We're going to read tonight Exodus 24, and our text is focused just on two of the verses, though we'll read the whole chapter, and we'll also interact with a little bit that's round about it. But Exodus chapter 24, hear God's word. Then he spoke to Moses, and so this, we'll introduce it later, but this is coming really tied with what's before it, Moses up on the mountain with God yet. And then he spoke 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 others 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 twelve pillars according to the twelve 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 put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 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. And Moses took the blood, and he 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. and these will be our focus of our text. 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. Then 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 Hur are with you. Whoever has the dispute, let him go to them. Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 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 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. At Westminster this spring for our chapel, we were assigned to pick texts that spoke of eating with God. And so that is in many ways the origins of the choice of this text because it's one of the classics, really this high point of Israel at Sinai, what we see here. And as we read the Old Testament, one of the things I really like about it is it's so different. It's so different from modern life. And in that, it helps us evaluate, look again at our priorities, our concerns, our wants, puts them into a perspective. It can remind us of what's important, what we should focus on. And one of the things as we read the Old Testament, we're often reminded that we have greater clarity because we live after the New Testament. We have this clarity that comes because we know of what Christ did, what has been fulfilled, the mysteries that have been made plain. And yet we still look forward. We still look forward to what is so often those inexpressible heavenly realities that we get glimpses at. And sometimes it seems like the saints in the Old Testament that they were closer to those realities than even us in our ordinary experiences. And so we might find ourselves sometimes jealous of those Old Testament saints and what they experienced. Wouldn't it be easier? Wouldn't my faith be stronger if I had been at Sinai With the thunder, with the fire, with the lightning, with the flashes, hearing God speak. Or more so our text tonight. I had been with that group that ascended and saw God, ate, and drank. What a serene image meeting with God on that mountain. Well, as we'll mention a little later, we will see that that generation that did experience all those things very much still struggled with the obedience. That fire and thunder, even that meal with God, didn't remove sin from their human hearts. And as we sometimes think of what they experienced and maybe have that envy, we have to remember the nature of God's Word as testimony. You don't need to experience it personally for it to be true, for it to encourage you and strengthen your faith as if you were there. And this would have been most of the experiences of an Israelite too, as these stories were passed down from generation to generation. And yet, as those stories had shaped their view of the world, of God, his relationship with his people. And so we'll wrestle a little bit with that as we think and dwell on this passage, as it does give us a foretaste of what we still look forward to, and yet what we experience now in many ways that is greater. And so in our time tonight, we'll look at first the timeline that this text fits into, because I think that's important. We need to know what's coming before it and what comes after it to see its significance. And so we'll go through the timeline a little bit, and through that we'll see that this text is a fulfillment in two different ways of that covenant at Sinai. And so we'll focus a lot on that. And finally we'll relate it to ourselves? What does it teach us about our present and our future? So, first thinking of this timeline, Exodus 24 really needs to be taken together, Exodus 19 all the way through 24. They are all these events centered there on Sinai and the coming of the covenant. And yet, if you've read through it recently, you probably get distracted. It's hard to keep the narrative straight because you have some big chunks of law in there. You have the Ten Commandments, and then you have the even bigger, what we often call the Covenant Code, that takes most of 21, 22, and 23. And so it's a little harder to get the flow. And sometimes even the text is a little difficult. One thing, if you want to read through it, it's an interesting question to try to figure out how many times Moses goes up and down the mountain between Exodus 19 through 24. He is continually making that trek, and for all of you step counters out there, I think Moses would have posted some pretty good numbers. But as we think of this narrative, we have in Exodus 19, Israel arriving at Sinai. And then we get first that offer of the covenant. And so this is Moses' first trip up and down the mountain. He goes up there and God gives him a message to bring to Israel. And so if you want to read it there, you can look back on Exodus 19, and it's verses 4 through 6. And we could start there even in verse 3. Thus, you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the people of Israel, You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, You shall be my treasured possession among all peoples. For all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. So this is this offer of the covenant. And God is laying out what he's done for Israel. I took you out of Egypt. I brought you to myself. And now he's offering this covenant with that one condition. If you obey, if you obey my covenant, if you do, keep my words, hear my voice. And so Moses comes down, and what did the people respond? They say, yes. They say, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do. And so then we get the second part. Now Moses goes back up the mountain to report that to God. And God says, well, now they're ready for me to come, to come visit. And you need to prepare. And so he gives them instructions on how to prepare. And so Moses comes back down and he has to make all those barriers around the mountain as he gets ready for God to come on Sinai, as he comes to show Israel who it is that they're entering this covenant with. And so we get that theophany, that image of God as he comes down on Sinai in verses 16 through 19. On the morning of the third day, there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out to the camp to meet