God's Covenant and Glory on the Mountain
(Exodus 24)
God had just given His people the Ten Commandments and the practical laws of Exodus 21-23. Now it was time to make it official. This was not just a set of rules handed down from a distance. This was a covenant: a forever promise between the living God and His chosen people, sealed in a way they would never forget.
Moses read all of God's words out loud to the entire assembly of Israel. Every person heard every command. And then, all at once, the people answered together with one voice: "Everything the Lord has said, we will do." Moses built an altar at the base of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Animals were sacrificed, and Moses took the blood. He poured half of it on the altar, which represented God's side of the promise. Then he read the words of the covenant to the people one more time, and when they answered again, "We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey," Moses took the remaining blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying: "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you." The promise was sealed in blood, because a promise this serious required a sacrifice this costly.
Then something happened that no one could have prepared for. Moses, Aaron, and seventy of Israel's leaders went up the mountain, and they saw God. Under His feet was something like a pavement of gleaming blue sapphire, as clear and vast as the open sky itself. And even though they were in the direct presence of the holy God of the universe, He did not strike them down. He invited them to stay. They sat in His presence and ate a meal. A meal. With God. On the mountain. The God who caused mountains to shake also set a table and said, "Sit with Me."
After the meal, God called Moses to come even higher to receive the stone tablets. A thick cloud settled over the summit, and God's glory burned there like a consuming fire, visible to all of Israel far below. Moses walked straight into the cloud and stayed there for forty days and forty nights. He did not know everything God was about to say. He just went in, because God had called him, and he trusted the one who was calling.
A Curious Question
The elders went up the mountain, saw God, and then sat down and ate a meal in His presence. They were not consumed. They were not sent away. They were invited to stay. What does it tell you about God that He would host a meal on the same mountain that terrified everyone just days before?
Jesus Connection: The Blood of the New Covenant
Moses stood before the people with a bowl of blood and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you." That sentence echoes all the way to the upper room, to the night before Jesus died, where He picked up a cup and said almost the exact same words. Luke 22:20 records Him saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." Jesus was not making a new idea. He was completing the picture that had been building since Mount Sinai.
Here is the most important difference between the two covenants. In Exodus 24, the blood of animals sealed a covenant that Israel immediately promised to keep. "We will do everything the Lord has said." And then they failed. Again and again, they broke the promises they made. The old covenant required human effort to maintain, and human effort always runs out. The new covenant is different. Hebrews 8:10 records God's promise of the new covenant: "I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts." God does not just give us a new list. He gives us a new heart. He moves inside us through His Spirit and begins to want what He wants from within us.
The elders eating a meal with God on the mountain is one of the most breathtaking previews in the entire Old Testament. God was showing, even then, that His ultimate plan was not a transaction: it was a relationship. A table. A meal together. And the New Testament tells us that this is exactly what is coming: Revelation 19 describes the marriage supper of the Lamb, where God's people will finally sit at His table forever. Every time you take communion, every time you share a meal and thank God for it, you are tasting a tiny preview of that day. The old covenant blood was a shadow. The blood of Jesus is the reality that casts it.
Discussion Questions
- Moses sprinkled blood on both the altar and the people to seal the covenant. Why do you think a promise as serious as a covenant would need something as serious as a blood sacrifice to seal it?
- The elders went up the mountain expecting to be destroyed in the presence of a holy God, and instead they ate a meal. What does that moment tell you about what God actually wants with us?
- The old covenant required the people to keep their promises through their own effort, and they kept failing. The new covenant promises that God will write His law on our hearts. What is the difference between trying to be good on your own and God actually changing you from the inside?
"So What?" What Can I Do?
The next time you sit down to eat a meal, especially with your family, take five seconds before you dig in to remember the elders on the mountain. They were invited to sit with God and share food in His presence, and that is exactly what you are doing every time you eat with people you love and thank God for the food. This week, say grace out loud before at least one meal and mean it, not as a routine, but as a reminder that God has always wanted to be at the table with us, and because of Jesus, He is.
Memorize God's Word
Exodus 24:7: "Everything the Lord has said we will do, and we will obey."
Hand Motions:
- "Everything": Open both arms out wide in a large circle to show "everything."
- "the Lord has said": Point one finger upward, then bring it to your lips.
- "we will do": Punch one fist firmly into the palm of the other hand.
- "and we will obey": Place both hands flat at your sides and bow your head slightly, as a sign of reverence.
Praying with Kids
Dear Father, You are the God who seals promises and keeps them forever. The elders on that mountain ate a meal with You, and You did not send them away. You invited them to stay. Thank You that because of Jesus and the new covenant He sealed with His own blood, we are invited to stay too. Not because we always keep our promises, but because He kept His. Help us to remember that every time we eat together, every time we pray, we are sitting at the table You have set for us. We love You. In the name of Jesus: Amen.
Craft: The Sapphire Pavement Suncatcher
Children create a beautiful blue suncatcher that reminds them of the stunning sapphire pavement the elders saw under God's feet. Hung in a window, it catches the light and becomes a daily reminder that God's glory is beautiful and that He invites us close.
Materials Checklist
Instructions
- Cut a large square frame from the black construction paper, leaving a wide border and a big open window in the middle.
- Peel one piece of contact paper and press the black frame onto the sticky side.
- Tear the blue tissue paper into small, irregular pieces and fill the open window with overlapping layers of different blue shades to create the sapphire effect.
- Press the second piece of contact paper over the tissue paper to seal it in.
- Trim any excess contact paper around the edges of the frame.
- Use silver glitter glue to write "Exodus 24" or "God's Glory" along the black border, and let it dry completely before hanging.
Effective Teaching Techniques
Bring a blue gemstone or a piece of blue beach glass to class. Pass it around while you describe the sapphire pavement. Let the kids hold it up to the light and watch it glow. Then ask: "If that tiny stone is beautiful, what do you think it looked like when an entire floor was made of it, stretching out under the feet of God?" That one sensory moment makes the text unforgettable.
The phrase "blood of the covenant" can feel jarring for young children. Normalize it gently by connecting it to something they understand: a very serious promise. Say something like: "In the ancient world, when you wanted to make the most serious promise of your life, you would sacrifice an animal. It was their way of saying, 'This promise is so important that life itself is part of sealing it.' God used blood then because He knew that one day, His own Son's blood would seal the greatest promise of all."
When you reach the moment the elders ate a meal on the mountain, slow down. Let it breathe. Ask the class to picture it: seventy men, sitting on rough rocks, sharing food, while the glory of God glows just above them. Then ask: "Is that terrifying or beautiful? Maybe both?" The tension in that question is exactly the theological tension of the entire unit: God is holy and God is near, and only Jesus makes both things true at the same time.