Doing and Understanding: A Deeper Obedience to God

Exodus 24 shows God bringing His people to Mount Sinai to make the Mosaic covenant official. God gives Moses, Aaron, Aaron’s sons, and seventy elders a sacred invitation, yet Moses alone comes near. God’s choice of Moses shows that God gives people purpose for His work, not because they are somehow special, but because He chooses and designs them for it.

Moses brings God’s words and rules down to the people, and Israel responds with one voice, “All the words that the Lord has spoken, we will do.” God gives the expectations before the covenant is made official. Like hearing every term before signing a loan, Israel knows what God is calling them into. God had already rescued them from slavery and cared for them in the wilderness, so their obedience is meant to rise out of His goodness and provision.

Moses builds an altar, sets up twelve pillars, offers sacrifices, and sprinkles blood on the altar and on the people. The covenant is not just words. Worship costs something. The blood identifies God as the first party and Israel as the second party. Israel then says, “All that the Lord has spoken, we will do, and we will be obedient.” The deeper meaning is, “We will do, and we will hear.” They are not merely promising to follow orders. They are saying they will seek to understand the heart and goodness of God behind His commands.

That kind of obedience changes everything. Love for God above all else puts everything else in order. Godliness makes marriages, families, friendships, work, and every other relationship stronger. Doing leads to understanding. A person tastes and sees that the Lord is good by trusting Him, following Him, and experiencing the good that comes through His ways.

Exodus 24 also points straight to Jesus. The Mosaic covenant began with a miraculous meeting, clear terms, blood sacrifice, and communion with God. The new covenant follows that same pattern through the incarnation, cross, resurrection, and Christ’s entrance into heaven itself. Jesus offers Himself once and for all, putting away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. His blood does what the blood of calves and goats could never finally do.

Christ gives believers communion with God through the Holy Spirit. The remaining question is the response of worship. The new covenant calls every heart to say, “God, I will do, and I will understand.” Faith first surrenders to Jesus, then obedience grows deeper than habit or fear. Spiritual maturity moves beyond “because Daddy said so” into trusting that God stops His children from walking into slippery places because He is leading them somewhere good.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Obedience seeks God’s good purpose Obedience becomes shallow when it is only about checking off the doing. God’s commands are not meant to crush freedom or make life smaller. God calls His people to obey because He sees the slippery slope ahead and knows the good path that leads upward. [61:19]
• 2. Doing can lead to understanding Israel’s words mean more than “we will be obedient.” Their response carries the idea, “We will do, and we will hear.” God often gives deeper understanding as His people step forward in trust, taste His goodness, and see what His ways produce in real life. [40:21]
• 3. Christ’s blood secures lasting communion The blood of the Mosaic covenant allowed Israel’s leaders to eat and drink in God’s presence for a moment. Christ’s sacrifice opens a greater and lasting union with God. Jesus enters heaven itself on behalf of His people, and the Spirit now dwells with them. [54:13]
• 4. Grace saves, then obedience deepens The new covenant does not rest on keeping the Ten Commandments well enough to earn salvation. Grace through faith in Jesus gives new life as a gift. That grace then calls believers into an obedience motivated by love, trust, and a desire to know God more deeply. [50:11]
• 5. Maturity moves beyond “Daddy said so” A toddler may obey without knowing why, and there is still real trust in that obedience. Yet God desires His children to grow into mature believers who ask why He calls them to stop, turn, serve, love, and worship. God does not despise those questions when they rise from a heart that still intends to follow.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [29:03] - The Mosaic Covenant at Mount Sinai
• [32:10] - God Invites Moses Near
• [34:35] - Israel Hears God’s Terms
• [36:36] - Blood, Sacrifice, and Covenant Worship
• [38:39] - Worship as a Response to God
• [40:03] - “We Will Do and We Will Hear”
• [42:12] - Doing Leads to Understanding
• [46:30] - Eating and Drinking in God’s Presence
• [48:16] - The New Covenant Points to Jesus
• [51:39] - Christ’s Better Sacrifice
• [55:27] - Union with God Through the Spirit
• [57:36] - The Needed Response of Worship
• [59:17] - Surrendering to the Gospel
• [60:54] - Obedience for God’s Good
• [62:37] - From Toddler Faith to Mature Faith

Bible Reading

Exodus 24:1–11
Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.” Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel. They beheld God, and ate and drank.
[29:03] [32:10] [36:36]

Hebrews 9:18–26
Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
[51:39] [54:13]

Psalm 34:8
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
[42:12]

Ephesians 2:8–9
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
[50:11]

Observation questions

1. In Exodus 24, who is invited up the mountain, who is permitted to come nearest to the LORD, and what does everyone else do?
2. What actions make the covenant official in Exodus 24:4–8, including the altar, twelve pillars, sacrifices, the reading of God’s words, and the blood? [36:36]
3. What two promises do the people make after Moses reads the Book of the Covenant, and how does the phrase “we will do, and we will hear” add depth to their response? [40:12]
4. According to Hebrews 9:24–26, where did Christ enter, what did He offer, and how often was His sacrifice needed? [53:24]

Interpretation questions

1. Why does God give Israel His words and rules before the covenant is made official? How does God’s rescue of them from Egypt shape the way they should view obedience? [34:46]
2. What does Israel’s statement, “We will do, and we will hear,” suggest about the difference between merely following commands and seeking to understand God’s heart behind them? [41:12]
3. Hebrews says that Christ offered Himself “once for all.” How does that truth protect believers from thinking they must earn salvation by keeping God’s commands well enough? [50:11]
4. Exodus 24 describes leaders eating and drinking in God’s presence, while the new covenant gives believers communion with God through Christ and the Holy Spirit. What does this reveal about the kind of relationship God wants with His people? [55:27]

Application questions

1. Is there an area where obedience to God has become mostly habit, fear of consequences, or an attempt to earn God’s favor? What might it look like to obey there because God is good and desires what is good for His children? [01:01:06]
2. What is one command of God that is difficult to understand right now—perhaps involving forgiveness, purity, generosity, serving, truthfulness, or loving someone difficult? How can the group pray and seek God’s wisdom while still choosing faithfulness? [01:03:10]
3. Psalm 34:8 invites God’s people to “taste and see” that He is good. What is one specific step of trust or obedience that could help someone experience God’s goodness rather than only talk about it? [42:14]
4. Ephesians 2:8–9 says salvation is God’s gift, not a result of works. How does remembering grace change the way a believer responds after failure, sin, or spiritual inconsistency? [50:28]
5. God’s commands are not meant to lead His children down a slippery path but to guide them toward what is good. Where might God be asking someone to stop, turn, or take a different path in order to protect a relationship, marriage, family, work life, or worship? [01:03:25]
6. Jesus has made lasting communion with God possible. What simple rhythm this week—Scripture, prayer, confession, worship, or conversation with another believer—could help someone live more aware of God’s presence? [55:49]