A Glimpse Of Heaven (Exodus 24:1-25:8) Series

Today's passage, for me, has always been one of the most confusing, mysterious, and wonderful passages in all of Exodus (although I feel like God totally opened it up to me this week; it's ridiculous how this just flowed out). It's the kind that leaves you with questions (and the kind that critical scholarship makes a mess of, trying to use the documentary hypothesis). But, at the same time, more importantly, it's the kind of passage that leaves you in worship. What it gives you, in a way that few other passages do, is give you a glimpse of heaven on earth.

Now, there's other things that the passage talks about, and all of those other things are important as well. Exodus 24 is a critical chapter within the book as a whole. So we'll find lots of things to think about. But above all else, I hope you leave having seen the glimpse of God, and of heaven. I hope you find yourself longing for the glimpse yourself.

Before we dive in, we need to remind ourselves, one last time, about the big picture of what we've been reading. What God has been doing, over the past 4 chapters, is setting up the framework for a new covenant relationship with his people. Israel, at this point, is already God's people. God has already made promises to them, that stand on the basis of the covenant with Abraham. One of the ways to think about what we are reading, is that God is offering a reworked covenant, with more specifics, more systematically laid out (I think this is Terence Fretheim's commentary).

Now, the word "covenant" is sometimes thrown around, without enough explanation.

A covenant is usually a mutually binding relationship, where both sides of the agreement make a commitment to live in a particular way toward one another. A marriage is a covenant-- you commit to loving the other, whether life is better or worse, in sickness and health, until death parts you.

What God is doing, is offering a renewed, or updated, covenant with his people. Before God did this, He proved to this generation of Israel what kind of God He is. The slaves in Egypt had old stories about Yahweh, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. But are those just stories? Is that who Yahweh USED to be?

And what Israel has learned, is that "Yahweh" "will be, who He will be." Yahweh "will be" the kind of God who frees his people from slavery to a superpower. Yahweh "will be" the kind of God who has mastery over creation. He "will be" the one who leaves the army of the world's superpower, washing up dead on shore. He "will be" the kind of God who leads you through a wilderness, where you otherwise die (Exodus 19:4). That's who Yahweh is, and will be: the God who saves, who provides, who leads.

Now, who does God want Israel to be? What his vision for them? Who will they be?

If Israel will commit to obeying God fully, and keeping his covenant, Israel will be God's treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation (Exodus 19:5-6).

That's God's offer.

The people, knowing who God is, and trusting him, respond to God's invitation by giving their initial agreement. God is setting out an attractive offer, and so they say "yes" (Exodus 19:7-8). They commit to being a people who obey God fully, and keep his covenant.

Then, God sets out in more detail what it looks to obey him in what is called the "Book of the Covenant" (Exodus 24:7). In this book, God makes no effort to explain what it looks like to obey him, in every possible situation. But God gives a broad overview, and He paints pictures that are designed to shape his people's moral and spiritual imagination. God provides a framework for what He wants.

All of this covered Exodus 19-23:19. And then, last week, in Exodus 23:20-33, we read about what God offers, in return. What does it look like, concretely, to be God's treasured possession? What does it look like to be God's consecrated people?

And what we saw, is that God's offer has two main components. The first, is that God will bless his people, and their stuff. God will bless their food, and water, and bodies, and wombs. God will give them victory over every enemy. The second component, is that God promises to partner with his people. God will work with them, and through them, and for them, to accomplish his purposes on earth.

So that's where we are at. We know what God offers. We know what He demands, in return. And at this point, the ball is back in Israel's court. Now that they are aware of what obedience to God looks like, and what God is really offering, they have to make a decision for or against entering into this covenant with God.