SERIES C --- EXODUS FROM BONDAGE --- LESSON 22

A SOLEMN PROMISE

A BLAZING GLORY FROM THE MOUNT OF YHVH

From Exodus 24

[Come up to Me,] Adonai told Moses one day. [Bring Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel with you.] Then Adonai told Moses: [All of these people must worship Me from a distance. Only you shall come near Me.] When Moses returned from Adonai’s Presence, he told the people all the rules and Laws that Adonai had given. [We will do everything Adonai has told us to do,] the people said. Moses recorded all the Laws of Adonai which he had received. Early the next morning he arose and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars around the altar to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. Moses sent some young men of Israel to sacrifice on these altars, presenting the burnt offerings and peace offerings to Adonai. He collected half of the blood from the sacrifices in basins and sprinkled the other half against the altar. When the offerings had been made, Moses read to the people from the book he had written, the Book of the Covenant, which was a list of YHVH’s Rules and Laws. [We will obey them all,] the people promised. Moses took the blood in the basins and sprinkled it upon the people. [With this blood the Covenant between Adonai and you is sealed,] Moses told the people. Moses returned to the mountain again with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel and there they saw YHVH. Beneath His feet the ground looked like a pavement of bright sapphire, as clear as the heavens. Adonai said to Moses, [Come back with Me to the mountain and I will give you My Rules and Laws on tablets of stone. From these tablets you may teach your people, for that is why I have written My Rules and Laws on them.] Moses went up into the mountain again with Joshua. [Wait here for us and we will come back to you,] Moses told the elders. [Aaron and Hur shall remain with you to solve any problems you may bring to them.] When Moses returned to the mountain, a cloud came upon it and covered it. The glory of Adonai came upon Mount Sinai and the cloud covered the mountain for six days. On the seventh day Adonai called to Moses from the cloud. The glory of Adonai was like a blazing fire which the people saw from the foot of the mountain. Moses was swallowed up by the cloud as he stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

COMMENTARY

LIFE AND BLOOD

Moses shared all YHVH’s Laws with the people of Israel. Together they promised, [We will do everything Adonai has told us to do.] Moses built an altar, sacrificed young bulls and sprinkled the people with the blood of these offerings. Israel had made a solemn commitment. Now they must obey. [I am innocent of this man’s blood,] said Pontius Pilate, washing his hands. [Then let his blood be upon us and our children!] cried the crowd that thirsted for Yeshua’ crucifixion. The blood oath was the most deeply serious oath possible in biblical times. The reason lies in Hebrew Law. To the Israelites, blood was life. If the blood was removed from a living thing, it would die. Since YHVH gave man life, only YHVH may take man’s blood; or life; away. Because of this, Hebrew Law declared that any animal that killed a human and any person who killed another, would have his lifeblood taken too. To the Hebrews, human blood was terrible and powerful. It affected all things around it, making them unclean or cursed. Believing that, they considered human blood taboo; forbidden and unspeakably dangerous. Most of the Israelites’ neighbours made human sacrifices to their gods. They usually killed babies. Since children were their connection to the future, they believed there was no greater way to show their devotion. But the Hebrews were strictly forbidden by YHVH to do anything like that. Life may die only to allow other life to appear, much as wheat {dies} to become flour and be made into bread. YHVH Commanded the Israelites to use animals as sacrifice, sometimes to remove guilt or sin. By putting his hands on the animal’s head, often a lamb, the sinner identified himself with it. The priest then killed the animal instead of the person and the guilt was destroyed. Parts of the animal were burnt on the altar as an offering to YHVH and other parts were eaten. But the blood was usually poured on the ground or on special occasions sprinkled on the altar. Under no circumstances was a human being, made in YHVH’s Image, ever to consume blood. The Bible tells how Yeshua shed His blood as a sacrifice for our sins. He was the one great Sacrifice for sin Who ended the need for other sacrifices. The blood of Abel was the first human blood to be shed. Cain was the first murderer. For this sin and all sins, the blood of animals was required in sacrifice on stone altars. The final sacrifice was the crucifixion of Adonai Yeshua. His blood, given thousands of years ago, was the one great sacrifice for our sins.