Exodus 24: The Ceremony (Bobby Valentine)
Texts to Know
Zechariah 9.9-11
Matthew 26.28/Mark 14.24
Hebrews 9.19-22
1 Peter 1.1-2; 2.9, 12
God’s Space: Cosmic Temple Geography of Exodus 24
HEAVEN (Realm of God)
The real temple of God
Sinai, the Mt of God
The glory of Yahweh “descends” in the cloud and dwells on
the mountain as a “copy” of the heavenly temple within creation space
(Moses mediates between the realms–he ascends and descends)
Base of Mt Sinai
(The People of God, Liberated Israel)
Yahweh’s kingdom of priests
The vertical dimensions of holiness on the cosmic mountain will be mirrored in the horizontal graded holiness in the tabernacle. The tabernacle is essentially a “portable” Mt. Sinai, the replica of the heavenly temple of God (cf. Ps 78.69).
(Outline based and modified from Thomas B. Dozeman, God on the Mountain: A Study of Redaction, Theology and Canon in Exodus 19-24, p.128).
Come to the Lord (24.1-2)
What we encounter in Exodus 24 is one of the most extraordinary events in the Story of God. Within the Story, Exodus 24 likely ranks higher than the burning bush (Ex 3). Everything has pointed to this moment.
The passage opens with the invitation to the Bride and ends with the astonishing experience of the Presence of God, the Groom. The word of God is spoken, then written. The altar and the table are prominent. In short, Exodus 24 we have the answer to the words of Yahweh in chapter 3 that the people would worship God on this mountain. They have transferred allegiance from Pharoah (they were serving him in the death of slavery) to Yahweh (where they will experience divine life and bless the world). Not only is Exodus 24 just glorious it is one of the best places to grasp biblical theology of worship. (See for example, John Mark Hicks, Johnny Melton, Bobby Valentine, A Gathered People: Revisioning the Assembly as Transforming Encounter, pp. 37-43).
Yahweh promised “I will come and bless you” (20.28)
The Ceremony (24.4-8)
Israel has already said “yes” to Yahweh’s invitation to covenantal relationship (19.8). Verses 4-8 pick up where the Story of Love left off in 19.1-8, these verses “ratify” Israel’s vocation (kingdom of priests) while sealing her identity (treasured possession). Recalling is important.
V.4, Moses “told the people the words of the LORD …” This is most likely what we read in chapter 20, the Ten Words, and chapters 21-23, often called “the Book of the Covenant.” The word will be read again in v.8.
Moses reads the words again. Unlike the false god Pharoah, Israel is saved, then invited, and will then freely choose to be in covenant with her Saving Redeemer. Israel, God’s son, in a real sense here prefigures Jesus, God’s Son, could have said “No.” But Israel said yes, literally “at the altar” (v.4). (Recall the metaphors of “wife” and “son” are both operative and equally essential in conveying the nature of the covenant of hesed).
V.5, “Moses built an altar … twelve pillars.” Concretely representing Yahweh and the people.
“burnt offerings” seem to have two main functions according later ordinances in Leviticus. They consecrate or sanctify the whole person to God and as atonement (cf. Lev 1.4).
“well-being” (NRSV) or “fellowship offering” (NIV) follows quite naturally from the burnt offering. If one is “consecrated/holified” that is “set aside” and healed through atonement then relationship is both restored and thrives. So, the NRSV renders “well-being” what could literally be rendered a “peace-offering.” Everything is now sort of the way it is supposed to be. Sweet fellowship. The contrast between the burnt offering and the fellowship offering is that the שֶׁלֶם is functionally a feast, an Israelite barbecue!
v.8 sprinkled with the blood. Israel is sealed into a covenant, God’s covenant of love, by God himself. Blood was critical in the Passover and blood is critical in sealing the covenant that binds Israel to Yahweh but also Yahweh to Israel. Being “sprinkled” formalizes what was noted in 19.1-8.
The Unforgettable Meal (24.9-11)
Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and the seventy elders as representatives of all Israel. They ascend to a space between Heaven and Earth so to speak. What happens is astonishing. It is a text I never heard of in my growing up years but is in the biblical story one of those pinnacle peak texts.
“they saw the God of Israel … they beheld God” The Hebrew uses two different verbs though the NIV renders them both “saw” while the NRSV has “saw” and “beheld.” The text emphasizes an unimaginable miracle of earth shattering grace. Tantalizing. Even mesmerizing.
How did this happen since 33.20 says no one can see God’s face and live. But the text stresses the miracle of grace, Yahweh “did not raise his hand against them.” God was sharing the experience of the fellowship offering. God wants to be WITH his people, WITH his bride. God made the way for them to be in union, in fellowship.
The text deftly but every so wondrously savors the divine Presence. This is what it was and is all about. Humans in fellowship with God as in the Garden of Eden. They were like “naked and not afraid.” The narrator does not even attempt to describe God. What happened was beyond human words. We need to understand this since Nadab and Abihu are in the story.
“They ate and they drank” from this moment forward the “mountain” of God and the Presence of God will be associated with joyous fellowship in feasting. The messianic age will be associated with great meals on God’s mountain, See Isaiah 25.6-8. The temple in Jerusalem will be a place of eating with God (see Psalm 23, a table prepared for me …).
This is Our Story
– Jesus explicitly roots what we call the Lord’s Supper in Exodus 24.8. And is it possible that as Moses and company saw God at the table is related to the fact that Jesus is also recognized (i.e. saw) in the breaking of the bread (aka, at the table) in Luke 24.28-31.
– 1 Peter, sprinkled gentiles, 1.1-2; 2.9; 2.12 (see also 1.15).