Read Galatians 4:21-5:12 and Exodus 24:1-11.

The Making of the Mosaic Covenant at the Foot of Mt. Sinai⤒🔗

In order to gain a proper understanding of the Mosaic Covenant, we should begin by seeking to understand the making of that covenant as it is described in Exodus 24:1-11. We need to understand the events that occurred at the foot of Mt. Sinai and their spiritual significance in the light of New Testament revelation. Unto that end, we turn our attention to that passage of Exodus.

The Book of Exodus comes to a climax with the people of Israel gathered together in the presence of the LORD at the foot of Mt. Sinai, the mountain of God. The LORD has brought Israel out of Egypt in order to bring them to His holy mountain, intending for them to there enter into a covenant of peace and blessing with the LORD their God.

As the LORD describes it through the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 2:1-2), He wooed Israel out into the wilderness in order to make His proposal of covenantal commitment to her. In that passage of Jeremiah, the LORD reminds His people that out of love for Him, they willingly accompanied Him into the wilderness of Sinai.

Now here in Exodus 24 the people of God are made to understand the terms of the covenant that the LORD their God is graciously offering them: just as He has pledged Himself to be wholly committed to them, so they must be wholly committed to Him. (We shall have to consider the making of this covenant in the light of New Testament revelation in order to understand how the terms of the covenant are realized and fulfilled).

As Exodus 24 opens, we find the LORD extending an invitation to the people of Israel to come into His presence for worship and fellowship. Moses, Aaron and seventy elders of Israel, (as the representatives of the whole nation), are invited to ascend the mountain of God to worship the LORD and be received by Him (Ex. 24:1). At the conclusion of this passage (Ex. 24:9-11), we find Moses, Aaron and the seventy elders actually coming into the presence of the LORD. They saw the God of Israel in His glory: under His feet there was bright sapphire and the very clearness of heaven itself. God did not lay His hand upon them; on the contrary, they beheld God and held fellowship with Him; the testimony that they are in covenant with Him.

Between the opening of this passage, (with the divine invitation to approach God), and the conclusion, (where the people in the person of their representatives actually experience life in covenantal fellowship with God), there is described for us the covenant that made this communion with God possible. The scenario of the covenant nation, in the person of their representatives, holding communion with God in His very presence suggests that the Mosaic Covenant was essentially a covenant of grace, for how could the covenant people attain the situation described in Exodus 24:9­ 11 by means of a covenant of works? But in order to either confirm or refute our initial thesis, we need to consider more carefully the events that composed the making of the covenant, especially the significance of the shed blood sprinkled upon the altar and upon the people.

Verse three of chapter twenty-four relates that Moses “came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the ordinances.” Upon hearing the recitation of the words and ordinances of the LORD, which would be the content of Exodus 20:22-23:33, the people respond by declaring, “All the words that the LORD has spoken, we will do.” According to the O.T. commentators, C.F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch, this interaction between the LORD and His people constitutes the preparation for concluding the covenant.

Early the next morning, Moses built an altar at the base of the mountain, (i.e. in God’s presence), and twelve pillars, representing the twelve tribes of Israel (vs. 4b). He then instructed the young men, who had been previously chosen, to now offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings to the LORD (vs. 5). As we learn from the Book of Leviticus (1:2-17; 6:8-13), the burnt offering symbolized complete devotion and dedication to the LORD on the part of the worshiper. When David declares to Araunah, “neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God that cost me nothing” (2 Sam. 24:24), he is revealing a true understanding of the significance of the burnt offering: to offer burnt offerings that cost the worshiper nothing is an oxymoron. The burnt offering costs the worshiper everything, it is the testimony of his complete devotion to the LORD his God, which is the summary of the whole law (cp. Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37-38). Moses then took the blood of these sacrificed animals and sprinkled half of it on the altar (vs. 6). Thereupon, the people reaffirmed their acceptance of the covenant (vs. 7). Moses now took the rest of the blood and sprinkled it upon the people, declaring, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words” (vs. 7-8).

When we understand the significance of the sprinkling of the blood of the burnt offering, (first upon the altar and then upon the people), we come to see that the obligation of the covenant, consisting in the whole-hearted devotion of the people to the LORD their God, is fulfilled in the people’s giving up of themselves in confident surrender to the LORD their God by an act of faith.

The Old Testament commentators, Keil & Delitzsch, provide the best explanation as to the meaning of the sprinkled blood. We quote them as follows:

The only reason for dividing the sacrificial blood into two parts was the fact that the blood sprinkled upon the altar could not be taken off again and sprinkled upon the people. The two halves of the blood are to be regarded as one blood: first sprinkled upon the altar, then sprinkled upon the people. In the blood sprinkled upon the altar, the natural life of the people is portrayed as being given up to God, as a life that had passed through death, to be pervaded by His grace. Then, by means of the blood being sprinkled upon the people, what is portrayed is that same life being restored to the people as a life renewed by the grace of God.¹

Now we are in a position to understand the significance of the order of events as they occurred at the foot of Mt. Sinai. First, the people consent to accept the LORD’s terms of the covenant. But notice that they are not required to fulfill those terms in reliance upon their own strength. On the contrary, what immediate happens next is the sprinkling of the blood upon the altar. In light of Keil & Delitzsch’s interpretation, this is actually an act of faith whereby the people surrendered themselves in trust to the LORD their God. The repeating of the same words (vs. 7), preceding the sprinkling of the blood upon the people, as previously spoken (vs. 3), accompanying the sprinkling of the blood upon the altar, indicates that the two events are to be seen as actually constituting one event in two parts: the surrendering of the life unto the LORD and the receiving of it back as a life spiritually renewed by God.

