Monumental Blood

Exodus 24:4-6 ESV

4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar.

In every part of this country of ours, scattered all throughout, in virtually every single town, big or small, what you will find are monuments dedicated to those who served in the armed forces during times of conflict.

Sometimes these monuments will be dedicated specifically to those who were slain on the battlefield, other times they are dedicated by the community to those from the community who served.

You can usually find monuments dedicated to those who served in every major conflict throughout our nation’s history just about anywhere you go in this country.

And the reason that this is the case is because our nation wants us to remember what we have gone through and experienced, and our communities want us to remember specifically who it was that gave of themselves in these great struggles throughout our nation’s history.

There are certain things that take place in our lives that are so significant that we do everything that we can to ensure that we don’t ever forget about them.

We’ve already mentioned how our communities will erect monuments to ensure that we never forget those who served during times of conflict, but we do this in our personal lives as well.

For example, when we get married, we receive from our spouse a wedding ring. And wedding rings are nice and pretty and everything; they are most certainly a kind gesture and a valuable gift that is exchanged between a man and his wife, but more than anything else, the purpose that a wedding ring serves is to remind its wearer of the permanent, lifelong commitment that he or she has made to their spouse.

A man looks at his wedding band and he is reminded of the vows that he made to his wife before his family and before God and he remembers once more the significance of the bond that he shares with her.

Well, in a very similar way, God makes use of monuments to remind His people of that which He graciously accomplishes for them. In fact, in our reading for today we will be looking at three important monuments that were established for this very purpose and the eternal significance that stands behind these monuments.

In our message last week, as we looked at verse three in this 24th chapter of the book of Exodus, we noted how Moses had revealed to the people, Israel what were called “the words of the Lord and all the rules”.

We said that the “words” spoken of in that verse are in reference to what we know today as the “Ten Commandments”, which are found back in chapter 20 here in the book of Exodus. And the “rules” spoken of in that verse are in reference to the laws given by God starting at the end of that 20thchapter and going all the way through to the end of chapter 23.

We then went on to read in that verse how after Moses had relayed the words of the Lord and all the rules to the people, that the people responded by saying that they will do what God has spoken.

With this in mind we go now to the exposition of our reading for today, looking first at the beginning of verse 4, where we read:

Exodus 24:4a ESV

4a And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord.

So, the people have already vowed to “do the words of the Lord and all the rules”, now Moses records these words: the Ten Commandments found in chapter 20 and all of the laws given in chapters 21-23 so that, like the wedding band spoken of earlier, the people may ever look to what has been recorded, that which Moses had spoken to the people in verse 3, and be reminded of that covenant which they have bound themselves to.

But this recording of the words of the Lord was important not only for that reason, but also because this covenant would extend beyond their immediate generation.

Thus, this record would not only serve to assist those who were already adherers to the will of God, but also to those in generations to come. As new generations come, there is this record; the words of the Lord and all the rules to help guide them and remind them of the covenant.

Thus, the first monument that we mentioned was established was the written record of the words of the Lord and all the rules.

Then, as we proceed forward in this verse, we see another monument mentioned, where we read:

Exodus 24:4b ESV

4b He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain,

Immediately after God had given to Moses what verse 3 of this chapter describes as the “words of the Lord” or, as we know them, the Ten Commandments, God began to reveal to Moses the Law. And the first portion of the Law that God had revealed to Moses was the laws concerning altars.

We read in Exodus, chapter 20, verse 24:

Exodus 20:24 ESV

24 An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen.

Now, right before this, God had said there in Exodus, chapter 20, verse 23, “You shall not make gods of silver to be with Me”. What this means is that God shall not be worshipped through idols, but rather, the worship of God shall include, at this time, before the erection of the Tabernacle and long before the erection of the Temple in Jerusalem, an altar of earth, a humble altar of dirt.

And thus, in accordance with the command of God, Moses arose and made an altar, a suitable place of worship for the God of Israel, and he built it at the foot of the mountain, that place where the people were permitted to go, that they may worship their God there.

Thus, the earthen altar was a monument, a reminder to the people of God how it is that God commands them to worship Him in reverence and humility.

In addition to this altar and the written record, the last part of verse four tells us of yet another monument where we read that there was built,

Exodus 24:4c ESV

4c twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

Around the earthen altar twelve stone pillars were erected. These pillars, we read, represent the twelve tribes of Israel.

And thus, we see here all in one image the nature of the covenant as we see Sinai, which represents the presence and favor of God, we see the pillars, representing the elect people of Israel whom God has willed to bring near to Him, and we have the altar, representing Christ Jesus, the Mediator between God and man.

