Category: Joy, Peace, and Hope Through the Bible

How the Bible empowers us to become people of joy, peace, and hope through the virtues of faith, hope, and love

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The Blood of the Covenant & the Ten Commandments

The law of God is holy, righteous, and good. The law of God is glorious. God presented it in an audible voice to the people of Israel (see Exodus 19) in a dramatic way. The law presents the divine will for our lives. If we could live according to God’s law, we would fulfill our destiny as human beings and reflect the divine glory like a mirror reflecting the glory of the sun.

The law is holy, righteous, and good, but I am sold under sin. That’s also what the Apostle Paul and our experience teaches us. When we hear what God is telling us to do, sin is right there with us.  We take the good thing God commands, and we so often go in the opposite direction. This is what the Israelites experienced. They heard God speaking to them, and they immediately built a golden calf as an image of Jehovah in direct contradiction to God’s commandment.

And that’s why we need grace. We need the grace of forgiveness. We also need the grace of God to empower us to obey His commandments. That is the truth that God presents in the Old and the New Testaments.

After the giving of the law, Moses built an altar and offered sacrifices on it. Then, he took the blood and put it in bowls. He took part of the blood and splashed it on the altar. What did he do with the other half? “Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you . . .'” (Ex. 24:8).

This all may seem strange, but it is not the first time people apply blood in the book of Exodus. At the first Passover, the Israelites applied the blood of the lamb to the doorposts so that the angel of death would pass over them and not strike their firstborn. They were saved by the blood of the lamb. They then ate and drank the Passover meal.

Something similar happens here. The elders of the Israel went up before the Lord, and they saw the God of Israel. Now note: “But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank” (v. 11).  They were saved by the blood of the covenant!

It is very important for us to see that God gives His law in this context. Grace is the context of the giving of the law in Exodus, and grace is consistent with the law. The goal of saving the people of Israel is so that they would be the virtuous, good, and obedient people who reflect God’s glory in their lives individually and collectively.

The next time we encounter the phrase “blood of the covenant” in Scripture is in Zechariah. There, God promises deliverance because of the blood of the covenant: “As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit” (9:11).

After that, the next time we encounter that phrase is the familiar words of Jesus Himself. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:28). How striking that this phrase is pronounced at the Passover meal! The disciples ate and drank with Jesus just like at Mount Sinai and at the Passover. The blood of the covenant is presented to them as the foundation of their lives and peace with God.

Another possible parallel. The Israelites said they would obey God fully and then immediately disobeyed Him. In the same way, Peter and the Apostles all said that they will not abandon the Lord and then immediately go out and abandon Him.

But Jesus brings restoration. The blood of the covenant not their obedience is the foundation of the covenant. Jesus came to them after His resurrection with restoration and called them again to obedience and to teach obedience, “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (28:19).

The law of God presents to us a beautiful picture of what humanity should be. However, we have all sinned. We have broken this glorious law. The result should have been our death, but God intervened with the blood of the covenant. The blood of the covenant brings forgiveness and restores us to new obedience. That was true in Exodus and the Old Testament, and it is true in Matthew and the New Testament.

God bring this together beautifully in the benediction at the end of the book of Hebrews: “Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Heb. 13:20–21).

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The Glory of the Law

What is the best way for humans to live? How can we be truly happy?

People may not discuss these questions explicitly, but all around us, people give answers to those questions. They tell us that we will be happy if we have a full head of hair, white teeth, big homes, and new cars. That is the good life. That is real living. Commercials present this vision of the good life to us a thousand times every day.

People also have strong opinions about the right way for people to live. John Ortberg explains (here) that people talk about it every day. Just listen to their conversations. People have so many complaints about what other people have done to them. They believe that others haven’t lived how they were supposed to live. However, it’s clear from their own lives that they haven’t lived according to the human ideal either!

So, how should we live? What will give us true happiness?

What if God came down from heaven and told us exactly how to live to be truly human and happy?

Well, that’s what He’s done. The book of Exodus describes God coming down to Mount Sinai. There, He spoke audibly to the entire people of Israel. They heard God’s voice. There, He told them how to live. He gave the Ten Commandments.

What do you think of when you hear the word “law”? It’s easy to get a negative view of it. Many Christians speak of the law in a negative way.

This is in part based on some of the ways the Bible speaks. The Bible recognizes that the law can tell us what to do, but the law can’t help us when we have broken the law or give us power to fulfill the law. Only God can do that.

