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![enter into God’s gates with humble and solemn adorations.
COFFMA , "Verse 1
ESTABLISHI G THE COVE A T
"This chapter with its account of the ratification of the covenant could well be called
the climax of the Book of Exodus. .T. passages (Hebrews 9:10,18-21) use this scene
as the prototype of the ratification of the ew Covenant."[1] This is true, and the
most important deductions derive from it.
(1) The true understanding of the passage appears especially in the .T., not in the
O.T. This also accounts for the astounding blindness of the critical scholars to the
most obvious features of the chapter. Only "in Christ" is the veil taken away in the
interpretation of the O.T.
(2) There are not two ratifications here, only one. This passage cannot be a garbled
amalgamation of diverse "traditions" from different sources. Critical affirmations
to that effect are essentially naive and unlearned. "They became vain in their
reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be
wise, they became fools!" (Romans 1:21,22).
As we have seen, the critics are especially infuriated by those unusually important
portions of the O.T., such as this chapter, and redouble their foolish efforts to
confuse or deny. As Fields said, "Those chapters of the deepest spiritual significance
and meaning are the very ones upon which the critics concentrate their attacks.
`The devil has blinded the minds of the unbelieving' (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)."[2]
Allegations of foolish, blinded men are unworthy of any detailed examination. "The
Exodus account is too harmonious with itself to permit us to accept extreme ideas
about its production"[3]
"And he said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah, thou, and Aaron, adab, and
Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off: and Moses alone
shall come near unto Jehovah; but they shall not come near; neither shall the people
go up with him."
At some time prior to these instructions to Moses, he had returned to the people,
with whom he had remained until this order upon a later occasion only a short time
after the pronouncement by God Himself of the Decalogue in the hearing of all the
people. These verses are the key to understanding that "Only Moses went to the
fiery clouded summit."[4] Moses was a type of Christ in that exclusive privilege.
"Moses alone as the mediator of the covenant (Galatians 3:19) was allowed to
approach the Divine presence."[5] The specific persons mentioned here were the
chosen representatives of the people, and they would ascend a little higher than the
people who remained at the foot of the mountain. The fact that only those chosen
persons, including the seventy elders, would witness the theophany is a type of the
fact that Christ showed himself alive unto men following his resurrection, " ot to
all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God" (Acts 10:41).](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-4-320.jpg)
![The appearance of adab and Abihu in this list of the chosen representatives is the
equivalent of a whole library contradicting the foolish notion of some critics that
some "priesthood in the Babylonian era, circa 550 B.C." composed this portion of
Exodus. Their appearance here proves that the evil for which they later died had
not been, at this time, committed. This record was therefore written before the sons
of Aaron died.
Huey mentioned a number of ways in which covenants were made in ancient times:
(1) they ate salt together (Leviticus 2:13; umbers 18:19); (2) they ate a sacrificial
meal together (Genesis 31:54); (3) they exchanged articles of clothing (1 Samuel
18:1-4); (4) they walked between the divided pieces of slaughtered animals (Genesis
15:10,17).[6] However, it must not be thought that the covenant act here would
necessarily have conformed to any one pattern.
TWO CEREMO IES; OR O LY O E?
The greatest misunderstanding of this chapter is in a failure to see that only one
ceremony is involved throughout, namely, that of the blood-shedding and the
sprinkling of the altar and of the representatives of the people. That act was the
making and sealing of the covenant. The sacrificial meal afterward had the same
status as the one between Jacob and Laban (Genesis 31:54) which came a day or two
after the covenant had already been made. The efforts of critics to find a separate
account of "the covenant" in that sacrificial meal recorded here are frustrated
completely by this Biblical example. There was only one covenant made here, and
only one ratification and sealing of it.
COKE, "Exodus 24:1. And he said unto Moses— Moses was now upon the Mount
with the Lord: the meaning, therefore, here must be, that God enjoins Moses
respecting his future coming up to the Mount with Aaron, &c. after he had
delivered to the people the laws mentioned in the former chapters, and confirmed
the covenant with them, as is mentioned in the subsequent part of this. These things
being done, we find, Exodus 24:9 that Moses, Aaron, &c. ascended the mount,
according to the order delivered in these two verses. Houbigant renders and
understands these verses differently: Exodus 24:1. He said unto Moses, Come up,
thou, &c. Exodus 24:2. And Moses alone came near unto the Lord; but they came
not nigh, neither did the people come up with them. He is of opinion, that Moses
now went up to the Lord to receive those commands, which, in the third verse, he
delivers to the people. Possibly, as Moses, during the delivering the laws in the
foregoing chapters, was with God in the Mount, see ch. Exodus 20:21 these verses,
introductory to the subsequent covenant, may be considered as a repetition; and so
the first clause may be rendered, ow, he [the Lord] had said unto Moses, Come up,
&c.
Seventy of the elders— Lowman supposes, that these seventy elders were twelve
princes of the twelve tribes, and fifty-eight heads of the first families in the twelve
tribes. See his Civil Government of the Hebrews, page 76.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-5-320.jpg)
![CO STABLE, "Verses 1-8
The remaining verses in this section contain God"s directions to Moses personally.
Hebrews , Aaron, Aaron"s two eldest sons, and70 of the elders of Israel were to
ascend the mountain to worship God. God permitted only Moses to approach Him
closely, however.
Moses first related the content of God"s covenant with Israel orally, and the people
submitted to it ( Exodus 24:3). Then he wrote out God"s words to preserve them
permanently for the Israelites ( Exodus 24:4). The altar he built memorialized this
place as where God had revealed Himself to His people. The12pillars were probably
not part of the altar but separate from it. They probably represented the permanent
relationship of the12tribes with God that God established when He made this
covenant.
"In the ceremony to be performed, the altar will represent the glory of the Lord,
whilst the pillars will represent the tribes of Israel; the two contrasting parties will
stand facing each other." [ ote: Cassuto, p311.]
The12pillars may also have served as memorial standing stones to commemorate the
occasion (cf. Genesis 31:45). [ ote: John W. Hilber, "Theology of Worship in
Exodus 24 ," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society39:2 (June1996):181.]
The young men ( Exodus 24:5) were probably assistants to Moses chosen for this
special occasion to serve as priests (cf. Exodus 19:22; Exodus 19:24).
"In the blood sprinkled on the altar [ Exodus 24:6], the natural life of the people
was given up to God, as a life that had passed through death, to be pervaded by His
grace; and then through the sprinkling upon the people [ Exodus 24:8] it was
restored to them again, as a life renewed by the grace of God. In this way the blood
not only became a bond of union between Jehovah and His people, but by the blood
of the covenant, it became a vital power, holy and divine, uniting Israel and its God;
and the sprinkling of the people with this blood was an actual renewal of life, a
transposition of Israel into the kingdom of God, in which it was filled with the
powers of God"s spirit of grace, and sanctified into a kingdom of priests, a holy
nation of Jehovah ( Exodus 19:6)." [ ote: Keil and Delitzsch, 2:158.]
"The throwing of half of the blood of the offerings against the altar, which
represented the Lord, and half on the people, or that which represented them,
signifies a joining together of the two contracting parties (communio), and
symbolized the execution of the deed of covenant between them.
"Between one blood-throwing and the other, the content of the covenant was finally
and solemnly ratified by Moses" reading from the Book of the Covenant and by the
people"s expression of consent." [ ote: Cassuto, p312.]
This ritual constituted the formal ratification of the Mosaic Covenant by which
Yahweh adopted Israel as His "son" (cf. Genesis 15). The parallel with the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-6-320.jpg)
![inauguration of the ew Covenant is striking (cf. Matthew 26:28; 1 Corinthians
11:25).
"In all such ceremonies the oath of obedience [ Exodus 24:7] implied the
participants" willingness to suffer the fate of the sacrificed animals if the covenant
stipulations were violated by those who took the oath." [ ote: Youngblood, p110.]
"Virtually every sovereign-vassal treaty incorporated a list of deities before whom
the solemn oaths of mutual fidelity were sworn. These "witnesses" could not, of
course, be invoked in the case of the biblical covenants, for there were not gods but
Yahweh and no higher powers to whom appeal could be made in the event of
covenant violation. The counterpart of this is not lacking, however, for the
ceremony of covenant-making described in Exodus 24clearly includes "witnesses"
to the transaction. These are in the form of the altar, which represented Yahweh,
and the twelve pillars, which represented the twelve tribes. Although there is no
explicit word to the effect that these objects were witnesses as well as
representations, the use of inanimate objects in that capacity elsewhere certainly
allows for that possibility here." [ ote: Merrill, "A Theology . . .," pp34-35. Cf.
Deuteronomy 4:26; 30:19; 31:28. See also Kline, The Treaty . . ., p15.]
"This is the covenant meal, the peace offering, that they are eating there on the
mountain. To eat from the sacrifice meant that they were at peace with God, in
covenant with him. Likewise, in the new covenant believers draw near to God on the
basis of sacrifice, and eat of the sacrifice because they are at peace with him, and in
Christ they see the Godhead revealed." [ ote: The ET Bible note on24:11.]
There is some disagreement among the commentators about the meaning of "the
Book of the Covenant" ( Exodus 24:7). Most take it to mean the "Bill of Rights"
that God had just given ( Exodus 20:22 to Exodus 23:33). [ ote: Wolf, p153.] Some
feel it included "the whole corpus of Sinai laws." [ ote: Childs, p506; Johnson,
p74.] Others hold that ". . . it denotes a short general document, a kind of testimony
and memorial to the making of the covenant." [ ote: Cassuto, p312.] I prefer the
view that it refers to the covenant stipulations God had made known to the Israelites
at this time including the Decalogue and the "Bill of Rights." This seems most
consistent with other references to this book in the text. [ ote: See Kaiser, " Exodus
," p449.]
ELLICOTT, "Verse 1
XXIV.
THE RATIFICATIO OF THE COVE A T.
(1) And he said.—We should have expected “And God said,” or “And Jehovah
said.” The omission of the nominative is probably to be accounted for by the
insertion into Exodus at this point of “the Book of the Covenant,” which was
originally a distinct document. Exodus 24:1 of Exodus 24 probably followed
originally on Exodus 20:21 of Exodus 20. The sequence of the words was then as](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-7-320.jpg)
![of Jehovah in “the book of the covenant” (Exo_24:4 and Exo_24:7), for the purpose of
preserving them in an official record. The next day, early in the morning, he built an
altar at the foot of the mountain, and erected twelve boundary-stones or pillars for the
twelve tribes, most likely round about the altar and at some distance from it, so as to
prepare the soil upon which Jehovah was about to enter into union with the twelve
tribes. As the altar indicated the presence of Jehovah, being the place where the Lord
would come to His people to bless them (Exo_20:24), so the twelve pillars, or boundary-
stones, did not serve as mere memorials of the conclusion of the covenant, but were to
indicate the place of the twelve tribes, and represent their presence also.
BE SO , "Exodus 24:3. Moses told the people all the words of the Lord — He laid
before them all the precepts, in the foregoing chapters, and put it to them, whether
they were willing to submit to these laws or not? And all the people answered, All
the words which the Lord hath said will we do — They had before consented in
general to be under God’s government; here they consent in particular to these laws
now given.
COFFMA , "Verse 3-4
"And Moses came and told the people all the words of Jehovah, and all the
ordinances: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words
which Jehovah hath spoken will we do. And Moses WROTE ALL THE WORDS
OF JEHOVAH, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the
mount, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel."
"Moses told the people ..." It was absolutely necessary that the people should have
been told specifically exactly what was expected of them. It is not clear whether
these words refer to something Moses had already done (which he certainly had
done) or to a recapitulation of"all the ordinances." Either way, it was thoroughly
and effectively done.
"All the words which Jehovah hath spoken will we do ..." Esses, a believing Rabbi,
renders this: "All that the Lord has spoken and all that he will speak we will do and
obey."[7] Even if this rendition should not be allowed, it is certain that the
acceptance on the part of the people of God's commands was unanimous,
enthusiastic, and complete. What a tragedy that their subsequent actions cast a dark
shadow over what they did here. Within a month they would reject Moses, make a
golden calf, and rebel against God!
"And Moses WROTE ALL THE WORDS OF JEHOVAH ..." We have capitalized
these letters because, apparently, no critic on earth has ever noticed them. The
ridiculous fancy that the Exodus record is dependent upon "oral traditions" handed
down for centuries until some self-serving priests decided to write it can be nothing
except nonsense. Writing had been known for a least five or six centuries at this
time. The Code of Hammurabi (2100-2000 B.C.) is written in the most detailed and
circumstantial fashion, and to suppose that Moses, brought up in the palace of
Pharaoh was unfamiliar with writing is merely an elephant error that only a fool](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-30-320.jpg)
![could swallow. "MOSES WROTE IT ALL DOW ." Of course, he did! Only Moses
knew the facts presented here; only Moses was present when the events mentioned
occurred. Have oth, Clements, Davies, or any of the unbelieving critics established
"their favorite authors," such as E, J, P, or D, as having been present at these
events? Certainly not! The following words of Allis are appropriate:
"Hammurabi, writing centuries BEFORE Moses, codified his laws and reduced
them to writing. He had them carved on blocks of diorite stone. Would Moses have
done anything less? The neocritic who PREFERS oral tradition is forced to admit
that a written code was quite possible."[8]
We marvel at the "possible" in Allis' quotation above. The written record was not
merely possible but certain, being the only possible way that the exceedingly
extensive and complicated records of the O.T. could ever have reached down the
centuries. "MOSES WROTE ALL THE WORDS OF JEHOVAH!" (Exodus 24:3).
It is an axiom of true O.T. interpretation that EVERY APPEAL to "oral tradition"
or "tradition," by which the same thing is meant, is merely a confession on the part
of critics that they prefer their own vain imaginations to God's written record. The
fact of Moses' actually writing down the laws of God is here affirmed: "hence the
laws received the designation `Book of the Covenant'"[9]
"And builded an altar under the mount ..." The ratification of the covenant took
place not on Mount Sinai, but at the foot of it. That is where the blood was
sprinkled.
"Twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel ..." The mention of these has
the utility of proving that there were indeed "twelve tribes of Israel" who
participated in the Exodus. The erroneous view that some of the tribes of Israel did
not descend into Egypt is denied by this. To be sure the critics find all kinds of
superstitions about those pillars, but that their use was symbolic only, and not
superstitious, is indicated by the fact that, "The blood was dashed over the people
themselves, and not upon the pillars (Exodus 24:8)."[10] Dummelow's opinion that
the "pillars were smeared with blood"[11] is unsupported by the Biblical account
here.
