Catholic Commentary on Exodus 24

"We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey." (Exodus 24:7)

The Covenant Ratified

Moses comes and tells the people all the LORD's words and laws. They respond with one voice: everything the LORD has said we will do. Moses writes down everything the LORD has said. He builds an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve stone pillars for the twelve tribes. Young men offer burnt offerings and sacrifice young bulls as fellowship offerings. Moses takes half the blood and puts it in bowls; the other half he splashes against the altar. He reads the Book of the Covenant to the people. They answer: We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey. Moses takes the blood and sprinkles it on the people: this is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.

The blood of the covenant on the people is one of the most theologically significant acts in the Old Testament. The Catechism identifies this as the type of the Eucharist: when Jesus says this is my blood of the covenant at the Last Supper, he is deliberately invoking Exodus 24, making the new covenant in his own blood (CCC 1339). Then Moses and Aaron and Nadab and Abihu and seventy elders go up and see the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank. Moses goes further up into the cloud where the glory of the LORD has settled. He stays forty days and forty nights.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the blood of the covenant was sprinkled on the people who had said we will do everything the LORD has said. The covenant is sealed in blood, in commitment, in the shared meal before God. Every Mass is this scene repeated and fulfilled: the blood of the new covenant, the people who have said yes, the shared meal in the presence of the God they cannot fully see. Come to Mass with that weight of meaning.

Prayer

Lord God, at Sinai the people said we will obey and the covenant was sealed in blood. At the Last Supper the new covenant was sealed in the blood of your Son. Let our yes to you be as complete as Israel's yes at the foot of the mountain. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

24
The Covenant Sealed
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance. 2 Moses alone shall approach the LORD, but the others must not come near. And the people may not go up with him.”
 
3 When Moses came and told the people all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all responded with one voice: “All the words that the LORD has spoken, we will do.”
 
4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD.
 
Early the next morning he got up and built an altar at the base of the mountain, along with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent out some young men of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD.
 
6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people, who replied, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.”
 
8 So Moses 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.”* 24:8 Cited in Hebrews 9:20
 
9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was a work like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. 11 But God did not lay His hand on the nobles of Israel; they saw Him, and they ate and drank.
Moses on the Mountain
 
12 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay here, so that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”
 
13 So Moses set out with Joshua his attendant and went up on the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has 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 it, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop in the eyes of the Israelites.
 
18 Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

*24:8 24:8 Cited in Hebrews 9:20

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