Day 34 · Part 3: Out of Egypt
The Book of the Covenant
In the Story
In context
Exodus 21–23 is a collection of laws. Moses writes down these and the Lord’s other words and reads them to the people as “the book of the covenant” (Exodus 24:3–7). They were laws for a people of farmers and herders: what happens when a bull gores someone, when a fire spreads into a neighbor’s field, when a borrowed animal dies (21:28–32; 22:6, 14). Many set what must be paid back. Some carry the death penalty (21:12–17).
Several protect people with little power. A Hebrew servant went free in the seventh year (21:2). Foreigners were not to be wronged, “for you were aliens in the land of Egypt” (22:21). A poor man’s cloak, taken as a pledge for a loan, had to be returned by sunset, because it was his only covering at night (22:26–27). Three feasts a year are set: unleavened bread, harvest and ingathering (23:14–16).
Then Moses builds an altar with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes and sprinkles the people with “the blood of the covenant” (24:4–8), a moment Hebrews recalls (Hebrews 9:19–20). He goes up the mountain and stays forty days and forty nights (24:18).
“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which covenant of mine they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says Yahweh. “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. They will no longer each teach his neighbor, and every man teach his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh;’ for they will all know me, from their least to their greatest,” says Yahweh, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Jeremiah 31:31–34 · Israel agreed to the covenant at Sinai (Exodus 24:7–8); Jeremiah recalls that covenant and promises a new one, with God’s law written on the heart.
In the Bible
World English Bible, as published by eBible.org (public domain).
Exodus 21
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Exodus 22
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Exodus 23
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Exodus 24
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A hymn for today
Standing on the Promises · words by R. Kelso Carter
- Standing on the promises of Christ my King,Through eternal ages let His praises ring;Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,Standing on the promises of God.RefrainStanding, standing,Standing on the promises of God my Savior;Standing, standing,I'm standing on the promises of God.
- Standing on the promises that cannot fail,When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,By the living Word of God I shall prevail,Standing on the promises of God.RefrainStanding, standing,Standing on the promises of God my Savior;Standing, standing,I'm standing on the promises of God.
- Standing on the promises I now can seePerfect, present cleansing in the blood for me;Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free,Standing on the promises of God.RefrainStanding, standing,Standing on the promises of God my Savior;Standing, standing,I'm standing on the promises of God.
- Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,Bound to Him eternally by love's strong cord,Overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword,Standing on the promises of God.RefrainStanding, standing,Standing on the promises of God my Savior;Standing, standing,I'm standing on the promises of God.
- Standing on the promises I cannot fall,List'ning every moment to the Spirit's call,Resting in my Savior as my all in all,Standing on the promises of God.RefrainStanding, standing,Standing on the promises of God my Savior;Standing, standing,I'm standing on the promises of God.