ELLICOTT, "(3) Moses . . . told the people all the words of the Lord.—Moses gave
them an outline of the legislation which he subsequently committed to writing
(Exodus 24:4) and formed into “the Book of the Covenant” (Exodus 24:7). Its
general purport and main heads were communicated, but probably not all its
details. Otherwise it would scarcely have been necessary to read the contents of the
book to them. The people willingly gave in their adhesion, feeling the laws to be
“holy, just, and good,” and not yet knowing how difficult they would find it to
render a perfect obedience.
PETT, "Verse 3
‘And Moses came and told the people all the words of Yahweh and all the
judgments, and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-31-320.jpg)
![HE RY, "How it was sealed by the blood of the covenant, that Israel might receive
strong consolations from the ratifying of God's promises to them, and might lie under
strong obligations from the ratifying of their promises to God. Thus has Infinite Wisdom
devised means that we may be confirmed both in our faith and in our obedience, may be
both encouraged in our duty and engaged to it. The covenant must be made by sacrifice
(Psa_50:5), because, since man has sinned, and forfeited his Creator's favour, there can
be no fellowship by covenant till there be first friendship and atonement by sacrifice.
(1.) In preparation therefore for the parties interchangeably putting their seals to this
covenant, [1.] Moses builds an altar, to the honour of God, which was principally
intended in all the altars that were built, and which was the first thing to be looked at in
the covenant they were now to seal. No addition to the perfections of the divine nature
can be made by any of God's dealings with the children of men, but in them his
perfections are manifested and magnified, and his honour is shown forth; therefore he
will not be represented by an altar, to signify that all he expected from them was that
they should do him honour, and that, being his people, they should be to him for a name
and a praise. [2.] He erects twelve pillars, according to the number of the tribes. These
were to represent the people, the other party to the covenant; and we may suppose that
they were set up against the altar, and that Moses, as mediator, passed to and fro
between them. Probably each tribe set up and knew its own pillar, and their elders stood
by it. [3.] He appointed sacrifices to be offered upon the altar (Exo_24:5), burnt-
offerings and peace-offerings, which yet were designed to be expiatory. We are not
concerned to enquire who these young men were that were employed in offering these
sacrifices; for Moses was himself the priest, and what they did was purely as his
servants, by his order and appointment. No doubt they were men who by their bodily
strength were qualified for the service, and by their station among the people were fittest
for the honour.
JAMISO ,"young men — priests (Exo_19:22), probably the oldest sons of
particular families, who acted under the direction of Moses.
oxen — Other animals, though not mentioned, were offered in sacrifice (Heb_9:18-
20).
K&D, "After the foundation and soil had been thus prepared in the place of sacrifice,
for the fellowship which Jehovah was about to establish with His people; Moses sent
young men of the children of Israel to prepare the sacrifices, and directed them to offer
burnt-offering and sacrifice slain-offerings, viz., ים ִמ ָל ְ,שׁ “peace-offerings (see at Lev_3:1)
for Jehovah,” for which purpose רים ָ , bullocks, or young oxen, were used. The young
men were not first-born sons, who had officiated as priests previous to the institution of
the Levitical priesthood, according to the natural right of primogeniture, as Onkelos
supposes; nor were they the sons of Aaron, as Augustine maintains: they simply acted as
servants of Moses; and the priestly duty of sprinkling the blood was performed by him as
the mediator of the covenant. It is merely as young men, therefore, i.e., as strong and
active, that they are introduced in this place, and not as representatives of the nation,
“by whom the sacrifice was presented, and whose attitude resembled that of a youth just
ready to enter upon his course” (Kurtz, O. C. iii. 143). For, as Oehler says, “this was not a
sacrifice presented by the nation on its own account. The primary object was to establish
that fellowship, by virtue of which it could draw near to Jehovah in sacrifice. Moreover,
according to Exo_24:1 and Exo_24:9, the nation possessed its proper representatives in](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-39-320.jpg)
![first-born, or other distinguished members of the community, for we simply are not
told. Apparently, their choice was due to their youth and strength, important
considerations in the size of such a sacrifice as this. They did not participate in any
way in the ceremony, Moses officiating as the great priest and mediator who, as a
type of Jesus Christ, sprinkled the blood. ote that the blood was sprinkled, not
merely upon the altar, but upon the people also. Thus, Christ offered his blood in
heaven as an atonement once for all for the sins of mankind, and yet, it is that same
blood of Christ by which the hearts of all true believers are "sprinkled" (Hebrews
10:19-22).
"Burnt offerings, and peace offerings ..." The multiple sacrifices were not only
numerous, but of various kinds. Although sin-offering is not specifically mentioned
here, there was nevertheless inherent in all sacrifices, especially of blood sacrifices,
the admission of human sin and guilt. It was therefore appropriate that prior to the
blood-rite confirming the covenant these offerings acknowledging the sins of Israel
should have been offered. Esses even affirmed that "Because there was sin in Israel,
the sin offering had to be made before the burnt offering."[12] Certainly, we must
reject the notion that "They were a redeemed people, "[13] and therefore did not
need to offer a sin offering!
"Half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar ..." This was the first of the double
sprinkling, the other being related in the next verses.
COKE, "Verse 5
Exodus 24:5. And he sent young men— The Chaldee renders it the first-born; with
which agrees the Arabic translation of R. Saadiah and the Persian of Tauasius. The
first-born were priests in every family; but, among the Israelites, they were
afterwards redeemed, and the whole tribe of Levi, in their stead, given to God, for
his service. The Hebrew word נערי naarei, signifies as well those who were active
and fit for service, as young in years; and hence Joshua, Moses's minister, and other
servants, are often called נערי naarei; see ch. Exodus 33:11. Genesis 14:24; Genesis
22:3. 1 Kings 20:14 and, indeed, as these young men were employed in slaying and
offering up the oxen, strength and activity were necessary. Moses himself, however,
performed the high and peculiar office of the priest, Exodus 24:6 so that it cannot be
concluded from the word, that these young men were priests: but it should be
observed, that, even after the appointment of Aaron's family to the priesthood, no
man was permitted to serve at the altar after the age of fifty. See umbers 8:25. In
the same manner, among the heathens, young men were employed to lead the
sacrifices to the altar, and, no doubt, to perform laborious offices. These, according
to the Divine law, any one might perform; but no one was allowed to sprinkle the
blood, save only the priest: see Leviticus 3:2; Leviticus 4:24-25.
ELLICOTT, "(5) Young men . . . which offered burnt offerings.—It is to be noted
that, even subsequently to the appointment of the Levitical priesthood, the acts of
slaughtering the victims and arranging the flesh upon the altar were regarded as
appropriately per formed by any Israelite (Leviticus 1:5-6; Leviticus 1:11-12, &c).
The sprinkling of the blood and the lighting of the fire were the special sacrificial](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-43-320.jpg)
![acts reserved to the priest (Leviticus 1:5; Leviticus 1:7; Leviticus 1:11; Leviticus
1:13). At this time, before the Levitical priest hood had been instituted, the
sprinkling of the blood would seem to have been the sole act reserved. Young men
were employed to slay the animals as best qualified by their strength to deal with
them.
Burnt offerings . . . peace offerings.—Burnt offerings were at once expiatory and
signs of self-dedication. Peace offerings were indications of man’s gratitude for
mercies received. Both were now offered together, to mark (1) Israel’s thankfulness
for being taken into covenant, and (2) Israel’s determination to consecrate itself
wholly to the service of God.
PULPIT, "And he sent young men. The Levitical priesthood not being as vet
instituted, either all the people were regarded as holy, and so any one might offer
sacrifice, or the "young men" selected may have been of the number of the first-
born, who were priests in their respective families until the appointment of Aaron
and his sons to be priests of the nation (Exodus 28:1). o doubt young men were
selected as most competent to deal with struggling animals.
6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls,
and the other half he splashed against the altar.
GILL, "And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins,.... Half of the
blood of the above sacrifices, this he put into basins, and set by, in order to sprinkle on
the people:
and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar; the Targum of Onkelos adds, to
atone for the people. But the altar here seems to represent the Lord, who was one of the
parties covenanting, and therefore is sprinkled with blood as a ratification of the
covenant on his part, and the promises of it.
HE RY 6-8, "Preparation being thus made, the ratifications were very solemnly
exchanged. [1.] The blood of the sacrifice which the people offered was (part of it)
sprinkled upon the altar (Exo_24:6), which signifies the people's dedicating themselves,
their lives, and beings, to God, and to his honour. In the blood (which is the life) of the
dead sacrifices all the Israelites were presented unto God as living sacrifices, Rom_12:1.
[2.] The blood of the sacrifice which God had owned and accepted was (the remainder of](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-44-320.jpg)
![laws which God had made known to him, the moral, the ceremonial, the judicial;
and all these he read in the audience of the people. To these, in the name of God, he
required a cheerful and uniform obedience: and, upon their obedience to these, God
promised on his part to favour them with his continued protection, and with the
ultimate and peaceful enjoyment of the promised land. Thus was care taken that
they should know to what they were to subscribe, and that their future welfare
depended on their fidelity to their own engagements.
The people on their part gave their consent to the terms prescribed: and this they
did in the most solemn manner. In declaring their acceptance of the covenant they
were unanimous, cordial, unreserved. There was not one dissentient voice. They had
repeatedly before engaged to do whatever the Lord should enjoin [ ote: Exodus
19:8; Exodus 24:3.]: but here they do it with additional force and emphasis [ ote:
“We will do, and be obedient.”]. or do they make the least exception to any one
thing as burthensome or oppressive. In the most unqualified manner they bind
themselves to a perfect and perpetual obedience; “All that the Lord hath said will
we do, and be obedient.”]
2. Ratified—
[From the very time that God first set apart Abraham to be the progenitor of his
peculiar people to the time when that people were carried captive to Babylon, it
seems to have been customary to confirm covenants by sacrifices; which, when slain,
were divided into parts placed opposite to each other; and then the parties
covenanting passed between those parts, and thereby pledged themselves to a
faithful observance of the covenant [ ote: In Abraham’s time, Genesis 15:9-10;
Genesis 15:17; in David’s, Psalms 50:5; in Jeremiah’s, Jeremiah 34:18-20. A similar
custom obtained also among the Greeks.]. But in this instance solemnities were used,
which shewed that the sacrifices were essential to the covenant itself. God could not
enter into covenant with sinners till an atonement had been offered for their sins.
And now that this atonement was offered, one half of the blood of the sacrifices was
poured upon the altar, to evince that God was reconciled to them; and the
remainder was sprinkled upon the book and upon the people, in order to seal upon
their hearts and consciences his pardoning love, and to remind them, that all their
hope in that covenant depended on the blood of atonement with which it was
sprinkled.]
After having duly considered this covenant as made with Israel, it will be proper to
view it,
II. As typifying that under which we live—
That it was a type of the Christian covenant we are sure, because St. Paul quotes the
very words of our text, to prove that the death of Christ was necessary to give
efficacy to his mediation, and to secure to us the blessings of his covenant [ ote:
Hebrews 9:17-19.]. He mentions also some additional circumstances not related in
the history: but of them we forbear to speak, that our attention may be confined to](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-48-320.jpg)
![the point immediately before us. The connexion between the two is that which we
assert, and which we wish to illustrate. Let us then return to the covenant made with
Israel, and notice more particularly,
1. The nature of it—
[The covenant made with Israel was a mixed covenant; partly legal, for it contained
the law of the ten commandments delivered on Mount Sinai; partly evangelical, for
it comprehended many ceremonial institutions whereby the people were to obtain
remission of their sins; and partly national, because it comprised many civil
restrictions which were peculiar to that people. But the covenant under which we
are, is purely evangelical, having not the smallest mixture of any thing else with it.
Our covenant does not prescribe laws, by obedience to which we are to obtain
mercy; but offers mercy freely as the gift of God through Christ, and promises
grace, whereby we shall be enabled to fulfil the will of God. Sanctification is not
required of us as a ground for our justification, but is promised to us as a fruit and
evidence of our justification. In this covenant we are not to obey in order that God
may give, but to obey because he has given, and will give. We are not first to give to
God that he may afterwards give to us; but he gives all, and we receive all.]
2. The ratification of it—
[The blood of sprinkling used by Moses was a mere shadow; it had of itself no value
whatever: it could neither satisfy the justice of God, nor bring peace into the
consciences of men. But the blood with which our covenant is ratified is called “the
blood of God [ ote: Acts 20:28.],” because it was the blood of Him who was God as
well as man. That blood has indeed an efficacy that transcends all conception. It has
reconciled God to a guilty world: and, when sprinkled on the hearts of men by faith,
it fills them with “a peace which passeth all understanding.” And as Moses, in the
quality of God’s high-priest, sprinkled the blood both upon the altar and the people,
so does our “great High-Priest,” the Lord Jesus, now sprinkle his blood for us
before the throne of God, and sprinkle it also on our hearts, whensoever we go to
him for that purpose. The covenant too itself is continually exhibited to us as
sprinkled with his blood; so that we may be certain that God will fulfil it to us in all
its parts. If only we accept it, and rely upon it, all its blessings shall be ours, both in
time and in eternity.]
3. The acceptance of it—
[There was much in the people’s acceptance of that covenant worthy of our
imitation: but there was also much which it becomes us carefully to avoid.
In the first place, guard against their ignorance. They were evidently not acquainted
with the requisitions of the covenant to which they subscribed. They heard its
contents read to them indeed; but they did not enter into their full meaning, neither
had they duly considered them. Let not this be the case with us, lest we “begin to
build without counting the cost.” Let us consider that it requires us to receive every](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-49-320.jpg)
![thing as persons wholly destitute, and to receive it in every part without the smallest
partiality or reserve. Let us remember, that though it does not require holiness as a
meritorious condition of our acceptance. it promises holiness as one of its chief
blessings [ ote: Ezekiel 36:25-27.]: and that, if we do not desire, and strive, to be
“holy as God is holy,” and “perfect as God is perfect,” all our professed hope in the
covenant is vain and delusive. We can no more be saved by the covenant without
holiness, than we can without faith. Let this be known, and weighed, yea and be
wrought into the soul as a fixed principle, before we presume to think that we have
any interest in Christ, or in the covenant which he has sealed with his blood.
In the next place, guard against their self-righteousness. They imagined that they
could so fulfil their obligations as to earn and merit all the blessings of the covenant.
Let not us make so fatal a mistake. Let us rather acknowledge, that “if we had done
all that is commanded us, we should be only unprofitable servants.” But who will
say that he has done all that is commanded him, or indeed any one thing, in which
God could not discern some imperfection and defect? If this be so, then do we need
mercy and forgiveness even for our best actions; and consequently can never merit
by them the salvation of God. Let this then be also engrafted in our minds, that we
may be accepted with the publican, and not be rejected with the Pharisee.
