A Bloody Agreement Text: Exodus 24:3-8
Introduction: The Covenant-Making God
We live in a sentimental age. Our generation wants a god who is a celestial guidance counselor, a divine affirmation machine who never makes demands, never issues judgments, and certainly never deals in anything so messy as blood. The modern mind wants a relationship with God that functions like a social media connection; you can "like" his posts when you find them inspiring and quietly unfollow when he says something that makes you uncomfortable. But the God of the Bible is not a god of polite suggestions. He is a God who makes covenants.
A covenant is not a contract between two equal parties. A covenant is a solemn bond, sovereignly administered, with attendant blessings and curses. God always sets the terms. And in Scripture, the most solemn covenants are cut in blood. This is not some primitive holdover from a barbaric age that we have evolved beyond. This is the bedrock of reality. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. This is true under the Old Covenant, and it is doubly true under the New. To be squeamish about the blood is to be squeamish about salvation.
In our text today, we come to one of the most dramatic scenes in the Old Testament. Israel is at the foot of Mount Sinai, the mountain still smoking from the presence of God. They have heard the Ten Commandments, and they have received the "Book of the Covenant," which contains the civil and ceremonial laws that will govern them as a nation. Now, the time has come to ratify the agreement. This is the wedding ceremony between Yahweh and Israel. And like any ancient, solemn bond, it will be sealed with a sacrifice. This passage is not just a historical account of a liturgical service. It is a profound theological drama that shows us the nature of God's law, the failure of man's promises, and the absolute necessity of a better covenant, sealed with better blood.
This ceremony at the foot of Sinai is a glorious picture, a magnificent shadow of the substance that was to come. But it is a shadow nonetheless. And we must understand it as such, or we will make one of two errors. We will either dismiss it as irrelevant to us, or we will try to live in it as though the reality has not yet come. Both are disastrous. We must see what this covenant was, what it accomplished, and where it fell short, in order to truly appreciate the glory of the new covenant in which we now stand.
The Text
Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of Yahweh and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice and said, "All the words which Yahweh has spoken we will do!"
And Moses wrote down all the words of Yahweh. Then he arose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.
And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to Yahweh.
And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, "All that Yahweh has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!"
So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has cut with you in accordance with all these words."
(Exodus 24:3-8 LSB)
Eager Promises and Written Words (v. 3-4a)
We begin with the people's response to the law and Moses' subsequent actions.
"Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of Yahweh and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice and said, 'All the words which Yahweh has spoken we will do!' And Moses wrote down all the words of Yahweh." (Exodus 24:3-4a)
Moses, acting as the covenant mediator, comes down from the mountain and tells the people everything God has commanded. The response of the people is immediate, unanimous, and enthusiastic. "All the words which Yahweh has spoken we will do!" On the surface, this is a model response. It is exactly what you would want to hear. There is no debate, no committee meetings, no requests for amendments. Just a corporate, vocal commitment to total obedience.
But we who have the rest of the story know that this promise, however sincere it may have been in the moment, was built on a foundation of sand. It was a promise made in the flesh. Within forty days, this same people, with this same voice, will be shouting and dancing around a golden calf. Their enthusiastic "we will do" will curdle into a defiant "we will do what we want." This is the fundamental problem of the Old Covenant. It presents a perfect law to an imperfect people. It reveals God's standard of righteousness, but it does not provide the power to meet that standard. The law is good, but the people are not. The law is like a perfect mirror; it can show you that your face is dirty, but it cannot wash your face for you.
This is not to say their promise was worthless. It was a necessary part of the covenant ceremony. They had to formally agree to the terms. But their inevitable failure to keep this promise would demonstrate, for all time, the need for a new covenant, one where God would not only give the law but would also write it on their hearts and give them a new spirit to obey it (Jeremiah 31:33). Their failure was the backdrop against which the grace of the New Covenant would shine so brightly.
Notice what Moses does next. He writes it all down. This is crucial. God's law is not a vague set of spiritual feelings or a general sense of goodwill. It is objective, propositional truth. It is written down so that it cannot be altered by our shifting moods or cultural fads. It provides a fixed standard by which the people's subsequent actions can be judged. The written Word of God is the foundation of the covenant relationship. Without an inerrant, authoritative Scripture, you do not have Christianity. You have a subjective free-for-all.
Altar, Pillars, and Sacrifices (v. 4b-5)
The verbal agreement must now be ratified with a formal, liturgical act.
"Then he arose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to Yahweh." (Exodus 24:4b-5)
Two structures are built. First, an altar. The altar represents the presence of God, the divine party in this covenant. It is the place where God and man meet, but they can only meet through sacrifice. Sin creates a gulf between a holy God and a sinful people, and that gulf can only be bridged by a substitutionary death. The altar is where the penalty for breaking the covenant is paid in advance, typologically.
