Wednesday: The Covenant at Sinai
The Exodus and all that it entailed, from the blood on the doorpost in Egypt to the drama at the Red Sea — what an experience! No doubt it made an impression on those who lived through it. (And those who died, from the first-born children in Egypt to the soldiers at the bottom of the sea, God will judge them fairly.) As the Lord said: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself” (Exodus 19:4).
Image © The Classic Bible Art Collection – Formerly Standard Publishing at Goodsalt.com
Why did the Lord do this stunning and dramatic rescue, actually taking one nation out of another nation, or, as Moses himself said to them: “Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?” (Deuteronomy 4:34)?
Read Exodus 19:4-8. Why did the Lord call the people out from Egypt?
It was as simple as that. God called them out, the seed, the descendants of the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And with these descendants the Lord established His covenant, and they would be, indeed, “a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine” (Exodus 19:5). This relationship was central to the covenant.
This idea of a “special treasure” (segullah), however, could be (and it was, in fact) easily misunderstood. Their specialness came not from anything inherently holy and righteous in and of themselves. Instead, it was because of God’s grace given to them and because of the wonderful truths that He had bestowed upon them — truths that they were to follow and, as a “kingdom of priests,” eventually spread to the world.
God then gave them some of the stipulations of the covenant, too (their end of the deal, so to speak), the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), and then this covenant was ratified. Having sprinkled a newly constructed altar with the blood of the offerings, Moses “took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people” (Exodus 24:7). The people again declared that they would obey.
| “When Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood … and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you’” ( Hebrews 9.19-20, NKJV). What does the blood signify, and why is it so important, even to us today? |
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The track records of people who have had special calls/covenants with God is not good. Many of them have taken the covenant to mean special privilege rather than responsibility.
Micah puts it into perspective:
It is also noteworthy that the wise men who worshiped the Savior at His birth came from "heathen" background. It seems they were more open to the Holy Spirit than the vast majority of God's covenant people. Might that be a lesson for us?
I so very much appreciate seeing the Father and His Son, our Lord Christ Jesus, watching every step of mankind's development - starting with our original parents - watching as man multiplied and became many families. Order and structure to secure mankind's growing numbers and spreading out 'to fill the earth and master it' was assured from the Beginning - Gen.1:28.
I think everything on earth pertaining to man is governed by Heaven's Timetable. So, 'why did the Lord call the people out from Egypt'? Because it was the right time to fulfill His promise to Abraham! God stated that 'through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed because you have obeyed My voice.' Abraham obeyed God's call to leave his homeland and do this work for Him; and now, heaven decided it was the right time for the next chapter to commence - as simple as that.
Abraham's offspring had grown in number sufficiently for heaven to establish them as a people within their own nation - '..ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:' - Exodus 19:5. All people are 'mine', He says, but the children of Abraham were given the privilege be called 'His peculiar treasure', to be instructed/'trained' and held responsible to reflect their God's Image to the world.
We know that, ultimately, the focus, the goal of Heaven's Plan was to change the people's hearts and minds, to be able to love their God with all their heart and soul. I see the Covenant at Sinai to be the blueprint to facilitate the changing of the ways these people lived, thought, reasoned, and felt about their God, themselves and their neighbor - to get them started for living with a changed heart.
All these relationships were to be governed through/by *loving God* first; obedience to *Law* was meant to foster trust, to direct them into knowing that God keeps His Word.
God fulfills all His Promises, keeps all His Covenants! Our time is Heaven's last chapter in its Plan of Salvation to save mankind. The Father's Son, our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, came down from Heaven that by Him and through Him all mankind can be saved. With Him, the Father's Love entered the world of man in physical form to teach us how to love rightly.
In referring to "the blood of the covenant" that Moses sprinkled on both the 'book' containing the covenant and the people who said they agreed to abide by the convenant, today's lessons asks the question "What does the blood signify and why is it so important - even to us today". Blood was involved in both Israelite rituals and pagan rituals (1 Kings 18:28). As the lesson's question notes, blood in Israelite rituals was symbolic - it signified something. What was it symbolic of? In commenting on this very experience, Ellen White proposes outright that:
Is it merely the literal shedding of the blood of Jesus that is of importance in the cleansing of sin - or is there a wider perspective that is vital to understand? Can shed literal blood somehow actually remove sin? I am sure you can see that there a further layers of symbolism here being represented by Jesus shed blood that 'cleanses' humans from sin. And note that whatever Jesus shed blood represents, it cleanses/removes/'blots out' actual sin - not just the 'penalty' of sin.
To be sure, Jesus 'shed blood' (via all that it signifies/symbolises) does remove the 'penalty' of sin - but it does so by addressing and rectifying the source of the sin - so that sin is no longer producing the 'penalty'. Another way we could metaphorically say this is that the cleansing blood of Jesus displaces (and in so doing destroys like light 'destroys' darkness) sin at its root rather than merely getting rid of the bad fruit.
To gain a wider appreciation of the actual cleansing/healing/restoring that the shed blood symbolically portrays, it is necessary to view Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (root and all) alongside Jesus as the 2nd/Substitute Adam who needed to retrace the path of the 1st Adam - but do so successfully this time (as per Romans 5:12-21). Although they are two different metaphors/analogies, they are describing the exact same process.
One other thing you will also need to keep centrally in mind at the same time is the basis upon which true life can actually only be viable: self-giving/sacrificing, other-benefiting love. The ultimate expression of this kind of love is commitment to holding on to this kind of love even to the point of losing your life in the process of doing so (John 15:13). This is how sin is cleansed - actually removed at the root (Revelation 12:10-11).
