Exodus 24. The Covenant Confirmed

The Covenant Confirmed

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. ² Moses alone shall come near to the Lord, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”

• Nadab and Abihu are Aaron’s two oldest sons/Moses’ nephews
• Only Moses has special privilege to come near YHWH.

³ 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.” 

• “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” hmmm 👀👀👀👀

⁴ 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. 

• Here we have 12 tribes, probably counting Joseph as one (instead of Ephraim and Manasseh as separate).
  • Later with allotted land, there are 12 tribes, but made up of the two sons of Joseph and excluding Levi

⁵ And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. ⁶ And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. ⁷ Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people.

• The Book of the Covenant refers to the section of laws found in Exodus 20:22–23:33.

And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” ⁸ 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.”

“Half of the blood being sprinkled on the ALTAR, and half of it sprinkled on the PEOPLE, showed that both GOD and THEY were mutually bound by this covenant.” (Adam Clarke)

Clarke, Adam The Old Testament with A Commentary and Critical Notes, Volume I (New York: Eaton & Mains, 1831)

⁹ Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

• How awesome that they got to share a meal with GOD!!!! Or maybe it was a very frightening experience.
• Sapphire or סַפִּיר sappir (meaning blue stone or can be lapis lazuli) in the Bible symbolizes God’s glory and heavenly presence.
  • Here it appears beneath God’s feet.
  • Ezekiel 1:26 and 10:1 describe His throne as sapphire-like.
  • Isaiah 54:11 details Jerusalem’s foundations of sapphire
  • Revelation 21:19 includes it in the foundations of the New Jerusalem.
• I wonder if they actually saw His face??
  • 1 John 4:12 says  “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”
• What does this mean “And he did not lay his hand on the chief men….”?
  • Was it that even though they saw His form/manifestation, they were spared/deserving of death?

¹² The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” ¹³ So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. ¹⁴ And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.”

• We will soon see that Aaron and Hur did not do a good job supervising Israel

¹⁵ Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. ¹⁶ The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. ¹⁷ Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. ¹⁸ Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

• Moses waited in the cloudy mountain for 6 days, and on the 7th day he was called into God’s presence, where he stayed for 40 days. Joshua accompanied Moses up the mountain, but we are not sure exactly where he waited while Moses entered God’s presence.