Lastly, let us guard against their self-dependence. They never doubted but that they
were able to do all that was commanded them. They thought it was as easy to
perform as to promise. But in a very few days they provoked God to jealousy with
their golden calf: so little did they remember the precepts that had been given them,
or the vows that were upon them. Let it not be so with us. Let us bear in mind, “we
have not of ourselves a sufficiency even to think a good thought;” and that “without
Christ we can do nothing.” If we embrace the covenant as they embraced it, we shall
fail as they failed.]
We cannot better conclude this subject than by addressing you as Moses addressed
the Israelites: “Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with
you,”—or, as St. Paul quotes the words, “the covenant which God hath enjoined
unto you!”
1. Behold the covenant itself—
[It is “ordered in all things and sure:” there is not a want which a human being can
feel, for which ample provision is not made in it. And it is free for every creature
under heaven. Whatever you may have been in times past, you may at this moment
partake of all the blessings of this covenant, if only you be willing to receive them
freely, and without reserve. On the other hand, if you disregard this covenant, and
“count the blood of it an unholy thing,” “there remains no other sacrifice for sin,
but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation to consume you.”
God has shut you up to this, and enjoined it unto you by an irreversible decree.
Receive it therefore, and live; reject it, and perish.]
2. Behold the blood of the covenant—](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-50-320.jpg)
![[What instruction does that blood convey! Did the Israelites see their bleeding
sacrifices, and not discern the desert of sin? How much more then must we discern
it in the precious blood of our incarnate God! And surely we may also see in it the
transcendent love of Christ, who submitted to “make his soul an offering for sin,”
that, the covenant being sealed with his blood, we might be partakers of its richest
blessings.
What comfort too does it convey to the soul! Look on that blood, thou doubting
Christian, and then say whether God will not fulfil all the promises that he has ever
made: say whether, in such a mode of ratifying his covenant he has not provided
“strong consolation for all who flee to the refuge set before them” in the Gospel.
Finally, What a stimulus does it give to all holy and heavenly affections! Shall not
that question be continually upon thy mind, “What shall I render unto the Lord?”
Look on that blood, and grudge God your services, if ye can. Think much of any
duties you can perform, or of any sufferings you can endure for him, if ye can. Only
keep your eye fixed upon that blood, and you shall be irresistibly constrained to
exult and glory in God, and to consecrate unto him all the faculties and powers of
your souls.]
PULPIT, "Moses took half of the blood. The blood, which symbolised the life of the
victim, was the essential part of every sacrifice, and was usually poured over the
altar, or at any rate sprinkled upon it, as the very crowning act of offering. (See Le
Exodus 1:5; Exodus 3:8; etc.) On this occasion Moses retained half of the blood, and
put it in basins, for the purpose of so uniting all the people in the sacrifice, and
thereby the more solemnly pledging them to the covenant, which the sacrifice at
once consecrated and consummated. (See Hebrews 9:18-20.) The other half of the
blood was, according to the usual practice, sprinkled upon the altar.
7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and
read it to the people. They responded, “We will do
everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”
BAR ES, "The book of the covenant - See Exo_20:22 note. The people had to](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-51-320.jpg)
![repeat their assent to the book of the covenant before the blood was thrown upon them.
Compare 2Ki_23:2, 2Ki_23:21; 2Ch_34:30.
CLARKE, "The book of the covenant - The writing containing the laws
mentioned in the three preceding chapters. As this writing contained the agreement
made between God and them, it was called the book of the covenant; but as no covenant
was considered to be ratified and binding till a sacrifice had been offered on the
occasion, hence the necessity of the sacrifices mentioned here.
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. God was bound
to the People to support, defend, and save them; the People were bound to God to fear,
love, and serve him. On the ancient method of making covenants, see Clarke on Gen_
6:18 (note); and see Clarke on Gen_15:18 (note). Thus the blood of the new covenant
was necessary to propitiate the throne of justice on the one hand, and to reconcile men
to God on the other. On the nature and various kinds of the Jewish offerings, see
Clarke’s note on Lev_7:1, etc.
GILL, "And he took the book of the covenant,.... Which contained the words of
the Lord he is said to write, Exo_24:4, and consisted both of laws and judgments
required of the people, and to which they had given their assent, and promised
obedience to; and of promises made by the Lord of sending his angel before them to
guide them in the way, and bring them to Canaan, and to drive the Canaanites from
thence, and put the Israelites into the possession of it; so that here were promises on
both sides, a restipulation of parties, which made a formal covenant:
and read in the audience of the people; he had rehearsed what was contained in it
from his memory, by word of mouth, to which they had assented, Exo_24:3 and having
written the same in a book, he read it to them distinctly, that they might the better take
notice of the contents of it:
and they said, all that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient; which is a
repetition and confirmation of what they had before said, and is expressed in stronger
terms; so that this was not done suddenly and inconsiderately, and yet they seem not to
be so well apprised of their own inability to keep the laws of God, and of the treachery of
their own hearts as to their regard to them; see Deu_5:28.
COFFMA ,"Verse 7-8
"And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and
they said, All that Jehovah hath spoken we will do, and be obedient. And Moses
took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the
covenant, which Jehovah hath made with you concerning all these words."
"All that Jehovah hath spoken we will do ..." This reaffirmation on the peoples'
part that they would indeed obey the word of God followed the reading of the Book
of the Covenant in their hearing by Moses himself. "This was Israel's third promise
to obey. See Exodus 19:8; 24:3; and Exodus 23:22.[14]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-52-320.jpg)
!["And Moses took the blood ... and sprinkled it on the people ..." ote that none was
sprinkled on the pillars. This double blood-sprinkling was the establishment of the
covenant, the covenant being specifically mentioned in connection with the
ceremony itself: "This is the blood of the Covenant!" (Exodus 24:8). Significantly,
Jesus Christ himself on the night in which he was betrayed instituted the Lord's
Supper, saying, "This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for
many unto the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28). Thus, Jesus Christ himself made
the blood-shedding to be the establishment of the ew Covenant, indicating at the
same time that it was the blood-shedding here that established the Old Covenant.
This was not part of it, but ALL of it. The fellowship meal mentioned later only
celebrated a past event that was already accomplished.
Why was the covenant established in blood? Many reasons could be given, but here
are a few:
(1) it stressed the serious, even fatal, nature of sin, in that only blood, indicating
death, could cleanse it;
(2) particularly, it was a type of the sacrifice of Christ "for the sins of the whole
world";
(3) in God's view of a covenant, "Before it could be in force, a death must have
occurred (Hebrews 9:15-17)."[15]
(4) ot even the first covenant was dedicated without blood (Hebrews 9:18).
(5) This also constituted a reminder that death was the penalty of breaking the
covenant.
(6) It symbolized the unity between God and Israel, since the same blood was
sprinkled upon both, upon God in a figure, at the altar, and upon the people also
(Exodus 24:7).
(7) "The blood symbolizes the grace of God in man's redemption.[16]
ELLICOTT, "(7) The book of the covenant—i.e., the book which he had written
overnight, the collection of laws and promises which we have in Exodus 20:22 to
Exodus 23:33.
In the audience of the people.—Heb., in the ears of the people.
And they said.—Having heard the ipsissima verba spoken by God to Moses, they
repeated their previous acceptance (see Exodus 24:3), adding a general promise of
obedience.
PULPIT, "And he took the Book of the Covenant. In this book we have the germ of](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-53-320.jpg)
![which answered to the twelve tribes, and represented them as the altar did the Lord:
and said, behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with
you concerning all these words; being a ratification of the covenant on both sides,
having been sprinkled both upon the altar, and upon the people. In allusion to which,
the blood of Christ is sometimes called the blood of sprinkling, and which, sprinkled
upon the mercy seat, calls for pardon for men; and sprinkled on their consciences,
speaks peace and pardon to them, and cleanses from all sin; and sometimes the blood of
the everlasting covenant, the covenant of grace made with him, by which it is ratified
and confirmed; and our Lord may have regard to this rite and mode of expression in
Mat_26:28.
JAMISO ,"Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people — probably
on the twelve pillars, as representing the people (also the book, Heb_9:19), and the act
was accompanied by a public proclamation of its import. It was setting their seal to the
covenant (compare 1Co_11:25). It must have been a deeply impressive, as well as
instructive scene, for it taught the Israelites that the covenant was made with them only
through the sprinkling of blood - that the divine acceptance of themselves and services,
was only by virtue of an atoning sacrifice, and that even the blessings of the national
covenant were promised and secured to them only through grace. The ceremonial,
however, had a further and higher significance, as is shown by the apostle (see as above
[Heb_9:19-28]).
ELLICOTT, "(8) And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it . . . —Half of the
blood had been sprinkled upon the altar, which symbolised Jehovah; the other half
was now sprinkled upon the people, or rather upon their representatives—the
elders and others who stood nearest to Moses. Thus the two parties to the covenant,
sprinkled with the blood of the same sacrifices, were brought into sacramental
union. Rites somewhat similar, involving blood communion, were common
throughout the East in connection with covenants (Horn. Il. iii. 298, xix. 252; Herod.
I. 74, iii. 8, iv. 70; Xen. Anab. ii. 2, § 9; Lucian. Toxar. 37; Pomp. Mel. ii. 1; Tac.
Ann. xii. 47; &c), and were regarded as adding to their force and sacredness.
On the people.—It has been suggested (Abarbarnel) that the blood was really
sprinkled on the twelve pillars which represented the people; but the words used
scarcely seem to admit of such an interpretation. The writer of the Epistle to the
Hebrews understood the passage as declaring that the people were sprinkled
(Hebrews 9:19).
PULPIT, "Moses then proceeded to the final act—He took the blood from the
basins, and sprinkled it—not certainly upon all the people, who numbered above
two millions—but upon their leaders and representatives, the "elders" and other
chief men, drawn up at the head of each tribe, and thus brought within his reach. It
has been supposed by some that he merely sprinkled the blood on the twelve pillars,
as representing the twelve tribes; but, had this been the case, the expression in the
text would probably have been different. We read, in the Epistle to the Hebrews,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-55-320.jpg)
![(Exo_24:10), that is, they had some glimpse of his glory, in light and fire, though they
saw no manner of similitude, and his being no man hath seen nor can see, 1Ti_6:16.
They saw the place where the God of Israel stood (so the Septuagint), something that
came near a similitude, but was not; whatever they saw, it was certainly something of
which no image nor picture could be made, and yet enough to satisfy them that God was
with them of a truth. Nothing is described but that which was under his feet; for our
conceptions of God are all below him, and fall infinitely short of being adequate. They
saw not so much as God's feet; but at the bottom of the brightness, and as the footstool
or pedestal of it, they saw a most rich and splendid pavement, such as they never saw
before nor after, as it had been of sapphires, azure or sky-coloured. The heavens
themselves are the pavement of God's palace, and his throne is above the firmament. See
how much better wisdom is than the precious onyx or the sapphires, for wisdom was
from eternity God's delight (Pro_8:30), and lay in his bosom, but the sapphires are the
pavement under his feet; there let us put all the wealth of this world, and not in our
hearts. 2. Upon the nobles (or elders) of Israel, he laid not his hand, Exo_24:11. Though
they were men, the dazzling splendour of his glory did not overwhelm them; but it was
so moderated (Job_26:9), and they were so strengthened (Dan_10:19), that they were
able to bear it. Nay, though they were sinful men, and obnoxious to God's justice, yet he
did not lay his punishing avenging hand upon them, as they feared he would. When we
consider what a consuming fire God is, and what stubble we are before him, we shall
have reason to say, in all our approaches to him, It is of the Lord's mercies that we are
not consumed. 3. They saw God, and did eat and drink. They had not only their lives
preserved, but their vigour, courage, and comfort; it cast no damp upon their joy, but
rather increased and elevated it. They feasted upon the sacrifice, before God, in token of
their cheerful consent to the covenant now made, their grateful acceptance of the
benefits of it, and their communion with God, in pursuance of that covenant. Thus
believers eat and drink with Christ at his table, Luk_22:30. Blessed are those that shall
eat bread in the kingdom of our Father, and drink of the wine new there.
JAMISO ,"Then went up Moses, and Aaron — in obedience to a command
given (Exo_24:1, Exo_24:2; also Exo_19:24), previous to the religious engagement of
the people, now described.
Nadab, and Abihu — the two oldest sons of Aaron [Exo_6:23].
seventy of the elders — a select number; what was the principle of selection is not
said; but they were the chief representatives, the most conspicuous for official rank and
station, as well as for their probity and weight of character in their respective tribes.
K&D 9-11, "Through their consecration with the blood of the covenant, the Israelites
were qualified to ascend the mountain, and there behold the God of Israel and celebrate
the covenant meal; of course, not the whole of the people, for that would have been
impracticable on physical grounds, but the nation in the persons of its representatives,
viz., the seventy elders, with Aaron and his two eldest sons. The fact that the latter were
summoned along with the elders had reference to their future election to the priesthood,
the bearers of which were to occupy the position of mediators between Jehovah and the
nation, an office for which this was a preparation. The reason for choosing seventy out of
the whole body of elders (Exo_24:3) is to be found in the historical and symbolical
significance of this number. “They saw the God of Israel.” This title is very appropriately
given to Jehovah here, because He, the God of the fathers, had become in truth the God](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-57-320.jpg)
![paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the very heaven for clearness."
ote the marvelous unity and clearness of this passage. This is impossible of
consideration as being derived from some "other source," because identically the
same persons are again mentioned, and the word "then" indicates that immediately
after the establishment of the covenant by the blood sprinkling, these
representatives were granted a special theophany to celebrate and to stress the epic
importance of what had just occurred.
Who were the seventy? It is not surely known. Perhaps they were men selected by
Moses, some six men from each of the twelve tribes, as representatives of all Israel.
"And they saw the God of Israel ..." Due to the teaching of many other passages in
the Bible, it must be received as certain that they did not see God "face to face" in
all of his eternal glory (See Deuteronomy 4:15; 1 John 4:12; and 1 Timothy 3:16).
However, they did behold a very wonderful display of God's excellent presence,
sufficiently miraculous to inspire them with the knowledge that it truly was God
Himself who had given them the covenant and sealed it with blood. The fact of this
"seeing God" being mentioned before the sacrificial meal may not mean that the
chronological sequence of the vision is strictly followed here. It may have occurred
during the meal, being mentioned first because of its importance. It will be
remembered that when Jesus shared that evening meal with the two disciples whom
he had encountered on the way to Emmaus, that he was made known unto them "in
the breaking of bread" (Luke 24:30). Again, we have light from the .T. on the O.T.
