Exodus chapter 24. So we've come to the ratification of the old covenant. We'll look at the first half this evening and God willing the latter half next Wednesday night. Then we'll take a break for a couple of weeks because of the Christmas holidays. So I want to read the chapter and then our focus tonight will be on verses 1 to 8. So beginning in chapter 24 at verse 1. Now 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. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor shall the people go up with him. So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, All the words which the Lord has said we will do. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and 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. Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words. Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. And they saw the God of Israel. And there was under his feet, as it were, a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. But on the nobles of the children of Israel he did not lay his hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank. Then the Lord said to Moses, Come up to me on the mountain, and be there, and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them. So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. And he said to the elders, Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed, Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them. Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain. Now the glory of the Lord rested 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. The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. Amen. So we come to the conclusion of the book of the covenant, chapters 20 to 24. And essentially, as I've said, you've got the Ten Commandments in chapter 20, and then you've got the application of those commandments in chapters 21 to 23. And in that section, we've seen the laws concerning servants, the laws concerning homicide and bodily injury, laws concerning property damage and theft, miscellaneous laws concerning society, the emphasis on justice for all, the law of Sabbaths, the annual feasts, and then ultimately it ends in chapter 23 on the promise of the conquest. So they're getting prepared to go into the land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, So he gives them a programmatic view of what that's going to look like. God's blessing will rest upon the people, but the people need to be faithful to God. And that brings us to chapter 24, where they ratify that covenant and where they swear fidelity to Yahweh. So I'm going to look first at the instructions given by God in verses 1 and 2. Secondly, the compliance rendered by Moses in verses 3 to 6. And then the ratification of the covenant in verses 7 and 8. So notice first the instructions given by God in verses 1 and 2. So the associates of Moses. Now we know that Aaron is going to be the priestly line. That's going to come, it's going to be identified in chapter 28 at verse 1, so most likely that's why he is included along with his sons, Nadab and Abihu, who will function as priests unto God Most High. And then the 70 of the elders. We've already seen counsel by Jethro, who is Moses' father-in-law, in Exodus chapter 18, concerning the selection of men to help Moses with the adjudication that would be necessary in Israel. If Moses was to take it on himself, he would ultimately die. It was too big of a task. And so Jethro wisely counsels him that he selects other men and puts them in charge, sort of a lower court function. Moses would function as the Supreme Court. Well, in Exodus 18, it's not specified that it's 70 men. Later on in Numbers chapter 11, we'll see that it is specifically 70 men. That's what the Sanhedrin ultimately is when we get to the New Testament scriptures. So there was this body of elders made up amongst the community, men of prestige, men that were godly, men that were faithful, most likely the same sorts of men Jethro counseled Moses to select. in Exodus chapter 18. So all of these are to go up on the mountain. But you notice specifically that you have only Moses that shall come near the Lord. Verse 2, Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor shall the people go up with them. Robert Alter says, there is evidently a tripartite deployment. Moses alone goes up to the mountaintop. The 70 elders, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu remain at a stopping point partway up the mountain. And the people stay at the foot of the mountain as they were instructed to do in chapter 19. If you go back to chapter 19, you see the same sort of an emphasis. Moses is permitted by God to ascend the mountaintop. And I think the function of Moses, not a federal head, as we're learning on Saturday mornings in our theology study, but he is the mediator of the old covenant. He goes on behalf of the people to God, and then he communicates to the people on behalf of God. So he functions in that particular capacity. He has got an intimacy with the Lord. So notice in chapter 19, specifically at verse 17, Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And so again, the people of Israel stood at the base of the mountain. They were not permitted to go any further. And then at the end of the giving of the Decalogue in chapter 20, we see Moses return. In chapter 20, verse 20, Moses said to the people, do not fear, for God has come to test you, and that his fear may be before you, so that you may not sin. So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. So Moses is granted access to go into the very presence of God Almighty. And so we see that same emphasis here, the nearness of Moses and the distance of the people. Now notice, secondly, the compliance rendered by Moses. So Moses comes now