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[0:00] In this 24th chapter of Exodus, we find the incident where Moses takes the elders of Aden and Nadab and Abihu some of the way up the mountain, and then goes on himself up for his extended period at the top of Mount Sinai there, 40 days and 40 nights.

[0:19] But prior to that, we have this incident here where we read that Moses wrote all the words of the Lord and rose up early in the morning and built an altar under the hill and 12 pillars according to 12 tribes of Israel.

[0:35] Now, this is not the work of our day. We've got everything that the Lord has said basically for the previous three, four chapters, not only the Ten Commandments, which were subsequently written on the tablets of stone, which the Lord would give over the succeeding chapters, but also all the laws about the relationship between servants and masters and work and property and all the other ways in which justice and the laws to be administered.

[1:04] All of these in the intervening chapters between 20 and 24. Moses written all of these down. They are God's initials speaking to his people, God's initial framework of laws, clarifying the relationship between them and him, and because of their relationship with him, their relationships with one another were likewise to be codified in this way.

[1:28] So the book, in many ways, represents God's living relationship with his people. Moses wrote all the words of the Lord and rose up early in the morning.

[1:40] Now, you see, you shouldn't think, oh, he got up first thing in the morning and wrote them down, and then, later on that morning, he set up the altar. No, this is not the work of a day. It is a painstaking, time-consuming work.

[1:53] And when it is all done, then we read, he rose up early in the morning, building an altar under the hill. Again, that would have taken some time to construct. And 12 pillars.

[2:05] So finding large, significant, elongated stones. That would also be a work of some considerable time, although no doubt he would have help with it, according to the 12 tribes of Israel.

[2:16] And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord. Now, according to what we have in the letter to the Hebrews in chapter 9, it wasn't simply oxen alone, but rather other animals that were used at the same time in the sacrifice.

[2:39] We read that the blood of goats and calves and the ashes of heifer and so on were also used in sacrifice, perhaps at that particular time, perhaps at other times.

[2:53] We read that the blood of calves, verse 19 of Hebrews 9, calves and of goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, and so on.

[3:04] Now, whether the writer to the Hebrews may have additional detail that the Lord has inspired him with and caused the right down, in the initial account here in Exodus, we don't have that particular detail about the scarlet wool and the hyssop and water and so on, but that is part of the subsequent laws and different rules of sacrifice at other times.

[3:29] But here we only have oxen specified, but even to sacrifice to butcher oxen at this time, obviously he gets young men to do it, but this also is a work of some considerable time and energy.

[3:44] So although the Bible frequently sort of telescopes its descriptions into just a few sentences, it really is a work of some considerable time and labour and effort.

[3:56] And so when it is done and the offerings have been made, Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

[4:08] Now, whatever beasts are being used in these sacrifices, clearly it is the same beasts, it is the same blood, it is the same sacrificial offerings, which are being sprinkled both towards the altar and towards the people.

[4:25] Some commentators differ as to whether it is physically, literally the people that are sprinkled with the blood. At most it could only be perhaps those at the very front or their representatives or whatever.

[4:38] Certainly there wouldn't be sufficient blood to sprinkle all the thousands of Israel, but that doesn't matter. That's not necessary. The point is that they are symbolically covered by the blood, but it is the same blood which is sprinkled towards the altar, and as I say, some commentators take it that it is simply the pillars that represent the tribes of Israel who are also likewise sprinkled with the blood.

[5:05] But either way, we come back to the point, same blood, same sacrificial victims, which is sprinkled both ways, towards the altar, symbolizing God, towards the pillars, if that is what is anointed, symbolizing the people, or perhaps towards the people themselves.

[5:24] Hebrews also specifies that he sprinkled the book, the actual writings of the law of God's living relationship with his people, that that too was sprinkled with the blood.

[5:36] That's where it specifies Hebrews 9, when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats of water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, this is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.

[5:56] And of course, we read here, Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, saying, behold the blood of the covenant. Covenant and testament, pretty much the same thing. They mean slight difference in interpretation, but it means basically the same thing.

[6:09] This is, behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you, concerning all these words. All the words of the law, all the words of his living relationship with his people, is sanctified by the blood of sacrifice, by the blood of atonement.