Thus, that event also fails to qualify as "another covenant ceremony," but as a
celebration of the ew Covenant already sealed with the blood of Christ! Therefore,
we must conclude with Fields that, "3-8 are the ratification of the covenant, followed
by a glorious experience of fellowship with God upon the mount."[17]
Deuteronomy 4:15 states categorically that the seventy and others on the mountain
did not actually see any "form" whatever; thus what they did see was a special
display of God's glory. Significantly, the things mentioned as being seen by them
included that remarkable sapphire pavement, described also as "clear," reminding
us of the "crystal sea" that lay beneath the throne of God, as described in
Revelation 4. The Septuagint (LXX) here states that "they saw the place where God
stood," and although we do not believe they had any right to change the text as they
did, we can find no fault with their interpretation of what it means!
COKE, "Verse 9-10
Exodus 24:9-10. Then went up Moses and Aaron, &c.— Moses, having ratified the
covenant with the people, now, agreeably to the command in Exodus 24:1, went up,
with Aaron, and the elders, representative of the children of Israel, as mediator
between GOD and the people, to announce their assent and ratification of the
covenant: and accordingly GOD discovered to them some more immediate
manifestation of his glory than usual; (Exodus 24:10.) they saw the GOD of Israel;
i.e. as the Chaldee has it, the glory of God; some high and sensible demonstration of
his peculiar Presence; for otherwise God is invisible to human sight: his immediate](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-59-320.jpg)
![and essential glory no eye hath seen, or can see. One would, however, from some
expressions, be led to believe, as this God of Israel was that MESSIAH, or Divine
Person, who afterwards assumed a human form; that now, confirming the present
covenant by blood, He appeared in glory in a human form: for it is said, that under
his feet was, as it were, a paved work of a sapphire-stone, &c. and in Exodus 24:11
mention is made of his laying his hand; expressions, which must either be
understood as above; or else as spoken more humano (after the manner of men). He
laid not his hand upon them, to hide that degree of glory from them which he was
then pleased to manifest, as was the case with Moses, ch. Exodus 33:22 where the
Lord says, I will cover thee with my hand, while I pass by. As to the objection drawn
from Deuteronomy 4:15 against the God of Israel's appearing in a human shape, let
it be observed, that the words there immediately refer to God's first and awful
appearance to all the people on Mount Horeb, ch. Exodus 19:14, &c. The verses may
be thus read and interpreted: Exodus 24:10. And they saw the God of Israel,
beneath whom there was, as it were, a paved-work of sapphire stones, [a bright
aethereal blue,] and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness, [as the purest sky
in its greatest brightness:] Exodus 24:11. And upon the nobles [or select ones,
Hebrew] of the children of Israel, he did not lay his hand, [so as to conceal himself
from them;] therefore they saw God, and did eat and drink; i.e. continued to exist:
see Genesis 32:30 from whence, and other passages of Scripture, it will seem to have
been a common opinion, that no mortal could sustain the appearance of the
Divinity. Le Clerc thinks, that the eating and drinking refers to their feasting upon
the remains of the sacrifice, Exodus 24:5 but that which we have given appears to us
the more natural interpretation. Some think, that the phrase of laying the hand is a
Hebraism, signifying to hurt or injure; and that it means here, that God did no hurt
to the elders of Israel; they saw him and lived: see Genesis 37:22. 1 Samuel 11:15.
Job 1:11-12.
A paved work of a sapphire-stone— The original signifies brick-work of a sapphire
colour, but transparent at the body of heaven: from which the author of the
Observations concludes, that pavements of polished marble were not yet in use;
while the expression, he thinks, points to that sort of pavement which is formed of
painted tiles (or bricks,) and is common to this day in the East, according to Dr.
Shaw. They are the same, I suppose, says he, as those painted tiles, with which the
Doctor tells us they were wont frequently to adorn part of their walls, by
incrustating it with these tiles: the Doctor does not particularly describe them; but it
appears, from other writers, that they are frequently blue. So Le Bruyn tells us, vol.
2: p. 238 that the mosque at Jerusalem, which the Turks call the Temple of
Solomon, is almost covered over with green and blue bricks, which are glazed, so
that, when the sun shines, the eye is perfectly dazzled. Some of these bricks or tiles,
the reader will observe, are blue, the colour which Moses mentions; but bricks and
tiles are not transparent: to describe then, the pavement under the feet of the God of
Israel with due majesty, Moses represents it as like the floors of painted tile which
he had seen, but transparent, however, as the body of heaven. Had Moses known
any thing of marble pavements, it is natural to suppose, he would rather have
compared what was seen in this august vision to them, than to a floor of painted tile,
though such a one is not without its beauty; which ought to be remarked, to prevent](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-60-320.jpg)
![our receiving impressions of too debasing a kind from Moses's mentioning brick-
work under the feet of God: our imaginations might otherwise have been led to the
poor pavements of brick in our cottages; whereas Moses seems, on the contrary, to
have thought of the most splendid floors which Egypt then knew.
CO STABLE, "Verses 9-11
The ratification ceremony concluded with a meal ( Exodus 24:9-11), not a picnic
lunch but a sacrificial meal ( Exodus 24:5).
""They ate and drank" describes a covenant meal celebrating the sealing of the
covenant described in Exodus 24:3-8." [ ote: Ibid, p450.]
We must understand the statement that the leaders of Israel saw God ( Exodus
24:10) in the light of other passages ( Exodus 33:20-23; Isaiah 6:1; John 1:18).
Perhaps they only saw His feet or, more exactly, a representation of part of God in
human form (cf. Isaiah 6:1; Revelation 4:2; Revelation 4:6). The pavement of clear
sapphire contributed to the vision of God as the supra-terrestrial sovereign (cf.
Ezekiel 1:22; Revelation 4:6; Revelation 12:2).
". . . what Moses and his companions experience is a theophany of the Presence of
God, not a vision of his person, and what they see, bowed before even that awesome
reality, is what could be seen from a position of obeisant prostration, the surface on
which his Presence offered itself.... The reference in Exodus 24:10 may therefore be
a double one, calling up the deep dark blue of an endless sky and the building
materials of legendary divine dwelling-places." [ ote: Durham, p344.]
God in mercy did not consume the sinners before Him. Rather He allowed them to
eat in His presence thus symbolizing the fact that He was taking on responsibility
for their safety and welfare (cf. Genesis 31:44-46). [ ote: See Livingston, pp157-62.]
"We have argued that the awkward surface structure of the narrative [in
chapters19-24], which results in the non-linear temporal ordering of events, can be
explained when one takes into account the sequence structure of the narrative,
particularly the use of the literary device called resumptive repetition. As a result of
this literary device we have demonstrated that the narrative contains two different
perspectives of the theophany. First, there is the perspective of Yahweh which
emphasizes the preparation and execution of the covenant as well as highlighting the
holiness of God, which is a key to understanding the relationship that exists between
Yahweh and His people. Second, there is the perspective of the people, which is
elaborated upon in the two resumptive narratives in20 , 18-21,24 , 1-8. The first
resumptive narrative in20 , 18-21 , which elaborates in detail the fear of the people,
serves as a preface and introduction to the Decalogue and Covenant Code. In
addition, it also acts as a causal link between the fear of the people and their sinful
acts below the mountain in Exodus 32. The second resumptive narrative in24 , 1-8
elaborates in detail the ratification of the covenant and also leads into the
subsequent ascent of Moses to the mountain where he receives the rest of God"s
regulations." [ ote: G. C. Chirichigno, "The arrative Structure of Exodus 19-24 ,"](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-61-320.jpg)
![Biblica68:4 (1987):478-79.]
ELLICOTT, "(9) Then went up.—According to the ordinary ideas of the time, the
ratification of the covenant was now complete, and nothing more was needed. It
pleased God, however, to terminate the whole transaction by a closing scene of
extraordinary grandeur, beauty, and spiritual significance. A sacrifice implied a
sacrificial meal (Exodus 18:12). Moses understood that God, by summoning Aaron,
adab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders into the mount (Exodus 24:1), had intended
the sacrificial meal to be held there; and accordingly, as soon as he had sprinkled
the people, ascended Sinai with the persons summoned, and had the feast prepared.
A sacrificial meal was always regarded as a religious act—an act done “before God”
(Exodus 18:12), involving communion with Him. God willed now to signalise this
sacrificial feast above all others by making His presence not only felt but seen. As
Moses, Aaron with his two sons, and the elders were engaged in the feast (Exodus
24:11), a vision of marvellous splendour broke upon them. “They saw the God of
Israel” (Exodus 24:10). God showed Himself to them—not, as before, amid thunders
and lightnings, and a thick cloud, and fire, and smoke, and earthquake (Exodus
19:16; Exodus 19:18), but in His loveliness (Song of Solomon 5:16) and His beauty,
standing on pellucid sapphire, blue as the blue of heaven. They “saw God,” and
were neither hurt nor even terrified; they could, while seeing Him, still eat and
drink—they felt themselves like guests at His board, as if He were banqueting with
them. So was impressed upon them the mild and sweet relation into which they were
brought towards God by covenant—a covenant made, and not yet infringed. The
gentle, lovely, attractive side of God’s character was shewn to them, instead of the
awful and alarming one; and they were taught to look forward to a final state of
bliss, in which God’s covenanted servants would dwell in His presence continually.
PETT, "Verses 9-11
‘Then Moses and Aaron, adab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went
up, and they saw the God of Israel, and there was under his feet as it were a paved
work of sapphire stone, and as it were the very heaven for clearness. And on the
chief men of the children of Israel he did not lay his hand, and they beheld God and
ate and drank.’
Following the covenant offer, sacrifice, and final acceptance was the covenant feast
which sealed the whole ceremony. This was shared, as it were, between Yahweh and
His people as represented by the elders (although noticeably Yahweh does not
partake. There is no suggestion of God in human form). This was made possible
because the blood had been shed, and the covenant had been sealed. ow His people
could meet with Him as His covenant people.
“And they saw the God of Israel.” The sealing of the covenant made a huge
difference. The God of Israel now came down to meet them. There was a
manifestation of God, probably in the same cloud and fire and smoke of Exodus
19:18; Exodus 23:17. o description is given and we dare not speculate further. But
‘under His feet’ was a vision of glorious blue which reminded them of sapphires and
the glorious clear blue of the heavens. The fact that this is outlined and emphasised
must suggest that His own presence was veiled (compare Isaiah 6:1-6 where Isaiah](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-62-320.jpg)
![Deliverer. It is idle to speculate on the mode of this revelation. That no visible form was
presented to their bodily eyes, we are expressly informed, Deu_4:12; see Exo_33:20;
compare Isa_6:1. The latter part of this verse may be read: “under His feet, it was like a
work of bright sapphire stone, and like the heaven itself in clearness.” On the sapphire,
see Exo_28:18; compare Eze_1:26. The pure blue of the heaven above them lent its
influence to help the inner sense to realize the vision which no mortal eye could behold.
CLARKE, "They saw the God of Israel - The seventy elders, who were
representatives of the whole congregation, were chosen to witness the manifestation of
God, that they might be satisfied of the truth of the revelation which he had made of
himself and of his will; and on this occasion it was necessary that the people also should
be favored with a sight of the glory of God; see Exo_20:18. Thus the certainty of the
revelation was established by many witnesses, and by those especially of the most
competent kind.
A paved work of a sapphire stone - Or sapphire brick-work. I suppose that
something of the Musive or Mosaic pavement is here intended; floors most curiously
inlaid with variously coloured stones or small square tiles, disposed in a great variety of
ornamental forms. Many of these remain in different countries to the present day. The
Romans were particularly fond of them, and left monuments of their taste and ingenuity
in pavements of this kind, in most countries where they established their dominion.
Some very fine specimens are found in different parts of Britain.
Sapphire is a precious stone of a fine blue color, next in hardness to the diamond. The
ruby is considered by most mineralogists of the same genus; so is also the topaz: hence
we cannot say that the sapphire is only of a blue color; it is blue, red, or yellow, as it may
be called sapphire, ruby, or topaz; and some of them are blue or green, according to the
light in which they are held; and some white. A very large specimen of such a one is now
before me. The ancient oriental sapphire is supposed to have been the same with the
lapis lazuli. Supposing that these different kinds of sapphires are here intended, how
glorious must a pavement be, constituted of polished stones of this sort, perfectly
transparent, with an effulgence of heavenly splendor poured out upon them! The red,
the blue, the green, and the yellow, arranged by the wisdom of God, into the most
beautiful emblematic representations, and the whole body of heaven in its clearness
shining upon them, must have made a most glorious appearance. As the Divine glory
appeared above the mount, it is reasonable to suppose that the Israelites saw the
sapphire pavement over their heads, as it might have occupied a space in the
atmosphere equal in extent to the base of the mountain; and being transparent, the
intense brightness shining upon it must have greatly heightened the effect.
It is necessary farther to observe that all this must have been only an appearance,
unconnected with any personal similitude; for this Moses expressly asserts, Deu_4:15.
And though the feet are here mentioned, this can only be understood of the sapphirine
basis or pavement, on which this celestial and indescribable glory of the Lord appeared.
There is a similar description of the glory of the Lord in the Book of Revelation, Rev_4:3
: “And he who sat [upon the throne] was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone;
and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.” In
neither of these appearances was there any similitude or likeness of any thing in heaven,
earth, or sea. Thus God took care to preserve them from all incentives to idolatry, while
he gave them the fullest proofs of his being. In Scheuchzer’s Physica Sacra, among his
numerous fine engravings, there is one of this glorious manifestation, which cannot be
too severely reprehended. The Supreme Being is represented as an old man, sitting on a
throne, encompassed with glory, having a crown on his head, and a scepter in his hand,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-71-320.jpg)
![covenant.
COFFMA , "Verse 11
"And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: and they
believed God and did eat and drink."
"Upon the nobles ..." This indicates the character of the "seventy," who were
evidently chosen by Moses for qualities of character, leadership, and ability.
"He laid not his hand ..." That is, God did not cause the men to die who had
experienced so remarkable a glimpse of God's glory. There was a widespread
conviction among the ancients that anyone who beheld God's face would die at once.
We believe Clements, and others, were wrong who placed this theophany "at the top
of Mount Sinai."[18] It has already been explained in this chapter (Exodus 24:1-2)
that "Only Moses went to the summit." We may believe that this theophany
occurred but a little way further up the mountain from the whole camp of Israel.
ELLICOTT, "(11) The nobles.—The word used is an unusual one, but seems to
designate the “elders” of Exodus 24:1; Exodus 24:9. It implies nobility of birth.
He laid not his hand—i.e., He in nowise hurt or injured them. The belief was
general that a man could not see God and live (Genesis 32:30; Exodus 32:20; Judges
6:22-23, &c.). In one sense it was true—“ o man hath seen the Father.” But the Son
could reveal Himself under the Old Dispensation, as under the ew, and not even
cause terror by His presence. (See the last clause of the verse.)
