Exodus 24 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence
After Moses gives a summary of the Law of God to the people of Israel, he initiates, at the Lord’s behest, a covenant ceremony to bind the Israelites to the Lord their God, promising that if they keep God’s laws then they will become a nation of priests and his treasured possession. To solemnify the proceedings, the Lord calls Moses and Aaron, along with his two priestly sons, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel to come farther up the mountain to celebrate the cutting of the covenant with a meal and a greater revelation of God.
Before the meal occurs, down below, the people have promised to obey the Lord saying, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” Moses then writes down the words in a book, which are the first words to actually be recorded in the Bible, even though the history of Creation and the Exodus would be added later on and be placed first in the canon of Scripture. Moses also builds an altar with twelve pillars at the foot of the mountain as both a means of reconciliation between Israel and God as well as a memorial for future generations of this very important ceremony.
Young men were then sent to butcher the animals for the sacrifices and Moses prepared both a burnt offering as well as a peace offering unto the Lord. A burnt offering was given in order to make atonement for the sins of God’s people. Only the blood of the animal was spared; the rest of it was burned in its entirety to signify that the people had been wholly offered unto God and His service. Afterwards, the peace offering was made, where once again the blood was shed, but this time only the fat, or the best part of the animal, was given to God and burned in the fire. The rest of the animal was to be eaten by the leaders in Israel to signify a peaceful relationship and fellowship between God and Israel.
The blood of these sacrifices were utilized in two ways. Half of it was thrown against the sides of the altar both to purify the altar as well as to atone for the sins of the people. The other half Moses collected in a basin and most likely he dipped a hyssop branch in the blood and then shook it out in order to sprinkle the leaders of Israel, again representing the nation of Israel as being both purified and set aside unto God by the death of a sacrificial substitute. In Hebrews 9:18ff we see a commentary on this process to show that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” As Moses performed this ceremony, he said, “Behold, the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you.” This should remind you of what the Lord Jesus said in the upper room, “This is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Afterward, the leaders of Israel are invited up the mountain to a fellowship meal with God where they would eat their portion of the peace offering in the presence of God and of Christ, for when they ate the meal, the Lord appeared to them walking in the flesh in a foretaste of heaven. Then Moses and Joshua were invited to the very top of the mountain where Moses waited upon the Lord for six days. On the seventh day, a Sabbath day, the Lord invited Moses to enter into the cloud of the Shekinah glory where he would enjoy the closest fellowship with God and where God would reveal to him how He created the world, how they should build the tabernacle and its furnishings and would give him the Law of the Covenant engraved on the two stone tablets. A lot happened on the mountain during those forty days of waiting and worshipping God. But we must remember that it was while Moses was spending this intimate time with God that the Israelites were down below fashioning their golden calf.