God Dwells Amongst Us (The Covenant)
Exodus 24: Will Rubie
Lead us up the Mountain
Lead us to the place Your glory dwells, God (MR)
Ps. 24:
Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
An ancient passage containing a very significant contemporary question:
- How can we reach up to; how can we connect with God?
~ “He seems so distant & so Other ... It’s just not possible.”
~ For those with a more cynical point of view,
"God’s so far off - how can we connect with him & besides, who would want to?"
~ Connecting with God, reaching God
- “it’s easy; we can just casually stroll into the presence of the Lord.
God is welcoming of all.”
~ “Reaching up to God? Well... hard but not impossible.
It’s like climbing up Mt. Everest - gotta do your training, gotta have the right gear; go with your Sherpas" - requires discipline & training
v.1: God invites Moses: “come up” with the Elders
but then they're told to worship at a distance; only Moses can approach God
An invitation but only an elite group can come close
.... There are still restrictions & barriers.
So you need to get your Kendal mint cake & your Ordnance Survey maps & your Goretex jacket and gaiters, we’re going to join Moses on this mountain climb.
How can the people ascend?
3 requirements:
1.) We need a covenant sacrifice v.3/8
(def.) “a binding legal basis for a relationship”
- It's initiated by God
Reminder:
How I carried you on eagles’ wings
- God the Rescuer from Egypt;
God who has called the Bride to himself
‘Hinge passages’ -
Ex 19, looking back; Ex 24: looks forward
Covenant: making a public declaration
making a promise of obedience & faithfulness
("we will")
The blood of the covenant: why?
Problems to be overcome:
- The people’s sin & guilt over having offended the Holy God
... The people thus need to be cleansed of this;
- God’s just, right & holy anger at their sin also needs to be dealt with
The penalty for their sin & rebellion has now been paid;
God’s right & holy anger now satisfied by their sacrificial offerings
The blood on the altar &
the blood on the people
The sprinkling of the blood ... it’s meant to be memorable -
it’s a sign of the cleansing of the people,
they are being washed clean (“sanctified”)
God’s anger (which we deserve) is being set aside
The dirt & sin we have is being cleansed away ....
both are required if mankind is going to ascend the mountain.
.... clean hands & a pure heart.
2.) A Covenant Meal (v.9-11)
Exodus also includes the line by Moses: 'You cannot see God & live'
- How does that then work out in this situation?
Ref. made to the pavement under God's feet, lapis lazuli
- so if this is just what’s under God’s feet ...
so stunning & exquisite, almost beyond words....
God did not raise his hand against them ...
precisely because of the sacrifice, makes that moment possible
: sinful people accepted in the presence of God
Food for fellowship - not fuel:
the meal signifies relationship - like a wedding banquet or feast
The whole point of the Exodus rescue, of deliverance
was that they might come into relationship with God,
that God might dwell with them
- Rev. “… & they will be his people”
The heart of the gospel is fellowship with God.
Qu.) What is the chief end of Man?
A.) "to glorify God, & to enjoy him forever."
3.) A Covenant Mediator (v.12-18)
- - Why was it just Moses who was taken into God's presence???
The glory of the Lord settled on the mountain ...
Like a consuming fire.
Moses as a mediator to reveal God’s words:
The people at the bottom can only see the vision, the cloud;
they still need words to understand God & relate to Him personally
- Moses brings those words of God back to the people
Do we have to find our own way to keep the terms of the covenant? No ...
Even on the honeymoon, the bride was faithless -
the people's dispute at the bottom of the mt., despite their unified response.
Even in Exodus itself, the covenant promises are already in pieces.
The only way we can reach God is through covenant: sacrifice, meal, mediator.
The New Testament - the new covenant
God doesn’t abandon the old, in Christ he fulfils it
Jesus & the Transfiguration:
just like Moses, he climbs the mountain,
just like Moses, the cloud covers him,
just like Moses, God speaks to him
“This is my beloved Son, listen to him” - listen to his words.
- Jesus provides the meal at Passover in the Upper Room - for fellowship;
“ This is the blood of the new covenant ”
He himself was the covenant sacrifice - full, final & sufficient for all.
Not after all, about how we can reach God
but how God comes down in the person of Jesus & reaches us.
The way, the truth & the life - No other mediator, no other way;
the only one who has provided the sacrifice.
What does this mean for us?
Humble confidence now;
eager expectation for the future
Jesus has done everything that we might know him:
we have access to God no matter what sort of a week it has been;
we can come before God with confidence
irrespective of how we feel
irrespective of our performance
The meal we have with Jesus in sharing Holy Communion:
a glimpse of what will happen in the future of the great banquet;
a promise & pledge of his return -
HC, the sign & seal of the covenant meal until He comes again.
