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Mosaic/Sinai Covenant

Mosaic/Sinai Covenant

At Mount Sinai the Lord proposed a covenant to the nation of Israel through Moses, setting forth the law as the condition for their relationship with him. The people consented to obey all his words, and the agreement was ratified by the sprinkling of sacrificial blood upon the book and the people. This covenant defined Israel as a holy nation and kingdom of priests, with obedience bringing blessing and disobedience bringing curse, serving in the redemptive story to reveal God's holiness and the need for greater grace.

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Covenant Details

Parties
God and the nation of Israel
Sign
Sabbath

Key Passages

God Proposes the Covenant

Exodus 19:3-8

God offers Israel a unique identity among the nations - a kingdom of priests and a holy nation - conditioned on their obedience to His voice and faithfulness to the covenant.

A3nd Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;

4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eaglesโ€™ wings, and brought you unto myself. 5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. 7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. 8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.

The Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:1-17

These ten words form the heart of the Mosaic covenant, establishing both vertical obligations to God and horizontal obligations to neighbor that define covenant life.

A1nd God spake all these words, saying,

2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 13 Thou shalt not kill. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15 Thou shalt not steal. 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbourโ€™s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbourโ€™s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbourโ€™s.

Covenant Ratified

Exodus 24:3-8

The sprinkling of blood on both the altar and the people seals the covenant relationship, foreshadowing the blood of Christ that would ratify the New Covenant.

A3nd Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.

4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD. 6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. 8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.

Did You Know?

1

The Mosaic covenant was a conditional covenant between God and Israel at Mount Sinai.

2

It was built around the Ten Commandments and the system of sacrifices and festivals.

3

This covenant revealed God's holiness and humanity's need for a mediator.