In New Testament terms, what is being portrayed at Mt. Sinai is the believer’s union with Christ in His death, (depicted by the blood sprinkled upon the altar), and in His resurrection life, (depicted by the remainder of the blood sprinkled upon the people). Hence, the second affirmation, (the words recorded in vs. 7), should be seen as portraying the peoples’ intention of offering unto the LORD the life of obedience as a new creation, which is signified by the sprinkling of the blood upon the people, which, in turn, typologically portrays the believer’s renewal by virtue of his union with Christ in His resurrection life (Rom. 6:4); a life lived unto God (Rom. 6:10-11).

The Provisional Nature of the Mosaic Covenant←⤒🔗

We must appreciate the fact that the Mosaic Covenant (as it is called) made at Mt. Sinai was a provisional covenant. That is to say, it was not a final end in itself for the people of God; rather, it pointed forward to the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant of grace accomplished by the redeeming work of Jesus the Messiah. Because the Mosaic Covenant was provisional, it could not provide what it depicted, namely, the complete surrender of one’s life unto the LORD, with the consequent result of receiving new spiritual life from the LORD.

So, it should not be surprising that in Exodus 32 we read of Israel’s breaking of the covenant by their making of the golden calf and worshiping it as a substitute for the LORD Himself. As a result of their breaking the covenant, we read of the LORD renouncing Israel,

The LORD said to Moses, 'Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.' ⁸They have been quick to depart from the way I commanded them... ⁹The LORD said to Moses, 'I have observed these people, they are an obstinate people. ¹⁰Now, therefore, leave me alone so that my anger may burn hot against them and that I may consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.' Ex. 32:7-10

Such would have been the tragic state of affairs had it not been for Moses’ intercession:

But Moses earnestly implored the LORD his God, saying, 'LORD, why does your anger burn hot against your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? ... ¹²Turn from your fierce anger and do not bring disaster upon your people. ¹³Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.' ¹⁴So the LORD relented and did not bring upon his people the disaster he had threatened.Ex. 32:11-14

The next day Moses said to the people, 'You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.' ³¹So Moses went back to the LORD and said, 'Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. ³²But now, please forgive their sin, but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.' Ex. 32:30-32

The LORD spared the people, by Moses’ act of intercession, and in the course of time promised to establish a new covenant with them:

'The time is coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. ³²It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt; because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,' declares the LORD. ^33'This is the covenant I will make with the house 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. ³⁴No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,' declares the LORD, 'for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.' Jer. 31:31-34

The New Covenant←⤒🔗

The New Covenant (foretold in Jeremiah 31) does not replace the Mt. Sinai covenant as something of an altogether different nature. On the contrary, the New Covenant replaced the Mosaic Covenant in the sense that the Mosaic Covenant was provisional and the New Covenant contains the promised substance and fulfillment of the original covenant.

At the time He instituted the Lord’s Supper, Jesus distributed the cup of wine and spoke these words, “This is my blood of the covenant, that is poured out for many’” (Mk. 14:24).

Jesus’ shed blood was fulfilling the demands of the old covenant. He offered His blood (His life) unto God the Father as a sacrifice of complete obedience, (which was the requirement of the covenant). At the same time, He offered His blood unto God as a sacrifice of atonement, bearing the punishment of disobedience that His people deserved. As was foretold by the prophet Isaiah:

...he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment was laid upon him for our peace, and by his wounds we are healed. ⁶We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has laid upon him the iniquity of us all.Isa. 53:5-6

Jesus’ shed blood not only fulfilled the requirements of the old covenant, it was at the same time establishing the new covenant that had been foretold by the prophet Jeremiah. Referring to the night Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper, the Apostle Paul writes, “After supper [Jesus offered] the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me’” (1 Cor. 11:25).

The new covenant, just like the old, requires the shedding of blood: representing the offering up of the life unto God in devotion and commitment to Him. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one true “burnt offering” of which all the Old Testament burnt offerings were representative. He is the One who is wholly devoted unto God with a life of active obedience and a death of passive obedience to the Father’s will. At the same time, the Lord Jesus Christ is the one true sin offering: Christ’s death on the cross is the one and only payment for sin that is acceptable to God.

When one believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, he not only is the passive recipient of Christ’s righteousness and atoning sacrifice, he also becomes united to Christ in the latter’s death and resurrection life. Consequently, the believer becomes both the recipient of the benefits of Christ’s fulfillment of the covenantal requirements as well as a participant in the life of the One who alone can fulfill the covenantal requirements.