God’s obligations (23:20-33)

·          Ratification of the covenant (24:1-11)

At Mount Sinai, God met with the Israelites to make a covenant. Then he gave them the Ten Commandments and laws. Last week we studied the Ten Commandments. Today we are going to study the laws. The laws particularly detailed the second part of the Ten Commandments. What the US Constitution is to amendments is what the Ten Commandments are to the laws. There are so many laws that we cannot cover all of them today, however. And many of them do not apply to us directly because of our different situation. But the spirit of these laws, which is the love for God and love for our neighbors, is still applied to us. After overviewing the laws, we are going to see how God and the Israelites ratified the covenant. Through this we can learn the significance of the covenant.

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: ²³ Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.

It seems that after Moses told the Israelites the Ten Commandments, he went back to the mountain to meet with God while the Israelites still stood in fear at a distance. (20:21) Now God said to Moses that they had seen him speaking to them from heaven. That meant that they should now know who he is –Holy God and the only true God. Thus God emphasized that they must not make any gods to be alongside him or make for themselves gods of silver or gods of gold (20:3,4), which is the basis of all the laws we are going to cover today.

I. Israel’s obligations

²⁴ “‘Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. 

God told them to make an altar for him so that he could come to them. When they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings at the altar and his name was honored, he would come to them and bless them. (24:4b-6) The altar should not be built with dressed stones, probably to prevent making any forms or images of God. This way they would worship God in spirit and in a godly way.

From now on we are going to see laws that touched many aspects of their life. While living together in the desert, they would have all kinds of issues in relation to others. Theses laws covered Hebrew servants, personal injuries, properties, social life, and Sabbath and Three Festivals. These laws touched their practical issues in life. And the last two, the laws about Sabbath and three Festivals, had more to do with when they would live in the land.

Hebrew servants

There are two laws for Hebrews servant. A manservant should be set to go free after six years of service. However, a maidservant who is sold for a man or for the man’s son, should be treated as a legitimate wife or daughter-in-law. If he married another woman, the man must not deprive her of marital rights. If so, she is to go free. Hebrew servants should be treated as their brothers and sisters after all and they should be set to live free and equal with others.

Personal injuries

There are diverse laws regarding personal injuries. If anyone causes a person to die and fatally wounded intentionally, the person is to be put to death. Anyone who attacks or curses his or her parents is to be put to death. If anyone injures someone and someone’s animals, the person must pay back. These laws supplemented the fifth and sixth Commandments – “Honor your parents” and “You shall not murder.” And the principle of these laws is expressed in 21:23-24.

23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

Each person is so precious before God because he creates each in his image. So, God dealt with such life-related issues very seriously. But this principle is not intended for revenge, but rather for preventing crime and protecting people.

Property loss

These laws supplement the eighth and tenth Commandment- “You shall not steal” and “You shall not covet anything that belong to your neighbors.” If anyone steals others’ livestock or damages their assets, the person must make restitution by paying back double or even more according to the situation. God’s people should respect one another and thus value their possessions.

Social responsibility

A man is to be responsible for a virgin he sleeps with him and to take her as his wife. If someone takes advantage of the widow and the fatherless God will kill the person. They must not charge interests to a poor brother who borrows money. As God is compassionate, they should be compassionate to who are in need. The same is true with believers today. We should not ignore who are in need among us. We are all God’s people. We are living together and going to the kingdom of God together not individually.

Here God also iterates the laws about him. They must not sacrifice to any god other than the LORD; they must not blaspheme God; they must not hold back offerings from the productions from their land; they must give God the firstborn of their sons and of their livestock. God’s people should honor God as God by giving what is due him and then we are also able to serve others with responsibility and compassion.

Lawsuits

They must not spread false reports, be a malicious witness, pervert justice or show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit. The laws about lawsuit focus on doing right things as God’s people in the spirit of justice and mercy. Justice and mercy are God’s outstanding characters. In fact, all the laws here reflect God’s justice and mercy. Justice and mercy are the basis of all the laws and we can live up to them when we have the fear of God and the love of God. Without these, all the laws here are nothing but just moral and ethical code.

Sabbath and Three Festivals

After giving the laws about their practical life, God gave the laws about Sabbath and the three annual festivals, which they have to keep particularly in the land of promise. They should work for six days but must not work on the seventh day. They even should not plow their fields during the seventh year.

They should celebrate a festival to God three times a year – the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Harvest with the first fruits of the crops (Pentecost), and the Festival of Ingathering at the end of year (Tabernacles). Three times a year all the men are to appear before God with their best sacrifice and their best of the first fruits. These laws were giving in hope of the Promised Land.