Also they saw God.—Rather, they both saw God, and also did eat and drink. It is
intended to express in the clearest way that the two facts were concurrent. As they
feasted on the sacrificial meal, the vision of God was made manifest to them. It is
impossible to doubt that we have here a precious forecast of the Christian’s highest
privilege—the realisation of the presence of God in the sacred feast of the Holy
Communion.
EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "The Vision of God and the Feast Before Him
Exodus 24:11
I. Consider the vision of God possible for us.
The Bible says two things about that. It asserts, and it denies with equal emphasis,
the possibility of our seeing Him. That vision which is impossible is the literal vision
by sense, or, in a secondary meaning, the full, adequate, direct knowledge of God.
The vision which is affirmed is the knowledge of Him, clear, certain, vivid, and, as I
believe, yielding nothing to sense in any of these respects.
What lessons does this vision bring for us? That we Christians may, even here and](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-76-320.jpg)
![sons, adab and Abihu, and seventy of the “elders of Israel,” who are also called
“nobles.” Who these nobles were we cannot absolutely determine; but it is most
probable that they were persons of consequence in the different tribes, who were
selected to represent the nation at large; and, if six were taken out of each tribe, they
might in round numbers be called seventy, though strictly speaking they would
amount to seventy-two.
The time at which they were thus favoured, was after they had consented to the
covenant which God had made with them. Subsequent to the publication of the
moral law from Mount Sinai, God ordained a variety of statutes, which were
peculiar to Israel as a nation; and at the same time made with them a national
covenant, partaking of a covenant of works, and partly of a covenant of grace. In
this, they undertook to serve God; and God undertook to protect and bless them.
This covenant had been confirmed by a sacrifice, in which the different parties had
met, as it were, and given their consent to it. God was represented by the altar; and
the twelve tribes were represented by the twelve pillars which Moses had erected
near the altar, as well as by the seventy elders, who had been chosen out from
among them. The blood of the sacrifice had been sprinkled on them all; on the altar,
the pillars, and the people. The book of the covenant also had been sprinkled with it
[ ote: Hebrews 9:18-23.], to shew, that, though God did not relax the demands of
his law, he would not be extreme to mark the unallowed violations of it. After this
covenant had been thus made and ratified, God called Moses and the others to come
up higher on the mountain; and revealed to them his glory.
The manner also in which God revealed himself, is worthy of notice. There had been
a manifestation of the Deity prior to this: but O! how different from it! That display
which God made of himself at the giving of the law was in “blackness and darkness,
and tempest; and attended with such tremendous thunderings and lightenings, that
all the people, yea, and “Moses himself, exceedingly trembled and quaked.” But, in
this vision all was light and serene, and calculated to inspire the beholders with joy
and confidence. The appearance of the Deity was beyond the brightness of the
meridian sun; and underneath it “the pavement, as it were, upon which he stood,
was like the sapphire” stone, or like the azure sky, bespangled with stars [ ote: 0.].
Thus the vision altogether was suited to a new-covenant state, wherein the people
were introduced into communion with their God, and honoured with these
astonishing tokens of his love and favour.]
Such a vision is now vouchsafed to us under the Gospel—
[We shall not indeed behold God precisely as they did; for such visions have long
since been discontinued. But there is a spiritual view of the Deity, which we may,
and must, partake of; and which. we are authorized to say, was typified by the
vision before us. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the preceding context is expressly
quoted, and that too with some additional circumstances not related by Moses
[ ote: Hebrews 9:18-23.]: and we are told that the event there referred to, was “a
pattern of the heavenly things,”, which we enjoy under the Gospel. The view which](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-82-320.jpg)
![we have of the Deity, prior to our embracing the new covenant, inspires us with
nothing but terror: but when we have accepted the covenant of grace, which was
confirmed by the sacrifice of Christ, and have sprinkled on our consciences die
blood of that sacrifice, then we shall be admitted to a more clear, but less terrific,
new of God: his justice will appear more awful in the sacrifice which it demanded,
than even in the curses it denounced: but it will be seen tempered with mercy; and
ready to harmonize with mercy in every act of love. This vision we are to enjoy, not
through the medium of representatives, but every one of us for himself. It is of
Christians in general, and not of some distinguished favourites only, that the
Apostle says, “God hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ [ ote: 2 Corinthians 4:6.].” Here, by the
way, we see where we are to have this vision: it is to be “in our hearts:” it is an
object of contemplation to the mind; and not of sight to our bodily organs.]
Together with their vision, it will be proper to notice also,
II. Their feast—
It was generally supposed that none could see God and live [ ote: Genesis 32:30.]:
but here the seventy elders, as well as Moses and Aaron, beheld him, and yet “he
laid not his hand on any one of them” to hurt them [ ote: This is the meaning of the
words preceding the text.]. On the contrary,
They feasted on their sacrifice in the divine presence—
[They had sacrificed burnt-offerings, and peace-offerings. Of the latter, the offerers
were allowed to eat, in token of their acceptance with God. Indeed it had long before
been customary for parties covenanting with each other, to feast together at the
ratification of their covenant [ ote: Genesis 31:54.]. And here, if we may so speak,
the different parties feasted together: God’s part of the sacrifices had been
consumed upon his altar; and the remainder was eaten by the offerers. And
doubtless it must have been a precious feast to those, who had so lately trembled at
the thunders of Mount Sinai. Their souls must have been yet more refreshed with a
sense of the divine favour, than their bodies by the provision thus allotted for their
support.]
But their feast was. no less typical than their vision—
[Christ, who is our sacrifice, calls all his people to “eat his flesh, and to drink his
blood.” But we must not imagine that this refers to corporeal food: our Lord speaks
of spiritual food, of which our souls are to partake by the exercise of faith on him.
Yes, his atonement is indeed a feast to the soul: in this sense it may be truly said,
“His flesh is meat indeed; and his blood is drink indeed [ ote: John 6:53-56.].” On
this we are to feed in the immediate presence of our God. However “far off we are,
we may draw nigh by the blood of Jesus [ ote: Ephesians 2:13.],” yea, “we may
have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus [ ote: Hebrews
10:19.]:” we may see God reconciled to us in him; and may rejoice in him as our](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-83-320.jpg)
![God and portion for ever. The wonders of his love are to be the continual banquet of
our souls. His “exceeding great and precious promises” are “a feast of fat things, of
wines on the lees well refined [ ote: Isaiah 25:6.].” Of these we are to “eat freely,
and abundantly [ ote: Song of Solomon 5 :l.]:” we are to “sit under his shadow; and
his fruit will be sweet unto our taste [ ote: Song of Solomon 2:3.]:” yea, “we shall be
satisfied as with marrow and fatness [ ote: Psalms 63:5.] ;” enjoying a “peace that
passeth all understanding,” and being “filled with joy unspeakable and glorified
[ ote: 1 Peter 1:8.].”]
Address,
1. Those who are afar off from God—
[The prohibition given to the Israelites, is cancelled with, respect to you. The veil of
the temple was rent in twain at the death of Christ, in token that a new and living
way was opened to all, and that all who believed, were constituted “a royal
priesthood [ ote: 1 Peter 2:9.].” Will ye then decline the invitation that is sent you?
We are commissioned to go forth into the highways and hedges to call you to the
feast, which a God of infinite love has prepared for you. O come, and partake of it.
But remember that, in order to enjoy it, you must first accept, the new covenant,
and submit to be saved by the free mercy of God in Christ Jesus. Sprinkle yourself
with the blood of Christ, your all-atoning sacrifice; and then you may have
fellowship both with the Father and the Son, and feast before God for ever on the
provisions of redeeming love.]
2. Those who are inclined to rest in external privileges—
[Such was the case with the greater part of those to whom the text refers. One would
have supposed that they could never have forgotten their obligations to God, or have
ceased to serve him: but, alas! in a very little time, adab and Abihu were struck
dead for their impiety; and of the seventy elders, not one, as far as we know, held
fast his integrity. They were ready, as indeed were all the people also, to profess
their allegiance to the Deity; “All that the Lord hath said, will we do, and be
obedient:” but they soon forgat their pious resolutions, and revolted from their
duty. Beware, Brethren, lest it be so with you. It will be to very little purpose to say
at last, “Lord, Lord, have we not eaten and drunk in thy presence [ ote: Luke
13:26.] ?” If you have “not been steadfast in his covenant.” your outward
professions, or past experiences, will avail little. Maintain therefore continually your
dependence upon Christ; and, in his strength, exert yourselves to fulfil his holy will.]
3. Those who are coming to the table of their Lord—
[We ask not whether you have a deep experience of divine truth, but whether you
have fled to Christ from the terrors of the law? Have you seen yourselves
condemned by the covenant of works: and are you seeking mercy through the
covenant of grace? Are you really sprinkling yourselves with the blood of Christ,
your great sacrifice, and coming to God through him alone? If so, behold, there is a](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-84-320.jpg)
![table spread, and you are called to come and feast upon your sacrifice in the
presence of your God. Come thither in faith; and your God will make his glory to
pass before your eyes; yea, Christ will “reveal himself to you in the breaking of
bread [ ote: Luke 24:31; Luke 24:35.],” “and fill you with “his loving-kindness,
which is better than life itself.” Thus shall you be strengthened for all future
services, till at last you shall be called to “eat and drink at Christ’s table in the
kingdom of your Father. [ ote: Luke 22:30.].”]
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on
the mountain and stay here, and I will give you
the tablets of stone with the law and
commandments I have written for their
instruction.”
BAR ES, "Many Jews understand the “tables of stone” to denote the Ten
Commandments; “a law,” the law written in the Pentateuch; and the “commandments”
(or “the commandment”), the oral or traditional law which was in after ages put into
writing in the Mishna and the Gemara. But it is more probable that the Ten
Commandments alone are spoken of, and that the meaning is, “the tables of stone with
the law, even the commandment.”
CLARKE, "Come up to me into the mount, and be there - We may suppose
Moses to have been, with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders, about midway up
the mount; for it plainly appears that there were several stations on it.
GILL, "And the Lord said unto Moses, come up to me into the mount,.... For
as yet Moses was not got up to the top of the mount, only up some part of it with the
elders, though at some distance from the people: but now he is bid to come up higher:
and be there; continue there, as he did six days after this:](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-85-320.jpg)
![tabernacle showed them how God wanted them to worship Him. [ ote: Cf. Davis,
p192.]
"The establishment of a covenant relationship necessitated a means whereby the
vassal party could regularly appear before the Great King to render his
accountability. In normal historical relationships of this kind between mere men,
some sort of intercession was frequently mandatory and, in any case, a strict
protocol had to be adhered to. [ ote: For Hittite practice, see O. R. Gurney, The
Hittites, pp74-75.] How much more must this be required in the case of a sinful
people such as Israel, who must, notwithstanding, communicate with and give
account to an infinitely transcendent and holy God." [ ote: Merrill, "A Theology . .
.," pp48-49.]
Why did Moses record God"s instructions for the tabernacle before the people
sinned by making the golden calf? It was, after all, the golden calf incident that led
to the giving of the priestly laws.
". . . according to the logic of the narrative, it was Israel"s fear that had created the
need for a safe approach to God, that Isaiah , one in which the people as such were
kept at a distance and a mediator was allowed to represent them. It was precisely
for this reason that the tabernacle was given to Israel." [ ote: Sailhamer, The
Pentateuch . . ., p58.]
ELLICOTT, "(12) Come up to me into the mount, and be there.—After the
sacrificial meal, the seventy-four persons engaged in it had descended into the plain
of Er-Rahah, and possibly spent some time there, before a second summons came to
Moses. This time he was directed to ascend accompanied only by his minister,
Joshua (Exodus 24:13), and was warned that his stay was to be a prolonged one in
the words, “And be there.”
And I will give thee tables of stone . . . —It is remarkable that these are not
expressly said, either here or in Exodus 31:18, to have contained the ten
commandments. The fact, however, is distinctly stated in Deuteronomy 5:22; and
with respect to the second tables, the same is affirmed in Exodus 34:28. The fiction
of a double decalogue is thus precluded.
Verses 12-18
THE SECO D ASCE T OF MOSES I TO MOU T SI AI.
(12-18) The great work still remained to be done. A series of laws had been laid
down for the nation and accepted with unanimity (Exodus 24:3; Exodus 24:7). But
“quid prosunt leges sine moribus?” It was necessary for the sustentation of the
religious life of the people that a sacred polity should be instituted, a form of
worship set up, and regulations established with regard to all the externals of
religion—holy persons, holy places, rites, ceremonies, vestments, incense,
consecration. Moses was directed to ascend into the mount, and hold prolonged
communion with God, in order that he might learn the mind of God with respect to](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-89-320.jpg)
![(Exodus 24:12), Moses thought it necessary to give certain directions to the elders as
to what they should do in his absence—
1. They were to remain where they were—i.e; in the plain at the foot of Sinai, until
his return, however long it should be delayed.
2. They were to regard Aaron and Hur as their leaders, and his (Moses')
representatives. In case of any difficulty arising, they were to refer the matter to
them. On Hur see the comment upon Exodus 17:12.
15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the
cloud covered it,
GILL, "And Moses went up into the mount,.... To the top of it, and as it seems
alone, leaving Joshua behind in a lower part of the mountain:
and a cloud covered the mount; in which cloud Jehovah was.
K&D, "Exo_24:15-17
When he ascended the mountain, upon which the glory of Jehovah dwelt, it was
covered for six days with the cloud, and the glory itself appeared to the Israelites in the
camp below like devouring fire (cf. Exo_19:16); and on the seventh day He called Moses
into the cloud. Whether Joshua followed him we are not told; but it is evident from Exo_
32:17 that he was with him on the mountain, though, judging from Exo_24:2 and Exo_
33:11, he would not go into the immediate presence of God.
COFFMA , "Verse 15-16
"And Moses went up into the mount, and the cloud covered the mount. And the
glory of Jehovah shone upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the
seventh day he called unto Moses out of the cloud."
"The cloud ..." The significance of that cloud is that, "It represents God's presence.
evertheless, it is not to be wholly identified with him. It is intended to affirm that
his presence was with Israel, without lessening the idea of his divine majesty and
heavenly sovereignty.[19]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-100-320.jpg)
![that Moses was without food or drink during that time. Thus, as the unsurpassed
Type of the Lord Jesus Christ, Moses also had his fast of forty days and forty nights,
as did Jesus in the wilderness of his temptation (Matthew 4:1f). Elijah also fasted
that same length of time; and significantly those two characters, Moses and Elijah,
were the ones who would participate with Jesus Christ our Lord in another great
theophany on the mountain of Our Lord's Transfiguration (Matthew 17).
