Communion with God as the Essence of Covenant

Having laid out the blessings and curses of the covenant in Exodus 23 and prior to that the rules or judgments, i.e. the substance of the covenant, in Exodus 20-23, God tells Moses in Exodus 24 to bring a few friends up the mountain to worship him (Exod 24:1). However, only Moses is permitted to draw near to YHWH (Exod 24:2). What’s more, the people must remain at the base of Mount Sinai. What is sketched out for us, then, in Exodus 24 are three “levels” or steps up the mountain. At the base of the mountain are the people, who commune with God through the types and shadows of sacrifice. On the way to the summit, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 elders of Israel may proceed to worship God at a distance, even dining with him. Finally, at the summit, Moses alone may draw near in communion with God. There are three steps in communion with God, and with each step up, fewer and fewer people are allowed to proceed. This narrowing of the number, moreover, is related to the intimacy of communion with God. There is a hindrance—sin—that prevents the whole congregation from climbing the mountain, but there is also a recognition built into the text that reaching the top of the mountain is desirable and should be the common desire of the whole congregation. In a way, then, the topography of Exodus 24 reinforces the typology of the covenant ceremonies at each step up the mountain. Ultimately, the goal is to ascend the mountain of God and to be in unhindered communion with him.

This goal is also reflected in the covenant framework. The most basic expression of the covenant formula is, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” All the covenant stipulations, including both the rules or judgments and the later liturgical laws, serve the purpose of clearing the way for this basic expression of the covenant formula to be realized. To be sure, the goal or purpose of the covenant does not exclude a more robust perspective; rather, when the essence and end of the covenant is communion with God, everything else falls in place, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom 11:36 ESV). Communion with God, of course, is life with God, and that is the best kind of life. Life, in this sense, “is the full, rich existence of man in the union of his soul and body, in union with God and in harmony with the world; this includes bliss and glory, virtue and happiness, peace and joy.”[1] In Christ, in the new covenant, we realize life and communion with God as we are united to Christ, the true vine.

In contrast to this correct view of the essence of the covenant, a faulty view might consider the essence of the covenant to be personal fulfillment or a solution to my felt needs. It might be that virtue or happiness occupies the center. Insofar as the covenant concept is a framework for relating the individual to the magnetic points of totality, norm, destiny, deliverance, and higher power, the key idea to keep in mind is that God simultaneously stands above (or at the center) and makes sense of everything else. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. Virtue, happiness, peace, and joy only make sense and are brought to their fullest potential in relation to Christ. All of this is to say that a faulty view of the covenant concept separates the benefits of redemption from the redeemer and leaves humanity with unfulfilled, disconnected shadows of the real thing. In our own mindset, then, as we think about what it means to believe in Jesus, our first thought cannot be, “What can Jesus do for me?” It’s not a bad thought, but it must follow after this: How amazing is it that I may live in reconciled union with God through Jesus Christ my Lord!” May we always preserve communion with God as the essence of the covenant so that we might enjoy the full, rich existence that is offered by Christ, the covenant mediator.

[1] Herman Bavinck, Guidebook for Instruction in the Christian Religion, ed. and trans. Gregory Parker and Cameron Clausing (Peabody: Hendrickson Academic, 2022), 178.