COVENANT MADE IN SACRIFICE

 

COVENANT MADE IN SACRIFICE

            The worship of Israel was codified when Moses climbed Mount Sinai after leading the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt.  While the people waited at the foot of the mountain, Moses ascended and received the Ten Commandments and what Scripture scholars call a Covenant Code, “ordinances” or laws which specified how the Hebrews would live out the demands of the Covenant.  God’s purpose in all this was to establish communion between Himself and Israel: “And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the sons of Israel: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.  Now therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my Covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:3-5).  God delivered the Hebrews from Egypt for the sake of making a covenant with them, which would establish an unbreakable family bond.  For when He called Moses from the burning bush on Mount Horeb to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt, God told him to tell Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord: Israel is my son, my firstborn” (Exodus 4:22). 

            Communion with God was sealed by covenant, a solemn pact between God and His people.  By making covenant with Israel, God adopted them as family.  It was a gratuitous offer by God, who pledged his help and protection, and promised to dwell in the Meeting Tent and the Tabernacle which he commanded to be erected.  In return, the Israelites promised to forsake all other gods and worship God alone.  Due to the fact that God would be in their midst, the Israelites needed to remain always in a state of holiness.  God revealed that they would enjoy the divine Presence and receive the blessings of the Covenant only if they fulfilled their Covenant promises.  The Ten Commandments and the ordinances which regulated the Israelites’ daily living specified how they could do this, and set them apart from the practices of all other religions.  The ordinances included prescriptions regarding food, marriage, inheritance, circumcision, hygiene, and more. 

            It was common in the Near East that when a covenant was made the parties would seal it by sacrifice and oaths.  The sealing of the covenant between God and Israel would come through the offering of holocausts to the Lord, in the form of sacrificed animals.  The holocausts took the place of those who offered them, symbolizing their complete dedication to God and to the Covenant.  Since it was thought that the life of creatures was in the blood, the blood of the holocausts represented the blood of the worshippers, who by making sacrifice were pledging their very lives.  This is why the Israelites were sprinkled with blood when they contracted the Covenant at Sinai.  By it they were purified of their sins and uncleanness.  Because of the necessity of sacrifice Israel had to become a “kingdom of priests.”  As the Epistle to the Hebrews points out, the priests offered sacrifices daily for themselves and for the people, in expiation of their sins.  “For without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22).  Understanding the all-encompassing sacrificial motif of Jewish worship will help us to grasp why it was necessary for our salvation that Jesus became God’s high priest, and that his priesthood be continued in the Church, about which I will write in next Sunday’s article.