Today's sermon will be from Exodus chapter 24. If you will turn in your Bible to Exodus chapter 24, we have an exciting story today of the covenant, of Mosaic covenant being ratified or confirmed on Mount Sinai or on the mount of God. And so the rest of the book of Exodus will reveal more to us about God dwelling with his people. But today God will call Moses and Aaron and his sons up to the mount along with 70 elders to be in his presence to confirm or ratify a covenant that has been made and ratify it or confirm it in blood. We want to notice three things as I begin to read. There's three things in this passage I want you to know and I want you to understand primarily. There's a lot of things in this passage, but primarily three things. Number one, notice the location and significance of Mount Sinai for this covenant ceremony. That's important and I'll try to point that out. Number two, notice this covenant ratification ceremony that may be different or unique for us. We are not an ancient Near Eastern people, but we come close to understanding these things through contracts with one another. But a covenant is greater than a contract. But notice this covenant ratification ceremony that's going to happen. And number three, notice the blood of the covenant and the ceremonial meal, the ceremonial meal that happens after the covenant is ratified or confirmed in blood that happens on the mountain. Again, The mountain is significant, and I'll try to point that out after the reading of God's Word. This is the Lord's Word. Let us hear the Word of the Lord and let us heed the Word of the Lord. From Exodus chapter 24, beginning in verse 1. Then he said to Moses, Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. Moses alone shall come near to the Lord, but the other shall not come near and the people shall not come up with him. Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules and all the people answered with one voice and said all the words that the Lord has spoken, we will do. And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and 12 pillars according to the 12 tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the people of Israel who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood and he put it in basins and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant And he 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. And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, behold, the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words. Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet, as it were, a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel. They beheld God and ate and drank. The Lord said to Moses, Come up to Me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction. So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua and Moses went up into the mountain of God. And he said to the elders, wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and her are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them. Then Moses went up to the mountain and the cloud covered the mountain. And the glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day, he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now, the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. Thus ends the reading of God's word. Let us pray. We thank you, our Lord and our God, for this word before us, and we ask that you would teach us, help your servant as he preaches, help me to be clear and help us as you, by your spirit, teach us. We pray that you would illumine the text. You would open our ears to hear our hearts to receive and our minds to understand. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Well, number one, I just want to remind you of the importance, the significance of this location at Mount Sinai. If you remember, the Israelites back in Exodus 19 have already seen, have already been called to this mountain originally, and they've seen the glory of God. They've seen the theophany, the theophany, or an appearance of God, a visible appearance of God in cloud, in fire, in smoke, in rumbling. In chapter 19, they were told, not even a beast can come near the mountain or it'll be stoned. This mountain was a holy, holy place. And they were to, if you will, take off their and remove their shoes for the place that God dwelled was holy, holy, holy ground. In the ancient Near East, the mountains were the place where the people would go and see them ascend into the clouds. And the very tip-top of the mountains would be the place where they thought the gods would dwell. That was the understanding in the ancient Near East of the pagan peoples. What God is saying is, here I do dwell on a mountain, I dwell on Mount Sinai, but I'm different from all the other gods in the land. I'm a God who will eventually come down to you. I'm a God who will dwell on this mountain, but you will approach Me first on My terms. You will approach Me on My terms, and I want you to approach Me in order, with the purpose, to worship Me. What will happen from this mountain on is God will teach Moses in chapter 25 how to build the tabernacle. And the tabernacle will be the place where God will say, I will no longer dwell on this particular mountain that makes it holy. I'm going to dwell in the midst of my people. My people live in tents. I'm going to live in a tent. So the location of this Mount Sinai is very important. Another aspect of this mountain that shows us or gives us a foretaste of the tabernacle is that if you notice, the Lord is to be approached in degrees. Moses alone, verse 2 says, shall come to the tip top. That is, Moses alone will ascend to the highest place. That's why it can be confusing when reading chapter 24. You hear