The Book of the Covenant
Exodus 19 begins one of the most important sections in the Bible. It’s when Israel arrives at Mount Sinai. Their stay at Mount Sinai is the heart of the Pentateuch.[1]
Chapters 19-24 is the heart of the heart. Moses calls it the “Book of the Covenant” (24:7). This “Book” has a prologue (ch. 19) and epilogue (ch. 24). In between, are the ten words (ch. 20) and the judgements (chs. 21-23), or the Ten Commandments and then several chapters of case law applying the commands to specific situations (“rules,” 21:1).
The Ten Commandments are the heart of the heart of the heart of the Mosaic covenant. They teach Israel how God wants them to relate to him and to each other. These commands are about worship and social justice, about loving God and loving neighbors.
Rules about Worship
Exodus 20 gives us these ten words/commands in verses 1-21, then in verses 22-26 the Lord begins to give Moses specific instructions about a variety of issues. He begins with worship, or laws about altars. Why does he begin here? Because the way to respond to God’s commands is through proper worship.
Rules about worship are at the beginning and end of the judgments (20:22-26 and 23:10-19). Throughout this section there are instructions about worship and instructions about social matters interwoven together. God wants Israel to think about all of life as sacred, to not think that there’s a secular and sacred divide. He wanted them to know that his word is for all of life.
The way to respond to God’s commands is worship and proper worship involves things that must not be done and things that must be done. In these short verses, we see what God forbids in worship (vv. 22-23) and what he requires in worship (vv. 24-26). After we look at these verses, we’ll consider what proper worship looks like for Christians.
What God Forbids in Worship
First, we see what God forbids in worship in verses 22-23. In verse 22, the Lord addresses just Moses. He graciously honors the people’s request that he not speak directly to them (v. 19), and Moses yet again becomes the intermediary between God and the people.
The first thing the Lord says is that Moses should remind the people that he talked with them from heaven (v. 22). Why would the Lord point this out? Because he wanted the people to know that he wasn’t some local deity who lived on top of Mount Sinai, but that his dwelling place is heaven. The top of Sinai was a local manifestation of his heavenly presence.
Then in verse 23 the Lord basically repeats the first two of the Ten Commandments. These commandments are so important that the Lord repeats them virtually immediately after he gave them. True worship means not worshipping anything but Yahweh alone.
“Gods of silver” and “gods of gold” were forbidden to be part of Israel’s worship. No substance, no matter how beautiful could be worshipped as representing God. The argument can’t be made that something beautiful or expensive is “appropriate to God” or “call him to mind because their excellence suggests his excellence.”[2] The Lord is beautiful, but we find his beauty in his Word and in his Son, meaning we don’t need images or icons or idols to help turn our minds to him.
The fact that the Lord repeats the first two of the Ten Commandments almost immediately after giving them means that he understood his people’s propensity to use beautiful objects to worship him. The golden calf incident just days or weeks later proves he was right (ch. 32).
What God Requires in Worship
The Lord has reminded Moses what he forbids in worship in verses 22-23, now in verses 24-26 he tells him what he requires. What the Lord requires from Israel is an altar. Most of the Book of the Covenant is about social regulations, so these instructions about how to build an altar seem random and out of place. But they fit nicely at the front end of the rules because they let us know that proper worship is a priority for God. Everything else follows from that.
At this point in redemptive history, worship involved sacrifices, and altars were necessary for sacrifices. So he gives them a simple plan for a simple altar.
Altars weren’t a new thing for God’s people. Noah built one after the flood (Gen. 8:20). Moses built one after Israel defeated the Amalekites in 17:15. The patriarchs built many of them (Gen. 12:7, 13:18, 22:9, 26:25, 33:20, 35:1-7). The Lord would give Israel instructions for a more elaborate altar for the tabernacle in chapter 27 (vv.1-8).
At this point, the need was for an altar that could be built quickly and simply so Israel could begin worshipping as a covenant community. Moses built this altar after he finished giving them the words and rules of the covenant and Israel agreed to its terms (24:3-8).
This first altar for the people’s worship was simple in design, organic and earthy if you will. It was to be an “altar of earth” (v. 24), or made out of dirt, or stones that hadn’t been cut (v. 25). The Lord insisted on an altar that was simple. Why?
Old Testament scholar Doug Stuart says it’s because the Lord was still teaching them something about his holiness and idolatry.[3]
The altar must not be made with human tools because the Lord wanted it to be clear that it was his, not theirs. Holiness belongs to the Lord and anything he declares holy, so the altar must be his and his alone. It’s where he makes unholy people holy by transferring their guilt onto the animal that’s sacrificed.
His holiness is why he didn’t want any steps on the altar so that nakedness wouldn’t profane it (v. 26). People didn’t wear underwear then, except the priests who were later instructed to (28:42). In the Bible, nakedness usually refers to a loss of dignity or humiliation, so the Lord wanted his people to avoid indecent exposure during worship.
The altar was a holy place. It was where the Lord’s holiness would be revealed and satisfied.
But this simple altar also taught them something about idolatry. The altar must not be so fancy that it started to function like an idol, or something that human hands made but possessed divine qualities. Its simplicity was to teach people that it didn’t have intrinsic value. Its value was in its purpose, not its material worth.
The Lord wanted an altar that was functional, not necessarily beautiful, in order to draw his people’s attention to his holiness and protect them from making an idol of it. The first altar God commanded his people to build was simple to show them his holiness and to prevent idolatry. God wanted their eyes to be on him in worship, not on the forms or materials of their altar.