We must be very clear, however, that the law is not the problem. We are the problem. As the Apostle Paul said: “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. . . but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin” (Rom. 7:12, 14).

When we think of the law, we should not have a negative reaction. We should think like the Psalmist: “Oh how I love Thy law, it is my meditation all day long!” (Psalm 119:97).

When we think of the law, we should think of glory. It is a glorious thing that God has spoken to us and told us exactly and clearly how to live. It is a wondrous thing that God has given us His commandments.

The Apostle Paul says that though the law condemns us, this does not mean that the law is not glorious. Instead, we should think this way: “If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!” (2 Cor. 3:9).

The opinions of people and the message of the world present a way of living that will disappoint us and not lead us to the happiness we desire. Praise God that He has revealed to us the right way to live and be happy! Praise God that He has given us His commandments! Praise Him even more that He offer us His Spirit, who enables us to obey His commandments.

So, let it be our prayer: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” and “command what you want, O Lord, and give what you command!”

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Hope for a Way Out

We all have those situations where we feel there is no way out. It may be a dead end job, an addiction, negative emotions, a relationship, a city, or bad habits. These are the sorts of things that can make us bang our head against the wall or cry out to God.

In the Bible, the people of God suffered in just such a situation. One of the most powerful nations on earth oppressed them ruthlessly. They were stuck with their necks in a hard yoke of slavery.

But they escaped. How? “I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment” (Exodus 6:7). The mighty arm of God forced Egypt to give up their slaves. Israel was freed and departed to go to the land God had promised them.

From that time on, whenever Israel was stuck again, they looked to God to come down again, bare His mighty arm, and deliver them. This was their great hope: “Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness” (Ps. 96:13). “For the Lord will deliver Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they” (Jeremiah 31:11).

God is the God who provides a way out. He’s the God of the Exodus, and so there is always hope for a way out.

Sometimes, however, that way out does not appear in the way we might think. In Isaiah 52, the prophet contemplates a new exodus event. He says: “The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God” (52:10). He bares His arm but not how they think, for he says, “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (53:1). God’s mighty arm will be revealed, but people won’t see it or believe it. He won’t be smashing Egypt. The crushing blow will fall on the Messiah Himself He will be a suffering servant who will become a sacrifice for sin. This will provide a way out–an exodus for people stuck in sin and guilt!

I recently heard a story about someone who was stuck. He was stuck in a relationship problem. He struggled so much that he cried out to God. Eventually, God did provide a way out, but it was different than what he expected. “God changed me.” He said. That changed the relationship. He found the way out.

There’s always hope for a way out because the God of all hope is always there. The particular way out may surprise us. We may have to look carefully. We may have to change our thinking and actions. But the way out does come.

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The Exodus of Moses

When I read a novel, I often begin at the very beginning and find myself reading the acknowledgements section. The author thanks people and recounts the late nights she spent writing and editing. Then, there is the preface which gives us some background that is helpful but not always necessary. About halfway through these sections, I often think: I want to get into the story! Enough of this! Then, I move to chapter 1.

It would be easy to read the story of Moses that way. It is a sort of preface to the real story and action of the exodus of the people of God out of Egypt. This week, I’ve been reading Echoes of Exodus: Tracing Themes of Redemption Through Scripture by Alastair J. Roberts and Andrew Wilson. In this book, they explain that the story of Moses is not just introductory material. It is Moses’ own exodus story. Moses’ exodus introduces all the themes that will occur in the exodus of the nation.

Consider. Moses’ name means “Drawn out.” If we read his name that way, then we immediately begin to see the parallels with Israel being “drawn out” of Egypt and later the Red Sea. Here’s a passage from Exodus chosen at random with “Drawn Out” in the place of “Moses”:

Drawn Out saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Drawn Out thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Drawn Out! Drawn Out!”

And Drawn Out said, “Here I am.”

“Drawn Out” will be God’s instrument to draw out the Isrealites from Egypt!

When we consider Moses’ life, the parallels are even more striking. As a baby, he goes down into the water and is brought out to salvation like the Israelites at the Red Sea. 40 years later, Moses seeks to liberate the Israelites. He then has his own exodus where he escapes from Pharaoh and flees into the wilderness.

In the wilderness, God provides Moses with water. Moses then fights off the shepherds to defend the daughters of Jethro. He gets aid from Jethro. All these themes are present in Israel’s experience in the wilderness in Exodus 16–18.