[6:26] The same blood sprinkled towards the altar, as is sprinkled on the people. But, in other words, that blood unites them. This is what we're saying in simpler terms to the children earlier, about blood and DNA and so on.

[6:42] That one blood unites them. Symbolically, the altar symbolizing God and the people, whether it's only their readers, whether it's the pillars, whether it's however many or few of them were actually touched by the sprinkling of the blood.

[6:57] Remember, these sacrificial animals are mere symbols of the reality of what unites God with his people. It's not the animal's blood that unites them.

[7:09] It's the one life and blood that God gives, that unites God and his people, of which the written word, the book that Moses has prepared here, Hebrews tells us, that too is sprinkled, because this living relationship, that unites altar and people, God and his particular chosen people, this brings them together, in that living relationship.

[7:37] Now, obviously, this is the earliest instance, of God's written word being given, this time that we have it, at least as far as the children of Israel are concerned.

[7:48] You could argue, of course, about the book of Job, having been written down earlier, and that is entirely possible. But in terms of this narrative, with the Israelites, this is the earliest portion, the earliest part of God's word being written down.

[8:04] His living relationship, his laws, his testimony, that which covers their relationship to him, and their relationships to one another, and the one directly impinges upon the other.

[8:16] How we are with one another, is informed and dictated, by how we are with God. And you find, and you don't need rocket science to work it out, that where people reject, any kind of relationship with God, their relationships with others, are likewise of throwaway contempt.

[8:37] People are just, you know, commodities to be used, and abused, and discarded, because, you know, human life is cheap, because our relationship with one another, completely breaks down, when we have broken down, the relationship with God.

[8:52] It is intended to be, abound in relationship, God, and his people, and their relationship to him, and to one another, is all joined in together.

[9:04] You break that apart, just as you break off, the three legs of a stool, and yes, you've still got all the constituent parts, but it no longer functions, as the thing for which it was designed.

[9:16] You've got three individual spokes, or spars, that used to be the legs of the stool, you've got the surface, that used to be the sitting arm piece, but now they're no use for anything. They're just firewood.

[9:27] They're no purpose, it's set, because they have been broken apart. And that is what we find, both in the history of the Israelites, and also more tragically, spectacularly, in our own society nowadays, abandon, the relationship with the Lord, and the relationship with one another, completely breaks down.

[9:49] Society breaks down, when you take out the glue, of that relationship, with the Lord. But coming back again to the blood here, nobody is pretending, of course, that God is bound to his people, with the blood of animals alone.

[10:05] God does not have the blood of animals, in his veins. At this stage, God does not have any human veins, whatsoever. Subsequently, thousands of years later, manhood is taken into God, when Christ becomes flesh, becomes incarnate, in the womb of the virgin.

[10:23] God became man. And thereafter, manhood is part of the Godhead. There is a man in heaven, and his name is Jesus Christ.

[10:35] And although his body is now a resurrection body, that doesn't have blood flowing through it, and so on, in that sense, there is a physical body, in a physical place, and it informs our whole understanding, both of God, and heaven, and hell, and eternity, and so on, because God has become man.

[10:57] At this stage, God has not yet become man, but he has made man, in his own image. And that means, that the life, the blood, that flows through every created being, this is being sacrificed here.

[11:12] The animals are being sacrificed, as a symbol of atonement, of a life being given, being spent, in order to unite, God of his people.

[11:23] Now, of course, blood in itself, as we said, animal blood doesn't flow in human veins, and animal blood certainly has no relation to God, save in the fact that he created it.

[11:35] We go back to Genesis, remember, after the flood. We'll just read a few verses in chapter 9. It says, Flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

[11:46] This is when God is giving Noah and his family permission, to eat animals for food. Prior to that, remember, at the beginning of creation, God had simply said to mankind, it was simply to be the herb of the field, and basically man was vegetarian, until the flood.

[12:02] And then, after the flood, God is giving man permission to eat animals for food. The flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood, of your lives, will I require.

[12:15] At the hand of every beast, will I require it, and at the hand of man, at the hand of every man's brother, will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.

[12:28] For in the image of God, made he man. Man is made in the image of God. God is the giver of life. Man only became a living soul, when God breathed into his nostrils, the breath of life.