to the people and he tells them, notice verse 3, all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And this small phrase encapsulates chapters 20 to 23, all the words of the Lord most likely as a reference to the Decalogue in chapter 20. And then the judgments are those laws applied in chapters 21 to 23. So Moses rehearses with the people the things that he has received on behalf of the people. So the words refer to the Decalogue. The judgments refer to the judicial law that we find in chapters 21 to 23. So verse 3, So this is an expression or an oath concerning their fidelity to the covenant. When we see that repeated in verse 7, that's the formal ratification. It's more of an informal expression of the people relative to the terms involved in this covenant made by God with them. And Matthew Poole, I think, helpfully comments here. He says, This they said so readily and rashly promise, because they were not sensible of their own weakness, and because they did not understand the comprehensiveness and spirituality and strictness of God's law, but thought it consisted only in the external performances and abstinences expressed. And I think the same thing is true when we drop down to verse 7, because after we leave this particular scene, we start to get instructions concerning the tabernacle, but by the time we get to chapter 32, there is defection and apostasy on the part of these people that promise, in verses 3 and 7, that everything that Yahweh commands, we will do and be obedient to it. So there is a rashness and a hastiness there. Now notice the written record in verse 4a. So after Moses reviews the words of the Lord and the judgments, and they say all the words which the Lord has said we will do, notice what Moses does in verse 4. Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. So this is the act of writing out of the covenant. Now, the covenant would eventually be placed into the Ark of the Covenant. You'll see that later in Exodus 25, and then in Deuteronomy chapter 10. But this forms the basis, or it's the formal substance of the covenant. It's the documents that record God's purpose for Israel, and it expresses Israel's responsibility before God. Meredith Klein said the origin of the Old Testament canon coincided with the founding of the Kingdom of Israel by covenant at Sinai. The very treaty that formally established the Israelite theocracy was itself the beginning and nucleus of the total covenant cluster of writings which constitutes the Old Testament canon. So this is significant, that Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. He's not simply doing this to sort of keep the minutes, but this is foundational with reference to the institution of this theocratic society under God. And it's the covenant documents that would undergird their position before God, and it would outline or specify their particular responsibilities to God. And in terms of the writing down of these words, it would be important for successive generations. It would be important not just for the people that were at the foot of Sinai, but subsequently to their children, to their children's children after them, unto the end of the age, as far as they knew. Stuart says, writing down the law was important if it were to be a permanent and accurate basis for continuing instruction of newer members of the community. Children would need to be instructed in the covenant as fully as their parents initially had been. Newcomers to the community from foreign places who accepted Yahweh's worship and integrated themselves properly into the Israelite nation needed to have the clearest possible understanding of everything the law required. This makes sense. This is what covenant is all about. There is this document that undergirds it. And lo and behold, when you turn to the pages of the New Testament, you'll see very close parallels with reference to the New Testament writings. Deuteronomy 4, for instance, appends a curse to adding to the Word of God. You see that in the book of Revelation. There is a demand for public reading, Deuteronomy 31, 11 and 12, when the children of Israel, along with their little ones, gathered together, the Word of God was to be read to them. What does Paul say in the New Covenant with reference to those covenantal documents? He commands that they be read in the churches, that they be exchanged among the churches, and they be given by way of instruction to the churches. And then there's a similar function in the structure of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Pentateuch is parallel, or the Gospels rather, are parallel to the Pentateuch. You've got the historical books in the Old Testament. You've got a historical book in the New Testament with the Book of Acts. And then the prophets are somewhat, or the epistles of the apostles, are somewhat similar in nature to the prophets. And so this whole emphasis on covenant document, in terms of New Testament, we see the beauty of the New Testament with the backdrop of the Old Testament, and that they were, in fact, the people of the book. They were a people entrusted with these writings. They were a people that understood the nature of these writings. They deposited in the Ark of the Covenant for safekeeping and as a record of the covenant that obtained between God and men. And not only would these written words be necessary for the successive generations in terms of children and catechism and that sort of thing, but for the judges. The judges were going to have to make the hard cases and apply the law of God in civil society. They couldn't kind of scratch their heads and say, well, you know, I think that it was said way back when such and such is what we are supposed to do. No, they have written documentation on how to execute the law of the covenant. when it comes to infractions or transgressions in the civil polity. So that's a very significant statement in verse 4. Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. But not only does Moses write all the words of the Lord in terms of this covenant ratification, he also engages the formal elements involved in this service. The people are going to swear fidelity to Yahweh. They're going to swear an oath to God. Deuteronomy 6.13 indicates that swearing oaths is an act of worship. And when you look at what Moses undertakes at this particular venture, you see that it's an act of worship. God is meeting with His people. His people are meeting with Him. We don't just do that in some willy-nilly sort of a meeting way where we have just a discussion. It's an act of worship. They're going to swear an oath to God in terms of their fidelity, so all of the formal elements involved in worship are put in place by Moses. Notice in verse 4b, so after he writes, it says he rose early in the morning. and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. Now certainly an altar is built there for worship, but specifically the altar is there for sacrifice. When we approach a holy God, we don't come empty-handed. We saw that in chapter 23. We come before God with blood. We come before God with those things that are required. Now it's going to be further detailed in terms of the legislation in the book of Leviticus, but they knew enough at this point, they had had enough revelation at this point, to bring blood into the presence of God Almighty. And then notice at the end of verse 4, "...and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel." If you look back in chapter 23 at verse 24, "...you shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works, but you shall utterly overthrow them, and completely break down their sacred pillars." They are to break down the sacred pillars of the pagans. With reference to their pillars, these 12 signify the 12 tribes of Israel. It signifies the people of God. It's not just Moses that's involved in the ratification ceremony. Moses is the mediator. Moses stands before God on behalf of the people, and Moses communicates to the people on behalf of God, but it's the people that make the covenant with Yahweh. And so these 12 tribes indicate it's a comprehensive covenant in terms of the nation of Israel as a whole. In fact, Poole says that. Twelve pillars representing the people of Israel, the other party. So here are the outward signs and symbols of a covenant made between God and the Israelites. Now, when it comes to a situation like this, ceremony and pomp and circumstance is very effective, it's very good. It solemnizes the event and it tends to put it into the hearts and minds of the people that participated in the event. So when we come to this particular situation, there is a specific purpose. They're going to ratify the covenant God has made with them. So after the pillars, then we see the sacrifice in verse 5. Then he sent young men of the children of Israel. We don't know who these young men are. As I said, the family of Aaron or Aaron's family is going to be identified specifically in chapter 28 as the priestly line. So were these sons of Aaron removed? We don't know. Gill makes the observation that the 70 elders that were called would have been men of prestige, men of responsibility, men that had their acts together. And so we can conclude the same thing with these young men. They were young men that were proven and responsible and certainly up to the task at hand. Poole says, it matters not whether they were the firstborn or others. It is sufficient that they were persons appointed and authorized for the present service, not without God's direction. And so Moses appoints these young men, and notice what they do in terms of offering. So verse 5, then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. Later, legislation will explain those particular offerings. We've seen some stuff along the way, but as one man says, burnt offerings are offerings dedicated entirely to God, burnt to ashes on the altar. Fellowship, or peace offerings, are offerings eaten by priests and worshipers alike, with a portion of fat from the animal being sacrificed symbolically, dedicated to God, and burnt to ashes on the altar. If you look at this same chapter specifically in verse 11. Eating and drinking was very consistent with covenant making. Eating and drinking was very consistent with that whole process with that old event. It was a time of celebration. It was a time of fellowship. It was a time to express their unity. It was time to reflect upon their obligations in terms of that covenant setting. No accident that the covenant renewal ceremony in the New Covenant has to do with bread and wine, has to do with the ingestion of tangible things to call us to reflection upon the blessed work of our Redeemer. And then notice the blood in verse 6. Verse 6 says, Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Now the significance in this is very simple. The two parties involved in the covenant had blood sprinkled on them. If you go back to Genesis chapter 15, remember the covenant ratification ceremony there, when Abraham asks for proof or evidence that the promises of God are going to be yea and amen. It's in that context that God says, get animals, cut them in half, and separate them onto either side, and then the parties of the covenant walk between the animals. And the significance there is that if one of the parties of the covenant reneges on their obligations, then what they are admitting, or what they are confessing, then may what happened to these animals happen to me. So it's a very solemn, and again, a very serious thing. So when they