Moses say he went up to the mountain, then he went up the mountain, he went up the mountain, he went up the mountain. Well, it was Moses was ascending higher than the others. Moses alone could come up to the very glory cloud and meet the Lord face to face. Why was that? Well, because Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant. He was the most important individual chosen by God to mediate His covenant to the people, to give instructions to the tabernacle, to lead the people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. Moses was the one who could come closest. He had the first degree of approach, and that's important to notice. The second degree of approach was Nadab, Abihu and Aaron. These are the future priests of Israel. They are not formally established yet. The priesthood has not been established yet, but these will go a certain way, a certain distance up the mountain, but will not be able to go all the way to the top of the mountain. Only one, only one can ascend to the highest place into the very presence of God, and that's Moses. But the proto-priests, if I can say it that way, the priests or to stand in the middle. And the priesthood hasn't been established yet, but that's in the following chapters of the book of Exodus. At the bottom of the mountain are the elders who represent the people. They're to come and represent the people and worship. And I want you to get the picture of how Mount Sinai will become flattened as the tabernacle. And this is important to notice. Remember in the tabernacle there were degrees of access. There were three degrees of access that we will notice. There was the Holy of Holies, which was where the very throne room of God was. Only the high priest could go once a year into the Holy of Holies. He was allowed to do what Moses was able to do on Mount Sinai. Then there was the holy place inside, and we'll look at all the furniture inside the tabernacle in weeks to come, Lord willing, but there were the priests The priest, the Levitical priesthood, Aaron and the priest would serve continually in that holy place, the second degree. And then the third degree of access to God was the people. Don't take it for granted that the people represented by the elders were able to approach this tabernacle on earth. God himself dwelled with his people. He was in the midst of his people and he was showing them through this tabernacle that God would one day dwell with his people with the removal of sin and suffering and death. but that God would be with His people in covenant. And so it's quite significant to notice that Mount Sinai, if you will, flattens out. What is happening here in three degrees, Mount Sinai, the place of God's dwelling in the mount, will become a place where God will dwell in a tent in the midst of the people. What we have here in chapter 24, Pastor Phil Reichen writes, I think, very well concerning... We have an ideal worship service here in Exodus 24. Reichen writes, in Exodus 24, we see nearly all the basic elements of a public worship service of God here on Mount Sinai, where God dwells. And thus it sets the pattern for biblical worship. He says, there was a call to worship. God calls the people to worship. There was the reading of God's word. There was a confession of faith. And then there was the sharing of a sacramental covenantal meal. This was all done under the oversight of Israel's elders and by the servant appointed to lead public worship. And it was all done in the presence of a holy and glorious God. This is what worship is, meeting with God. I think Sinai shows us a great picture as the people of God. As we read in the opening words of the greeting from the Lord, the Lord said from Hebrews to you that you've not come to this mountain, you've come to the heavenly Jerusalem. You've come to the place where God has where He sits on His heavenly throne, and not Moses has ascended, but Christ, your Savior, your Lord, one greater than Moses, has ascended to His right hand. And He encourages us to not worship in fear on this mountain, but to draw near, come close through the blood of Christ. So this mountain, has great significance. In fact, if you want to do a study throughout the Bible, it's fun to begin with the mountain in Eden. As Isaiah 14 says, there was a mountain in Eden. There was a mountain in Eden and go all the way to the end mountain of Armageddon in Revelation and all the mountains in between from Sinai to Moriah to the Sermon on the Mount to the Transfiguration on the Mount. All these mountains had great significance to the people. They were the place where God would begin to come down and dwell with his people. people. The last mountain we see in the book of Revelation is the last mountain with the defeat of all God's enemies where we finally get the vision of God dwelling with man eternally and permanently. So the first thing we want to notice is the context, the location of this mountain is going to mean something as we journey forward into the book of Exodus and look at the tabernacle and its significance. There's three degrees on the mountain and there'll be three degrees with regard to getting close to the throne room of God and the Holy of Holies. Second thing I want you to notice is look at the covenant ratification ceremony. But let me remind you of what a covenant means, if I may. Covenant can be a difficult term for us today. O. Palmer Robertson has the best quotation, I think the most memorable quotation, with regards to what a covenant is. And he says a covenant is a bond in blood. sovereignly administered. And with all respect and humility, I would just add an initiated, meaning it is sovereignly administered as well as initiated by God. God calls the people under Moses to come to him and to make a covenant with him. Another way of putting covenant. It's simply this. It is a sacred relationship that is signed in blood, signed and sealed. I guess the closest we can come to this is in our time, ink signs a contract, a binding agreement between two parties. Ink signs a contract, blood signs a covenant. Blood signs a covenant, at least the covenant as we are looking at here in the Bible. Here in chapter 24, a covenant is being made in this worship service between God and His people. The Lord has given to the people of God in chapters 20 through 23 His law and His word. Look at verse 3. Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord. That's summary for the Ten Commandments and all the rules. That's a different Hebrew word that summary for the book of the covenant or those rules that follow in chapters 21 to 23. And then the people answer with one voice, as they did in Exodus 19. And they say, all of these things that you have spoken, we will do. They've just entered into a covenant with the Almighty. That covenant is about to be ratified. It's about to be signed in blood. They say it two times, actually. If you look at the second reading, verse seven, Moses, he took the Book of the Covenant. The Book of the Covenant is a summary for chapters 20 through 23. The Book of the Covenant is a summary for the Ten Commandments, plus all the rules. He took the Book of the Covenant and he 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. No. What Moses is reading to them is, again, the Ten Commandments that we went through in our sermon series. The Ten Commandments that expose mere outward conformity to God's law and reveal the inner workings of the human heart, the sinful human heart. The law goes deep into showing us all that we're sinners. The law goes deep in our hearts to showing that mere outward performance is not true obedience. God is calling His people to perfect obedience. And in the Mosaic covenant, distinct from the Abrahamic one that was made simply or by promise, that Abrahamic covenant was made by promise to Abraham and to his seed, this covenant is being made between two people. That means there are going to be consequences for the breaking of this covenant. And as I said last week, and I think this is helpful, Make a distinction in your minds when reading Israel, reading about Israel's history between the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of God. Israel is a nation, the theocracy. They were called by God as a nation so that God's grace might be made known throughout the nations to all the peoples of the world. But not all in Israel were truly Israel. In fact, in the history, all the way to the point where exile happens, later on in redemptive history, the kingdom of Israel begins to eclipse the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God that was to come through the kingdom of Israel. And so it's important to remember that there are going to be consequences on the nation of Israel, for they're breaking the covenant. For the nation is making this covenant between God. They're saying, all these things we will do. And then they pick up their pen, so to speak, and they sign it in blood. Let me remind you of the form of a covenant treaty so that you'll understand more about the covenant so that we'll all get a better grasp on a covenant. It had simply four parts to it. We see this in Exodus 19. We see it in Exodus 20. And then we see it again here as an assumption of a covenant. A covenant was a document where it had a preamble. Number one, a preamble where the king or the suzerain identifies himself and initiates the covenant. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt. The second part was a historical prologue. This is where Yahweh, the sovereign king, recounts the past relationship with this people, or any king that's making a covenant in the ancient Near East. But here, Yahweh's saying, I am the God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Meaning, number two, the historical prologue, I'm the one who saved you. Number three, there's stipulations. There are if-then clauses. If you do these things, If you are obedient, you get blessings in the land. If you are disobedient, you will have curses and the land will vomit you out. The if-then clauses, if-then were the stipulations. Deuteronomy chapters 28 and 29 are all about, or 27 to 29, are all about the blessings that will happen for obedience and the curses that will happen for disobedience. And then finally, number four, the covenant ratification or confirmation. And this is what's happening here. The covenant is going to be confirmed or ratified by Israel. The fourth point of the covenant that was made in the ancient Near East was that the people will respond and they will respond to the covenant, to the stipulations. If then, if then they will respond by saying either yes, yes, we will be obedient to the covenant or no, we will not grant you these. These are not in keeping with our agreement. But they have no say in the matter. This was Yahweh. This is the creator and redeemer. And he says, this is the way it goes. And you are to respond. And they respond in the affirmative. We will keep this law. Now, let's make it a distinction, I think that'll be helpful. In the Abrahamic covenant, the covenant of grace we read about in Genesis 12, it's strictly unilateral. It is one way. It is God making a covenant of promise, grace to Abraham and his seed. That includes primarily, as Galatians 3 says, that is Christ that that promise is being made to, and all those who trust in Christ. Understand that the unilateral covenant to Abraham was a covenant to Abraham and his seed and Paul says in