The Blood of the Covenant

God Keeps His Covenants

☐

A covenant is a very serious promise that joins two sides together. All through the Bible, God makes covenants with people. He always keeps His side.

A rainbow promise. After the flood, God promised never to destroy the earth with a flood again. He said, “I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth” (Genesis 9:13).

A promise to Abraham. God promised Abraham that “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). That promise pointed to Jesus, who came from Abraham's family.

The covenant at Sinai. At Mount Sinai, God made a covenant with the whole nation of Israel. Moses said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you” (Exodus 24:8).

Both sides. In this covenant, God promised to be Israel's God. The people promised to obey Him. They said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient” (Exodus 24:7).

The faithful God. Moses later told the people, “Know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations” (Deuteronomy 7:9).

Why blood? Blood meant life. Sprinkling blood showed that the covenant was a matter of life and death. Breaking it was very serious.

The people's side. Sadly, the people did not keep their side. While Moses was still on the mountain, they made a golden calf to worship.

Trying again. Many years later, in Joshua's time, the people promised again: “The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!” (Joshua 24:24). They meant it, but they broke that promise too.

God's sad words. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God said the people broke His covenant, “though I was a husband to them” (Jeremiah 31:32). God had been faithful and loving the whole time.

A new promise. God did not give up. He said, “Behold, the days are coming… when I will make a new covenant” (Jeremiah 31:31).

Written on hearts. In the new covenant God said, “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). God Himself would change His people from the inside.

What we learn. People break promises, but God never does. His faithfulness does not depend on ours.

What to do. This week, think of one promise God has made in the Bible. Thank Him that He always keeps His word.

The covenant at Sinai is one link in a chain of covenants that runs through the whole Bible.

Noah (Genesis 9). God's covenant with Noah and “the earth” was one-sided: God bound Himself, and the rainbow became “the sign of the covenant” (Genesis 9:13).

Abraham (Genesis 12; 15; 17). God promised land, descendants and blessing for “all the families of the earth” (Genesis 12:3). In Genesis 15, God alone passed between the pieces of the sacrifice, taking the oath on Himself.

Sinai (Exodus 19-24). This covenant built on the promise to Abraham. God had rescued Israel; now He gave His law and called the nation to obey. It was sealed with sacrifice, a written book, a spoken pledge and sprinkled blood.

A covenant ceremony. At Sinai God sealed the covenant with every part of a formal covenant ceremony: words declared (24:3), words written (24:4), sacrifice (24:5), blood applied (24:6, 8), the book read (24:7), a pledge given (24:3, 7) and a shared meal (24:11).

Life and death. In ancient covenants, blood or slain animals often signaled the penalty for breaking the oath. The sprinkled blood said, in effect, that the people's own lives were at stake if they broke it.

God's faithfulness. Deuteronomy 7:9 calls the Lord “the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations.” The covenant's strength always rested on God's character.

Israel's failure. The golden calf (Exodus 32) broke the covenant within weeks. Later renewals, such as Joshua 24:24, were sincere but short-lived.

Jeremiah's verdict. God calls it “My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them” (Jeremiah 31:32). The marriage image shows how personal the covenant was.

A promised replacement. Jeremiah 31:31-33 promises a new covenant, not like Sinai, in which God writes His law on the heart. The problem was never God's law but the human heart.

One story. God's covenants are not separate deals. Each one builds on the one before, and together they lead to Christ.

Fulfilled in Christ. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Every covenant promise finds its answer in Jesus.

Covenant and law. Galatians 3:17 teaches that the law given at Sinai did not cancel the earlier promise to Abraham. Grace came first.

Application. Trace the covenant chain: read Genesis 9:13, Genesis 12:3, Exodus 24:8 and Jeremiah 31:31-33. Write one sentence on what each adds.

Jesus and the New Covenant

☐

Moses said, “This is the blood of the covenant.” Many years later, Jesus said almost the same words, but He was talking about His own blood.

The Last Supper. The night before He died, Jesus ate a meal with His disciples. “Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body’” (Matthew 26:26).

The cup. Then He gave them the cup and said, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28).

Remission. Remission means forgiveness. Jesus was saying that His blood would take away sins.

Remember Me. Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:25). That is why churches share the Lord's Supper.

Moses and Jesus. Moses sprinkled the blood of animals. Jesus gave His own life. Hebrews says, “without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22).

A better covenant. Jesus is “Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). A mediator brings two sides together.

Why better? The old covenant depended on people keeping their promises. The new covenant depends on Jesus, who kept every promise perfectly.

Precious blood. Peter wrote that we were not saved “with corruptible things, like silver or gold… but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Washed clean. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). There is no sin too big for Jesus to wash away.

Alive again. God “brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead… through the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Hebrews 13:20). The new covenant lasts forever because Jesus lives forever.

A meal to come. The leaders ate a meal before God at Sinai. One day God's people will share a great feast with Jesus: “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” (Revelation 19:9).

What we learn. The blood at Sinai pointed to Jesus. His blood makes a covenant that can never be broken.

What to do. The next time your church shares the Lord's Supper, remember Exodus 24, and thank Jesus for the new covenant in His blood.

The New Testament shows us that Exodus 24 was a preview of what Christ would do.

The words of institution. In Matthew 26:28 and Mark 14:24, Jesus says, “This is My blood of the new covenant.” Those words take us right back to Exodus 24:8, “This is the blood of the covenant.”

Sinai and Jeremiah together. By saying “new covenant,” Jesus also points to Jeremiah 31:31. At the Last Supper He joins Sinai's blood and Jeremiah's promise in one cup.

For remission of sins. Matthew adds “for the remission of sins.” The blood at Sinai sealed a covenant; Christ's blood both seals the new covenant and pays for the sins that broke the old one.

Hebrews 9. Hebrews retells Exodus 24 (9:19-20) and draws the principle: “without shedding of blood there is no remission” (9:22). Christ is “the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant” (9:15).

Redemption backward and forward. Hebrews 9:15 means Christ's death covers sins committed under the Sinai covenant too. Old covenant believers were saved by the same Savior.

Better promises. Hebrews 8:6 calls the new covenant “established on better promises.” The promises are better because God Himself guarantees both sides in Christ.

Sprinkled people. Peter greets believers who are chosen “for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:2). Obedience and sprinkling appear together, just as at Sinai (Exodus 24:7-8).

A lamb without blemish. 1 Peter 1:18-19 joins the Passover lamb and the covenant blood in one picture of Christ's “precious blood.”

Cleansing. 1 John 1:7 applies the blood to ongoing fellowship: it “cleanses us from all sin.” The covenant is not only entered once but lived in daily.

The everlasting covenant. Hebrews 13:20 links the resurrection to “the blood of the everlasting covenant.” Sinai's covenant could be broken; this one cannot, because its Mediator lives.

The Lord's Supper. 1 Corinthians 11:25 records Jesus' command: “This do… in remembrance of Me.” When believers share the Supper, they remember Christ's death and give thanks for the new covenant in His blood.

Sinai and the final feast. The elders' meal before God (Exodus 24:11) points ahead to “the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9), where the covenant reaches its goal: God and His people together forever.

Application. Read Exodus 24:6-11 beside Matthew 26:26-29. List every parallel you can find.

📖

Complete all sections to finish!

Read each section and answer the questions correctly.