Exo 24:4 | KingComments | STEP | The ordinances communicated in the previous chapters are communicated by Moses to the people. As in Exodus 19 ( ), the people promise to do everything the LORD has said ( ). In Exodus 19 they say this before they have heard what the LORD wants. Now they have heard His ordinances and say the same. Unfortunately, there is no knowledge of themselves. They will gain this knowledge by the ordinances of the LORD. This will show how much they fail in their promise. Moses puts everything down in writing and in that way records it for the generations to come. As soon as there is a redeemed people, a people that God has separated for Himself, He records His thoughts for and about them in the written Word. The first time an event has to be written in a book, we find in Exodus 17 ( ). God makes His thoughts known in the written Word. Everyone can know what God wants. His unchanging Word can be consulted over and over again. Then Moses built an altar of twelve stones at the foot of the mountain. It is as if he realizes that the people will never be able to fulfill what they have promised and that they can only exist before God on the basis of a sacrifice. The sacrifices speak of the Lord Jesus and of the work He accomplished on the cross. The burnt offering is in its entirety for the LORD ( ). The peace offering is a fellowship offering in which the fellowship between the LORD and his people is expressed ( ). He lets young men, probably the first-born, bring burnt offerings and peace offerings. This work will later be taken over by priests and Levites, who will take the place of the firstborn ( ). Moses takes young men, a new generation, to show the new generation, as it were, that this is the only true basis for God. The elders are bound by the law, and on that basis it will appear to be impossible to approach God. Moses reads the contents of the book in the hearing of the people ( ). He informs them of the terms of the covenant. For the third time, the people declare that they will keep it. They say it even stronger than in , because here they not only say that they will “do”, but add that they will also “obey”. Then Moses takes the people at their word. As solemnly as the people have declared to keep the covenant of the LORD, so Moses records this covenant. This is done by sprinkling blood on the altar and on the people and the book. The sprinkling of the book is not mentioned here. Yet, according to what we read in Hebrews 9, this happened ( ). The sprinkling of the people seems to mean that they are reminded of death as punishment for disobedience. The sprinkling of the book shows that death is necessary as the basis of everything. Therefore, even the whole system of the law is not initiated without blood. The book contains the conditions for the covenant, the people are the covenant people, and the altar represents the LORD, the origin of the covenant. Blood is God’s answer to the people’s repeated promise that they will do what God says. The blood is life poured out into death. This is what will happen to Israel if it violates the words of the LORD. This blood poses a threat. This blood stands in contrast to the blood of the new covenant. From that blood flows reconciliation, forgiveness and blessing. With this we, New Testament believers, are sprinkled ( ; ). In the value of that blood, we, who are no better than those who were under the old covenant, can stand before God. That is what the letter to the Hebrews makes clear.

‏ Exodus 24:4

The Covenant Made

The ordinances communicated in the previous chapters are communicated by Moses to the people. As in Exodus 19 (Exo 19:8), the people promise to do everything the LORD has said (Exo 24:3 ; 7). In Exodus 19 they say this before they have heard what the LORD wants. Now they have heard His ordinances and say the same. Unfortunately, there is no knowledge of themselves. They will gain this knowledge by the ordinances of the LORD. This will show how much they fail in their promise.

Moses puts everything down in writing and in that way records it for the generations to come. As soon as there is a redeemed people, a people that God has separated for Himself, He records His thoughts for and about them in the written Word. The first time an event has to be written in a book, we find in Exodus 17 (Exo 17:14). God makes His thoughts known in the written Word. Everyone can know what God wants. His unchanging Word can be consulted over and over again.

Then Moses built an altar of twelve stones at the foot of the mountain. It is as if he realizes that the people will never be able to fulfill what they have promised and that they can only exist before God on the basis of a sacrifice. The sacrifices speak of the Lord Jesus and of the work He accomplished on the cross. The burnt offering is in its entirety for the LORD (Lev 1:1-17). The peace offering is a fellowship offering in which the fellowship between the LORD and his people is expressed (Lev 3:1-17).

He lets young men, probably the first-born, bring burnt offerings and peace offerings. This work will later be taken over by priests and Levites, who will take the place of the firstborn (Num 3:12). Moses takes young men, a new generation, to show the new generation, as it were, that this is the only true basis for God. The elders are bound by the law, and on that basis it will appear to be impossible to approach God.

Moses reads the contents of the book in the hearing of the people (Exo 24:7). He informs them of the terms of the covenant. For the third time, the people declare that they will keep it. They say it even stronger than in Exo 24:3, because here they not only say that they will “do”, but add that they will also “obey”.

Then Moses takes the people at their word. As solemnly as the people have declared to keep the covenant of the LORD, so Moses records this covenant. This is done by sprinkling blood on the altar and on the people and the book. The sprinkling of the book is not mentioned here. Yet, according to what we read in Hebrews 9, this happened (Heb 9:19).

The sprinkling of the people seems to mean that they are reminded of death as punishment for disobedience. The sprinkling of the book shows that death is necessary as the basis of everything. Therefore, even the whole system of the law is not initiated without blood. The book contains the conditions for the covenant, the people are the covenant people, and the altar represents the LORD, the origin of the covenant.

Blood is God’s answer to the people’s repeated promise that they will do what God says. The blood is life poured out into death. This is what will happen to Israel if it violates the words of the LORD. This blood poses a threat.

This blood stands in contrast to the blood of the new covenant. From that blood flows reconciliation, forgiveness and blessing. With this we, New Testament believers, are sprinkled (1Pet 1:2; Heb 12:24). In the value of that blood, we, who are no better than those who were under the old covenant, can stand before God. That is what the letter to the Hebrews makes clear.