We are in chapter twenty-four of Exodus with our word for today which is actually a phrase. דַֽם־הַבְּרִית֙ blood of the covenant, book of the covenant. It is used 2 times in the Old Testament. Let’s look at both of them starting with our chapter for today. Exodus 24:8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold דַֽם־הַבְּרִית֙ the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” The Holy Spirit takes this and applies it to Jesus. Hebrews 9:19-22 When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Did you catch that? A death was required to take the place of sinners like you and me. And that death was Jesus the perfect sacrifice. This is idea of Jesus the perfect sacrifice taking our place is what the blood of the covenant means. It is an agreement that God is making with us in order to forgive us of our sins. The second place our phrase is used in the Old Testament is another reference to Jesus being a messianic prophesy. Zechariah 9:9, 11 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey … As for you also, because of בְּדַם־בְּרִיתֵ֗ךְ the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. The Holy Spirit interprets this passage as applying to Jesus in Matthew chapter 21. So both of these uses of our phrase point directly to Jesus being the one who makes this agreement possible by his death in our place which is what the idea of blood is refereeing to. When Jesus set up the Lord’s supper during the Passover he makes reference to our phrase. Matthew 26:28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Mark 14:24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 1 Corinthians 11:25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” The Holy Spirit continues to connect Jesus to the blood of the covenant in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 10:29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? Hebrews 12:24 And to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Hebrews 13:20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. I’ll close with this great passage that shows God’s heart in wanting to make this agreement with us so he can bring us to himself. Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
