Welcome! As usual there are so many good things to think about comment on here in today’s reading, and we won’t be able to get around to everything, but there are some really great things that really strike me as I read through.

First, I hope you didn’t just scan through the many laws that you read here. Although we could be tempted to write them off as unworthy of our time, because they are part of the old covenant and have specific application to an ancient agrarian society; don’t be fooled. There are, first, a lot of great principles that continue to apply to modern times, too. And secondly, these laws demonstrate again how fair and just the Lord really is. He is concerned, for example, about the underdogs of society — widow, orphans, strangers, the poor. And his concern for them issues forth in not only His command to not oppress them, but even provide for them.

But what really struck me is the ceremony and feast that God called for to establish the Mosaic covenant. Covenants are for two parties and God had made covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob already in previous centuries. But God’s requirements had been pretty vague. Now, Abraham’s Isaac’s, and Jacob’s children’s children were on the verge of receiving the promise God had made so long ago and the specifics of Israel’s side of the covenant needed to be established.

So, a ceremony and feast were called for by the Lord. He invited Moses, Aaron, Aaron’s sons, and the 70 elders of Israel. A sacrifice was made, the blood was collected, the “words of the covenant” were read to the people, the people were called upon to affirm that they would keep this covenant (“Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” Exodus 24:7, NAS95.), and Moses was required to sprinkle the people with the “blood of the covenant” (“Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”” Exodus 24:8, NAS95.)

The next time you see this phrase “blood of the covenant” is when Jesus is establishing the Lord’s Supper — a ceremony and “feast”, too. As Jesus takes the cup, He describes what it’s meaning is to be when we partake, “for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28, NAS95. Though it is not often mentioned as an important part of our weekly communion, Jesus is clearly trying to connect these two events — the establishment of covenant. How important it is to reminded of our covenant and to say in our hearts as we partake of the cup, “All that the LORD has spoken I will do, and I will be obedient!”

What part of this passage struck you?

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.