This concludes the Scriptural record of the giving of the Old Covenant. We cannot
leave this without noting the astounding declaration of Davies that, "Jeremiah
corrected Moses by omitting any reference to blood in the ew Covenant (Jeremiah
31:31-34), our Lord corrects Jeremiah by reintroducing the blood."[20] Such
"mixed up" comments by critical scholars is common, and, for that reason, we shall
include a section here on The Two Covenants.
Before doing so, we should note that the alleged "correction of Moses" by Jeremiah
is a colossal misunderstanding. Jeremiah, in that passage, was not discussing how
that old covenant was made, but the fact that a new covenant which the Lord would
make was to be "not according to the old covenant." The thing in view was the
content of both covenants, not the manner of the making of either covenant! It is
strange indeed that among learned men there should be such a colossal
misunderstanding of so elementary a passage in the prophets!
THE TWO COVE A TS
"He (Christ) is the mediator of a better covenant. For if that first covenant had been
faultless, then would no place have been sought for a second" (Hebrews 8:6,7).
There are visible in this passage two and only two covenants. God made a number
of covenants:
(1) the covenants with oah (Genesis 6:18,9:9);
(2) the two covenants with Abraham (Genesis 17:2,10; 15:18ff);
(3) the covenant of salt ( umbers 18:19; Leviticus 2:13); and
(4) a covenant of the everlasting priesthood ( umbers 25:13).
However there were TWO COVE A TS, covenants of so vast and comprehensive a
nature that they overshadowed all other covenants, those two covenants being so
preeminently superior to all other covenants that in any Scriptural reference where
"the covenant" is mentioned, it must invariably refer to one of those two.
In our text for this study, there is reference to the first covenant, We shall first
identify it.
It was the one made with Israel and with the house of Judah (Jeremiah 31:8,9).](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-105-320.jpg)
![Christ annulled and supplanted the First Covenant. "In that he saith "A new
covenant," he hath made the first old!" (Hebrews 8:13). "Having blotted out the
bond written in ordinances (the First Covenant) that was against us, which was
contrary to us, he (God) hath taken it out of the way, nailing to His (Christ's) cross"
(Colossians 2:14). There were also two other acts of abrogation that applied to the
First Covenant: (1) It was conditional. All of the glorious promises of God to Israel
were contingent upon their obedience and continuance in the path of duty. "If thou
shalt indeed hearken unto his voice, and do all that I say ..." (Exodus 23:22). Israel's
frequent and outrageous acts of disobedience effectively cancelled the First
Covenant. Many have not understood this. "God has never broken the covenant
that he made with the people ... Israel may have broken it, but God never did."[21]
This is of course true if understood as continuing in the terms of the ew Covenant;
but as regards the Old Covenant (the First), it has been finally and irrevocably
destroyed. "If thou wilt obey ... I will bless," does not and cannot mean, "I will bless
whether you obey or not!" The entire O.T. is filled with one account after another of
Israel's disobedience and rebellion against God. As Jeremiah said it, "They
continued not in my covenant" (Exodus 31:9).
When ready to abrogate the First Covenant, described also in the O.T. as a
"Marriage" with Israel, God Himself died upon the Cross in the person of his Only
Begotten Son, a fact that Paul amplified in Romans 7:1-6, showing that all people
are now "dead to the law through the body of Christ." " ow we have been
discharged from the Law" (Romans 7:6).
Let every man take another look at his Bible. It is conspicuously divided into TWO
parts, THE OLD TESTAME T, and THE EW TESTAME T; and the word
"Testament" is exactly the same in the Bible as the word "Covenant"!
ELLICOTT, "(17) The sight of the glory of the Lord.—To the Israelites in the plain
below, the appearance on the top of the Ras Sufsafeh was “like devouring fire.” A
light like that of a conflagration rested on the top of the Ras Sufsafeh all the time
that Moses was away.
PULPIT, "Exodus 24:17
Meanwhile, to those below in the plain, "the glory of the Lord" on the summit above
them, was like devouring fire on the top of the mount. They had but to lift their eyes
thither, and they saw his wonderful glory—showing like a huge fire—on the spot
from which he had spoken to them (Exodus 20:18). This manifestation continued
certainly for the first six days; whether it lasted longer or not is open to question.
18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/exodus24commentary-160916175128/85/Exodus-24-commentary-107-320.jpg)
Uploaded byGLENN PEASE
Exodus 24 commentary
In Exodus 24, God instructs Moses to ascend Mount Sinai with Aaron, his sons Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel to confirm the covenant. This event emphasizes the distance between God and the people, as only Moses is allowed to approach Him closely, symbolizing Christ as the ultimate mediator. The chapter highlights the confirmation of the covenant through sacrifice and the establishment of a spiritual relationship between God and Israel.
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Exodus 24 commentary
- 1. EXODUS 24 COMMETARY EDITED BY GLE PEASE The Covenant Confirmed 1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, adab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, BAR ES, "Are placed by some with great probability between Exo_24:8-9. CLARKE, "Come up unto the Lord - Moses and Aaron were already on the mount, or at least some way up, (Exo_19:24), where they had heard the voice of the Lord distinctly speaking to them: and the people also saw and heard, but in a less distinct manner, probably like the hoarse grumbling sound of distant thunder; see Exo_20:18. Calmet, who complains of the apparent want of order in the facts laid down here, thinks the whole should be understood thus: - “After God had laid before Moses and Aaron all the laws mentioned from the beginning of the 20th chapter to the end of the 23d, before they went down from the mount to lay them before the people, he told them that, when they had proposed the conditions of the covenant to the Israelites, and they had ratified them, they were to come up again unto the mountain accompanied with Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron, and seventy of the principal elders of Israel. Moses accordingly went down, spoke to the people, ratified the covenant, and then, according to the command of God mentioned here, he and the others reascended the mountain. Tout cela est raconté ici avec assez peu d’ordre.” GILL, "And he said unto Moses,.... Who said? no doubt a divine Person, and yet what this Person said is: come up unto the Lord; meaning either to himself, or one divine Person called to Moses to come up to another: according to the Targum of Jonathan, it was Michael, the prince of wisdom; not a created angel, but the eternal Word, Wisdom, and Son of God; who said this on the seventh day of the month, which was the day after the giving of the
- 2. law, or tencommands; though Jarchi says this paragraph was before the ten commands, and was said on the fourth of Sivan; but the Targumist seems most correct: come up unto the Lord, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; Nadab and Abihu were the two eldest sons of Aaron, Exo_6:23 and the seventy elders were not all the elders of Israel, but were so many of them selected out of them, the chief and principal; who were heads of tribes and families, and were no doubt many, if not all of them, of those who by the advice of Jethro were chosen to be rulers of thousands, hundreds, and fifties; these were called to come up to the Lord on the mountain, but not to the top of it, only Moses went thither: and worship ye afar off: from the people, and even at a distance from Moses; for he only was admitted near to God, as the following verse shows. HE RY 1-2, "The first two verses record the appointment of a second session upon mount Sinai, for the making of laws, when an end was put to the first. When a communion is begun between God and us, it shall never fail on his side, if it do not first fail on ours. Moses is directed to bring Aaron and his sons, and the seventy elders of Israel, that they might be witnesses of the glory of God, and that communion with him to which Moses was admitted; and that their testimony might confirm the people's faith. In this approach, 1. They must all be very reverent: Worship you afar off, Exo_24:1. Before they came near, they must worship. Thus we must enter into God's gates with humble and solemn adorations, draw near as those that know our distance, and admire the condescensions of God's grace in admitting us to draw near. Are great princes approached with the profound reverences of the body? And shall not the soul that draws near to God be bowed before him? 2. They must none of them come so near as Moses, Exo_24:2. They must come up to the Lord (and those that would approach to God must ascend), but Moses alone must come near, being therein a type of Christ, who, as the high priest, entered alone into the most holy place. K&D 1-2, "These two verses form part of the address of God in Ex 20:22-23:33; for ר ַמፎ ה ֶּשׁמ ל ֶאְו (“but to Moses He said”) cannot be the commencement of a fresh address, which would necessarily require מ ל ֶא ר ֶּאמ ַו (cf. Exo_24:12; Exo_19:21; Exo_20:22). The turn given to the expression מ ל ֶאְו presupposes that God had already spoken to others, or that what had been said before related not to Moses himself, but to other persons. But this cannot be affirmed of the decalogue, which applied to Moses quite as much as to the entire nation (a sufficient refutation of Knobel's assertion, that these verses are a continuation of Exo_19:20-25, and are linked on to the decalogue), but only of the address concerning the mishpatim, or “rights,” which commences with Exo_20:22, and, according to Exo_20:22 and Exo_21:1, was intended for the nation, and addressed to it, even though it was through the medium of Moses. What God said to the people as establishing its rights, is here followed by what He said to Moses himself, namely, that he was to go up to Jehovah, along with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders. At the same time, it is of course implied that Moses, who had ascended the mountain with Aaron alone (Exo_20:21), was first of all to go down again and repeat to the people the “rights” which God had communicated to him, and only when this had been done, to ascend again with the persons named. According to Exo_24:3 and Exo_24:12 (? 9), this is what Moses really did. But Moses alone was to go near to Jehovah: the others were to worship afar off, and the people were not to come up at all.
- 3. CALVI ,"1.Come upunto the Lord, thou, and Aaron, adab and Abihu. Before Moses erected the tabernacle and consecrated it by a solemn ceremony, it was necessary for him to fetch the Tables of the Covenant, which were a pledge of God’s favor; otherwise, if the ark had nothing in it, the sanctuary would have been in a manner empty. For this reason, he is commanded to go up into the mount, but not without a splendid train of companions, in order that an appropriate preparation might arouse their minds for a fit reception of this especial blessing. He is, therefore, commanded to take with him Aaron his brother, and adab and Abihu, together with seventy of the elders of the people. This was the number of witnesses selected to behold the glory of God. Before, however, they ascended the mount, a sacrifice was offered by the whole people, and the Book of the Law was read. Finally, Moses alone was received into the top of the mount, to bring from thence the Tables written by the hand of God. Here, however, (See this subject further discussed on umbers 11:16, infra.) arises a question respecting the seventy elders; for we shall see elsewhere that the seventy were not chosen till the people had departed from Mount Sinai; whereas mention is made of them here, before the promulgation of the Law, which seems to be by no means consistent. But this difficulty is removed, if we allow, what we gather from this passage, that, even before they came to Mount Sinai, each tribe had appointed its governors (praefectos), who would make up this number, since there were six of every tribe; but that when Moses afterwards desired to be relieved of his burdens, part of the government was transferred (305) to these seventy persons, since this number was already sanctioned by custom and use. Certainly, since it is plainly stated that there were (306) seventy from the very first, it is probable that this number of coadjutors was given to Moses in order to make as little change as possible. For we know that, when a custom has obtained, men are very unwilling to depart from it. But it might have also been that the desire and intention of the Israelites was thus to celebrate the memory of their origin; for seventy persons had gone down into Egypt with Jacob, and, in less than two hundred and twenty years after they went there, their race had increased to six hundred thousand, besides women and children. It is not, therefore, contrary to probability that seventy persons were appointed to preside over the whole people, in order that so marvelous a blessing of God might continue to be testified in all ages, as if to trace the commencement of their race up to its very source. BE SO , "Exodus 24:1. Come up unto the Lord — Moses being already on the mount, the meaning is, “After thou hast gone down and acquainted the people with my will, and received their answer, then come up again.” He was to bring with him Aaron and his two eldest sons, adab and Abihu, who, by this special favour, were to be prepared for that office to which they were to be called. Seventy of the principal elders of Israel also were to accompany him, probably that they might be witnesses of Moses’s immediate intercourse with God, and that they themselves might be possessed with a greater reverence for the laws to be received from him. Worship ye afar off — Before they came near they must worship. Thus we must
- 4. enter into God’sgates with humble and solemn adorations. COFFMA , "Verse 1 ESTABLISHI G THE COVE A T "This chapter with its account of the ratification of the covenant could well be called the climax of the Book of Exodus. .T. passages (Hebrews 9:10,18-21) use this scene as the prototype of the ratification of the ew Covenant."[1] This is true, and the most important deductions derive from it. (1) The true understanding of the passage appears especially in the .T., not in the O.T. This also accounts for the astounding blindness of the critical scholars to the most obvious features of the chapter. Only "in Christ" is the veil taken away in the interpretation of the O.T. (2) There are not two ratifications here, only one. This passage cannot be a garbled amalgamation of diverse "traditions" from different sources. Critical affirmations to that effect are essentially naive and unlearned. "They became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools!" (Romans 1:21,22). As we have seen, the critics are especially infuriated by those unusually important portions of the O.T., such as this chapter, and redouble their foolish efforts to confuse or deny. As Fields said, "Those chapters of the deepest spiritual significance and meaning are the very ones upon which the critics concentrate their attacks. `The devil has blinded the minds of the unbelieving' (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)."[2] Allegations of foolish, blinded men are unworthy of any detailed examination. "The Exodus account is too harmonious with itself to permit us to accept extreme ideas about its production"[3] "And he said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah, thou, and Aaron, adab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off: and Moses alone shall come near unto Jehovah; but they shall not come near; neither shall the people go up with him." At some time prior to these instructions to Moses, he had returned to the people, with whom he had remained until this order upon a later occasion only a short time after the pronouncement by God Himself of the Decalogue in the hearing of all the people. These verses are the key to understanding that "Only Moses went to the fiery clouded summit."[4] Moses was a type of Christ in that exclusive privilege. "Moses alone as the mediator of the covenant (Galatians 3:19) was allowed to approach the Divine presence."[5] The specific persons mentioned here were the chosen representatives of the people, and they would ascend a little higher than the people who remained at the foot of the mountain. The fact that only those chosen persons, including the seventy elders, would witness the theophany is a type of the fact that Christ showed himself alive unto men following his resurrection, " ot to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God" (Acts 10:41).
