Exodus 24:3-4 - Our life, an altar of sacrifice for God

Exodus 24:3 tells us that Moses came to the people after he had met with the Lord. When he had come to them, the first thing he did was to read the words of the Lord and all the ordinances to them. Notice that the words of the Lord and the ordinances were distinguished. “The words of the Lord” here refers to the Ten Commandments, and “the ordinances” refers to the Book of the Covenant.  So essentially, Moses read Exodus 20 that contains the Ten Commandments and Exodus 21-23, the Book of the Law to them. Verse 4 of Exodus 24 tells us that Moses had it written down. Why were they written down? The answer is obvious, so that they would never forget all that the Lord had said. This accounts for why we still have the account in the Bible today.

Reading of the Word enables us to know what God had stipulated and required of us in our walk with Him. Interestingly, in verse 7, we will find that the Book of the Covenant was read to them again. This indicates that we need to read the Word of God not just every now and then. We need to read it repeatedly so that what God requires of us will be indelibly etched in our hearts and minds. It is needful that we hear the word of God again and again. However, reading of what God had stipulated was only one part of the equation. Responding to what was made known to them was the more important part of the equation. So, we read in the latter half of verse 3 that the people in unison responded saying, “All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!” This is the more important part of the ceremony. It is one thing to hear what God had said, but quite another to follow and do them diligently. The first step to obedience is always awareness. How can we obey God’s words when there is no awareness? Hence without a doubt reading of the Word of God is such a critical part of obedience. Are we reading God’s Word daily? We must make it a part of our daily schedule if we want to seriously know God and His purpose for our life.  

What Moses did next was to build an altar early the next morning. The altar, more than a symbol of God’s presence, was a place where sacrifices could be offered to Him. This indicates to us that as sinful people the worship we offer to God always demands a sacrifice. More than a physical structure, the Lord wants us to build an altar in our lives for Him. This requires that we offer all that we are and have to Him. When we do that, we hold back nothing for ourselves. It simply means that all that we are and have belonged to God. He is the owner. We are the stewards. God has the totality of our lives. We must be aware that we are not here to make a name for ourselves. All that we are and do, we do it all for Him. Remember what Paul urged us to do in Romans 12:1, “…I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” We not only need to know God’s words but we need also to respond to them in obedience. Then we offer all that we are as a living sacrifice totally set apart for His glory. We make every moment of life an altar of sacrifice to the ever-living God.