And thus, the altar, that place where the proper worship of the God of Israel was to be performed is representative of Christ, Who alone makes legitimate worship and communion with God possible.

After erecting the altar and the twelve pillars of stone, we then look to verse 5 in our reading, where we read:

Exodus 24:5 ESV

5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord.

Now that the altar has been erected, worship is to be made. Moses, our text says “sent young men of the people of Israel” who in turn offered the burnt offerings and sacrificed the peace offerings of oxen to the Lord.

Now, you may notice here that a certain class of people who are typically associated with making sacrifices are not mentioned here. It would later be the will of God that those from the tribe of Levi alone offer sacrifices to God, but at this point the Levitical priesthood had not yet been established, therefore, those who gathered the oxen and sacrificed them on behalf of the people at this juncture were the “young men of the people of Israel”; those who were physically able to do this.

And once this was completed, once the burnt offerings were offered and the peace offerings were sacrificed, we see the extremely vital, extremely symbolic act that Moses then partook in, in verse 6, where we read:

Exodus 24:6 ESV

6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar.

So, this is a rather interesting act on the part of Moses that is taking place here. After the sacrifice is made, Moses collects half of the blood of the sacrificed oxen and he places that blood in basins, or bowls. Then he takes the other half of the blood of the sacrificed oxen, and he throws that half of the blood against the altar.

That probably seems like a pretty strange thing to do, and understandably so; that’s not the kind of thing that we are accustomed to be doing. But what is important here is to recognize the vital, symbolic aspect of what is being accomplished.

God had willed to enter into this covenant with the people, Israel. The people in turn, upon hearing the conditions of this covenant, agreed to enter into it and to uphold their end of the deal, the responsibilities that they are to keep in the covenant.

But the underlying aspect of this covenant is not obedience or faithfulness on the part of man, but the grace of God. God will maintain the covenant that He has made, but not because man keeps his end of the deal, but because God keeps His end of the deal and graciously maintains the covenant in spite of man’s failure to comply.

But God cannot simply overlook man’s failure to comply, for while doing so may be gracious, it would not be just. For this reason, God provides for His elect people a substitutionary atonement.

And this substitutionary atonement is just what its name suggests: it is a substitute; it takes the place of the one that it is intended for. And it provides atonement, it makes payment for the sins of the one that it is intended for.

Thus, a substitutionary atonement means that God graciously forgives the sins of those whom He has chosen to save by having a substitute pay the sin debt of those whom He has chosen to save, and then applying that payment to their account, effectively making them righteous in His sight.

And while God has always saved His elect by grace, and while we today know that it is through Christ Jesus that the substitutionary atonement was made, in this particular dispensation, the Mosaic dispensation, long before Christ had come, God had willed to accept the offering of oxen, and sheep, and goats, as a precursor of sorts that covered the sins of and made atonement for His elect people.

Thus, when Moses takes half of the blood from the sacrificed oxen and puts it in basins, what it represents is the blood that covers the sin and atones for the sin of the people who have just came into covenant with God. Thus, the blood now covers the people, making them righteous in God’s sight.

And the other half of the blood, our text says, was thrown by Moses against the altar. The altar here, represented the other party in this covenant, that other party being God Himself.

But unlike the people, this blood was not thrown against the altar so that sins could be atoned for, for there is in sin found in God and thus God needs not have sins to be atoned for. But rather, this blood, the blood that was thrown against the altar, the altar which represented God Himself was offered to God on behalf of the people to appease His wrath against their sin, He receiving the blood as payment for their sins.

Thus, God allows the slain animal to substitute for the sinner, based on the eventual perfect sacrifice of Christ Jesus, to which all Old Testament sacrifices point to and upon which all Old Testament sacrifices depend for their ultimate validity.

Reminders such as the sacrifice of animals in place of the guilty sinner helped the Israelites keep in mind the source and nature of their forgiveness and true acceptance, that being God and His grace.

And today, as we look back to what Christ Jesus, the fulfillment of these animal sacrifices, the One Whom these sacrifices pointed towards and represented, because the blood of animals never saved, it was always the blood of Christ Jesus which the animal blood represented that saves, as we look back to what He accomplished on behalf of those whom He has chosen to save, we are reminded that it is that same blood covering us that makes us acceptable in God’s sight.

We are reminded that it is that same blood offered to God on our behalf which appeases the wrath of God that hangs over our sins. Beloved, we are reminded as we look at this text that it is solely by grace through faith that we have entered into this everlasting covenant and therefore we are who we are this very day!

Amen?