Exodus 24:7, commentary and pictures

Moses read the book of the covenant aloud in the hearing of the people to lay its conditions plainly before them and give them opportunity to accept them, and the whole people answered together with one voice that they would do all the Lord had said and be obedient, thereby ratifying their solemn covenant with Him. This took place at the foot of Sinai a few days after the law was spoken and additional statutes and judgments were given through Moses, after he had told the people all the words and judgments, written them down, built an altar with twelve pillars, and offered sacrifices with half the blood sprinkled on the altar. The book he read contained God's judgments to be observed and His promises conditional on obedience, with specifically defined particulars dictated by Christ Himself so the people would know how much was involved. By that pledge Israel entered into covenant relation with God as His special treasure, kingdom of priests and holy nation, with the blood on the altar signifying their consecration of body, mind and soul and the blood on the people signifying His gracious acceptance of them through the shed blood of Christ. They promised readily without realizing the sinfulness of their hearts and their utter inability in themselves to render obedience and need of a Saviour, and within a few weeks broke their covenant by worshiping the golden calf, which proved they could not gain favor by a broken covenant and brought them to feel their need of pardon and of the Saviour revealed in the Abrahamic covenant.

Reading and Ratification Ceremony

The ratification took place at the foot of Sinai only a few days after the law had been spoken from Sinai and additional statutes and judgments had been communicated through Moses. It came before Moses left the people to go up the mountain and before their unbelief was revealed when he delayed to come down.

Before the reading Moses told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments, then wrote them down. He built an altar under the hill with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel, had young men offer burnt offerings and peace offerings of oxen, and divided the blood with half in basins and half sprinkled on the altar. After first telling them all God's words and after offering sacrifices for them, he took the book of the covenant in which he had written God's judgments and promises and read it aloud in the hearing of the people. The reading laid its conditions plainly before them and gave them opportunity to choose whether to accept them. The whole people answered together with one voice in a public, unanimous, renewed pledge that all that the Lord had said they would do and be obedient, by which answer they ratified their solemn covenant with the Lord.

The book read contained God's judgments required to be observed and His promises conditional on obedience, not the Ten Commandments. The laws and ordinances in the book were dictated by Christ Himself with specifically defined particulars and explained in specific detail so the people could refer to them afterward and know how much was involved. Having already agreed to obey God's commandments, they accepted those defined requirements. The book also included God's detailed instructions for the sanctuary, written down and read to the leading people.

After the reading, pledge, and sprinkling of the blood of the covenant concerning all these words, Moses with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was as a paved work of sapphire stone clear as heaven itself, and God laid not His hand upon the nobles but they saw God and ate and drank. Then Moses with his minister Joshua was called farther up into the mount of God to receive tables of stone and a law and commandments written by God that he might teach them, and received directions for building a sanctuary and the pattern of the ark.

Covenant Meaning and Aftermath

By that pledge Israel entered into covenant relation with God, choosing Him as King and accepting Jehovah as sovereign after His wonders in bringing them from Egypt. They were thereby set apart and sealed to God as His special, peculiar treasure above all people, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, the chosen people of the Most High. The blood sprinkled on the altar signified their consecration of body, mind, and soul to God. The blood sprinkled on the people signified God's gracious acceptance of them as His special treasure through the sprinkled blood of Christ, representing the shedding of Jesus' blood by which human beings are cleansed from sin.

The people's solemn covenant with God typifies the covenant between God and every believer in Jesus Christ. Together with the next verse it shows the forming of the old covenant between God and Israel at Sinai and its ratification by the blood of a sacrifice. That sacrificial blood was shed before the blood of Christ by which the Abrahamic covenant was ratified, which is why the Abrahamic covenant existing by promise since Adam and Abraham is called the second or new covenant.

The people readily promised without realizing the sinfulness of their own hearts, their utter inability in themselves to render obedience to God's law, and their need of a Saviour. Feeling able in themselves to keep the law, they attempted to establish their own righteousness under the old covenant formed at Sinai. Though they had trembled with terror before the mount at the proclamation of the law in awful majesty, only a few weeks passed before they broke their covenant by bowing down to worship a graven image in the calf. The broken tables of stone represented that broken covenant made only a short time before.

Their failure proved they could not hope for God's favor through a broken covenant. It brought them to feel their sinfulness and need of pardon and of the Saviour revealed in the Abrahamic covenant and shadowed forth in the sacrificial offerings. So by faith and love they would be bound to God as deliverer from bondage of sin and prepared to appreciate the new covenant and its blessings. The unanimous pledge made Aaron's later sin especially grievous because he had joined it and then led the people into idolatry. He should have reminded them of the covenant that bound them to obedience when they asked him to make gods for them, and standing firmly by that commitment could have helped prevent their apostasy. Remembering that covenant and the dangers witnessed at Sinai should have checked the apostasy.

The pledge was not carried out but became pretense without the spirit that leads to obedience, as later Jewish leaders rejected Christ and the law's principles despite evidence of His authority. To the pledge of obedience God in return made a pledge promising blessing as reward for obedience. Their loyalty was linked to His covenant promises of safe guidance to the promised land and prosperity and protection among the nations. That covenant standing was the ground for expecting blessings as they left Sinai for Canaan. During the wilderness years He remained faithful and those who obeyed received the promised blessings, and the covenant remains in force so that obedience brings heaven's richest blessings.

The verse sets forth the duties of God's denominated people and joins them to God's law whose principles are love for God and love for neighbor. The first four commandments teach duty to God and the last six duty to others, stated more explicitly after the fall with particular precepts clarifying and protecting them so the law would not be forgotten. The laws in the covenant book are to be studied and obeyed to guard against injustice and guide dealings with one another. God's word is to be followed implicitly after being shown the right way and the wrong way with its benefits, leaving people to choose whether to meet the conditions. If they had kept what they bravely promised they would have been practical Christians happy in keeping God's ways instead of following their own natural hearts.