Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my meditation today is "A Mountain Top Experience." I read from Exodus 24: 1-11 (NLT). All quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.
1 Then the LORD instructed Moses: “Come up here to me, and bring along Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders. All of you must worship from a distance. 2 Only Moses is allowed to come near to the LORD. The others must not come near, and none of the other people are allowed to climb up the mountain with him.”
3 Then Moses went down to the people and repeated all the instructions and regulations the LORD had given him. All the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the LORD has commanded.”
4 Then Moses carefully wrote down all the LORD’s instructions. Early the next morning Moses got up and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He also set up twelve pillars, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent some of the young Israelite men to present burnt offerings and to sacrifice bulls as peace offerings to the LORD. 6 Moses drained half the blood from these animals into basins. The other half he splattered against the altar.
7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people. Again they all responded, “We will do everything the LORD has commanded. We will obey.”
8 Then Moses took the blood from the basins and splattered it over the people, declaring, “Look, this blood confirms the covenant the LORD has made with you in giving you these instructions.”
9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. 10 There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. 11 And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!
Moses and the Israelites are assembled at Mount Sinai. They have a divine appointment to meet with God there. In their journey to the Promised Lane, this day is a special day; it is the day of the covenant. Moses has received and orally communicated the Lord's instructions to the people. Afterwards, he transcribes the Lord's instructions to create the Book of the Covenant, which he reads to the Israelites. The response of the people was unanimous, "We will do everything the Lord has commanded. We will obey." The covenant was then sealed with blood. One half of the blood of the animals sacrificed to God was splattered on the altar. The other half Moses splattered on the people as He says, "Look, this blood confirms the covenant the LORD has made with you in giving you these instructions.” The next part of the story is just amazing! In the words of my generation, the story "blows your mind!" We read, "Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!" What a mountain top experience to relate to your children and grandchildren! To celebrate the covenant between God and His chosen people, God invites them to dinner, and they share a covenant meal in His presence! Despite the joy of the moment, God knew this covenant was imperfect and would have to be replaced. Humankind would be unable to abide by its terms. He authors a new covenant between Himself and the descendants of Abraham, the children of faith who believe that Jesus is the Son of God and put their trust in Him. It a covenant of faith, not works. This covenant was more costly; it had to be sealed with the blood of His Son, Jesus. Once again, God invites His people to share in a covenant meal. Our covenant meal is the Lord's Supper, which we share together in His presence. How blessed we are to know Jesus and to have a standing invitation to join with Him at His table. As we partake of the bread and drink from the cup of blessing, let us remember Jesus, who poured out His own blood for us. Let us pray.
Abba, Father. Today we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. Abba, Father, we are so blessed. You invite and join with us to remember Your Son, Jesus, as we partake of this covenant meal. You are King of Kings and Lord of Lords, yet You desire to be here with us now. Given this great honor, why would we choose to be any place else at this appointed time? Thank-you, Abba, Father, for Your new covenant with us, which was sealed by the blood of Your Son, Jesus. We are so blessed that we are saved from sin and death through faith in Jesus. As we partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we remember the sacrifice He made for us on the cross. In His Name I pray. Amen.
Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26: 26-28 (NLT).
26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” Let us partake of the bread.
27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Let us partake of the cup.
And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"
Until next time, from Numbers 6: 24-26, "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace."
Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I invite you to visit my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories. The benefit of creating an account in one of the directory apps, like Apple Podcasts, Spotify or iHeart, is that you can add this podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. I do not receive compensation of any kind when you download and listen to my podcast. Please note there is a written transcript that accompanies each podcast, and you are free to use the transcript in accordance with US copyright law. My prayer is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!