Mishpatim
Rulings
“Blood Covenant”
Exodus 21:1-24:18
Jeremiah 34:8-22; 33:25-26
excerpted from TorahScope, Volume I
Mishpatim, beginning with the word, “These are the regulations you must present to Israel” (Exodus 21:1, NLT), is a very different kind of Torah portion than what we have read thus far in Exodus. Up until this point, our readings have been significantly dominated by events in Ancient Israel’s history. Now, the specific Instruction of God will begin to be delivered to the Israelites. It is pretty serious, when you think about it, because the people would now be consecrated to the Lord’s service:
“Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you concerning all these words’” (Exodus 24:8, WMB).
Mishpatim gives the Torah student a tremendous variety of images to contemplate. For three chapters (Exodus chs. 21-23), Moses delivered an array of ordinances which would allow the people of Israel to, in essence, become “civilized” among the nations of the Earth. While most of the laws which are stated regulate proper ethics and morality—even until this day—other laws seem somewhat strange. The short answer is that many of the Torah’s commandments were given in an Ancient Near Eastern economic and technological environment, which would not be the same environment of later centuries, and Israel’s Law often ran quite contrary and subversive to the codes of their neighbors.
The reason why Israel was given God’s Instruction, was because in obeying God’s commandments, Israel could be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation able to serve Him in the world:
“‘Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel” (Exodus 19:5-6, WMB).
From the following response, you can see how Israel did sincerely desire to be a holy nation unto the Lord. As Moses delivered the various ordinances seen in Mishpatim, the people answered the following response with one voice (Heb. qol echad):
“‘Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but they shall not come near. The people shall not go up with him.’ Moses came and told the people all the LORD’s words, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, ‘All the words which the LORD has spoken will we do’” (Exodus 24:2-3, WMB).
Here at the end of a very lengthy list of rulings, the Ancient Israelites concluded that they would do all which the Lord had spoken. There does not appear to be any hesitation for them to obey, and so the Lord and Israel made this covenant, and solidified it with animal sacrifices. Moses wrote down what he had been given, and woke up early the next morning to build an altar at the base of Mount Sinai. He built an altar with twelve large stones which represented the Twelve Tribes of Israel:
“Moses wrote all the LORD’s words, then rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the base of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to the LORD. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, ‘We will do all that the LORD has said, and be obedient.’ Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you concerning all these words’” (Exodus 24:4-8, WMB).
Moses elicited the aid of some of the Israelites, and burnt offerings and peace offerings were sacrificed to the Lord. He then took half of the blood and sprinkled it on the altar he had just constructed (Exodus 24:5-7a). Then, Moses took the written commandments and read them again to the people. Once again, they responded unanimously, “All that the Lord has spoken we will faithfully do!” (Exodus 24:7b, NJPS).
In order to seal the covenant between God and Israel, Moses sprinkled the people with the blood (Exodus 24:8a). He uttered this statement, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words” (Exodus 24:8b, NIV). This was a very critical moment for Ancient Israel as they took on the responsibility for keeping the covenant with God and obeying Him. They understood the principle that the shedding of blood was required to seal a covenant.
Is it possible that here we see a foreshadowing of the shedding of blood, which would be required in the future in order for God’s people to maintain their position as His chosen kingdom of priests? As I pondered this scene, the words “blood of the covenant” (Heb. dam-ha’b’rit) kept reminding me of the Last Supper. There on the night of His betrayal, Yeshua used the same terminology:
“He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the new covenant [Grk. to aima mou tēs diathēkēs], which is poured out for many’” (Mark 14:24, WMB).
What do you think went through the minds of the Disciples, who heard these words come from the mouth of the Son of God? Is it possible that they thought back to the scene from centuries earlier, when their ancestors were literally sprinkled with the blood of bulls (Exodus 24:5)? At the time of the Last Supper, the thought of Yeshua’s blood being the permanent atonement for sins was likely not fully understood. As you should recall from the Gospel accounts, this was a very intense time for the Apostles. When those words were spoken from the Lord, they did not fully know what was about to take place.
But we, who live today and who have heard the good news—and can look back at both the Book of Exodus and the record of Yeshua’s ministry—do not have the luxury of claiming “ignorance.” It has been understood ever since His death and resurrection, that the shed blood of the Messiah is absolutely necessary for the final atonement of sin. The author of Hebrews emphasized the critical need for a blood covenant:
“For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Torah, he took the blood of the calves…,[1] with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you [Exodus 24:8].’ He sprinkled the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry in the same way with the blood. According to the Torah, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:19-22, WMB).
Today, as we contemplate and discuss some of the ordinances given in Mishpatim, which were intended to make Ancient Israel a holy nation, it is far more critical to ask this profound question: Has the blood of the Messiah been shed for you, to make the New Covenant valid in your life? Without this blood of the covenant and the sprinkling of the Messiah’s blood for your sin, you are without hope of permanent forgiveness and atonement. So turn to Him and cry out for mercy! The Apostle Paul affirmed this truth:
“But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Messiah—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5, WMB).
NOTES
[1] Editor’s note: There is some doubt that “and the goats” is part of the original reading of Hebrews 9:19. The NIV notably omits this second clause, reading as, “he took the blood of calves, together with water…”
Cf. Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (London and New York: United Bible Societies, 1975), pp 668-669.
