Old Testament Reading: Exodus 24:9-18

“Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank. The LORD said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.’ So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. And he said to the elders, ‘Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.’ Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” (Exodus 24:9–18, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Hebrews 10:1–25

“For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ When he said above, ‘You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings’ (these are offered according to the law), then he added, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will.’ He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,’ then he adds, ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’ Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:1–25, ESV)

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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

One of the things that I enjoy doing as a pastor is conducting wedding ceremonies. Weddings are such joyous occasions, and they are also very significant occasions. In a wedding ceremony, a covanant is made. And in that covenant, a man and woman are joined together as one. Marriages are covenants. 

In our culture, it is customary to have a wedding rehearsal a day or two before the wedding ceremony itself. At the rehearsal, the bride and groom and all who will be involved in the wedding ceremony go through the motions of the ceremony so that everyone has a clear understanding of what will happen on the wedding day. Everyone enters and stands where they are supposed to stand. The minister leads the bride and groom through the various elements of the service in a summary fashion. He shows them how the rings are to be exchanged and placed on the finger. He even walks them through the exchange of vows. But the vows are not stated at the rehearsal. The rings are not placed fully upon the finger. And the bride and groom are not pronounced husband and wife, for it is a rehearsal, and not the wedding ceremony itself. For this reason, the man and women leave the rehearsal as individuals, and not as a married couple. The covenant of marriage will be ratified at a later date. Clearly, the rehearsal is not the wedding. But the two things – the rehearsal and the wedding – are related. The one is a  preparation for the other. The one is a foretaste or foreshadowing of the other.

I mention this because I think that the relationship between a wedding rehearsal and a wedding ceremony can serve (in a limited way)  to illustrate the relationship between the Old Covenant and the New. What is the connection between the covenant that God made with ethnic Israel through Moses, and the covenant that God transacted with all of his elect in every age through Christ? Stated very simply: the one prepared for the other.  

Now, it is possible to push this illustration too far. The Old Mosaic Covenant was not merely a Covenant of preparation. The Lord did actually work in and through that Covenant. Many who lived under that Covenant did actually enjoy sweet communion with God through the means that God prescribed. Nevertheless, the fact remains, the Old Mosaic Covenant was a covenant of preparation. It was forward-looking. It was, in many ways, a rehearsal for the New Covenant, which is the Covenant of Grace, through which all who have ever been reconciled to God are reconciled. 

As you know, God’s plan for the salvation of sinners is to save them through faith in Jesus the Christ and according to the terms of the New Covenant, the Covenant of Grace, of which Christ is the mediator. It is the new covenant ratified with Christ’s blood that saves. It is the new covenant ratified with Christ’s blood that provides for the forgiveness of sins. It is through the new covenant ratified with Christ’s blood that sinners are reconciled to God the Father and are invited to boldly approach his throne of grace. 

While the Old Covenant with Moses as mediator provided a type of salvation, it with earthly, not eternal. Israel was saved from Egyptian bondage, not from bondage to sin, Satan, and the fear of death. While the Old Covenant with Moses as mediator provided a type of forgiveness, it was not the kind of forgiveness that cleansed the conscience before God  – no, only the flesh was cleansed by the blood of those bulls and goats (Hebrews 9:11ff). While the Old Covenant with Moses as mediator provided a way to access the God of heaven from on earth, it did not open up the way to God really, truly, and eternally.

If you wish to have Biblical proof for these claims that I have just made, you will only need to re-read the Hebrews 10 passage that was read to you just a moment ago. It is through the death and resurrection of Christ and the New Covenant which he mediates  – not through Moses and the Old Covenant which he mediated – that sinners are forgiven, have their guilt removed to the cleansing of their consciences, are perfected and are therefore invited to confidently “enter the holy places” and to “draw near” to the God of heaven. 

I say all of this by way of introduction because I think it will help us to fully appreciate the story that is told to us here concerning the making of the Old Mosaic Covenant. There are important themes present in this narrative – themes that should sound very familiar to you. This story that is told here in the Old Testament should remind you of the story that is told in the New Testament, for the two stories are very related. The old one was a picture which was meant to prepare for the new.

Think with me for a moment of all that the LORD did for Israel on earth. 

He accomplished redemption for Israel to free them from Egypt. And this pictured and prepared us for the eternal and spiritual redemption that Christ would accomplish through his death and resurrection. 