Galatians 3 16 that his seed was Christ So what does that mean? It means that all that were in the nation of Israel in the Old Testament I ask you to follow me on this it can get a little technical but it's worthwhile that the the the nation of Israel those who were Believing in the promise who was to come the promise seed of Abraham. Those were the ones who were saved in the nation of Israel. In the coming of Christ, it was all those who were looking to Christ alone, who were inheritors, who were those who inherit Abraham's promise, that one-way covenant. That's why Paul goes on to say in Galatians 3, 27 to 29, there's neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. The distinctions are off, but all are one in Christ Jesus. And if you're in Christ, then you're heirs according to the promise. So, what makes this a little confusing, and the reason we read Galatians 3 earlier, is because the law covenant comes in. The law, the Mosaic covenant, comes in to the nation of Israel. And we have to see it. Although it's a works covenant, there's gracious elements to it. First of all, it was given after God had redeemed the people. Second of all, it revealed their sin. Which doesn't sound very gracious, But the law actually shows forth in a special way to the nation of Israel the sin, the requirements of a holy God that the rest of the people would not have got in that special way. They were given that special revelation of what God requires of sinners. They would have been driven out of themselves by faith to say, Lord, have mercy on me. I cannot be obedient to this covenant. In fact, just hours later, the very ones that Moses leaves in charge, Aaron and her are left in charge. And the people are to do, you know, and come to them if they have any problems. But by the chapter 32, Aaron is not taking the lead. He's taking the jewelry and the gold of the people and he's forming a golden calf and leading false worship. So, they don't even get away from the mountain before they begin breaking the covenant as a people. The Mosaic Covenant is a bilateral covenant. Bi meaning two. It's bi, it's between two peoples, God and His people. And it's inaugurated, it is confirmed, it is ratified by blood. Notice this is a very important point. In verse three, Moses reads so that everyone will be clear as to what the covenant says. You know, sometimes we sign contracts not reading all the small print. You know, we go and we we begin to get a membership somewhere. We don't go through all the copies to really find out what it is they're saying. Moses twice reads them so that they're crystal clear as to what God is saying to them. But at the same time, verse four, Moses writes down the words of the Lord. I don't know if Moses was aware of what was going on. Maybe the bit of irony. The people of God confirming obedience to this. And at the same time, without any... Moses brings no further understanding in this. The text goes right to verse 4 and says, And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar. He went to build an altar. He heard them say that they were going to be obedient to it. And he went and built an altar. And what does that mean when he built an altar at the foot of the mountain with 12 pillars to represent the 12 tribes of Israel? Why would he do that? Because he knew that they were covenant breakers. He knew that they would break the covenant and that blood would be required of them. You see, the covenant was ratified in blood and the covenant represented many things. But the covenant represented the blood of the people that would be required if they failed to keep the covenant. You remember earlier with the Abrahamic covenant, God makes a unilateral covenant. He says, if I do not keep my promises, then I myself will shed my own blood as represented by the two pieces that were cut when that covenant was made. The two pieces of animal. Here, Moses brings out the altar immediately. in order to bring sacrifice and blood. That's significant, people of God. It's important to have that blood, that sacrifice, that substitute for covenant breakers. Notice in verse 5, He sent young men. And they do two burnt offerings, two offerings here that we find out more in Leviticus about. But here, and you can read Leviticus later, but the burnt offering was an offering to propitiate God's wrath. It was an offering of fire where God's wrath consumed the animal on the altar. And so the burnt offering is offered here. Also, the peace offerings. And later on in Redemptive History in Leviticus, we find out the peace offerings were to show consecration to God, or fellowship, or the peace that God had made between Himself and the people through the blood that was shed. So, there's a lot going on here. Look at verse 6. After the altar was built, Moses took half of the blood and he put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. He didn't only throw the blood against the altar, The Hebrew says he sprinkled it, and I think that's an important theological word that might have been overlooked in this translation, at least in the ESV. Moses takes the blood and he sprinkles it all over the altar. You could say through it. But the altar is representing the very presence of God, His holiness. This altar is going to be the place where a substitute is going to be offered to God with looking two directions. Number one, the burnt offerings will be to propitiate the sin of these covenant breakers so that God will continue to dwell with them. So the burnt offering will be for God to continue to consume, to take away his wrath so that the people can worship him and come to him without him breaking out in wrath against them for their sins. Number two, the peace offering that will