II. God’s obligations

So far, God has given the Israelites the laws that they must keep as their obligation in regard to the covenant. Now God is giving them his promises, which is his obligation. God is going to send an angel ahead of them to guard them along the way and to bring them to the land of Canaan. If they listen carefully to what he says and do all God’s words, God will wipe out their enemies.

But in the land, Israel

·         Must not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices but must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces.

·         Must not make a covenant with them or with their gods.

It is because the peoples in the land and their gods will cause Israel to sin against God. God really looks forward to the land and convinces them that they will enter the land without fail. However, entering the land is one thing and how to live there is another. If they worship the LORD God alone, he will bless them in all aspects of life. If not, they will perish even in the Promised Land. The more we are blessed the more we worship God alone. We must not let our blessing replace God.

III. Ratification of the covenant

Now all the laws, their obligations and God’s promises, were told to Moses. It was time to confirm the covenant with the Israelites and make it effective.

Look at 24:1-3. Moses went down back to the people. Let’s see how Moses followed through the covenantal process.

First, he told them all the words of God and laws. He made sure that they understood their obligations and God’s promises. In return, the people said that they would do everything God said.

Second, Moses wrote down everything God had said, which would serve as evidence and a reminder for them.

Third, the next early morning Moses 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 Israelites men and they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD. (see 20:24)

Forth, Moses took half of the blood and splashed it against the altar. Then he read the people the Book of the Covenant and they responded again that they would obey everything the LORD said. Then, he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people.

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.”

What is the meaning of the blood of the covenant? As we saw when God made a covenant with Abraham, a covenant was ratified (sealed) by blood. Why by blood then? Blood has to do with life. By sprinkling blood, both parties were obligated to keep the covenant at risk of life. If anyone party broke it he would lose his life, shedding blood as the animals did. In other words, they sprinkled blood to swear that they would keep it for sure. By sprinkled half of blood to the altar God was sure he would keep his promises. And in the same way by sprinkling the other half of blood on the people they made a vow that they would keep his words. In this way both God and the Israelites were bound to the covenant, which should not be breakable.

Lastly, Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up together as God told.

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.

Amazingly, up there they saw the God of Israel and his glory. This time they did not tremble and God did not raise his hand against them. They rather ate and drank joyfully before the LORD.

We can see clearly the difference before the covenant ratification and after. Before when they saw God’s presence they trembled and God also warned them not come near. It was because there was no way for Holy God and sinful men to come together. But after the covenant ratification, they could approach God and even see his glory with their bare eyes. It was because God and they were reconciled by burnt offerings and fellowship offerings and by the blood of the covenant, which brought peace between them. Now the Israelites were bound to God through the covenant and God was happy with the covenant.

What was the significance of the covenant then? When God made a covenant with Abraham, he said that he would establish his kingdom through the Israelites. (Gen 17:7) This meant that he would make them his holy people and lead them to the land of Canaan. And in 19:5-6, God clearly stated this.

⁵ Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, ⁶ you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’”

For this purpose, God gave them the Law. The Ten Commandments and the laws were given to mold the Israelites into holy people so that they could enter the kingdom of God.

Now let’s think about how this applies to us today. To some people, the covenant with the Israelites seems to have little connection to Christians. But we should know that we have a covenant with God through Jesus’ blood. At the last Supper just before he was crucified, Jesus took the cup and said to his disciples, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” (Luke 22:20) When we believe in Jesus, we come to have the covenant relationship with God by Jesus’ blood. His blood cleanses us of all our sins. His blood is so precious, perfect, and powerful that the new covenant cannot be nullified regardless of our sins. So our covenant through Jesus’ blood is much better and perfect in comparison with the covenant made with Israel. Once we believe in Jesus, God will surely lead us to his kingdom.

However, that does not mean that we can live according to our sinful nature. Until we enter the kingdom of God, we should be changed and live holy. That is why he gives his words as he gave the laws to the Israelites.

We must keep the Ten Commandments. Though some of the laws we have learned today are not applied to us directly, the spirit of the law does – love for God and love for our neighbors. God wants us to have justice and mercy to others as the laws intended to do. In that sense, the Law is still valid to us. So Jeremiah 33:33 says,

³³ “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

In 6:9-11, Paul also warned the Corinthians who indulged in sins.

⁹ Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men ¹⁰ nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Remember that we are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. We look forward to the kingdom of God. So until that day we should live holy by keeping the word of God. Though we often stumble on our sins, through his word and his Holy Spirit God will mold us into his holy people who are fitting for his kingdom.

This generation is so confused and compromised. People, even church people, have no sense of what is right and what is wrong. We must go back to the Bible, which will help us know biblical truth. We should study the word of God diligently and put it into practice. Then, the Holy Sprit will work powerfully in is so that we can be changed into a holy people and enter the kingdom of God. We are God’s holy people. We have a covenant with God through Jesus.

by David Yun