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Exodus 24:3-4   When Moses went and told the people all the LORD’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the LORD has said we will do.”  Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said.  He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.

The people of Israel had just been miraculously delivered from over four centuries of cruel bondage, and day by day were being miraculously provided for in the wilderness, so why wouldn’t they say to their leader who had just brought the LORD’s ‘words and laws’ down from the holy mountain that was surrounded by impressive fire and smoke: “Everything the LORD has said, we will do”?

In a much later situation, Jesus’ disciple Peter had just spent three years following his Master and witnessing and experiencing his miraculous power over sickness, evil spirits and the ‘forces of nature’, so why wouldn’t he say, when Jesus spoke of his impending suffering and death: “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death” (Luke 22:33)?

I think one of the things that impresses me most about Scripture, and why I find it so helpful to read and inwardly digest it every day, is that my God shows me through it, that he fully understands my fallen, sinful condition, and therefore knows just how to respond to it and deal with it appropriately and effectively.  He knows full well that I am quite sincere about my desire to live my whole life in obedience to his Word because I’ve had 67 of my 84 years to experience his love, faithfulness and power in every aspect of my life; but he also understands that my “spirit is willing, but [my] flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38).

Immediately after the people of Israel had declared their earnest intention, Moses “got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain”, because he knew that an atoning sacrifice would be necessary to deal with human sin and failure.  For Moses, this would be the shedding of an animal’s blood to turn back and appease the wrath of God against man’s sin.

As the New Testament will show, this can only ever be a temporary solution, and only works in as much as it anticipates the shedding of Christ’s blood on the Cross – the once-for-all perfect sacrifice for the propitiation for our sin.  “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith.  He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus (Romans 3:25-26).

“My sin – O the bliss of this glorious thought – my sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.  Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul”  (Horatio Spafford).

– Bruce Christian