FEBRUARY 7, 2026 – BLOOD OF THE COVENANT

READ: Ex. 24:1–18: … And they said, ‘All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.’ … ‘This is the blood of the covenant …’

The covenant is formally concluded. Moses, who has heard all the laws and ordinances, comes to the mountain with representatives of the people. He ascends further toward the LORD. Upon his return,

Moses tells the people all the words of the LORD, which they accept and record in a book. The next day he rises early, builds an altar, and sets up twelve memorial stones, one for each tribe.

Sacrificial animals are taken from Israel and offered on the altar, after which Moses sprinkles the blood on it. He reads the book aloud, and the people again express their consent.

Moses then also sprinkles blood on the people and declares: “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words.” This event is cited in Heb. 9:19, which refers to the better blood of the covenant: the cleansing blood that was shed on Golgotha (Heb. 9:24–26).

While Moses ascends the mountain again with the delegation, they catch a glimpse of the God of Israel. They remain unharmed and solemnly celebrate this with a meal.

The LORD then calls Moses to climb further upward, so that He Himself may write the law and the commandments on stone tablets and give them to Moses. Moses goes up while the mountain is covered by a cloud.

After six days the LORD calls him further into the cloud. Moses remains there forty days and forty nights. Meanwhile, the people see the top of the mountain through the cloud as a consuming fire, a sign of God’s burning holiness.

God’s holiness manifests itself as His fervent electing love, but also as His blazing wrath against those who reject His love. God is still the same. Therefore Heb. 12:29 warns the New Testament church, concluding with a comparison with the event at Sinai (Heb. 12:18ff), that God is a consuming fire.

Does God also forgive sins for which you have not asked forgiveness?
Sing: Ps. 97:2