[12:43] Life is from God, and God has caused that life, to flow, and that constant, pumping motion of the body, with the blood. What is carried in the blood, is everything that the body needs, for its nutrients, and for its, its building up, and for its strength, the DNA that we looked at, with the children earlier, everything that is in, the nourishment, or the power, all that's needed, it's all there in the blood.

[13:10] That is why blood, is such a powerful element. It's why you've got, all these little fleas, and midges, and so on, that are all desperate, for just that tiny, microscopic drop, of your blood.

[13:25] It is why they're desperate, to suck it out, because even a tiny, microscopic amount, has so much nourishment, and so much goodness, and strength, and power in it, that it can, it can give a whole, release of life, to these little insects.

[13:40] There is huge, power, physically, in blood. That is why, if our blood is drained away, we die. If we lose too much blood, we die.

[13:51] It's why people need, blood transfusions, so that the blood, can then, accommodate it, within the body. And then it can, utilize all the, all the strength, and all the elements, and the nutrients, that's in it.

[14:03] That's in a physical sense, there is power in the blood. Obviously, the old hymn has it, in a spiritual sense, there's power in the blood too, but it's God, who has given the life, to be in the blood, as we read there, in Genesis.

[14:18] But, as we see also, if we look, for example, in what we read in Acts, remember when Paul, is speaking to the Athenians, in Acts 17, we read, how he wants them, to understand, both man's, relationship to God, but also, whilst man is made, in God's image, man likewise, is equal, with each other, because we're all, less than God, because we're created, by God, we are equal, one with another, but we're not equal, to God.

[14:50] he's not just, like us, he's not as low, as us, he is beyond us, we read in Acts 17, from verse 25, now does he worship, with men's hands, as though he needed, anything, seeing, he giveth, to all life, and breath, and all things, and hath made, of one blood, all nations, of men, for to dwell, on all the face, of the earth, and hath determined, the times before appointed, and the bounds, of their habitation, that they should, seek the Lord, if happily they might, feel after him, and find it, though he be not far, from every one of us, for in him, we live, and move, and have our being, as certain, also of your own poets, have said, for we are also, his offspring, for as much then, as we are of the offspring, of God, we ought not to think, that the Godhead, is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by man's art, that a man's device, you can't, you can't, carve, or create something, and say, look, that's what God is, that's what God is like,

[15:54] Jesus said, the disciples, were constantly, wanting to see, what does God look like, how do we know, what God is, he that has seen me, has seen the Father, Jesus said, no, man is made, male and female, in the image of God, but if we want to know, what God really is like, look at Christ, we are not given, physical descriptions, of Jesus, in the Bible, we are told, what he is like, we are told, his nature, his character, we're told about, his works, we're told about, his teaching, his speech, and so on, but we're not given, a physical description, of what Jesus looked like, because the outward, physical appearance, is almost immaterial, we are hung up, as a society, on outward appearance, we are hung up, on the physical, we're hung up, on image, and style, and so on, rather than on substance, but rather, what the Lord, wants us to do, is to recognize, that he has made us, all of one blood, he has made us, in his image, we are like him, but we are not, the same as him, that he would have us, to be joined, more closely to him, remember, it's what we read, again in Hebrews, verse, and Moses, and Moses, and spoken, every precept, to all the people, according to the law, took the blood, of calves, and goats, with water, spout, wool, hyssop, sprinkled the book, and all the people, saying, this is the blood, of the testament, which God, hath enjoined, unto you, moreover, he sprinkled, with blood, both the tabernacle, and all the vessels, of the ministry, and almost all things, are by the law, purged with blood, and without shedding of blood, is no remission, this is the blood, of the testament, now Jesus of course, when he gives, at the last supper, the cup, and the bread, of his own, symbolizing his own body, and blood, and he says, the cup after supper, this cup is the new, testament, in my blood, which is shed for you, you've already had, the blood of the testament, that binds together, the Lord, and his people, but now Jesus says, this is my blood, in the new testament, it is a more, close relationship, it is a more, sure deliverance, it is no longer, the blood of, bulls and calves, and goats, and so on, but even that, symbolically, bound together, the symbols of God, and the symbols, of his people, binding them together, he has made them, of one blood, so likewise, when Christ comes, and there is, human blood, that flows, through the body, of the God man, human, and yet divine, in a sense, blood, which is shed, upon the cross, man becomes, by that sacrifice, perfectly, united to God, if we will trust, and believe, in what Christ has done, but you cannot be saved, by that in which, you have not believed, and in a sense, because if we are, to have faith, faith is the substance, of things hoped for, the evidence, of things not seen, we walk by faith, not by sight, and yet, we have this incident here, where you get,