God then called Israel to himself at Sinai to bring them into the Old Mosaic Covenant to make them partakers.  And this pictured and prepared for the calling of God to all of his elect to bring them into the New Covenant to make them partakers of it through faith in Jesus the Messiah. 

God then gave his law to Israel. He spoke it from Sinai, revealed it through Moses, and then delivered it on tablets of stone. This pictured and prepared for the writing of the law of God on the hearts of his elect by the Spirit of God sent forth by the Son.

Israel was then moved to respond to the call of God and the proposal of the terms of the Old Covenant with these words: “All that the LORD has spoken we will do…” In other words, they confessed the LORD to be their Lord. This anticipated the response of all of God’s elect to the call of God that comes to them through the word of the gospel and by the power of the Holy Spirit. How do sinners come to be partakers of the blessing of the New Covenant except by believing in the heart in the risen Christ, and confessing with the mouth that Jesus is Lord?  

And lastly, remember that animal blood was applied to the people of Israel to confirm the Old Covenant and for the purification of the flesh. This pictured and prepared for the application of the blood of Christ to all who believe upon him for the purification of the soul leading to a cleansed conscience before God.

And now we continue with the Exodus story. What happened after the Old Covenant was confirmed?

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They Went Up, Saw God, Ate And Drank

In Exodus 24:9 we read, “Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up…” This means that they went up on the mountain a bit. They went up as representatives of Israel. One should not miss the significance of going up the mountain. Not all ascents up all mountains are of spiritual significance, but some ascents up certain mountains under certain circumstances signify an approach to the God of heaven. Surely that is the case here. God, having redeemed Israel, having called them to himself, having given them his law, and having cleansed them with blood, did then invite them to approach him through the mediation of the priests and the representation of the elders.   

In verse 10 we read, “…and they saw the God of Israel.” This, brothers and sisters, is the end goal of all of the covenants that God has transacted with men. When God makes covenants with man he offers them something greater than what they currently possess, namely, the beatific vision. Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden. They enjoyed his presence. But they did not live before God in glory. No, by sinning, they fell short of the glory of God. When the promise of the gospel was made to Adam, and when this promise was reiterated and enshrined in the covenant that God made with Abraham, and later with Moses, this was the end goal – to bring fallen sinners into the presence of God Almighty, to behold his glory, to enjoy him, and to worship, and serve him forever. 

That this was the end goal of the Old Mosaic Covenant is very clear. After the covenant was confirmed by the sprinkling of animal blood, Israel, through the mediation of Moses and the representation of Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders, went up the mountain “…and they saw the God of Israel.” But please do not miss this very important point. Israel was not brought into the presence of God Almighty to remain there eternally through the mediation of Moses. No, they were only given a glimpse or a taste of his glory. This observation is very, very important. Did the Old Mosaic Covenant have something to do with God’s plan of redemption wherein he would redeem sinners and reconcile them to himself to dwell in his glorious presence forever and ever? Yes, certainly. This passage makes that clear. But did Moses and the covenant he mediated get the job done? Did it take them into the presence of God really, truly, and eternally? No. They were given only a brief glimpse of the glory of God, and that through the priesthood and through their elders.  

Verse 10 goes on to clarify what it was that Israel saw. “There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness.” So, when the text says, “and they saw the God of Israel”, it does not mean that they saw God as he is. The scriptures are clear, “No one has ever seen God”(John 1:18, ESV). In fact, in Exodus 33:20 we read God’s words to Moses – “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live”, he said (Exodus 33:20, ESV). What did Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel see when they “saw the God of Israel”? They were given a glimpse of his glory as it is manifest in heaven. They saw the floor of heaven if you will. They saw the underside of the throne of God who is in heaven.  It looked to them like a clear, precious, sapphire stone. In the beginning, God created the heavenly realm and the earthly realm. The heavenly realm is typically invisible to us. But from time to time, God’s people are given a glimpse of that realm and the glory of God which is manifest there. Here is one of those instances. 

In verse 11, we read, “…and [they] ate and drank.” What is this about? Why did Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, eat and drink before the God of heaven? Well, in Old Testament times, this is how a covenant (let’s say, between kings) would be concluded. After making a covenant the kings would eat and drink together signifying their alliance. 

