Tag: Ten Commandments

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The Blood of the Covenant & the Ten Commandments

The law of God is holy, righteous, and good. The law of God is glorious. God presented it in an audible voice to the people of Israel (see Exodus 19) in a dramatic way. The law presents the divine will for our lives. If we could live according to God’s law, we would fulfill our destiny as human beings and reflect the divine glory like a mirror reflecting the glory of the sun.

The law is holy, righteous, and good, but I am sold under sin. That’s also what the Apostle Paul and our experience teaches us. When we hear what God is telling us to do, sin is right there with us.  We take the good thing God commands, and we so often go in the opposite direction. This is what the Israelites experienced. They heard God speaking to them, and they immediately built a golden calf as an image of Jehovah in direct contradiction to God’s commandment.

And that’s why we need grace. We need the grace of forgiveness. We also need the grace of God to empower us to obey His commandments. That is the truth that God presents in the Old and the New Testaments.

After the giving of the law, Moses built an altar and offered sacrifices on it. Then, he took the blood and put it in bowls. He took part of the blood and splashed it on the altar. What did he do with the other half? “Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you . . .'” (Ex. 24:8).

This all may seem strange, but it is not the first time people apply blood in the book of Exodus. At the first Passover, the Israelites applied the blood of the lamb to the doorposts so that the angel of death would pass over them and not strike their firstborn. They were saved by the blood of the lamb. They then ate and drank the Passover meal.

Something similar happens here. The elders of the Israel went up before the Lord, and they saw the God of Israel. Now note: “But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank” (v. 11).  They were saved by the blood of the covenant!

It is very important for us to see that God gives His law in this context. Grace is the context of the giving of the law in Exodus, and grace is consistent with the law. The goal of saving the people of Israel is so that they would be the virtuous, good, and obedient people who reflect God’s glory in their lives individually and collectively.

The next time we encounter the phrase “blood of the covenant” in Scripture is in Zechariah. There, God promises deliverance because of the blood of the covenant: “As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit” (9:11).

After that, the next time we encounter that phrase is the familiar words of Jesus Himself. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:28). How striking that this phrase is pronounced at the Passover meal! The disciples ate and drank with Jesus just like at Mount Sinai and at the Passover. The blood of the covenant is presented to them as the foundation of their lives and peace with God.

Another possible parallel. The Israelites said they would obey God fully and then immediately disobeyed Him. In the same way, Peter and the Apostles all said that they will not abandon the Lord and then immediately go out and abandon Him.

But Jesus brings restoration. The blood of the covenant not their obedience is the foundation of the covenant. Jesus came to them after His resurrection with restoration and called them again to obedience and to teach obedience, “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (28:19).

The law of God presents to us a beautiful picture of what humanity should be. However, we have all sinned. We have broken this glorious law. The result should have been our death, but God intervened with the blood of the covenant. The blood of the covenant brings forgiveness and restores us to new obedience. That was true in Exodus and the Old Testament, and it is true in Matthew and the New Testament.

God bring this together beautifully in the benediction at the end of the book of Hebrews: “Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Heb. 13:20–21).

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The Glory of the Law

What is the best way for humans to live? How can we be truly happy?

People may not discuss these questions explicitly, but all around us, people give answers to those questions. They tell us that we will be happy if we have a full head of hair, white teeth, big homes, and new cars. That is the good life. That is real living. Commercials present this vision of the good life to us a thousand times every day.

People also have strong opinions about the right way for people to live. John Ortberg explains (here) that people talk about it every day. Just listen to their conversations. People have so many complaints about what other people have done to them. They believe that others haven’t lived how they were supposed to live. However, it’s clear from their own lives that they haven’t lived according to the human ideal either!

So, how should we live? What will give us true happiness?

What if God came down from heaven and told us exactly how to live to be truly human and happy?

Well, that’s what He’s done. The book of Exodus describes God coming down to Mount Sinai. There, He spoke audibly to the entire people of Israel. They heard God’s voice. There, He told them how to live. He gave the Ten Commandments.

What do you think of when you hear the word “law”? It’s easy to get a negative view of it. Many Christians speak of the law in a negative way.

This is in part based on some of the ways the Bible speaks. The Bible recognizes that the law can tell us what to do, but the law can’t help us when we have broken the law or give us power to fulfill the law. Only God can do that.

We must be very clear, however, that the law is not the problem. We are the problem. As the Apostle Paul said: “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. . . but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin” (Rom. 7:12, 14).

When we think of the law, we should not have a negative reaction. We should think like the Psalmist: “Oh how I love Thy law, it is my meditation all day long!” (Psalm 119:97).

When we think of the law, we should think of glory. It is a glorious thing that God has spoken to us and told us exactly and clearly how to live. It is a wondrous thing that God has given us His commandments.

The Apostle Paul says that though the law condemns us, this does not mean that the law is not glorious. Instead, we should think this way: “If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!” (2 Cor. 3:9).

The opinions of people and the message of the world present a way of living that will disappoint us and not lead us to the happiness we desire. Praise God that He has revealed to us the right way to live and be happy! Praise God that He has given us His commandments! Praise Him even more that He offer us His Spirit, who enables us to obey His commandments.

So, let it be our prayer: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” and “command what you want, O Lord, and give what you command!”

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