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Exodus 24:8-11 – And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under His feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And He did not lay His hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.
It sort of creeps me out, this worship service full of sacrifices, that culminates when Moses throws basins full of blood on all the people. I mean, eww! It must have looked like a murder had taken place.
And that’s not too far off the reality—because these animals that just got sacrificed are stand-ins for Jesus Christ Himself. He is the One who embodies the covenant between God and people; He is the One who takes away our sins through His death. His blood on us is our protection; for it marks us as people who belong to the God who gave Himself into death for our sake, and who rose from the dead to become our everlasting life.
Blood is life; everybody knows that. It’s why we take blood so seriously whenever we see it—either when someone is injured, or in a ceremony like this one. When Moses throws the blood of the sacrifices on the people, he is declaring them to be the people of God, people bought with God’s own blood; and that is what we are as well. There is no higher price He could pay to make us His own. No wonder we love Him!
WE PRAY: Dear Jesus, thank You for making me Your own, at the cost of Your own life. Keep me with You forever. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
- After the blood throwing, Moses and the leaders of Israel are allowed to go up the mountain to eat and drink with God in safety. Did the blood make a difference to how God treated them?
- Does Jesus’ blood make a difference to how God welcomes us?
- When in your ordinary life does God bring together blood, welcome, and eating and drinking?
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