Exodus 24:4 says, “And Moses wrote all the words of Jehovah, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill” (lit.). The altar indicates that we cannot keep the law of God and that we need to be redeemed. Actually, before the law was made known to the people, they had already broken its terms and conditions. Because their situation was hopeless, they needed an altar for their redemption.
The altar indicates that they needed to be terminated and replaced by the sacrifices. Initially the sacrifices offered on the altar were their substitute, but eventually this substitute would become their replacement. Therefore, symbolizing the cross, the altar indicates that we need to be redeemed, terminated, and replaced. The cross of Christ redeems us and terminates us. Then as the sacrifices to be our substitute, Christ becomes our replacement. He is our Redeemer, substitute, and replacement.
The children of Israel should not have thought that they could keep God’s law. Because they were sinful, fallen, and corrupted, such a thing was impossible. Instead of trying to keep the law, they needed to be redeemed, terminated, and replaced. This is the way to enact the divine law decreed by God.
It is useless for us to attempt to keep God’s law. Because we do not have the capacity to keep it, it is impossible for us to do so. Romans 8:3 and 4 indicate this: “For, the law being impossible in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh, but according to spirit.” Because the law is weak through our flesh, God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin to redeem us, terminate us, and replace us. Then, as such redeemed, terminated, and replaced ones, we now have Christ in our spirit. As we walk according to the mingled spirit, our spirit mingled with the indwelling Spirit, the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us. Romans 8:3 includes the matter of enactment, for the cross is implied here. The redeeming and replacing Christ is also implied. Hallelujah, we have the cross, the means, and we also have the Redeemer, the substitute, and the replacement!
I hope that we would all be impressed with the fact that it is utterly impossible for fallen man to observe the law of God. Even the thought that man can do so is most foolish. Moses was not so foolish as to think that the children of Israel could obey the law of God. Instead, according to God’s revelation and requirement, he enacted the law by building an altar. By doing this he seemed to be telling them, “You children of Israel must realize that you need to be redeemed, terminated, and replaced.”
In 24:4 we are also told that Moses built “twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.” According to biblical usage, in both the Old and New Testaments, a pillar stands for a testimony. First Kings 7:21 illustrates this: “And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.” Jachin means “He will establish,” and Boaz means “The strength is in Him.” These pillars stood as a testimony that God would establish the building, the temple, and that its strength would be in Him. These pillars were not erected to support the temple. No, instead of being used as a support, they stood as a testimony. The New Testament also speaks of pillars. First Timothy 3:15 says that the church is the pillar and base of the truth. This means that the church bears the testimony of the divine realities of God’s economy. The twelve pillars in 24:4 also function as a strong testimony of what God is. Furthermore, these pillars represent the twelve tribes of Israel. They indicate that in the sight of God the twelve tribes should be pillars testifying what God is. In other words, the children of Israel should stand as a testimony reflecting God and what He is.
The Bible is a very picturesque book. We have an excellent example of this here in Exodus 24 with the altar and the twelve pillars. The altar tells us that we need to be redeemed, terminated, and replaced. The pillars declare that we should be a testimony of what God is and also a reflection of God. On the one hand, we need to be redeemed, terminated, and replaced. On the other hand, we need to be a testimony of God and a reflection of Him. What we reflect should not be our ability to keep the law. Rather, we should reflect God’s virtues and attributes. After we have been redeemed, terminated, and replaced, we become pillars, the testimony of God, reflecting what He is.
The law was not given for God’s people to keep or observe. It was given that the people might become God’s testimony. However, the children of Israel thought that the law was given for them to keep. Likewise, out of ignorance of God’s economy, many of today’s Christians think that the New Testament was given for them to keep and observe. No, the New Testament was not written so that Christians would observe its requirements; it was given to make Christians a reflection of God. There is a tremendous difference between trying to keep the law of God and being made a reflection of Him.
God’s mind is altogether different from the mind of fallen man. According to our concept, when God gave the law it was a sign that He wanted us to keep it. But this was not God’s intention. His intention is to make us a testimony of Himself. To be a testimony of God involves not only our deeds; it involves our very being. God did not want the children of Israel merely to keep the commandments and observe the ordinances. He wanted to make them pillars bearing a testimony of Himself. As the law is a testimony of God, so God intended that the people of Israel would become a living testimony of Him. The law is a portrait, a photograph, showing what God is. As living persons, the children of Israel were to be a living testimony of God. Through Moses’ enactment of the law, God was saying to the people, “I don’t want you to keep My law. I want to make you a testimony of the law. Then you will be a living testimony of Me. If you are to become My testimony, you must be redeemed, terminated, and replaced.”
Again and again I wish to emphasize this crucial point: The law was not given for us to keep, for us to observe; it was given that we might be made a living testimony of God according to what the law portrays. The way for us to become such a living testimony is to be redeemed, terminated, and replaced. This can be accomplished only by Christ through the cross. If we see this, then we shall understand why God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin and condemned sin in the flesh so that the righteous requirement may be fulfilled in us as we walk according to the mingled spirit. This is the way we become a reflection of God, a testimony of Him. If we become such a reflection and testimony, then surely the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us. However, this is not a matter of our keeping the law and fulfilling its requirements. No, it is a matter of having Christ become our replacement and then of walking according to the mingled spirit. This is what makes us God’s reflection.
God has no intention to make us law-keepers, observers of the law. God’s intention is to make us pillars which stand on earth as a reflection of Himself as the divine Person who is holy, righteous, and full of love and light. This is not to keep the law—it is to be a living testimony of what God is, as portrayed by the law.