invoke or use blood in this particular context, Sam Renahan says, the sprinkling of blood is an oath of loyalty and a vow of accountability. It is the placement of sanctions in the covenantal relationship. If you don't have sanctions, you don't have a covenant. That's part and parcel of a covenant. A covenant is not just a promise, it's not just a contract, but there are sanctions involved for the parties that renege on those particular promises or obligations. So he says, the same be done to us and more also is the idea behind it. As they had pledged in Exodus 19, so here they are pledging to be obedient. So that's the significance behind the blood. So in verse 6 it says he took half the blood and put it in the basins or bowls, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Gil says the altar here seems to represent the Lord, who is one of the parties, covenanting, and therefore is sprinkled with blood as a ratification of the covenant on his part and the promises of it. So when Moses takes that basin of blood to sprinkle on the children of Israel, he can't very well sprinkle that blood up into high heaven upon God himself, so he sprinkles it on the altar, which is representative or signifies the presence of God in this particular transaction. Stuart says the portion of blood that Moses put in bowls was for sprinkling on the people, as a sign that they were recipients of the advantage that the shed blood provided. The portion sprinkled on the altar was God's, signifying that he was the other party to the covenant, as represented in the ceremony of sacrifice by his altar. So you've got the parties involved, you've got the stipulations present, you've got the sanctions appended. Everything is present in terms of covenant. When you study the Bible and you look at this concept of covenant, those are the things that are present. You've got parties, you've got promises, you've got sanctions, you've got stipulations, you've got blessings. All those things are present in covenant making. That's what's here in the ratification. And that brings us finally to verses 7 and 8. Notice this is the formal expression. So verse 7, then he took the book of the covenant and read in the hearing of the people. He'd say, well, he already did that. This is the formalized version of that. And it's absolutely requisite. You don't sign a covenant. You don't enter into a transaction without reading the terms, without knowing the obligations, without seeing the fine print, not suggesting there was any fine print in this covenant given by God. But that's the point. In this formal ratification ceremony, Moses takes the Book of the Covenant and he reads it in the hearing of all the people. Gil says, which contain the words of the Lord which he is said to write, and consisted both of laws and judgments required of the people. and to which they had given their assent, and promised obedience to, and of promises made by the Lord of sending His angel before them, to guide them in the way, and bring them to Canaan, and to drive the Canaanites from thence, and put the Israelites into the possession of it. So that here were promises on both sides, a restipulation of parties, which made a formal covenant." So it's not just the children of Israel that are swearing fidelity to this covenant, but the God of Israel is swearing fidelity to this covenant as well. He has made big promises. Look back at chapter 23, beginning in verse 20. Behold, I send an angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him and obey his voice. Do not provoke him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him. But if you indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries. And then over in verse 27, I will send my fear before you. I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. So you see, God has skin in the game as well, metaphorically speaking. God has made promises that are quite large. And so God is involved in this covenant. And so this would hopefully be an encouragement to the children of Israel. It's not just us that are swearing our fidelity to Him, but it is Him as well swearing His fidelity to the oath that He has sworn, to the covenant that He has enacted. And so then we move on to their statement. So verse 7 it says, and they said, all that the Lord has said we will do and be obedient. So the people heard the reading of the book of the covenant. They couldn't say, well, you know, later on, You know, we just really didn't know the terms. We were rushed into it. You know, they gave us a 2,000-page bill at 3 a.m. and said, have it read by 7 a.m. It wasn't like that. The covenant was read in the hearing of the people. They understood the terms involved in the covenant. They understood their commitment. They understood Yahweh's commitment. And so they swear fidelity in verse 7. They said, all that the Lord has said, we will do and be obedient. And then the formal ratification is concluded in the sprinkling of blood. So verse 8, Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, this is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words. So he sprinkled it on the people. Now, there were lots of people. So how did this blood get sprinkled on all of them? Well, probably the ones that were close, or it could have been upon the elders who were representative of the people of Israel. Either way, the significance is obvious. There's blood sprinkled on the altar, one party of the covenant, and then blood sprinkled on the other party of the covenant, which is the children of Israel. Now hopefully this reminds you of another covenant, specifically in Matthew chapter 26, a passage that we read typically every Sunday night that we take the supper. In Matthew chapter 26, the Lord Jesus uses this same sort of language. In Matthew 26, 27, then he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. And then turn to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 9 shows comparison and contrast, excuse me, between old and new covenant. And in Hebrews chapter 9 specifically at verse 16, for where there is a testament there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you. Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. And according to the law, almost all things are purified with blood, now here's the principle, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. And then he goes on to say, Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Not that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters the most holy place every year with blood of another. He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world. But now, once at the end of the ages, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for him, he will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation." So, both covenants, both of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant are ratified in the sprinkling of blood. You see that emphasis here at the foot of Sinai in Exodus 24 and verse 8. You see that emphasis in the New Covenant relative to the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapter 10 tells us that the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. It prefigured or typified or foreshadowed or looked forward to the coming of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So this is typological pointing forward to the anti-type which is Jesus Christ our blessed Lord. So in conclusion, it's a solemn occasion, and it's a very serious occasion. The people of Israel had been blessed by God. They had been redeemed. Remember the three sort of emphases in the book of Exodus. You've got deliverance, you've got demand, and you've got dwelling. We've just about concluded with the demand section. We've concluded deliverance. That's chapters 1 to 18. It shows us, when we get to the book of Exodus, the children of Israel are not in the land. They're in a foreign land. They're in Egypt. They're under bondage. They're under slavery. It's a very difficult situation. So God, with a mighty outstretched hand, brings them out. He brings them to Sinai, chapters 19 to 24. He gives them demand. He gives them command. He gives them instruction on how they're to live as a body politic, as individuals before Him. And then in chapter 25 to the end of the book, we will see the emphasis on dwelling. Now, I'm not certain we're going to go through every jot and tittle of Exodus 25 to 40. There's a lot of furniture and a lot of details and a lot of repetition in there, so pray for me that I have wisdom on my Christmas break on how best to sort of approach that. There's certain points, obviously, that we cannot neglect. But in terms of, you know, every loop and every curtain and all that sort of thing, that may just be overview-ish when we get there. But those are the three emphases in the book of Exodus. God's deliverance of his people, God's demand upon his people, and God's dwelling with his people. So it's a solemn occasion, it's a happy occasion. Now obviously, when we get on further in the book, we'll see that they were not faithful relative to their promise in verses 3 and 7. And then the final thing I want to say is the nature of this particular covenant. Now, in the history of theology, some have identified the Old Covenant as an administration of the Covenant of Grace. In fact, the Westminster Confession very clearly tells us this covenant was differently administered, and this is in the context of the Covenant of Grace. This Covenant of Grace was differently administered in the time of the Law and in the time of the Gospel. Under the Law, it was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the Paschal Lamb, and other types and ordinances delivered to the people of the Jews, all four signifying Christ to come, which were for that time sufficient and efficacious through the operation of the Spirit to instruct and build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they had full remission of sins and eternal salvation, and is called the Old Testament." So the Westminster divines, the Presbyterians, saw the Old Covenant as an administration of the Covenant of Grace. When you read our Confession of Faith, you'll notice they don't copy that part. For the most part, 2nd London follows Westminster very closely, except at certain key points. And this is one of those key points. In chapter 7, paragraph 3, speaking of the covenant of grace, it says, this covenant is revealed in the gospel. First of all, to Adam in the promise of salvation by the seed of the woman, and afterward by farther steps. So it views the old covenant as a farther step. It's kind of like a football and moving it down the field. The various historical covenants took that football, that promise given by God in Genesis 3.15, and moved it down the field until the time of the Lord Jesus Christ. So it says, first of all, to Adam and the promise of salvation by the seed of the woman, and afterwards by farther steps, until the full discovery thereof was completed in the New Testament. So there is a significant difference between the credo or believer Baptists in Second London Confession versus the Presbyterians in the Westminster Confession. And it turns on this old covenant. The Presbyterians saw it as an administration of the covenant of grace, and the Baptists said, no, it's not an administration of the covenant of grace, rather it's a republication of the covenant of works. So what was given to Adam in the garden is given to Israel. When Christ comes, Christ is the last Adam and the true Israel. The operation of Christ in the