Exodus 24 - Call To Worship
- Chad Werkhoven
- Feb 23
- 5 min read
God's Call to Worship is an all consuming command.
SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF... Exodus 20:18–23:33
After God spoke the Ten Commandments, the people saw the thunder and smoke on Sinai, feared death, and asked Moses to mediate. God then taught them obedient worship, applied His holiness to daily life, and promised to lead them into the land without compromise.
Exodus 24:1–18 (NIV)
24 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, 2 but Moses alone is to approach the LORD; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.”
3 When Moses went and told the people all the LORD's words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the LORD has said we will do.” 4 Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said.
He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the LORD . 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.”
8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up 10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. 11 But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.
12 The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”
13 Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. 14 He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.”
15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Q&A 96
Q. What is God’s will for us
in the second commandment?
A. That we in no way make any image of God
nor worship him in any other way
than he has commanded in his Word.
Summary
Chances are you responded to God's call to worship yesterday. For most of us, going to church on Sunday is as much a part of our regular routine as brushing our teeth before going to bed. We roll into the sanctuary at the appointed time, read the bulletin, sing a few songs, pray a few prayers, listen to the minister, drink some coffee and then go home. Some of us still go back in the evening and do the same thing all over again... except with less coffee.
God extends a call to worship to Israel in today's chapter, but not to everyone. The Israelites had made it quite clear that they didn't want to be anywhere near God, for they were terrified of Him. They had unanimously voted for Moses to mediate on their behalf - to stand between them and the LORD. So the LORD called Moses alone to approach Him, but He also ordered Aaron and his sons and seventy elders of Israel to worship at a distance.
And what they saw was indescribable. All the text even attempts to explain is the pavement God walked upon... it was something like precious stones as bright blue as the sky. The LORD immediately made clear His purpose for this glorious worship service: to give the tablets of stone with the law and commandments He had written for our instruction.
This service wasn't over in an hour, or even two. Moses went up on the mountain while the elders waited. Then for six days the cloud covered the mountain - a cloud that to the Israelites looked like a consuming fire. It wasn't until the seventh day that the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud. And that was just the prelude... Moses stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Think of yesterday's service(s). How did you experience even a glimpse of God's holiness as you worshipped? How do passages like today's change your understanding and attitude toward the worship God still calls us to?
Dig Deeper
Old Testament worship was a bloody affair. We're not told here exactly how many bulls were sacrificed as fellowship offerings to the LORD, but there were many. Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar.
Blood is so significant because it represents life. Hebrews 9:22 explains that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. But the blood in this chapter represents even more. This blood, Moses explains, is the blood of the covenant.
Remember, a covenant is "a bond in blood, sovereignly administered." The blood here represented the blood that would be spilled by the party that broke the covenant. As the LORD once again confirmed His covenant faithfulness to His people, the people eagerly affirmed their intent in the midst of this blood. Twice they proclaim, we will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.
But you already know the rest of the story. You know that before this forty day worship service is even over, the Israelites will be dancing around golden calves. They would still need a mediator between them and God to give the blood sacrifice they (and we) would owe, but that Mediator will need to be One better than Moses.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our covenant God and Father, whose holiness and glory is a consuming fire;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will keep the law and commandments God gave for our instruction, even as you trust in the perfect blood of Christ that satisfies God's covenant;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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