Finally, Moses meets God’s fiery presence in the burning bush. We must remember that this takes place at Sinai. After Israel crosses the wilderness, they meet God’s fiery presence at Sinai just like Moses did.

Why is paying attention to these themes so significant? Roberts and Wilson suggest that we should read Scripture in a musical way. Music repeats various themes and creates tension and then resolutions or more tension in a variety of ways. Reading Scripture this way can help us see what God is drawing our attention to.

In addition, metaphors are powerful. Roberts and Wilson remind us that politicians have often used martial terminology to explain political actions such as a “War on Poverty.” They ask, what if other terms were used?

Say we talked about the frayed edges of society and recovering the stitches we once dropped. Say we lamented the unraveling of communities, addressed the knotty tangles of social problems, and aruged that belonging to close-knit families was a crucial thread in the fabric of society. (23)

The authors note that this would help us think of our problems less in terms of enemies and more “in terms of our interconnectedness and the importance of maintaining the integrity of society’s relationships” (ibid.). All that would have changed was the metaphor, but it would make a significant difference.

So in our reading of Scripture. The metaphor makes a difference. The narrative and its emphases makes a differences. Roberts and Wilson provide some helpful ways to think about how God develops the themes of the Exodus throughout the Bible. The story of Moses is just one part of it. I would certainly recommend this book for anyone who wants to “hear” themes of Exodus in the musical score God wrote in the Bible and is writing in your own life.

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The God of the Exodus

What is the most significant event in the Old Testament? It is the exodus. It is an event where God looked down on his helpless, enslaved people and came down to rescue them from a tyrant. God led them out of Egypt to freedom.

It is important for us to remember that this story was the prominent story in the minds of the writers of the Bible. They thought in terms of the exodus.

This may be hard for Christians to see because we think in terms of the death and resurrection of Christ. But how did Christ think of His own death and resurrection? I remember when I first studied Greek and began using it to study the New Testament text in order to prepare my sermons. One sermon I prepared was on the transfiguration of Jesus in Luke 9. I remember this sermon very distinctly because I preached it in Jordan Station, Ontario, Canada. When I started talking about the cloud, it got very dark. We heard the sound of thunder and saw the lightning. It was a memorable preaching experience!

The other reason I remember the sermon is because this was one of those times when the Greek just jumped out at me. When Moses and Elijah appeared in glory with Jesus, what did they talk about? In English it says that they talked about his “departure.” However, in the Greek, it says, they talked about his exodus. Jesus thought of His death and resurrection as an exodus! We can, too.

In 2 Peter 1, Peter refers back to the transfiguration, “For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (1:16). In the previous verses, he says that he was going to remind them of these things while he was in the “tent of this body” (a reference to the wilderness and the Exodus, by the way!). Then, he says that he was going to make sure that people were there to remind them of these things after his departure.. Same Greek word as in Luke 9, an exodus. Death is Peter’s “exodus,” freed from the dominion of sin, he would now be free from the presence of sin!

I could go on and on. The biblical writers were saturated with thoughts about the exodus. It is how they thought about God, humans, the world, and themselves.

So, why does the exodus event matter to us in the 21st century? First, it can help us understand the Bible. The Bible speaks from beginning to end of the God of the Exodus, the God who delivers his people from a narrow place where they are stuck and brings them into a place of openness and abundance.

Second, it can help encourage us in our struggles. How often do we find ourselves stuck in addictions, sins, emotional issues, dead ends, bad relationships, or organizational lethargy? It’s easy to look at these situations and see ourselves as helpless and hopeless. If we could think of God as the God of the Exodus who leads His people out of the bondage, we could have a lot of hope. We could stop looking at these seemingly helpless situations and start looking up at the God who sees our suffering and can and will, in His due time, provide an exodus for us.

Third, it gives us a positive orientation to the future. We can think of ourselves as those who need an exodus and will one day experience one. Thinking bigger, we can think of the whole world as stuck and in need of an exodus. That’s how Paul thought of the creation. He thought of the creation as being in “bondage” (Rom. 8:21) like the children of Israel: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (8:22). The creation is groaning like the enslaved Israelites groaned in Egypt! But there is good news! “The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21). The whole world is eagerly awaiting an exodus!

Knowing the God of the Bible as the God of the Exodus means knowing God as the God of all hope. However hopeless or difficult or stuck a situation may seem, there is always hope in the God who comes down and delivers His people out of bondage into glorious freedom! The God of the Exodus is still in the exodus business.

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