be offered here is an offering of blood to remind the people that they have peace with God and fellowship, not based on any obedience of their own, but by the substitute blood that was offered on their behalf. And so what does Moses do as a symbol of the consecration of the people or the fellowship? He sprayed the altar, he sprinkled the altar with blood to show that before God, any way before God will require blood, death will be required if we enter back into Eden, so to speak. Remember the cherubim standing at the gate of Eden, guarding it, showing that only through death will we enter back in. The Holy of Holies will see when we see the Ark of the Covenant. It had the cherubim of glory above it. showing that the presence of God is guarded by angels. You cannot go through the presence of God without blood. You cannot go into the presence of God without substitutionary atonement, blood. And so Moses sprinkles the altar and then notice what he does and you can imagine the people standing there and I'm not sure if it's the representative elders of the people Or if it's the people himself that he does this, Hebrews tells us that he sprinkles the book of the covenant as well with the blood. But he sprinkles the people. To show them that they have through blood, that the blood has covered them and that they can be consecrated or set apart for fellowship and peace with God, but only through a substitute. So he sprinkles the blood on the altar before God so that God might see the substitute and not break out in his wrath. The people are splattered, sprinkled with blood so that they can come near to God because of their sin. And that's important to notice here. Moses took the blood in verse eight and he threw it or sprinkled it on the people. And listen to what he says. Behold, the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words and the gauntlet comes down. You can imagine looking around and seeing blood on your face, on your clothing, on the ground on which you are, reminding you of the grace of the Lord, reminding you that the only way you're going to keep this covenant is through a substitute. You've already broken the covenant in word, thought and deed. Standing right there at the foot of the mountain, the Israelites had broken the covenant in word, thought and deed, and they needed blood. blood, blood to cover them. So, the covenant is signed and it's sealed in blood. Old Palmer Robertson writes, the same pledge to death, which played such a prominent role in the inauguration of the Abrahamic covenant, manifested itself in the inauguration of the Mosaic covenant. God was showing Israel that there was another way, another way than covenant keeping. Another way than sinners trying to keep his law, even though they had said in this bilateral covenant, we shall be obedient and keep this covenant. God provided blood so that they would see a better way, another way, a way of promise, a way of grace, a way of substitute and not in any way find the obedience to the law in their own works or in their own work. in their own strength, they would have been cut off. And they were, as a nation. The blood showed consecration for fellowship, people of God. They were to no longer be guilty before God. They were no longer to have that guilt of their sins because a substitute had been offered to God on their behalf. And that substitute was acceptable and pleasing in God's sight. And so, this blood was for consecration, It was for atonement. It was to remind them of the peace. It was to remind them of substitution. And it reminds us that Christ's blood in the fullness of time, the one greater than Moses, was shed to inaugurate the new covenant. And in Christ, Christ, the seed of Abraham, he fulfills the Abrahamic covenant. He not only fulfills the Abrahamic covenant and is heir to all that Abraham has promised and all those in Christ are heirs to everything Abraham promised. Abraham was promised. But Christ is also the one true Israelite who kept his word and kept the covenant with God. People of God, what are we saved from? We are saved from the wrath of God, from our own blood, lifeblood being required us before a holy God. We're saved not by our works, but by the works of Christ. Christ came in the fullness of time as the one greater than Moses, as the true Israelite, and he was obedient. even unto death. And God gave him a name that is above all names, so that at the name of Jesus, every tongue will confess and every knee will bow to the praise of God and His glory. See, Jesus is the covenant keeper. And He's the one that Isaiah even prophesied about. In Isaiah 52-53, where Isaiah's looking through this vision and seeing it by the power of God, under the inspiration of God, he sees this servant, this servant, this servant of Israel who will come and he will suffer. He will be a suffering servant on behalf of Israel. And it says, Behold, my servant shall act wisely. He shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted. And many were astonished at you. His appearance was so marred beyond human semblance and his form beyond that of the children of mankind. So shall he sprinkle many nations. He wouldn't just sprinkle the people of God before the mount of God, he would sprinkle many nations with his blood through his own suffering, this true Israelite, this chosen servant of Yahweh. Isaiah goes on to say, King shall shut their mouths. because of him. For that which has not been told them, they see. And that which they have not heard, they understand. This sprinkling of the blood will go to more than Israel. It will go to the whole world, the nations, as was part of the Abrahamic promise, that he would be the father of many nations. And in the most