Second, Moses sets up twelve pillars. These represent the people of Israel in their entirety, according to their twelve tribes. The altar is one, for God is one. The pillars are twelve, representing the corporate body of the people. This is a covenant with a nation, not just a collection of individuals. God deals with us covenantally, in families, in churches, and in nations. The modern obsession with radical individualism is a rebellion against the way God has structured reality. These twelve stone pillars are a permanent, visible testimony that all of Israel is included in this bond.
Then come the sacrifices. Notice who performs them. "He sent young men of the sons of Israel." The Aaronic priesthood has not yet been formally established. This shows us a principle: before the law was codified in all its detail, the heads of households or their representatives could act as priests. But more than that, these young men represent the strength and future of the nation, offered up in service to God. They bring two types of offerings. The burnt offerings were wholly consumed on the altar, signifying total consecration and dedication to God. The peace offerings were a fellowship meal, where a portion was burned to God and the rest was eaten by the worshipers, signifying communion and peace between God and His people. Atonement, consecration, and communion. This is the pattern of true worship.
The Blood of the Covenant (v. 6-8)
Now we come to the heart of the ceremony, the application of the blood.
"And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, 'All that Yahweh has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!' So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, 'Behold the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has cut with you in accordance with all these words.'" (Exodus 24:6-8)
The blood of the sacrificed animals is divided into two parts. Half is sprinkled on the altar. The life of the animal is given to God, satisfying His righteous demands against sin. This act consecrates the altar and represents God's side of the covenant being sealed. Atonement must be made before fellowship is possible.
But before the other half is used, there is a crucial step. Moses reads the Book of the Covenant again. The terms must be clear. And the people respond again, this time adding a new word: "we will be obedient." They double down on their promise. They are vocally, publicly, and repeatedly binding themselves to the terms of this covenant. Their mouths are writing a check that their flesh cannot cash.
Only after this second vow does Moses take the remaining blood and sprinkle it on the people. This is a stunning and graphic act. The same blood that was thrown on God's altar is now thrown on the people. This act visually binds the two parties together. It signifies that the people are consecrated to God, set apart as His holy possession. It also serves as a solemn warning. To be under the blood means you are either cleansed by it or liable for it. This blood seals the covenant, with all its blessings for obedience and all its curses for disobedience. When they break this covenant, as they inevitably will, this very blood will testify against them.
Moses' words are momentous: "Behold the blood of the covenant." Centuries later, in an upper room in Jerusalem, another mediator will take a cup and utter strikingly similar words. "This cup is the new covenant in My blood" (Luke 22:20). Jesus is deliberately and directly pointing us back to this very scene at Sinai. He is telling us that the ceremony with the blood of bulls and goats was a dress rehearsal for the real thing.
From Shadow to Substance
The entire ceremony at Sinai screams its own inadequacy. The repeated promises of the people highlight their future failure. The annual sacrifices were a constant reminder that the blood of animals could never truly take away sin (Hebrews 10:4). The mediator, Moses, was a sinner himself and could not enter the Promised Land. The whole system was a placeholder, a magnificent shadow pointing forward to the substance that is Christ.
Jesus is the true Mediator of a better covenant. He is the altar and the sacrifice. He is the fulfillment of the twelve tribes, the true Israel. The young men offered bulls, but He, the eternal Son, offered Himself.
The blood was divided at Sinai, half for God and half for the people. But on the cross, the blood of Jesus accomplished both things perfectly and at once. His death was a propitiation, satisfying the wrath of God against sin completely. That was the blood on the altar. But His blood is also sprinkled on us, not externally, but internally, by the Holy Spirit. The book of Hebrews tells us we have come to "Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel" (Hebrews 12:24). The blood of bulls could only cleanse the flesh; the blood of Christ cleanses the conscience (Hebrews 9:14).
The people at Sinai said, "All that Yahweh has spoken we will do." They made obedience the condition of the covenant, and they failed. But in the New Covenant, Christ's perfect obedience is the foundation of the covenant. He did it all. He fulfilled all righteousness. And His perfect record is given to us as a free gift, received by faith alone.
Therefore, our obedience is not the frantic effort to establish our place in the covenant. Our obedience is the grateful response of those who are already secure in the covenant, sealed not by the blood of a bull, but by the precious blood of the Son of God. We do not obey in order to be accepted. We obey because we have been accepted. That is the glorious difference. Behold the blood of the New Covenant, which was shed for you. Live there. Rejoice there. And obey from there.