After giving the Ten Commandments in verses 1-21, the Lord begins to give Moses specific instructions about a variety of issues. He begins with worship, or laws about altars, because the way to respond to God’s commands is through proper worship. And in proper worship there are things that must not be done and things that must be done.
Proper Worship for Christians
We aren’t Old Testament Israelites, or under the Mosaic Covenant, but this principle still applies to us. In his discussion with the woman at the well, Jesus teaches his followers about worship (Jn. 4:20-26).
There are several things here that inform and guide our Christian understanding of worship. First, Jesus says that place is not important (v. 21). With his coming, God’s people can worship him anywhere, anytime. Worship isn’t confined to sacred mountains, buildings, worship centers, sanctuaries, churches, retreat centers, prayer closets, concerts, youth camps, or the like.
Second, worship is centered on the person of Jesus Christ. Salvation comes from him (v. 22) because he’s the promised Messiah (v. 26). Jesus is the sacred “mountain” where we meet God.
Third, true worshippers worship “in spirit and truth” (v. 23). This means that proper worship is guided by true views of God (“in truth”) and deep affection for God (“in spirit”). Worship is a matter of head and heart, of thoughts and affections. Good doctrine and deep emotions for God are not at odds. They go together. Right ideas of God create right feelings for God. If you understand God with your mind and feel nothing for him in your heart, or if you’re washed away in emotion for God without understanding who he is, you’re not worshipping “in spirit and truth.” People who have minds and hearts centered on God are the worshippers God is looking for (v. 23). Indeed, proper worship demands that we worship with head and heart (v. 24).
The Regulative Principle
Those who follow Jesus can worship God all the time from anywhere. But Jesus didn’t do away with the corporate nature of worship and make it purely individual. After he gave his followers the Great Commission, the command to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:18-20), what we see in the book of Acts is that the way they fulfilled it was by starting churches. They went out preaching the gospel and gathering believers into local churches.
The apostles wrote letters to many of these churches, instructing them in the gospel and in their lives together. One of the things they talked about was what a church gathering should include.
Just as Old Testament Israel only worshipped in response to God’s word, so the New Testament church’s worship is regulated by God’s word. This is often called the “regulative principle,” meaning that God’s word, not cultural fads or personal preferences, regulates our worship.
Churches, like ours, who want to see the church reformed by the word often talk about five ways we make the word central in our gatherings: we read the word, preach the word, pray the word, sing the word, and see the word in the ordinances.
We read the word because Paul tells Timothy to “devote yourself the public reading of Scripture” (1 Tim. 4:13). We read Scripture out loud, multiple times, without comment, every week to show how much we value the Word of God.
We preach the word because Paul also tells Timothy to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2). The Bible must be preached when the church gathers. Paying a pastor to devote his full-time efforts to preaching the word is a church’s way of demonstrating their belief that God’s work is accomplished through his word.
We pray the word because the early church in Acts was “devoted to…prayers” (2:42) and because Paul said, “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Tim. 2:1-2). We follow the ACTS pattern in our public prayers to teach that we should approach God on his terms, not ours.
We sing the word because Paul commands the Ephesians to “address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (Eph. 5:19). The church sings to each other and to the Lord. Songs are teaching tools, so they should be full of biblical truth that opens our hearts to God’s glory and love. Everything that happens up front in a worship service is part of the teaching ministry of the church, so the elders shouldn’t delegate things like song choice to someone else. God will hold pastors accountable for how they teach in all the ways the church teaches.
One of the things we do to keep our eyes on Jesus and his holiness and not the form or style of our music is to pick songs with rich gospel content, prefer less instrumentation, and focus on congregational singing, or what we’re doing together rather than what’s happening on the stage.
And we see the word in the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Jesus commands all disciples to be baptized (Mt. 28:19) and Paul says that the Supper should be taken “when you come together as a church” (1 Cor. 11:17-32). Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the visible signs and seals of the New Covenant and, with the preaching of the word, they visibly mark the church out from the world.
Our Lives on the Altar of God
Just as in Exodus 20, God doesn’t need man-made tools to build his church. He will build it on his word. God loves beauty and there’s a place for beauty, but when it comes to worship, God wants us to obey his word so that our eyes are drawn to the beauty of Jesus.
The beauty of Jesus is most clearly seen as his word transforms his people. Local churches committed to Jesus’ word are where the presence of the living God dwells. We’re “like living stones…being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). Like the earthy altar in Exodus 20, the church is the earthy place where people meet God through Jesus.
This is why Paul urges us to put our entire lives on God’s altar. He says, “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Rom. 12:1). Everything we are belongs on God’s altar. And that’s a good place to be because the altar is the place where God shows up, “I will come to you” and the place God blesses, “I will bless you” (Ex. 20:24).
Is your heart an altar to God? Have you given him your life?
God’s Son Jesus climbed up on God’s altar and willingly died for your sins so you could be with God and live for God.
When you understand that the Word of God, Jesus Christ, put his life on the altar for you you’ll want to put your life on the altar for him. Your whole life will be a “living sacrifice” and “spiritual worship” that pleases God.
Do you see Jesus dying on the altar of God for you? If you do, you’ll gladly put your life on God’s altar for him.
Have you put your life on God’s altar?
[1]We know this because of how long they stay there (one year) and how much material is devoted to their stay there (57 chapters). To put this in perspective, Genesis 1-Exodus 18 covers 2600 years in 68 chapters, Exodus 18-Numbers 10 covers 1 year in 57 chapters, and Numbers 11-Deuteronomy 34 covers 40 years in 59 chapters.
[2]Douglas K. Stuart, Exodus, The New American Commentary, vol. 2 (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2006), 472.
[3]Ibid.