How does all this fit together? I have previously written a brief summary that can be viewed here as a starting point of understanding.
There is much more that could be said on what is an immense topic that we will be looking into more and more for eternity. But hopefully this is a meaningful starting point...
Phil - Could you consider to see 'Christ's blood' as the metaphor for the power of unconditional Love? He gave His life, his blood, because He loved the Father and He loved mankind, His creation. Love and life was in His blood, given to man that man can experience Love's Life.
In your 9.4. comments you mentioned "3 key 'aspects' involved in salvation, each of which reflect similar yet distinct dimensions of faith."
Would you consider that faith cannot exist without accepting Christ's self-sacrificing love first? Without the Creator's love for His creation as His motivator, the 'sacrificial blood of the covenant' would be just shed blood.
The shedding of Christ's blood, though, happened as a result of His unconditional Love. Our Savior did not shrink from giving His life-blood when our sin required it of Him, because He knew that His Love has the power to atone for our sin and to restore us back to Life.
I think we stop short of fully appreciating the operational, foundational power of Christ's Love present in His shed blood if we look at it as 'just blood required as a sacrifice'.
Christ's blood represents His willingness to which His unconditional Love was accepting to go to demonstrate His Love to us, to open the Way for us to do likewise. I think our focus would be better placed on seeing His willingness to give His life's blood so we can love selflessly.
As this act highlights His unconditional Love, it exposes the spiritual darkness of sin. Men, possessed by the power of the darkness of this world, agreed together to require the blood of an innocent man, the Son of Man and God!
'Cleansing/healing/restoring' starts when we believe what the Father says about His Son - how great their Love is that He allowed His Son to loose His earthly life to so bring Light and Life into this world's spiritual darkness.
And so became the Son's selfless Love the Father's Way of Love and Light to bring us back to the Father! I see the miracle of the power of God's Love working with Mercy and Grace through Faith to give us Life.
Hi Brigitte
Yes, I agree that Christ's shed blood is a metaphor for ultimate expression of unconditional love/beneficence - as per John 15:13.
And yes, genuine faith is anchored in someone who is absolutely trustworthy. Who is going to be uncompromisingly trustworthy - a benevolent being or a malevolent one? This is one of the big questions that the Great Controversy will reveal.
I appreciate your focus on the unconditional love of God and His Son. The Serpent misportrayed God to Eve as restrictive and therefore self-seeking. God's response to this misportrayal was to get very personally involved with the sin problem and its consequences, lay everything on the line at infinite personal cost/sacrifice, and seek to save that which would otherwise have been eternally lost (Philippians 2:5-8).
Phil, thank you for speaking so clearly. From reading your comments I have been reassured that logic and reason is found in spiritual truth, identifiable by spiritual discernment.
I conclude this is so, because the power of Faith is based on the combined work of the infinitely wise, just, merciful, gracious = loving Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The concept/aspects of the by them designed perfect, intelligent Faith is what Christ Jesus offers us to learn about. It goes beyond locating passages from Scripture and repeating them without being able to perceive/explain/contextualize them in the bigger picture of the Plan of Salvation - our Hope and Faith.
I believe our Salvation to be a spiritual Salvation which imparts the essence of Salvation - Love - as the life-giving/redeeming influence on our physical existence since it reaches us at the time when we are still in our body of flesh.
Heaven's spiritual truth can only be spiritually discerned - the thief on the cross experienced this Faith in the last minutes of his life -, and will be ours to know into eternity.
1Peter 3:15 - confident expectation! 2Tim.2:15; 1Cor.3:1-3; Heb.5:12; 1Cor.2:14;
Love this explanation. Thanks for sharing.
Blood = a life forfeited(where else would you find blood?), and I would think that the blood signified God's purchase(at an Infinite price) of all who desire forgiveness for their sin, who would become His faithful, obedient people, to serve Him. It signifies also God's intent and solemn commitment to all who trust in Him. Without the blood, there could be no covenant with sinners, for they must remain without justification(Heb 9:22), and thus remain polluted by their sins. God will only dwell with those who are cleansed from sin(rebellion), who are in perfect union with Him. Sin entered this world and broke that union, and only with righteousness(by grace, through faith) can this union be restored. Since we cannot be justified by our own works, the blood(life) of Jesus was accepted by God in our place, by Jesus willingly receiving the “wages of sin”(death) Himself, thus allowing God to legally justify(pardon) sinners(Rom 3:24-26).
Amen.
And the people again declared that they WOULD OBEY. Do we tell that same lie?
I understand that to speak a 'lie', one must know it is a falsehood, with intent to deceive.
I give them the benefit of doubt. I believe they & we were in(are) earnest in their/our reply(none of Adams race[other than Jesus, who is God]can pull themselves up by their bootstraps). John 15:5,
John 14:6,
Philippians 4:13
In light of today's lesson I did a quick outline review of Leviticus. Leviticus 1-16 the children were given the ways of access to God:Redemption. Theirs was the way of animal sacrifices pointing to the hope in the coming Messiah to save us from the variety of sins enumerated in those verses. Leviticus 17-27 God outlined the way of living for Him:Holiness. The children were given standards by which to live and love. The standards included reverence for blood, moral and ethical standard for behavior before God and each other, devotional standards of worship to God and reverence for His name. Would we today be willing to commit with all our mind, breath and strength to God's covenant requirements? The children said then "all this we will do!"
I confess that only in the strength of Jesus and His mind am I able to make that commitment. God have mercy!!