Exodus 19-24 (The Covenant at Mount Sinai)

God visited his people and made them his nation. He saved them and gave them good laws. They became his people under a covenant agreement that went deeper than the covenant with Abraham.

This expression of the covenant was wonderful because the people could more fully know God and what he demands. But it was also dangerous because they promised to obey. They even got blood splashed on them. What if they failed?

God’s visit was dangerous too. He came to Mt.Sinai with careful instructions. The people had to stay back or be killed. Only Moses could come near God as a go-between.

All this reminds us of our own covenant with God through Jesus. Jesus takes things deeper still. He both taught God’s law and showed God’s love more clearly than ever. And in him God comes very near, giving the Spirit so we can obey. It’s wonderful, yet dangerous. What if we sin?

Well, at the end of the story at Sinai something amazing happens. Moses brings seventy of those people up the scary mountain with him. There they see God in heavenly glory! They eat and drink with him! And “God did not raise his hand against them” (Exodus 24:11). They were safe with Moses, their go-between.

For us, Jesus is the go-between who keeps safe all who’re with him. Jesus has obeyed all the law and gone to the dangerous cross in our place. His shed blood brings us to God without us getting killed. When we believe in him we’re safe and able to promise, like the Israelites, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do” (Exodus 19:8).

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