All of this should remind us of the meal that Jesus Christ the Messiah, God incarnate, ate with his disciples on the night before his crucifixion. “Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom’” (Matthew 26:26–29, ESV).

So you can see that when the Old Covenant was put into place the people of Israel, through the representation of Moses, the priests, and the seventy elders, ate and drank in the presence of God. And similarly, but in a much greater and more intimate way, when the New Covenant was instituted, the church of God, through the representation of the Apostles, ate and drank before God. And each and every Lord’s Day this covenant is remembered and renewed as the church of God assembles to hear God’s word proclaimed, to confess that Jesus is Lord, and to eat and drink in the presence of God through the mediation of Jesus, our great High Priest.   

Brothers and sisters, do you see the similarities between the making of the Old Covenant and the New? I trust that you do. But do you also see the New Covenant is far superior?

Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel were given a glimpse of the glory of God in heaven, and they ate and drank before him. But the Apostles communed with the incarnate Word of God when the New Covenant was made. This is why John the Apostles could write, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth… For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:14–18, ESV).

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They Were Not Consumed

Let us return now to Exodus 24. Look with me at the beginning of verse 11. There is a little remark there that we skipped. The text says, “And [the LORD] did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God and ate and drank.”

Why would this need to be said? 

Well, the words of the LORD from Exodus 33:20 have already been cited. “…you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live”, the LORD said to Moses. Add to this the likelihood that not all of the elders were believing in the promises concerning the Messiah, and thus were not justified before God’s sight. And we must remember that the animal blood that was sprinkled upon the people when the covenant was ratified did nothing to cleanse the conscience before God – it only cleansed the flesh.

So the question is a reasonable one. How could these men see the glory of God and not be consumed? And the answer is that God showed mercy. “[The LORD] did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God and ate and drank.”

You should know that there is a debate among theologians as to whether we should call the Old Mosaic Covenant a covenant or works, or a covenant of grace. I’m convinced that it is a covenant of works. That seems quite obvious given its conditional nature. If you do this… then this will be the result, is the principle. 

But those who wish to call it a covenant of grace will draw attention to passages like this one where it is emphasized that God was gracious to Israel, that this covenant did carry within it the precious promises of the gospel, and that this covenant did lead to the New Covenant ratified in Christ blood. 

In response to all of these valid observations we ought to say, God’s graciousness, the presence of the promise of the gospel, and the Old Testament’s fulfillment in the New do not make this a covenant of grace substantially. Substantially, the Old Mosaic Covenant was a covenant of works. If the people wished to have the blessings of this covenant they had to work (or obey). But certainly, it is also true that God was merciful to Israel. He withheld his judgment. He did not “lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel” so as to preserve Israel until Christ would be brought into the world through them. When we say that the Old Mosaic Covenant was a covenant or works, we do not mean that it was a strict and graceless covenant of works like the one that was made with Adam in the garden. God was merciful to Israel. His grace was certainly present through the promise of the gospel. But the covenant itself was a conditional covenant of works. If the people and the nation were to be blessed in the land, they had to keep the terms of it. They had to work for the earthly reward. 

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Moses Ascended The Mountain Of The Lord

Lastly, let us consider verses 12 through 18 where Moses’ ascent up the mountain is described. 

Verse 12: “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.’”

Verse 13: “So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God.” This man, Joshua, was introduced to us back in 17:9. There he led the armies of Israel to fight. Here he ascends the mountain with Moses. In 40 years time, he will be the one to lead Israel into the promised land. It is hard not to see Josua as a type of Joshua the Christ 

Verse 14: “And he said to the elders, ‘Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.’” So Moses delegated authority to Aaron and Hur. This will become important later in the book as we encounter the story of the golden calf. 

Verse 15: “Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.” Moses ascended the mountain of the Lord. Remember that. 

Verse 16: “The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.” Here we have God relating to Moses (and to Israel) according to the pattern of the weekly Sabbath. 

Verse 17: “Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.” God manifested his glory on Sinai, and the people saw it. That is significant. The people heard God’s voice when the Ten Commandments were spoken and they also saw his glory. In other words, there were many, many witnesses to these things which Moses has written down for us. 

Verse 18: “Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.”

In many ways, these verses simply set the stage for what is to come. But here is the thing that I want for you to see. Moses ascended to the top of Mount Sinai when the Old Covenant was ratified, but he did not ascend into heaven. Mose’ ascended the mountain and he was enveloped by the glory of God Almighty, but as amazing and important as that was, he did not remain there. He came down from the mountain and dwelt on earth amongst the people until the day he died. 

