The Blood of the Covenant
-- T O R A H P O R T I O N --
Introduction:
Have you ever entered into an agreement that required a serious commitment? How did it change the way you lived afterward?
In the year 1565, this ritual was done by Datu Datu Sikatuna of Bohol and Miguel Lopez de Legazpi of Spain which signified peace and friendship between the foreigners and the natives of Bohol.
Last Shabbat, God shows His fair treatment with the poor and the needy. Regarding the money lending, the lender must not charge interest to the borrower. Regarding justice, God gave instructions to His people to avoid false testimony, favoring one over another, and bribery to exercise fair justice. The observance of Shabbat and the three annual Feasts was also given. For the son of the female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.
This Shabbat, God invited three groups to come up to the mountain. First, Moshe was the leader of the nation of Israel. Second, Aaron and his sons are the priests who will lead in the Tabernacle duties. Third, the seventy elders who will help Moshe upon judging God's people. The Hebrew word for come up is Ala which means "To meet, to visit." God wants His people to come up because of three things:
- To worship Him - Going back to Exodus 9:1,13 it says: "Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh. Tell him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let My people go, so they can worship Me." After the incident of the ten plagues, the Israelites witnessed how powerful their God is compared to the gods of the Egyptians and did nothing at the height of the plagues. Since they are starting to travel to the Promised Land, they should also start worshipping the God of their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Hebrew word for worship is shakha meaning "to bow down, to prostrate oneself". From this meaning, God wants His people to bow down or humble themselves before Him because He is the One who brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage (Exo.20:2). But notice, only Moshe shall come near to God, the rest shall worship from afar. Here, Moshe is the foreshadowing of Messiah Yeshua as a mediator between God and His people. What a privilege and blessing for the children of Israel because of the access that they have. Same as with Yeshua, our access to the Father. 1 Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the Man Messiah Yeshua."
- To affirm His Covenant with the people - Covenant in Hebrew is brit which means "constitution, agreement, ordinance." According to University College London, the constitution is the rule book for a state. It sets out the fundamental principles by which the state is governed. From Merriam-webster, agreement means "the act or fact of agreeing." And for the word pledge, according to Thesaurus it is "a solemn promise or agreement to do or refrain from doing something." The Torah is God's constitution for the Jew and Gentile (Exo.12:49,Lev.24:22,Num.15:16). In verse 3, the people agreed and made a pledge by saying with one voice: "All the words which the LORD has spoken we will do!" And to affirm the Covenant, there is blood needed. The Hebrew word for blood is dam which means "blood, lifeblood, and surprisingly it also means grape, wine." I believe this is a foreshadowing of Yeshua. Since the Covenant is important, only His blood could affirm and seal the Covenant. In Matthew 26:26-28 during the Pesach celebration, Yeshua reveals the meaning of His blood to His talmidim. He said: "Take it and eat it, for this is My body'. He then gave thanks and offered them the cup and said, " ‘Each of you drink from it, for this is My blood, which seals the covenant between God and His people. It is poured out to forgive the sins of many."
- To have fellowship with His people - In verses 9 to 11, it says that Moshe, Aaron and his sons and the seventy elders of Israel went up and they saw God, and they ate and drank. It was the last part of the Covenant ceremony to have not only a fellowship, but a covenant fellowship that involves eating and drinking. Throughout the Scriptures, wine is related with joy. Psalm 104:15: "And wine that makes glad the heart of man." also in Ecclesiastes 9:7: "Go, eat your bread in gladness, and drink your wine in joy; for your action was long ago approved by God." There is a reason to celebrate especially knowing that you have a covenant relationship and fellowship with God. In Isaiah 25:6, the prophet visioned a future eating and drinking fellowship between God and His faithful people. It says: "And in this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the Lee's, of fat things full of marrow, of well refined wines on the lees." Also, Yeshua said in Luke 14:15: "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God."
In our Torah portion , God's invitation was specific, to a select group of people, and with a special purpose, to meet and worship Him. God also gave detailed limits regarding this invitation; Moshe needed to draw near to God, but the others who were invited were not.
Moshe came to the children of Israel, he told them the words of the God, and then he wrote down the words in the Book of the Covenant.
A covenant sealed with blood is not meant to be remembered lightly, but lived faithfully.
God’s invitation to ascend the mountain was purposeful. He called His people upward to enter into relationship, obedience, and fellowship through a mediator.
Moshe was permitted to draw near, foreshadowing the greater Mediator to come. Through Yeshua, what was once limited has now been made accessible not to abolish the covenant, but to confirm it by better promises and better blood.
The covenant was not confirmed because the people promised obedience, but because God provided the blood that sealed it.
How did you respond when God invited you? How did you take advantage of this invitation? John 10:3 says: “The sheep hear His voice and come to Him; and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out.”
For a moment close your eyes and try to imagine that God is calling you wholeheartedly by name. That means you are important.
May we never treat lightly the invitation to draw near to Adonai, knowing that it was sealed with blood, confirmed by the Messiah, and upheld by a faithful God who keeps covenant forever.
-- H A F T A R A H P O R T I O N --
Our Haftarah portion starts with the future vision of the city of Yerushalayim and how Yeshua will once again dwell with His people.
