Exodus 24 exposes the ignorance of the children of Israel. Verse 3 says, “And Moses came and told the people all the words of Jehovah, and all the ordinances: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which Jehovah hath said will we do” (lit.). The people spoke in such a foolish way not only once, but twice. Verse 7 says that after Moses “took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people,” they said, “All that Jehovah hath said will we do, and be obedient” (lit.). This shows that they were spiritually blind. In their fallen, natural condition they did not see what God was and they did not know themselves. Being self-confident, they had a foolish trust in themselves. Lacking revelation and vision, many of today’s Christians are the same as the children of Israel in this respect. We also may still be under the influence of the religious concept and think that we are able to obey the law of God. We all need the altar, the pillars, the sacrifices, and the blood. We need to apply the blood and be replaced by Christ to become a reflection of God.
Exodus 24:1-8 is a picture of God’s economy. According to this picture, we should not be observers of the law. Rather, we should be terminated and replaced in order to become pillars as God’s living testimony, a reflection of God in Christ. No longer should we speak to God in a nonsensical way, promising to do whatever He says. To make such an oath or pledge to God is to speak in a natural way. We simply do not have the means to fulfill such a pledge. Our lives are filled with failures and shortcomings. What ground do we have to promise to fulfill God’s requirements? We need redemption, termination, replacement, and reconstitution. Instead of making ridiculous promises, we should pray, “Lord, I have nothing, and I can do nothing. But with You there is the possibility for me to be redeemed, terminated, and replaced. Lord, by working Yourself into me You can reconstitute me and make me a living pillar as Your testimony.” May we all see that God’s desire is to work Himself into us and to reconstitute us with Himself that we may be His testimony. This is the significance of the altar, the pillars, the sacrifices, the blood, and the foolish talk of the children of Israel in Exodus 24.
Religion instructs people to worship God and obey His commandments. Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism all have this emphasis. Such an emphasis, however, is according to man’s natural concept. Under the influence of this concept, we may try our best to keep God’s laws in order to be approved by Him and to please Him. We may think that God gave the law to His people so that by keeping the law they would maintain a good relationship with Him. This concept is natural and religious, utterly contrary to God’s intention in His economy.
We have pointed out that the way Moses enacted the law was very different from what we would expect as the common human way. Instead of commanding the people to be faithful and to observe the law, Moses enacted the covenant by means of the altar, the pillars, the sacrifices, and the blood. By enacting the covenant in this way, Moses seemed to be telling the people that even though they were sinful and corrupted, hopeless in their fallen condition, God could make them pillars to be His testimony. As we have emphasized again and again, this can take place only by the cross of Christ, by the blood of Christ, and by Christ Himself. By the cross we are redeemed and terminated, by the blood we are cleansed from our sins, and by Christ Himself we are replaced, reconstituted, and rearranged. While we are undergoing the process of being replaced by Christ, we often fail the Lord. But we have the blood to cleanse us.
The Lord is working to terminate us and replace us in order to make us pillars, a reflection of God in Christ. To be such a pillar is to magnify Christ in our daily living. This is God’s economy. If we see how the enactment of the old covenant portrays God’s economy, we shall turn from the natural, religious concept to God’s concept and to His intention in His economy.
In the Ten Commandments themselves we do not see redemption, termination, or replacement. Neither do we see the redeeming blood, the altar, or the sacrifices. Of course, the altar and the sacrifices are mentioned later. Although the law itself does not depict God’s economy, the enactment of the law does portray the economy of God. Furthermore, in Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36 we read of another covenant. According to these chapters, God will inscribe His laws into our inner being, change our heart, regenerate our spirit, and put His Spirit within us in order to replace us, and He will also forgive us and cleanse us. Jeremiah 31:34 says, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Ezekiel 36:25 declares, “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.” These verses indicate that God will wash us, cleanse us, and forgive us. Thus, we need not be troubled by our failures, sinfulness, and uncleanness.
However, the main point regarding the enactment of the covenant is not that we are forgiven and cleansed. The crucial matter is that God’s nature is put into us as the law of life. Just as the law of sin is Satan’s nature, so the law of life is God’s nature. By putting His nature into us as the law of life, God changes our heart, regenerates our spirit, and imparts Himself into us as the Spirit. In this way we are gradually replaced and reconstituted to become a living testimony, a living portrait, of what God is. This is the way to become God’s reflection.
Through the ministry of Paul in the New Testament, we see that God desires to reconstitute us of Christ and thereby make us His testimony. Peter says that we are partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4)—this statement is the highlight of Peter’s ministry—but Peter does not say clearly that Christ is in us or that Christ is being wrought into us. Paul is the one who presents the details of how we are terminated by the cross and replaced by Christ to become a living testimony of our God. May all the saints see this revelation and experience the tremendous difference it makes in our Christian life.