God and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln and the whole mountain trembled greatly. At the sound of the trumpet, as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And so here's probably another up and down of Moses, but we get all those signs of God coming, And it prepares us then for chapter 20, where then God speaks to his people. And this is the beginning to fill out of what that covenant was. He made the offer, if you will obey everything I command. And now we get the start of that with those Ten Commandments. But what is Israel's response as they get that? Well, again, we get a little bit of fear and trembling. And so we see that in chapter 20 after the Ten Commandments. They're given, verse 18, Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled. They stood afar off. And Moses said, you shall, you speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us lest we die. Moses said to the people, do not fear, for God has come to test you that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin. The people stood far off when Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. And as the narrative continues there, the people are now saying, we can't hear God and hear his law in that way. We need you to get it, Moses. And so that's what Moses does. He goes up on the mountain, and that's chapters 21, 22, and 23, as he's given that law. That's law that they had said they would agree to, to be in this covenant with God. And so that finally leads us to chapter 24. 24 is now where that covenant finally comes into this reality. Where it is confirmed, where it is made. And so that's what we read the beginning of. as we looked at it, that Moses now brings all those words. And again, the people say we will do them. And then he fulfills what was a command given in chapter 22 to make a sacrifice, an offering, and that's what he does. And that blood sprinkled on the altar and then on the people, as he calls it, this blood of the covenant. And so now Israel is in covenant with their God. And so that's where we find our text, as it's flowing out of that. This fulfillment of this covenant. And as we look a little to the future, and this will be important, Chapter 25, right after what we read, Moses, right after they eat and before God they go up on the mountain, Moses does by himself. We then get the tabernacle. Moses has instructions, right, chapter after chapter of instructions of the tabernacle that God gives to him. So our text is right in between those two. The covenant is made, and yet before the plans for the tabernacle. And so how is this dual fulfillment of the covenant, as I mentioned? Well, God's presence is the focus. God's presence with Israel is this focus. He already came on Sinai, thunder and lightning and sounds and fire, speaking his law, but here, here's something different. His presence to a different degree. As he invites this group to approach, there's a call about the text as it stands out from the fire and smoke, the thunder and lightning that are all around it. And so what I think we need to see here is that God's presence here with his people, it's brought about by the covenant, and we'll emphasize that, but also it's his presence that brings about the reality of the covenant, what was offered therein. And so it's brought about by the covenant we read in our text that what this group does is in fulfillment of what God had commanded in 24.1. He says, You, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, 70 of the elders of the visual, you are to come up to the Lord and worship from afar. Now, often there's two different words that are often translated worship. One of them is the word that could be serve. The other, and that's the one used here, is bow down. And I think that's important as we think of what's happening here. Israel, through these representatives, are being invited into God's courtroom. They're getting this audience with the king. And they are to come there and they are to bow down or worship, as it says, from afar. And so, as we think of that, we could look at many different texts, but this term that's used a number of times of that physical posture of bowing down, it's when you are showing reverence to somebody, some person, and especially to someone who's in authority over you. And that is what we get here. And verse 10 focuses on that, right? Verse 9, they go up, and verse 10 is what they then see. They come into this courtroom of God. They saw the God of Israel. And what our text emphasizes is not some description of God, but what's around about him. And there was under his feet, as it were, a pavement of sapphire stones, or maybe better, lapis lazuli, like the very heaven for clearness. And so the image there, either sapphire or lapis lazuli, is blue. And it was often used in temples to illustrate and think of the heavenly realm of the gods. And so here, showing in this imagery that they are coming into God's very throne room, into his heavenly temple. And we're not told a lot of details. Some commentators, because they're on a mountain, like to think they're looking up through this at God. We get a similar image later with Ezekiel as he's looking up and sees God's throne. Or is it spread out before them? But anyway, God has invited them as those to have an audience with him. And the next verse is crucial as we think of what this covenant has brought about. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel. We might think that's a little odd to put there, but that is the surprising part in many as we're being told this. They're coming into God's very presence, and yet there's no hostility. But not only is there no hostility, what's on the other side? Not only did he not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel, but he showed hospitality. They beheld God and ate and drank. God brought them in. He did not strike them as they came in. Instead, he provided them a meal. Now, we're not given a lot of details. They were just having offerings down below. Some wonder if they brought the offerings up. Or is God providing? I think probably that's more likely. We certainly know God can provide a meal in the wilderness. But the biggest part is that they come, and he doesn't strike. He instead extends this hospitality. They have now become his people. They are in covenant with him, this relationship that's brought about by this covenant. And we could probably expand on this. The group that's brought up, they are a representative. They probably represent Israel coming before God, but also there's probably a commissioning of them. This is something we find often in the Old Testament where God, as he's commissioning somebody, brings them into his presence. And so we see here Moses certainly as a leader in Israel, but the priests, Aaron and his two sons, and then these elders