First, He will be an everlasting light to them, and even Yochanan saw this in his vision. Revelation 21:23–24 says:
“The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb (Yeshua) is its light, and the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.”
Second, He will put an end to their mourning. Revelation 21:4 says:
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Third, He will declare His people righteous and cause them to inherit the land forever. This righteousness is not temporary or symbolic, but covenantal and enduring. Psalm 37:29 says:
“The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell in it forever.”
Likewise, Proverbs 10:30 affirms:
“The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not inhabit the earth.”
Isaiah 61 brings all of this together by revealing that God will establish an everlasting covenant with Israel—one that results not only in restoration, but in visible vindication before the nations. As emphasized in Tonia Slimm’s teaching on Isaiah 61, this covenant is rooted in God’s character as ’Elohei mishpat—the God of justice—who faithfully rewards His people and makes a covenant that cannot be annulled.
“There would be no everlasting joy if it were not for the everlasting covenant.”- David Guzik
Because of this covenant, Israel’s restoration will be public and unmistakable. Their descendants will be known among the nations, and all who see them will recognize that they are the people whom Adonai has blessed (Isaiah 61:8–9). Israel is not just restored for her own sake, but appointed once again to function as a living testimony of God’s faithfulness. The nations will finally acknowledge that God has kept His promises, that His covenant has never been revoked, and that Israel remains chosen and beloved.
If God’s covenant with Israel is truly everlasting, then it calls for a response not only belief, but alignment.
Do we fully trust that God keeps His promises even when history, circumstances, or appearances suggest otherwise?
As grafted-in believers, are we honoring Israel’s role as God’s covenant people, or are we subtly replacing it?
If Israel is destined to be a visible witness of God’s faithfulness to the nations, how should that shape our prayers, our teaching, and our walk before Adonai today?
Let this passage challenge us to stand in faith with God’s covenant purposes, to rejoice in His justice, and to walk as people who trust that what He has promised, He will surely bring to past, in His time.
-- APOSTOLIC P O R T I O N --
In Apostolic portion, while Yeshua was eating with His talmidim, He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. After that He explained that it's His body. Then in verse 27, He took the cup, and He told His talmidim to drink because it's His blood.
He mentioned the word covenant which involves His body(bread) and His blood(cup) to show His talmidim that He will sacrifice His body to be killed and His blood will be used to ratify the covenant.
His words connect to the incident between God, Moshe, Aaron and his sons, and the seventy elders in Exodus, and here He confirmed and sealed the agreement between God and to those who will have a genuine faith in Him.
The blood of the covenant occurs nowhere else in the Tanakh when Moshe splatters blood on the people who cooperated to God’s covenant, marking them as the chosen nation under covenant to their Creator.
Baruch Hashem Adonai for the precious blood of His Son Yeshua which gives us access to the Father! This blood is the blood of the covenant which qualifies us to participate and share in God and enjoy Him as our portion.
Isn't it a joy to eat with your loved ones? But it's even more joyful when you are part of God's covenant meal.
The covenant meal declares that redemption is not only something God does for us, but something He invites us to share with Him.
This is the power of the covenant meal: it is not an empty ritual. It is a holy invitation to participate in what God has established, to remember the cost of access, and to rejoice in restored fellowship.
If the covenant was sealed with the Messiah’s blood and the table has been set by God Himself, then the question is not whether we are invited, but how we come.
Do we recognize that to eat and drink in covenant is to affirm our allegiance, our obedience, and our trust in the Mediator?
And does our life beyond the table reflect that we belong to the God who called us near?
May we never treat lightly what was sealed at such a cost, and may our participation in the covenant meal remind us of our redemption in Messiah.
The connection of Parsha 62 is about covenant. In the Torah, God called Moshe, Aaron and his sons, and the seventy elders to affirm His Covenant. In Haftarah, God will make an everlasting covenant with Israel and He will use them to be a witness before all nations. In Apostolic, Yeshua explained to His talmidim that His blood is the blood of the new covenant to ratify it and for the remission of sins.
Truly, without the blood compact will be useless the same as the Covenant. That's why in our Torah portion, the blood of the animal was required and it foreshadows the blood of Messiah Yeshua as the blood of the new covenant not only to affirm it, but as a remission for our sins. In Hebrews 9:22 it says: "Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."
If there was an invitation in Moshe's time to come up to the mountain for God's covenant and His people, Yeshua also invited His talmidim to eat the bread and drink the cup to seal and ratify the covenant. In our time, He is still inviting us, and those who will respond and enters the covenant will experience not only the eating and drinking fellowship with God, but also a marriage supper of His Son Yeshua.
May we never forget the cost of the blood that confirmed the covenant, and may our lives testify that we were not only redeemed—but received, welcomed, and called near by a faithful God who keeps covenant forever.
The covenant is only made alive through blood. Without the shedding of blood, covenant is only words but through Yeshua’s blood, God’s promise becomes life.
Revelation 19:7-9 NKJV
Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Then He said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And He said to me, "These are true words of God."
Remember, apart from the covenant there is no salvation!
Shabbat Shalom,
Topher
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Sources:
bethmelekh.com
blueletterbible.org
davidguzik
reformation21.org
jerusalemofgold.org.uk
hallel.info
rabbisacks.org
TheMacArthurStudyBible
scenichillsblvd.wordpress.com
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