astounding thing, at the end of Jesus' ministry, He's at the last Passover. The Passover reminding of remembering the time that God saw the blood over the doorposts in Egypt and he passed by those who had put the blood on the doorposts. And in Luke 22, Jesus says, I tell you, I will not eat this Passover until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. He says he took a cup and when he had given thanks, he said, take this and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and he gave it to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. This blood will be a final sacrifice, a final atonement before not the mere throne made by hands, but the very throne room of God itself. I will ascend higher than Moses. I will ascend to the right hand of the Father and offer up my blood into the heavenly place for you. My blood shall sprinkle you and cleanse your conscience It shall take away your guilt permanently. You shall be consecrated to God. You shall have peace with God through Christ Jesus. And it's through my blood that this new covenant will be inaugurated and realized. It's my laying down my life for covenant breakers like you, is what Jesus is saying. And Hebrews 9 tells us that. As we approach the Lord's table, listen very carefully to how the author of Hebrews takes the passage in Exodus 24 and shows us the Christ who ascended higher than Moses, who is one greater than Moses. He says, He, Jesus, entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, how shall He purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Verse 18 says, Therefore, not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. He says, For when every commandment of the law had been declared to Moses and to the people, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and he sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you. And in the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. And listen to this, people of God, it gets better. Indeed, under the law, Almost everything is purified with blood and without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sin. Thus, it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rights, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is entered not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Notice what happens at the end of this passage. Moses and the proto-priests and the elders, they sit down to take part in a fellowship meal. They have a covenantal meal. In the Old Testament, there are covenantal meals between people, Jacob and Laban. There's a covenantal meal that we saw earlier in Exodus 18 between Moses and Jethro. Here, the people of God sit down after the covenant has been confirmed and ratified in blood, and they take part as a people. in a covenantal meal in the very presence of God. What do we do as the people of God now? We're reminded that because of Christ's blood, he has come and shed his blood, not in any copy of the heavenly things, but in the true heaven itself at the right hand of the Father. He has shed his precious blood in order to sprinkle us clean. in order to offer up a once-and-for-all propitiation and sacrifice to God for our sins and covenant-breaking people of God, and to sprinkle our hearts with His blood, by His Spirit, so that our hearts might be clean, and that we might be not guilty before the throne of God, because we have an advocate with the Father, Christ Jesus, the righteous, the mediator greater than Moses. And so, He invites us as His people to take part in a covenantal meal, just as they took part in a covenantal meal in the very presence of God. So He invites us. Jesus invites us and says that every time you do this, you're proclaiming my death until I come. Let me say it in a different way. Every time you do this, you're proclaiming that my blood has inaugurated a greater and better covenant that my blood signed, sealed, and sanctifies. My blood, not the blood of goats and calves. And we thank God that we can sup in His presence. Listen to the way Hebrews says it as we close and turn toward the Lord's Supper. Hebrews 10, 18 to 22 says, where there is forgiveness of these, there's no longer any offering of sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh. And since we have a great priest over the house of God, listen, command, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. In Christ, we have the opportunity as the people of God to come to this covenantal sacramental meal in the very presence of God and receive the body and blood of Christ spiritually, yet truly and really by faith. This is the covenantal meal that God calls his people who haven't been sprinkled with the blood of bulls and goats, but have been sprinkled with the very blood of Christ himself. your Lord, your Savior. And when we do this or proclaim His death, we're showing forth to the whole world that this is the precious blood of Christ, the only blood that will be acceptable before God in the place of sinners. And so we go back to the Abrahamic covenant and we see the promises to Abraham fulfilled here. We come and see Abraham's seed. We taste and we see that the Lord is good. We don't merely see a theophanic presentation or revelation of God on a mountain through cloud and smoke. We see a presentation of God in bread and wine. And all are invited to this covenantal meal through Jesus Christ. It's not merely the priests and the elders who invited. He invites all who are sinners saved by grace, who live repentantly knowing that they are saved by grace alone in Christ alone. If the elders would come forward, we will have this sacramental covenantal meal in the presence of God as we celebrate the blood of the new covenant and proclaim Christ's death until he comes.