as they're all brought in there. These are ones who will serve him in this kingdom that he has set up by this covenant. But I think we should also see here that this is a model for what Israel itself will experience. They came into God's presence, they ate and they drank, and God's presence won't stay there on Sinai. Instead, it will continue with them. And that's why right after this, God makes ready his house. his tent, so that he can travel with Israel. The tabernacle is what is coming. And the tabernacle, many have said, and I think rightly, is a movable Sinai. God comes down on Sinai. We see the cloud as it comes there. You get the tabernacle built, and what happens? Again, the cloud comes down, the fire goes out. That was what was present with Israel. And so this presence that the covenant has brought about, this presence of God, is what would continue in the tabernacle, and all of Israel would experience it. And all of Israel was called at least three times a year to come, to come before their King. And in those times, it says that they come to see God. And as they come, they don't come empty-handed. Instead, they come and they eat. They eat and they rejoice in all the blessings that He has given to them. And so you have that meal imagery with their offerings as they present them to the Lord. And the priests, in many ways, have that special access as they even enter into his tent, into his house. But this presence of God, I would argue, is very essential to see how it brings about their covenant reality. God had to be with them for what God had promised to be true. And so this brings us back to what was offered there in chapter 19. As he said, I brought you to myself, and now the whole earth is mine. But you can be my own people, my own special treasure, my own particular possession. You can be marked out in that way. And what is that particular people, that treasure? How is that expressed? Well, in what he says in the following verses, you can be this kingdom of priests, you can be this holy nation. And both of those require, are built upon the idea of God's presence being there. When do you need priests? You only need priests when the God is present. When he's amongst you and you need to serve him. When are you a holy nation? It's again, we could look at a number of verses. How was Israel a holy nation? It was because God placed his presence among them. That is how they were this holy nation. And so this presence of God makes the covenant reality of who Israel is to be in this covenant. And it's really tied into what God says his whole goal in the Exodus was. It was to take a people to himself and to dwell with them. And so that is what he's setting up here. That is what they are experiencing up on this mountain meeting. And that is what they are looking forward to in that tabernacle. Well, how does this relate to us? Well, we need to start out by saying we're in a better covenant with better promises. Because all of what I've laid out there, that covenant that God set up at Sinai and all its glory and all that it gave to Israel, there was one problem. And it wasn't on God's side, it was on Israel's side. As they made that covenant, what had they responded? All that the Lord has spoken, we will do. And you know the book of Exodus. We don't have to turn too many more chapters, and we come to this golden calf. This golden calf made by this man Aaron, this man Aaron and all the leaders who were with him who had been up on that mountain with God who had been in his presence they were now rebelling Moses had gone up on the mountain and they got impatience the people said where is this Moses and Aaron said oh I just threw some gold together and out came this calf um and so moses comes down god tells him to come down and he comes with those tablets and he shatters them the covenant's done the covenant is broken but we could also see the problems with this covenant even earlier in what we what we talked about is as as god offers it and then he comes with his presence and what does Israel do? They tremble. They shake. They pull back. They stand at a distance and that idea of a distance is brought out even in this reality of what we're shown here as God had told him come up and bow down but at a distance because what they were allowed to do at Sinai will be then again what they can do at the tabernacle and the tabernacle was all about barriers. The curtains that separated and the guards that were around in the courtroom, all about barriers. And thus Israel in their disobedience and God as he brings his judgments this is why the Old Testament prophets they look forward to a new covenant they look forward to a better covenant a covenant that had that same goal God taking a people to himself dwelling with them but a covenant that had a different foundation a covenant that cannot be broken because it would be a covenant that God himself would come and do what was necessary, the obedience required through the incarnation. Jesus, the God-man, would be obedient, even unto death, to save, to bring that people to himself, save them from their sins. And so we could look and trace so many of these themes in the New Testament of God's presence, how the New Covenant enables God's presence to be with us, how it's seen in Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and how it forms who we are as New Covenant members, and also how all those barriers are done away with in Christ. But I'll close with just one image. since it picks up the meal, the meal that we saw there in Exodus 24. And it speaks of both the present and that future. And so this is from Matthew 26, as Jesus was giving the Lord's Supper to his people. He said, 26 through 29, Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing, they broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, take, eat, this is my body. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, drink all of it, drink of it to all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. And so our foretaste is now, as God calls us into his presence, as he feeds us his supper. but we look forward to that greater future. No shuddering, no fearing, no keeping at a distance like Israel, but instead, as we partake in that marriage supper of the Lamb with Christ. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we rejoice in your calling upon us. We rejoice that you desired a relationship with us, that you chose to call and take us as your people and to mark us out by your presence. And may we remember that, that it is a reality now, even though we don't see it as we look forward to in that new reality. but may we know that you are, you are always with us. May we live our lives in light of that. And may we yearn, yearn for that day when our faith will be sight. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.