- 5. The appearance ofadab and Abihu in this list of the chosen representatives is the equivalent of a whole library contradicting the foolish notion of some critics that some "priesthood in the Babylonian era, circa 550 B.C." composed this portion of Exodus. Their appearance here proves that the evil for which they later died had not been, at this time, committed. This record was therefore written before the sons of Aaron died. Huey mentioned a number of ways in which covenants were made in ancient times: (1) they ate salt together (Leviticus 2:13; umbers 18:19); (2) they ate a sacrificial meal together (Genesis 31:54); (3) they exchanged articles of clothing (1 Samuel 18:1-4); (4) they walked between the divided pieces of slaughtered animals (Genesis 15:10,17).[6] However, it must not be thought that the covenant act here would necessarily have conformed to any one pattern. TWO CEREMO IES; OR O LY O E? The greatest misunderstanding of this chapter is in a failure to see that only one ceremony is involved throughout, namely, that of the blood-shedding and the sprinkling of the altar and of the representatives of the people. That act was the making and sealing of the covenant. The sacrificial meal afterward had the same status as the one between Jacob and Laban (Genesis 31:54) which came a day or two after the covenant had already been made. The efforts of critics to find a separate account of "the covenant" in that sacrificial meal recorded here are frustrated completely by this Biblical example. There was only one covenant made here, and only one ratification and sealing of it. COKE, "Exodus 24:1. And he said unto Moses— Moses was now upon the Mount with the Lord: the meaning, therefore, here must be, that God enjoins Moses respecting his future coming up to the Mount with Aaron, &c. after he had delivered to the people the laws mentioned in the former chapters, and confirmed the covenant with them, as is mentioned in the subsequent part of this. These things being done, we find, Exodus 24:9 that Moses, Aaron, &c. ascended the mount, according to the order delivered in these two verses. Houbigant renders and understands these verses differently: Exodus 24:1. He said unto Moses, Come up, thou, &c. Exodus 24:2. And Moses alone came near unto the Lord; but they came not nigh, neither did the people come up with them. He is of opinion, that Moses now went up to the Lord to receive those commands, which, in the third verse, he delivers to the people. Possibly, as Moses, during the delivering the laws in the foregoing chapters, was with God in the Mount, see ch. Exodus 20:21 these verses, introductory to the subsequent covenant, may be considered as a repetition; and so the first clause may be rendered, ow, he [the Lord] had said unto Moses, Come up, &c. Seventy of the elders— Lowman supposes, that these seventy elders were twelve princes of the twelve tribes, and fifty-eight heads of the first families in the twelve tribes. See his Civil Government of the Hebrews, page 76.
- 6. CO STABLE, "Verses1-8 The remaining verses in this section contain God"s directions to Moses personally. Hebrews , Aaron, Aaron"s two eldest sons, and70 of the elders of Israel were to ascend the mountain to worship God. God permitted only Moses to approach Him closely, however. Moses first related the content of God"s covenant with Israel orally, and the people submitted to it ( Exodus 24:3). Then he wrote out God"s words to preserve them permanently for the Israelites ( Exodus 24:4). The altar he built memorialized this place as where God had revealed Himself to His people. The12pillars were probably not part of the altar but separate from it. They probably represented the permanent relationship of the12tribes with God that God established when He made this covenant. "In the ceremony to be performed, the altar will represent the glory of the Lord, whilst the pillars will represent the tribes of Israel; the two contrasting parties will stand facing each other." [ ote: Cassuto, p311.] The12pillars may also have served as memorial standing stones to commemorate the occasion (cf. Genesis 31:45). [ ote: John W. Hilber, "Theology of Worship in Exodus 24 ," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society39:2 (June1996):181.] The young men ( Exodus 24:5) were probably assistants to Moses chosen for this special occasion to serve as priests (cf. Exodus 19:22; Exodus 19:24). "In the blood sprinkled on the altar [ Exodus 24:6], the natural life of the people was given up to God, as a life that had passed through death, to be pervaded by His grace; and then through the sprinkling upon the people [ Exodus 24:8] it was restored to them again, as a life renewed by the grace of God. In this way the blood not only became a bond of union between Jehovah and His people, but by the blood of the covenant, it became a vital power, holy and divine, uniting Israel and its God; and the sprinkling of the people with this blood was an actual renewal of life, a transposition of Israel into the kingdom of God, in which it was filled with the powers of God"s spirit of grace, and sanctified into a kingdom of priests, a holy nation of Jehovah ( Exodus 19:6)." [ ote: Keil and Delitzsch, 2:158.] "The throwing of half of the blood of the offerings against the altar, which represented the Lord, and half on the people, or that which represented them, signifies a joining together of the two contracting parties (communio), and symbolized the execution of the deed of covenant between them. "Between one blood-throwing and the other, the content of the covenant was finally and solemnly ratified by Moses" reading from the Book of the Covenant and by the people"s expression of consent." [ ote: Cassuto, p312.] This ritual constituted the formal ratification of the Mosaic Covenant by which Yahweh adopted Israel as His "son" (cf. Genesis 15). The parallel with the
- 7. inauguration of theew Covenant is striking (cf. Matthew 26:28; 1 Corinthians 11:25). "In all such ceremonies the oath of obedience [ Exodus 24:7] implied the participants" willingness to suffer the fate of the sacrificed animals if the covenant stipulations were violated by those who took the oath." [ ote: Youngblood, p110.] "Virtually every sovereign-vassal treaty incorporated a list of deities before whom the solemn oaths of mutual fidelity were sworn. These "witnesses" could not, of course, be invoked in the case of the biblical covenants, for there were not gods but Yahweh and no higher powers to whom appeal could be made in the event of covenant violation. The counterpart of this is not lacking, however, for the ceremony of covenant-making described in Exodus 24clearly includes "witnesses" to the transaction. These are in the form of the altar, which represented Yahweh, and the twelve pillars, which represented the twelve tribes. Although there is no explicit word to the effect that these objects were witnesses as well as representations, the use of inanimate objects in that capacity elsewhere certainly allows for that possibility here." [ ote: Merrill, "A Theology . . .," pp34-35. Cf. Deuteronomy 4:26; 30:19; 31:28. See also Kline, The Treaty . . ., p15.] "This is the covenant meal, the peace offering, that they are eating there on the mountain. To eat from the sacrifice meant that they were at peace with God, in covenant with him. Likewise, in the new covenant believers draw near to God on the basis of sacrifice, and eat of the sacrifice because they are at peace with him, and in Christ they see the Godhead revealed." [ ote: The ET Bible note on24:11.] There is some disagreement among the commentators about the meaning of "the Book of the Covenant" ( Exodus 24:7). Most take it to mean the "Bill of Rights" that God had just given ( Exodus 20:22 to Exodus 23:33). [ ote: Wolf, p153.] Some feel it included "the whole corpus of Sinai laws." [ ote: Childs, p506; Johnson, p74.] Others hold that ". . . it denotes a short general document, a kind of testimony and memorial to the making of the covenant." [ ote: Cassuto, p312.] I prefer the view that it refers to the covenant stipulations God had made known to the Israelites at this time including the Decalogue and the "Bill of Rights." This seems most consistent with other references to this book in the text. [ ote: See Kaiser, " Exodus ," p449.] ELLICOTT, "Verse 1 XXIV. THE RATIFICATIO OF THE COVE A T. (1) And he said.—We should have expected “And God said,” or “And Jehovah said.” The omission of the nominative is probably to be accounted for by the insertion into Exodus at this point of “the Book of the Covenant,” which was originally a distinct document. Exodus 24:1 of Exodus 24 probably followed originally on Exodus 20:21 of Exodus 20. The sequence of the words was then as
- 8. follows: “And Mosesdrew near unto the thick darkness where God was. And he said unto Moses,” &c. Come up.—The ascent of Aaron, adab, Abihu, and the seventy elders seems to have been commanded in order to give greater solemnity to the ratification of the covenant between God and Israel, which is the main subject of this section. Moses received instructions on the subject before descending, and no doubt was divinely guided in the steps which he took previously to ascending with them. adab, and Abihu.—Aaron’s two elder sons. (See Exodus 6:23.) Seventy of the elders.—These are not the “judges” of Exodus 18:21-26, who were not yet appointed (see ote on Exodus 18:24-25), but rather the heads of tribes and families who had exercised authority over the Israelites in Egypt, and through whom Moses had always communicated with the people. (See Exodus 3:16; Exodus 4:29; Exodus 12:21; Exodus 17:5-6.) EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMME TARY, "THE COVE A T RATIFIED. THE VISIO OF GOD. Exodus 24:1-18 The opening words of this chapter ("Come up unto the Lord") imply, without explicitly asserting, that Moses was first sent down to convey to Israel the laws which had just been enacted. This code they unanimously accepted, and he wrote it down. It is a memorable statement, recording the origin of the first portion of Holy Scripture that ever existed as such, whatever earlier writings may now or afterwards have been incorporated in the Pentateuch. He then built an altar for God, and twelve pillars for the tribes, and sacrificed burnt-offerings and peace-offerings unto the Lord. Sin- offerings, it will be observed, were not yet instituted; and neither was the priesthood, so that young men slew the offerings. Half of the blood was poured upon the altar, because God had perfected His share in the covenant. The remainder was not used until the law had been read aloud, and the people had answered with one voice, "All that the Lord hath commanded will we do, and will be obedient." Thereupon they too were sprinkled with the blood, and the solemn words were spoken, "Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words." The people were now finally bound: no later covenant of the same kind will be found in the Old Testament. And now the principle began to work which was afterwards embodied in the priesthood. That principle, stated broadly, was exclusion from the presence of God, relieved and made hopeful by the admission of representatives. The people were still forbidden to approach, under pain of death. But Moses and Aaron were no longer the only ones to cross the appointed boundaries. With them came the two sons of Aaron, (afterwards, despite their privilege, to meet a dreadful doom,) and also
- 9. seventy representatives ofall the newly covenanted people. Joshua, too, as the servant of Moses, was free to come, although unspecified in the summons (Exodus 24:1, Exodus 24:13). "They saw the God of Israel," and under His feet the blueness of the sky like intense sapphire. And they were secure: they beheld God, and ate and drank. But in privilege itself there are degrees: Moses was called up still higher, and left Aaron and Hur to govern the people while he communed with his God. For six days the nation saw the flanks of the mountain swathed in cloud, and its summit crowned with the glory of Jehovah like devouring fire. Then Moses entered the cloud, and during forty days they knew not what had become of him. Was it time lost? Say rather that all time is wasted except what is spent in communion, direct or indirect, with the Eternal. The narrative is at once simple and sublime. We are sometimes told that other religions besides our own rely for sanction upon their supernatural origin. "Zarathustra, Sakya-Mooni and Mahomed pass among their followers for envoys of the Godhead; and in the estimation of the Brahmin the Vedas and the laws of Manou are holy, divine books" (Kuenen, Religion of Israel, i. 6). This is true. But there is a wide difference between nations which assert that God privately appeared to their teachers, and a nation which asserts that God appeared to the public. It is not upon the word of Moses that Israel is said to have believed; and even those who reject the narrative are not entitled to confound it with narratives utterly dissimilar. There is not to be found anywhere a parallel for this majestic story. But what are we to think of the assertion that God was seen to stand upon a burning mountain? He it is Whom no man hath seen or can see, and in His presence the seraphim veil their faces. It will not suffice to answer that Moses "endured as seeing Him that is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27), for the paraphrase is many centuries later, and hostile critics will rule it out of court as an after-thought. At least, however, it proves that the problem was faced long ago, and tells us what solution satisfied the early Church. With this clue before us, we ask what notion did the narrative really convey to its ancient readers? If our defence is to be thoroughly satisfactory, it must show an escape from heretical and carnal notions of deity, not only for ourselves, but also for careful readers from the very first. ow it is certain that no such reader could for one moment think of a manifestation thorough, exhaustive, such as the eye receives of colour and of form. Because the effect produced is not satisfaction, but desire. Each new vision deepens the sense of the unseen. Thus we read first that Moses and Aaron, adab and Abihu and the seventy elders, saw God, from which revelation the people felt and knew themselves
- 10. to be excluded.And yet the multitude also had a vision according to its power to see; and indeed it was more satisfying to them than was the most profound insight enjoyed by Moses. To see God is to sail to the horizon: when you arrive, the horizon is as far in front as ever; but you have gained a new consciousness of infinitude. "The appearance of the glory of the Lord was seen like devouring fire in the eyes of the children of Israel" (Exodus 24:17). But Moses was aware of a glory far greater and more spiritual than any material splendour. When theophanies had done their utmost, his longing was still unslaked, and he cried out, "Show me, I pray Thee, Thy glory" (Exodus 33:18). To his consciousness that glory was still veiled, which the multitude sufficiently beheld in the flaming mountain. And the answer which he received ought to put the question at rest for ever, since, along with the promise "All My goodness shall pass before thee," came the assertion "Thou shalt not see My face, for no man shall see Me and live." So, then, it is not our modern theology, but this noble book of Exodus itself, which tells us that Moses did not and could not adequately see God, however great and sacred the vision which he beheld. From this book we learn that, side by side with the most intimate communion and the clearest possible unveiling of God, grew up the profound consciousness that only some attributes and not the essence of deity had been displayed. It is very instructive also to observe the steps by which Moses is led upward. From the burning bush to the fiery cloud, and thence to the blazing mountain, there was an ever-deepening lesson of majesty and awe. But in answer to the prayer that he might really see the very glory of his Lord, his mind is led away upon entirely another pathway: it is "All My goodness" which is now to "pass before" him, and the proclamation is of "a God full of compassion and gracious," yet retaining His moral firmness, so that He "will by no means clear the guilty." What can cloud and fire avail, toward the manifesting of a God Whose essence is His love? It is from the Old Testament narrative that the ew Testament inferred that Moses endured as seeing indeed, yet as seeing Him Who is inevitably and for ever invisible to eyes of flesh: he learned most, not when he beheld some form of awe, standing on a paved work of sapphire stone and as it were the very heaven for clearness, but when hidden in a cleft of the rock and covered by the hand of God while He passed by. On one hand the people saw the glory of God: on the other hand it was the best lesson taught by a far closer access, still to pray and yearn to see that glory. The seventy beheld the God of Israel: for their leader was reserved the more exalting knowledge, that beyond all vision is the mystic overshadowing of the Divine, and a voice which says " o man shall see Me and live." The difference in heart is well typified in this difference in their conduct, that they saw God and ate and drank, but he, for forty days, ate not. Satisfaction and assurance are a poor ideal compared with rapt aspiration and desire. Thus we see that no conflict exists between this declaration and our belief in the
- 11. spirituality of God. Wehave still to ask what is the real force of the assertion that God was in some lesser sense seen of Israel, and again, more especially, of its leaders. What do we mean even by saying that we see each other?--that, observing keenly, we see upon one face cunning, upon another sorrow, upon a third the peace of God? Are not these emotions immaterial and invisible as the essence of God Himself? ay, so invisible is the reality within each bosom, that some day all that eye hath seen shall fall away from us, and yet the true man shall remain intact. Man has never seen more than a hint, an outcome, a partial self-revelation or self- betrayal of his fellow-man. "Yes, in the sea of life in-isled, With echoing straits between us thrown, Dotting the shoreless watery wild, We mortal millions live alone. God bade betwixt 'our' shores to be The unplumb'd, salt, estranging sea." And yet, incredible as the paradox would seem, if it were not too common to be strange, the play of muscles and rush of blood, visible through the skin, do reveal the most spiritual and immaterial changes. Even so the heavens declare that very glory of God which baffled the undimmed eyes of Moses. So it was, also, that when rended rocks and burning skies revealed a more immanent action of Him Who moves through all nature always, when convulsions hitherto undreamed of by those dwellers in Egyptian plains overwhelmed them with a new sense of their own smallness and a supreme Presence, God was manifested there. ot unlike this is the explanation of St. Augustine, "We need not be surprised that God, invisible as He is, appeared visibly to the patriarchs. For, as the sound which communicates the thought conceived in the silence of the mind is not the thought itself, so the form by which God, invisible in His own nature, became visible, was not God Himself. evertheless it was He Himself Who was seen under that form, as the thought itself is heard in the sound of the voice; and the patriarchs recognised that, although the bodily form was not God, they saw the invisible God. For, though Moses was conversing with God, yet he said, 'If I have found grace in Thy sight, show me Thyself'" (De Civ. Dei, x. 13). And again: "He knew that he saw corporeally, but he sought the true vision of God spiritually" (De Trin., ii. 27). It has still to be added that His manifestation is exactly suited to the stage now