Come confidently, come freely, come boldly
& enjoy all I have won for you as you trust in me
12: 22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Lead us up the Mountain
Lead us to the place Your glory dwells, God (MR)
Ps. 24:
Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
An ancient passage containing a very significant contemporary question:
- How can we reach up to; how can we connect with God?
~ “He seems so distant & so Other ... It’s just not possible.”
~ For those with a more cynical point of view,
"God’s so far off - how can we connect with him & besides, who would want to?"
~ Connecting with God, reaching God
- “it’s easy; we can just casually stroll into the presence of the Lord.
God is welcoming of all.”
~ “Reaching up to God? Well... hard but not impossible.
It’s like climbing up Mt. Everest - gotta do your training, gotta have the right gear; go with your Sherpas" - requires discipline & training
v.1: God invites Moses: “come up” with the Elders
but then they're told to worship at a distance; only Moses can approach God
An invitation but only an elite group can come close
.... There are still restrictions & barriers.
So you need to get your Kendal mint cake & your Ordnance Survey maps & your Goretex jacket and gaiters, we’re going to join Moses on this mountain climb.
How can the people ascend?
3 requirements:
1.) We need a covenant sacrifice v.3/8
(def.) “a binding legal basis for a relationship”
- It's initiated by God
Reminder:
How I carried you on eagles’ wings
- God the Rescuer from Egypt;
God who has called the Bride to himself
‘Hinge passages’ -
Ex 19, looking back; Ex 24: looks forward
Covenant: making a public declaration
making a promise of obedience & faithfulness
("we will")
The blood of the covenant: why?
Problems to be overcome:
- The people’s sin & guilt over having offended the Holy God
... The people thus need to be cleansed of this;
- God’s just, right & holy anger at their sin also needs to be dealt with
The penalty for their sin & rebellion has now been paid;
God’s right & holy anger now satisfied by their sacrificial offerings
The blood on the altar &
the blood on the people
The sprinkling of the blood ... it’s meant to be memorable -
it’s a sign of the cleansing of the people,
they are being washed clean (“sanctified”)
God’s anger (which we deserve) is being set aside
The dirt & sin we have is being cleansed away ....
both are required if mankind is going to ascend the mountain.
.... clean hands & a pure heart.
2.) A Covenant Meal (v.9-11)
Exodus also includes the line by Moses: 'You cannot see God & live'
- How does that then work out in this situation?
Ref. made to the pavement under God's feet, lapis lazuli
- so if this is just what’s under God’s feet ...
so stunning & exquisite, almost beyond words....
God did not raise his hand against them ...
precisely because of the sacrifice, makes that moment possible
: sinful people accepted in the presence of God
Food for fellowship - not fuel:
the meal signifies relationship - like a wedding banquet or feast
The whole point of the Exodus rescue, of deliverance
was that they might come into relationship with God,
that God might dwell with them
- Rev. “… & they will be his people”
The heart of the gospel is fellowship with God.
Qu.) What is the chief end of Man?
A.) "to glorify God, & to enjoy him forever."
3.) A Covenant Mediator (v.12-18)
- - Why was it just Moses who was taken into God's presence???
The glory of the Lord settled on the mountain ...
Like a consuming fire.
Moses as a mediator to reveal God’s words:
The people at the bottom can only see the vision, the cloud;
they still need words to understand God & relate to Him personally
- Moses brings those words of God back to the people
Do we have to find our own way to keep the terms of the covenant? No ...
Even on the honeymoon, the bride was faithless -
the people's dispute at the bottom of the mt., despite their unified response.
Even in Exodus itself, the covenant promises are already in pieces.
The only way we can reach God is through covenant: sacrifice, meal, mediator.
The New Testament - the new covenant
God doesn’t abandon the old, in Christ he fulfils it
Jesus & the Transfiguration:
just like Moses, he climbs the mountain,
just like Moses, the cloud covers him,
just like Moses, God speaks to him
“This is my beloved Son, listen to him” - listen to his words.
- Jesus provides the meal at Passover in the Upper Room - for fellowship;
“ This is the blood of the new covenant ”
He himself was the covenant sacrifice - full, final & sufficient for all.
Not after all, about how we can reach God
but how God comes down in the person of Jesus & reaches us.
The way, the truth & the life - No other mediator, no other way;
the only one who has provided the sacrifice.
What does this mean for us?
Humble confidence now;
eager expectation for the future
Jesus has done everything that we might know him:
we have access to God no matter what sort of a week it has been;
we can come before God with confidence
irrespective of how we feel
irrespective of our performance
The meal we have with Jesus in sharing Holy Communion:
a glimpse of what will happen in the future of the great banquet;
a promise & pledge of his return -
HC, the sign & seal of the covenant meal until He comes again.
Come confidently, come freely, come boldly
& enjoy all I have won for you as you trust in me
12: 22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.