Contrast this with Jesus Christ the mediator of the New Covenant. After accomplishing our redemption, after cutting the New Covenant, and after communing with his people for 40 days, he ascended into heaven and was seated at the right hand of God with all authority in heaven and earth given to him. And there he remains and will remain until he returns to bring his people into the Promised Land, the New Heavens and Earth.

Moses ascended the mountain. Christ ascended into heaven, and there he remains. This doctrine of “ascent” is very important, brothers and sisters. Compare and contrast the Old Covenant with Moses as mediator and the New Covenant with Christ as mediator in terms of the doctrine of ascent. 

As mediator of the Old Covenant Moses was invited to ascend to the top of Mount Sinai alone and the glory of God graciously descended upon him. He remained there for a time and then returned to the people. 

As mediator of the New Covenant Christ earned the right to ascend, not to the top of some earthly mountain, but into heaven to the Father’s right hand. In other words, he made it all the way into the presence of God Almighty and he sat down. He finished his work and so he sat down, for he was there to stay. 

And Christ did not ascend alone like Moses did. No, he takes with him all who are united to him by faith. This is what Paul speaks to when he says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4–7, ESV). 

Moses, having ratified the Old Covenant with animal blood, ascended Sinai alone for a time. Christ, having ratified the New Covenant with his own blood,  ascended into the glorious presence of God who is enthroned in heaven and there he remains. This he did, not for himself only, but to bring many sons and daughters to glory with him. 

The Old Covenant was great. Let us never demean the Old Covenant. It was great because God initiated that covenant, It was great because it accomplished God’s purpose for it. But the New Covenant is far superior. For it is through the New Covenant ratified with Christ’s shed blood that the forgiveness of sins is available, and reconciliation with the God of glory is possible.

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Reflections

One, consider how marvelous the accomplishment of our redemption is from the days of Adam to Christ. In the days of Adam, a promise was made concerning our redemption. And from that day forward, God was working. And when God worked in the days before the arrival of the Christ, he often worked in such a way so as to paint a picture of the redemption that was to come. This should bring great confidence to us, brothers and sisters, concerning the truthfulness of our redemption in Christ. Christ came in fulfillment to these things. Just as a bride and groom are set at ease by the rehearsal in preparation for the wedding day, so too the hearts of those who believe in Christ are set at ease as they consider these works of God in ages past which prepared for and prefigured our full and final redemption in Christ. 

Two, as you contemplate the marvelous works of redemption that God did in the days of Moses – and they were indeed marvelous and ought to be seen as such – do not forget to compare them to the work of Christ. Ponder the similarities and see Christ prefigured in them. But do not forget to ponder the differences. As we consider the similarities and differences we come to see that though Moses was a great servant in God’s house, he was not the Son – he was not the Messiah. Jesus Christ and the Covenant that he mediates are far superior to Moses and the Old. Moses himself would happily take the words of John the Baptist on his lips, who said concerning Jesus the Messiah, I must decrease, and he must increase. 

Thirdly, I offer this exhortation: be very sure that you are found in Christ and his in Covenant, for it is only through Christ that we have reconciliation with God. 

It will do you no good to be found in Adam (all men and women are born in Adam and into that broken Covenant of Works which brings only death, not eternal life). Adam did not ascend the mountain of the Lord. No, by his sin he only descended into sin and misery and was expelled from that garden and from the presence of God’s Holy Mountain. 

And it will do you no good to be found in Moses. For though Moses did ascend the mountain of the Lord, by God’s grace, it was an earthy mountain only – a type of the heavenly. And though Moses, the priests,  and the elders of Israel were given a glimpse of heaven, the way was not opened up to them. As I have said, Moses was a faithful servant in God’s house. But he was not the Messiah, the only mediator between God and man. Moses was good. The covenant he mediated was good. And so too were the laws of that covenant. But that covenant was designed to prepare for another – the New Covenant in Christ’s blood. 

We must be found in Christ if we hope to be saved from our sins and to go to heaven. Only Christ, through his obedient life and sacrificial death, ascended the mountain of the Lord to remain. He ascended to the Father and sat down. And he ascended to bring many sons and daughters to glory. 

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:19–25, ESV)