[19:12] Moses and Aaron, and the elders of Israel, going up the mountain, and we read, they saw, the God, of Israel, think well, how can it be, they saw, the God of Israel, it was under his feet, it was a paved work, of sapphire stone, and as it were, the body of heaven, in his clearance, and they say, oh great, what did he look like, that's what we want to ask, what did God, look like, when you saw him, but of course, they did not see, his face, they did not see, all the reality, of his world, but it says, they saw, the God of Israel, what did we read, there was, under his feet, as a paved work, of sapphire stone, they do not describe, him personally, and as it were, the body of heaven, in his clearness, now, Moses goes on, of course, subsequently, in Deuteronomy 4, verse 15, he says, take ye therefore, good heed unto yourselves, for ye saw, no manner of similitude, on the day, that the Lord, spake unto you, in honour, out of the midst, of the fire, there wasn't an image, of anything, there wasn't something, you could create, or imitate, and also, even if you think, about when Moses, has his own, encounter, with the Lord, personally, in chapter 33, when Moses says, you know,

[20:31] I beseech thee, let me see, thy glory, the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing, if thou wast asked, I will make, all my goodness, pass before thee, and I will proclaim, the name of the Lord, before thee, and will be gracious, to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy, to whom I will show mercy, says, thou canst not, see my face, for there shall no man, see me, and live, and the Lord said, behold, there's a place by me, thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, I will put thee, in the cleft of the rock, I will cover thee, with my hand, while I pass by, I will take away, my hand, and thou shalt see, my back parts, but my face, shall not be seen, shall no man, see me, and live, so, what they saw, on the mount, clearly, the glory of God, or the clearness of heaven, in its beauty, in its firmament, under his feet, they saw, as it were, the paved work, of sapphire stone, but they could not, and did not look, as it were, into the face of God, we cannot have, the scripture, if it is consistent, which it must be, cannot contradict itself, therefore, what they saw, on the mount, cannot be, the face of God, they saw, perhaps, something, the clearness of heaven, the heaven, and its clearness, of the glory of God, but you know, again, to cite, you know, the New Testament, 1 John chapter 4, verse 12, no man hath seen God, at any time, if we, if we love one another,

[22:04] God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us, or John 1, verse 18, no man hath seen God, at any time, the only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him, we don't, see God, face to face, in this life, in this world, 1 Timothy 6, verse 16, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light, which no man, can approach unto, whom no man, hath seen, nor can see, to whom the honour, and power, everlastly, amen, so when it says, they saw, the God of Israel, it means, they saw, something of the glory, of God, there was on their feet, as it were, a paid work of Sabbath, as it were, the body of heaven, in his clearness, they saw the, the glory, the splendor, the magnificence, of the power of God, and they didn't die, and that was a miracle, in itself, Moses went up, into the presence of God, the cloud, which again, is the symbol of God's presence, covered it, and he was there, forty days and forty nights, now again, he tells us, in Deuteronomy, he tells the children of Israel, chapter nine, at verse nine, where he says, specifically, when I was gone up, into the mountain, to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant, which the Lord made with you,

[23:24] I abode in the mountain, forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread, nor drink water, you think, wow, you know, how did he live, he was really fasting, and really thirsty, and so on, in the immediate presence, of God, not only does time, in a sense, not have the same, numerical count, that it has here, because God is an eternal being, Moses would not be thinking, oh my goodness, I've been up here, seventeen days now, ninety, twenty, forty, thirty, seven days, thirty-eight, thirty-eight, forty days, my goodness, I've been gone for so long, he wasn't counting, when he was up there, when he's in the presence, of God, he is just consumed, with the presence, and power, of the Lord, he doesn't feel hungry, he doesn't feel thirsty, his body, does not need, the physical things, that feed and nourish, and sleep, it's thirsty, because he is, in the presence, of God, the body, is completely, cared for, they are, because the soul, is likewise, so consumed, with God's presence, body, and soul, and spirit, are all, perfectly, taken care, and nurtured, he doesn't need, bread and water, when he's up there, he doesn't need, food and drink, he's not, oh, starving himself away, it's that he has, no need of these things, he is in the presence, of the living God, in a way that, none of us, here on earth, do experience, or, you know, likely could ever, will experience, this side of eternity, that which Moses has, is such, that it takes away, not only his count of time, but also, his physical needs, they are, almost as nothing, it's not for nothing, that Jesus says, you know, seek ye first, the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things, will be added unto you,