covenant of grace is a covenant of works. He keeps it for us. And I should say, it's not just Baptists in history that have seen the old covenant as a republication of the covenant of works. It was John Owen, Samuel Petto, other sort of big names did not think that the Old Covenant was an administration of the Covenant of Grace. In fact, Owen says, they, the Old and New Covenants, differ in their subject matter, both as unto precepts and promises, the advantage being still on the part of the New Covenant. He says the Old Covenant and the preceptive part of it renewed the commands of the Covenant of Works and that on their original terms. The Old Testament absolutely considered had no promise of grace to communicate spiritual strength or to assist us in obedience. So again, it was common amongst at least the Westminster divines to see the Old Covenant as an administration of the covenant of grace. But that was not straight across the board. So the Baptists had a lot of solidarity and people like John Owen, Samuel Paddoe, others that saw the Old Covenant as a covenant of works. But most importantly, we look at Paul in Galatians 3. We'll end here. Galatians chapter 3. How does Paul treat the Old Covenant and New Covenant? There's other places we could go in, Paul, but I think Galatians 3 is a good place to go. Notice in Galatians 3, 10, for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. So that's out of the book of Deuteronomy. So Paul interprets the Old Covenant as a curse-bringing covenant for those who do not obey the terms of the covenant. And then he sees that this is consistent even in the Old Covenant. Notice in verse 11, but that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God, is evident, for the just shall live by faith. Within the Old Covenant itself, there was this acknowledgement that it was faith in the promises of God that was the means by which we entered into favor with God. Not our law-keeping, not because law-keeping is bad, but because we're bad, and we're not going to keep the law in the manner that God demands us to keep the law. And then he says, yet the law is not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them. That's Leviticus 18. So there's this emphasis in the Old Covenant on obedience in order to maintain your covenant status. Well, that's not a covenant of grace. We're in the covenant of grace based on the obedience of Jesus Christ, not based on our obedience. He's our covenant head. He's the mediator. We have this blessed and gracious reception by God as a result of what Christ has accomplished on our behalf. But then drop down to verse 19, what purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. And it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. And then he says in verse 21, is the law then against the promises of God? I don't think he's dealing with law in just a unique, narrow sense of Ten Commandments. When Paul uses the word law in the New Testament, it's the Greek word namos, you've heard antinomian, that means against the law, antinomos. You've heard neonomian, that means new law, ism. When Paul uses You can't just assume every single time he uses it the exact same way. I'm convinced he's not using it here with its narrow meaning of the Ten Commandments or Decalogue. I think he's talking about the Old Covenant in verse 21. Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not. For if there had been a law given, which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the scripture is confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith, which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under tutor. So if we take it as narrowly defined as moral law, then verse 25 basically ends in antinomianism. But after faith has come, we are no longer under the law? Well, I know that some people like that concept. The dispensationalists like that concept. I'm not suggesting they use it as a means to sin, but it fits their weird theology. But he's talking about the Old Covenant. Verse 24, the law was our tutor. It kept us together. That was one of the functions of the Old Covenant as a republication of the covenant of works, was to keep the people together, not to jeopardize the seed. and to bring them ultimately to Christ that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, I think he's speaking about the new covenant there, we're no longer under the old covenant. That's the distinction in the book of Galatians. You don't take some of those old covenant elements vis-a-vis circumcision bring them into the new covenant and think that you're going to get acceptance with God as a result of those old covenant things. So Galatians 3 is showing us comparisons and contrast between the covenant. So when we look at Exodus 24 and we see them swear fidelity to Yahweh in verses 3 and 7, they mean business. God meant business, this was in fact a covenant of words Now, there's grace and there's blessing and there's promise throughout. There's a provision made for, you know, the sacrificial system. They got benefit as a result of that. But the covenant, as specified here in chapter 24, is a republication of the covenant of works. I'll close in prayer, and then if you have questions, we can try to deal with those. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the clarity that we find here in Exodus 24 in terms of worship and in terms of solemnity and the seriousness of this arrangement between you and Israel. We thank you for this new covenant era and for the fact that Christ is the true Israel, that in him we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of your grace. We rejoice in your loving kindness and in your mercy to us. We rejoice in that new covenant that you have blessed us with, and we pray in Jesus' name.