Exodus 24 tells the story of the making of the first covenant between God and his people. To set that moment up, the Lord calls Moses, Aaron and Aaron’s children to come up onto a mountain. He explicitly tells them that the rest of the people — even the elders — are to stay at a distance. They don’t get to come close; only Moses will ascend into the cloud up on the mountain.
The story goes on. Altars are built and sacrifices are made and some blood is saved and some blood sprinkled on the altar and then some blood is sprinkled on the people. That sprinkling of blood on the people, that is significant. That is the blood of the covenant and it introduces us to God’s ultimate plan.
The blood will become the bridge that connects a holy God with his people. Eventually, God’s people will not stand at a distance. Eventually, they will enter the holy of holies — the curtain torn, the people not just sprinkled but washed in the blood of the covenant.
The writer of Hebrews, remembering this story in Exodus, tells us the rest of the story (Hebrews 12:18-26): “You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded … no, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word …”
Hebrews goes on to say about that covenant first established in Exodus 24, “He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
The blood speaks a better word. It is the word of grace. And we who stand under that blood have been made holy. We are not just sprinkled but washed.
Grace.
That’s the biblical backstory to the testimony I want to share. Now, my story:
A few weeks ago, I was with a group of recovering addicts somewhere in north Alabama. It is an amazing ministry they lead. I mean … in the middle of nowhere there are something like 150 people gathering every Tuesday night for worship and recovery and mutual support. It is a truly beautiful ministry.
People in recovery tend to get grace like most folks don’t.
The week I was to be there, out of the blue — for no reason — one of those hideous old sins from my old life rose up to the front of my brain. Have you had that experience? You’re going about your day. You’re doing just fine. Then suddenly some old memory flares up, blindsides you, and brings with it a bucket of shame and just douses you. Its like getting ice water tossed over your soul. And there you are, soaked in shame.
That’s what happened to me that day on my way to be with those addicts. Maybe thinking about their stories had me subconsciously thinking about mine … I don’t know. But that day, because all else in my world was going well, I had the presence of mind when that old memory hit me to stop and let Jesus in on the moment.
The memory showed up and when I saw it coming at me, I turned to Jesus and said, “Will you stand with me and look at this memory and tell me what I need to know? Will you help me understand it? Help me understand how that person and this person could be the same person. Help me understand what you see, Lord, when you look at some of my worst days.”
Jesus seemed willing. I sensed his presence, the presence of the Holy Spirit, as we stood there together and gazed on this painful memory.
My sin.
Then I heard what I hope was the voice of Jesus, what I believe was the voice of Jesus. He said something I’d never heard before when I contemplated the worst of my own sin. It was as if he smiled, leaned over toward me and said, “We won!”
We won!
Yes, I had some moments on the battlefield and maybe there were times when it looked bleak. But what matters is the hashmark in “win” column.
And that moment?… standing there with Jesus? I have to tell you, it took my breath away. This sudden reframing of my sin sapped all the shame from the memory and replaced it with victory. Its like I got it in some deeper way all the sudden … like I went in deeper and saw something I hadn’t been able to see from the bottom of the mountain, from a distance.
Jesus was inviting me not into shame but into the fountain where the blood speaks! I suspect this is exactly what Revelation 12:11 means when the prophet talks about the final defeat of the enemy of our souls. The writer says, “They have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.”
Friends, the real testimony is not back there in Egypt. The real story not what we’ve come from. The real testimony is in the blood! It speaks a better story and the word it gives us is … we won!
We won! So shake us loose, Lord, of any story other than yours. Shake us loose of our fear-based defenses and of our shame and of our anxieties and Lord, set our feet on that solid ground of your holy mountain that we might attend to your ordinances and be concerned only with your voice. Lord, your will, your way. Amen!