[25:16] God can make it, so that not only, is your needs supplied, but he also, in many cases, take away, your needs, you might think, oh, how will I manage, without this, how will I manage, without that, the Lord will make it, so that you are, able to manage, the Lord will supply, all your needs, whatsoever it may be, fear not to draw, near to the Lord, because he will supply, all your needs, it is this one, life force, life power, this one blood, that unites, the Lord, and his people, we read in Acts 17, there, he is made of one blood, all nations of the world, why does God use blood, why this, incredibly, power filled, nutrition filled, life filled, liquid, that flows through, every, living creature, that he has made, why does God, this, this, because God, wants us to know, this is what, he is like, such as his, he says, his blood in the New Testament, this is the blood, flows through every part, and portion, and follicles, it were, of your entire body, and without that, you die, so the Lord, would be such, that he would flow, not only through your, arteries, and veins, but all the tiny, little vesicles, out to the very, fingertips, extremities, of your being, he wants to fill you, and be part of you, in the very way, that your blood is, that if you cut yourself, in any part of you, but it bleeds, if any man, or woman, of any color, or race, or tribe, in the world, whether a black person, or yellowish, or reddish skin, or brown skin, or whatever it is, cut them, and they bleed, and they bleed red, they bleed the same, because it is of one blood, that God has made, all the nations, of the world, and God has ordained it, such that as, as blood is so much, a part of every, human being's body, so he would be, that very life force, in every human being's, soul, and spirit, as well as body, as the life, is in the blood, so the Lord, is the life, and this is why, this blood is sprinkled, towards the altar, to symbolize God, towards the people, to symbolize his children, and upon the book itself, which symbolizes, their living relationship, between the two, that blood unites them all, one father, one blood, that is who we are, if we are in Christ, we only lose out, on that inheritance, when we reject, that life, when we reject, that blood, as it were, now if your blood, becomes, contaminated, if your blood, becomes, you know, infused with, when septis, or septicemia, whatever it is, you get, that literally, means poison blood, if your blood, is poison, or your blood, is too thin, or something wrong, with your blood, then physically, you're in trouble, it means eventually, physically, you're going to die, from that toxicity, that's in your blood, or that weakness, that is in your blood, if we allow poison, to infect our blood, it will have fatal consequences, and in the life, that is within us, symbolized by the blood, if we allow the toxins, of unbelief, and of indifference, to the Lord, it is like inducing, and bringing in, septicemia, into your very soul, and the blood itself, becomes poison, and the blood itself, becomes, instead of a life force, flowing through you, it is coursing poison, through your veins, and all, every aspect,

[29:17] of your body, that is what unbelief does, that is what, atheism, and indifference, and agnosticism, and false religion, does, it poisons, the blood, of life, it destroys, the soul, if we would have that, healthy, life-giving relationship, that the Lord, desires us to have, then it must be, the equivalent, symbolized of that, pure blood, that one blood, that life-giving force, this is my blood, of the New Testament, Jesus said, this covenant, between God and man, that has been, renewed, in Jesus Christ, which is not only, now confined, to one nation, under heaven, that seeking, to be spread, to all humanity, that these, nations of the world, that the Lord, has made, of one blood, might recognize, that it's that, one blood, that unites, not only them, as related to each other, as human beings, but then, ultimately, with their heavenly father, our father, which art in heaven,

[30:26] Jesus taught, his disciples to pray, one father, one blood, this life force, in which, everything is needful, for the body, is itself, clearly the symbol, of the life force, the Lord, desires, to have, in every single, one of his children, to flow through, every little vessel, and vesicle, and vein, and artery, every part of you, everywhere, he desires, to claim, he desires, to own, not that in becoming, owned, you become a slave, but that in becoming, the servant of Christ, in becoming, the child of God, you become, at last, truly, free, let us pray.