The Mosaic Covenant: The Ceremony
The Mosaic Covenant, the Sinai Covenant, the Old Covenant—all of these terms refer to the covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai following their exodus from Egypt. Israel had gone to Egypt looking for safety and provision during a drought and famine in the time of Joseph. They stayed and became enslaved for a further 400 years, growing from a family of 70 to a tribe of millions.
I have heard of the exodus narrative described as a type of birth narrative, and it is. The exodus describes the birth of the nation of Israel. When they came to Mount Sinai, God gave them the Law to govern their interactions with God, with themselves, and with the nations at large. God also ordained them as a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. God told Moses:
“‘This is what you must say to the house of Jacob and explain to the Israelites: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine, and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.’” (Ex. 19:3-6)
This moment in Israel’s history was not only the beginning of the Mosaic Covenant, but it was also a partial fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant. Back in Genesis 12, God had promised to make Abraham a great nation, a great name, and a great blessing to the nations. That promise would now continue to be worked out through the new nation of Israel. In this way, we will see how the Mosaic Covenant is the next installment of the overarching covenant of grace and also the next layer of the Abrahamic Covenant.
Moses had to put his hiking shoes on because he traipsed up and down Mount Sinai multiple times as the middleman, taking the Lord’s words down to Israel and taking Israel’s words back up to God. He was their mediator, and for good reason. We read in Exodus 19:
“Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the LORD came down on it in fire. Its smoke went up like smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently.” (17-18)
Israel just experienced God delivering them from Egypt, so they likely had at least a measure of fear for the God of their deliverance. Thus, when Moses tells them of God’s warning not to break through the boundary around the mountain so that they don’t die, we have no record of anyone daring to break God’s command (in this instance at least).
God then proceeds to give them the Ten Commandments, also known as the Ten Words or the Decalogue. We will explore the Ten Words in more depth in another post; for now, it is enough to know that these words form the heart of the Law and the covenant with Israel. After they received these words, Israel told Moses: “‘You speak to us, and we will listen…but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die’” (Ex. 20:19). Here, Moses became even more firmly established as the mediator between Israel and God. He is the one who interceded on behalf of the people before God.
After receiving the Ten Words, along with a further explication of them (Ex. 21-23), Moses performs the official covenant ratification ceremony. The people have already been partially consecrated (Ex. 19:10, 14), but God’s holiness is such that they are not holy enough to approach Him. One does not just blithely approach the God of the Universe. Thus, Israel offered up burnt offerings and fellowship offerings (Ex. 24:5). Moses took the blood of the sacrifices and put it on the altar (representing God) and the people (Ex. 24:6-8). They undergo the equivalent of a priestly ordination ceremony, tying in with the idea that Israel is to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex. 19:6). This matters because it is how Israel is supposed to reflect God to the nations and bring God’s blessings to the nations, as promised to Abraham.
The covenant ceremony then wraps up with a meal: “Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders, and they saw the God of Israel…God did not harm the Israelite nobles; they saw him, and they ate and drank” (Ex. 24:9-11). The feast foreshadowed the one that “the LORD of Armies will prepare for all the peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast with aged wine…” (Isa. 25:6). The feast that Christ referenced when he said, “‘For I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes’” (Luke 22:18). The wedding feast of the Lamb and the Church (Rev 19:9) that will be at the end of all things and the ultimate celebration of God reigning over all.
Some have noted how the covenant ratification ceremony on Mount Sinai is also symbolic of a wedding ceremony. They are bound now by blood and the covenant obligations they have both promised to keep. In Israel’s case, the Lord has now become their nearest relative, and they are His people. Since this idea would deserve a whole series of its own to explore, I will simply leave you with the knowledge that God is now Israel’s kinsman redeemer—the only One who can relieve their sin debt.
The Mosaic Covenant established the Law and provided the clearest picture yet of the coming Christ, who would be the true and better Moses, the fulfillment of the Law, the better high priest, and the ultimate, final sacrifice. Peter Gentry’s and Stephen Wellum’s opus Kingdom through Covenant is a fascinating look at the biblical framework of covenants, and they write, “Human sin requires human death. So God did not design his law-covenant with Israel to provide a permanent solution to the ‘problem of forgiveness’…the law-covenant as a whole pointed forward to God’s provision of redemption…” (699).
We will continue to explore the Mosaic Covenant through several more elements that characterize it: the Law, the Sabbath, the priesthood and tabernacle, and the Passover. This covenant is instrumental in understanding the old testament, but even more, it is foundational to Christ’s obedient life and submitted death on the cross. We can understand the magnitude of what Christ did when we understand how God set the stage for Christ’s atoning work millennia in advance.
Author’s Note:
Please realize that the resource list is a work in progress, and not all the sources listed are ones that I necessarily used or heavily considered in the development of this series. I also realize that a variety of schools of thought may be represented. I am not intentionally promoting one theological system over another. I also recognize that there are multiple approaches to the study of covenants, and I am not here to promote one over another. My goal is to present a basic understanding of the various covenants and how they progressively reveal God’s overarching plan of salvation for humanity.