- 12. reached in theeducation of Israel. Their fathers had already "seen God" in the likeness of man: Abraham had entertained Him; Jacob had wrestled with Him. And so Joshua before Ai, and Manoah by the rock at Zorah, and Ezekiel by the river Chebar, should see the likeness of a man. We who believe the doctrine of a real Incarnation can well perceive that in these passing and mysterious glimpses God was not only revealing Himself in the way which would best prepare humanity for His future coming in actual manhood, but also in the way by which, meanwhile, the truest and deepest light could be thrown upon His nature, a nature which could hereafter perfectly manifest itself in flesh. Why, then, do not the records of the Exodus hint at a human likeness? Why did they "behold no similitude"? Clearly because the masses of Israel were utterly unprepared to receive rightly such a vision. To them the likeness of man would have meant no more than the likeness of a flying eagle or a calf. Idolatry would have followed, but no sense of sympathy, no consciousness of the grandeur and responsibility of being made in the likeness of God. Anthropomorphism is a heresy, although the Incarnation is the crowning doctrine of the faith. But it is hard to see why the human likeness of God should exist in Genesis and Joshua, but not in the history of the Exodus, if that story be a post-Exilian forgery. This is not all. The revelations of God in the desert were connected with threats and prohibitions: the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And with the different tone of the message a different aspect of the speaker was to be expected. From the blazing crags of Sinai, fenced around, the voice of a trumpet waxing louder and louder, said "Thou shalt not!" On the green hill by the Galilean lake Jesus sat down, and His disciples came unto Him, and He opened His mouth and said "Blessed." ow, the conscience of every sinner knows that the God of the commandments is dreadful. It is of Him, not of hell, that Isaiah said "The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling hath surprised the godless ones. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" (Isaiah 33:14). For him who rejects the light yoke of the Lord of Love, the fires of Sinai are still the truest revelation of deity; and we must not deny Sinai because we know Bethlehem. We must choose between the two. PARKER, "Moses In the Mount Exodus 24 This account would seem to be supernatural and miraculous. What is supernatural? What is miraculous? We are fond of using these great words, but it is one thing to employ them and another rightly to measure and apply their meaning. What is miraculous to one man is commonplace to another. We should not be astounded by
- 13. the miracles ifwe had correlative faith. The surprise of the disciples at the miracles did not throw any doubt upon the miracles themselves, but showed only too plainly the want of faith on the part of the observers. "How is it," said the Master, "that ye have no faith?" If we had faith there would be no miracles in the present narrow conception of that term; all our course would be lifted to a new level. Our wonder is the measure of our ignorance; our scepticism expresses the lack in our hearts of that wondrous power of interpretation and assimilation which is known by the name of faith. What is supernatural? and to whom is it supernatural? What is the standard? By what scales do you weigh things? We do not all stand upon one mental level. We must, therefore, go into individuality of heart, mind, attribute, and general condition, before we can understand the particular uses of so marvellous a term. What is supernatural to one man would seem to be the natural climate of another man"s soul. When we read the large words of advanced philosophy,—when these words are brought under the attention of a great variety of persons, to some they will appear to be almost supernatural. They are so odd, so wholly unknown; they bear upon their faces lineaments not strange only but almost repellent; their image awakens no recognition in the consciousness of the reader; they are words that might be dismissed without the consciousness of loss. But to another kind of reader the words are friends, the longest of them is short, the most out-of-the-way term is a well-known companion in many a long day and night"s study. So when we come upon incidents in the Scriptures which appear to be uncommon to a degree involving what is generally known as the supernatural and the miraculous, we ought to find out the quality of the reader before we determine the quality of that which is read. All men do not read the Bible with the same eyes. Some men can read the Bible through at one perusal: they eat and drink abundantly at God"s table, and the festival never sates the appetite, but rather whets it and makes it long for further revelation and satisfaction. Other men cannot read the Bible at all. The very first verse is a gate they cannot open: they are puzzled, bewildered, discouraged: in them is no answering spirit; when the Bible and they meet, a process of indignation seems to be instantly set up. Beware, therefore, of the indiscriminate and lavish use of such terms as supernatural, miraculous, transcendental, and fall back upon the mystery of your own constitution as explaining a good many of the difficulties which rise like mountains in your way. If ye had faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye would say to these mountains "Begone!" and they would vanish, like mist in the dissolving sun. But we must, in the spirit of decency and justice, protest against a man bringing his no-faith as the standard and measure of Divine revelation. The more spiritual we are, the less we shall be affrighted by the supernatural; the more carnal we are— loving the dust and living in it—the more we shall be alarmed by what is termed the miraculous element in the Bible. Sometimes by our criticism we rebuke ourselves— it may be unconsciously, but not the less severely. It is the reader who has fallen from the upper level; the Divine revelation has never lost its line. Suppose we regard this marvellous incident as setting forth the possibility and blessedness of rapturous communion with God, we lose nothing of the moral grandeur and scenic majesty of the occasion. Even as a historical record it may only transcend reason as poetry transcends arithmetic. If you take away the poetry of life, you take away the vowels from the alphabet. What is left when you have taken away the few from the many, the speakers from the dumb? You have a cluster of consonants, but no language.
- 14. The consonants aredumb, the consonants cannot utter a tone, the consonants wait until the vowels breathe into them the breath of life. It is the same with the Bible and the spiritual element. It is no Bible when the supernatural element, so called, is removed. Take out the spiritual, and the Bible is but a framework of consonants; insert the spiritual, and the Bible becomes a revelation. Many of us are waiting for the vowels. We feel as if we had something to say, but could only set the lips in a certain attitude, but utter no articulate speech. We have much because the consonants are more in number than the vowels. We have thought that bulk was wealth; we have said that it is more important to have many than to have few. Therein we have made a foolish speech. We must have both consonants and vowels if we are to have language, Song of Solomon , true music. So the spiritual or miraculous element plays the part of the vowels in this wondrous Book of God. But Moses was called to solitary vision and communion of a spiritual kind. So he was. We need not stumble at that. "Aaron, adab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders" were not called to the same summit as Moses. Quite true. This is happening every day. The peaks of the mountain are less populated than the base. We must not deny the mountain because we have never climbed it. More persons have admired the Matterhorn than have stood upon its pinnacles. It is always the one man who sees first, hears most clearly, and is gifted with special utterance. It is so in all departments and ranges of life. Each of us has some prince who leads our thought— ay, and who gives speech to our heart"s dumb desire. The hireling waits for the clock; the poet longs for the dawn. Dawn!—what language is that? ot a hireling"s. Say "bell," say "clock," "hour," and you speak the hireling"s measurable terms. But what is the "dawn"? Who made that sweet, liquid, tender word, without one line of hardness in it, requiring a woman"s softness of heart and speech to utter it as it ought to be spoken? Many a man has risen in the morning who has never seen the dawn. Others have gone up into the dawn, and have seen much and pledged the soul in many a holy oath and covenant before coming down into the marketplace to do life"s rough day"s work. The prophet is always alone. You cannot pluralise him. When he is near you, he is not one of you. The prophet is always—mad. When a man is solitary in scientific investigation, when he is far ahead of "Aaron, adab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders," we call him a philosopher; when the daring traveller goes out alone over sea and land and finds a river, a hill, a village, a colony, that no man of his country or speech ever saw before, we call him a discoverer;— when a man ascends the hills of religious contemplation and communion and is shut up with God forty days and forty nights, not knowing the pain of hunger or the silence of solitude, we call him an enthusiast, a fanatic, a dreamer. Thus we distribute our tinsel honours! There will be a better judgment some day,—the first shall be last and the last shall be first. He will be most philosopher who has prayed most, most a discoverer who has brought to bear upon the inspired record the keenest insight and quickest sympathy; he shall be a prince who has had power with God. We must not judge the acquisitions of others by the meanness of our own spiritual results. Do not blame Moses for the rapture,—let us blame ourselves for the want of it. We need not stumble even at the tenth verse, which reads thus: "And they saw the
- 15. God of Israel:and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness." The soul has eyes. There are hours not related to the clock; there are birthdays for which the calendar provides no line of registry. How natural is this endeavour to make the conception plain by a visible picture, and how visible pictures are lifted up to new meanings and clothed with new solemnities by such sacred uses. There have been times, even in our cold experience, when nature has had to be called in to help the expression of the soul"s delight. We too have made comparisons; we too have been inventors of parables, sometimes roughly outlined, but still having jewels in their meaning, even "sapphire stones "and the "body of heaven." We have compared our supreme love to a company of horses in Pharaoh"s chariot; we have chosen the apple-tree amongst the trees of the wood, and have said that best images our soul"s one Love, and he in his turn looking round has seen a lily among the thorns and said, "That sweet lily represents my chosen one." Every heart has its own image, or parable, or symbol, by which it sets forth to itself the best aspect of its supreme delight. When we want to represent God, and our view of him, how naturally we turn to the heavens. o earthly object will suffice. There burns in us a sacred contempt for all things measurable. We want all the broad brilliance of noonday, all the tender glory of the midnight, all the pomp of the summer sky. There is verily a natural religion; it is a poor deity that can be set forth in clay, and iron, and carved stone. Find any race that has lifted up its religious conceptions so as to require for their imaging all heaven, and surely you have found a race that may at any moment alight upon the true God. What Ezekiel saw was as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. John said that the face he saw was like a jasper and a sardine stone, and the rainbow which gave tenderness to the throne was in sight like unto an emerald. When Jesus was transfigured, his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. Do not take these as equivalents, but as hints,—some idea of the majesty which must have beamed upon the eyes of worship as they gazed with religious awe upon sights for which there is no language. It does us good to be wrought into passions which transcend all adequate speech,—yes, it does the soul good to pray itself into silence. We may have clear vision of God to such an extent as to have every word taken away from our use and be left dumb in the eloquence of silence. or need we stumble at the twelfth verse, where the law is promised and where the written commandments were given. When we are most religious we are most inclined to proclaim the law. It is a poor rapture that does not come down upon legislation with a new force, a firmer grip, and a deeper conception of its moral solemnity. Know whether you have been with God upon the mount by knowing how much law you have brought back with you; and when you would read the law, read it after you have been long days and nights with the Lawgiver. Then there will be no harshness in the tone, nothing terrific, repellent, unsympathetic, but the laws, the commandments, the stern words will be uttered with a suppressed power equal to tenderness, with an awe equivalent to an interpretation, with a quiet solemnity that will have in it none of the sophism or violence of threatening. The commandments have not been rightly read: they have been pronounced in a judicial tone. How much better to speak them in tender whispers. Thou shalt not have any God before the true Jehovah,—I have seen him. Thou shalt honour thy father and thy mother,
- 16. for God isboth, and I have been a long time with the Father and have studied and felt his motherliness. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not kill. All these things grieve him, are opposed to him excite not the petty anger of vindictiveness but the ineffable grief of wounded holiness. Thou shalt not— thou must not In the name of righteousness, holiness, tenderness, beauty, harmony, music, truth, do not on the one hand, and do on the other. Moses was absorbed in holy vision. The visible is not always the most real—may we say that the visible is sometimes not real at all? We must be in certain mental moods before we can understand that speech. People speak about believing their eyes. I know not of less credible witnesses than our eyes! Discredit them and distrust them at once. You will be duped by many a sophism if you trust to your eye for sight. The eyes are within—faculties spiritual, themselves unseen but always seeing. We ourselves have been so transported with sacred rapture or have been so absorbed in deep thought as not to have known where we were, by what circumstances we were environed. Speak of environment!—it has a thousand times been burst asunder or transcended by consciousness for which there is no adequate name. These give us hints of the sublime future of disembodiment We shall be clothed upon with our house from heaven. The leaden flesh that keeps us tethered to one place shall go back to the dust whence it came, and the spirit-winged fire shall go back to the God who gave it. We shall not always be slaves, or prisoners, bound to particular places and fastened down by particular chains. These absorptions, raptures, supernatural communions, if you so please to term them, give us hints of jubilee, festival, immortality. Do not dissipate their meaning by a superficial criticism of the letter, but magnify and glorify their meaning by giving to them all the sympathy and adoration of the spirit From the level of every life there is a way up to the mount of God. MACLARE , "‘THE LOVE OF THI E ESPOUSALS’ Exodus 24:1 - - Exodus 24:12. An effort is needed to feel what a tremendous and unique fact is narrated in these words. ext to the incarnation, it is the most wonderful and far-reaching moment in history. It is the birthday of a nation, which is God’s son. It is the foundation stone of all subsequent revelation. Its issues oppress that ancient people to-day, and its promises are not yet exhausted. It is history, not legend, nor the product of later national vanity. Whatever may come of analysing ‘sources’ and of discovering ‘redactors,’ Israel held a relation to God all its own; and that relation was constituted thus. I. ote the preliminaries of the covenant. The chapter begins with the command to Moses to come up to the mount, with Aaron and other representatives of the people. But he was already there when the command was given, and a difficulty has been found {or, shall we say, made} out of this. The explanation seems reasonable and plain enough, that the long section extending from Exodus 20:22, and containing the fundamental laws as spoken by God, is closed by our Exodus 24:1 - - Exodus 24:2, which imply, in the very order to Moses to come up with his companions, that he
- 17. must first godown to bring them. God dismisses him as a king might end an audience with his minister, by bidding him return with attendants. The singular use of the third person in reference to Moses in the third verse is not explained by supposing another writer; for, whoever wrote it, it would be equally anomalous. So he comes down from the stern cloud-encircled peak to that great plain where the encampment lay, and all eyes watch his descent. The people gather round him, eager and curious. He recounts ‘all the judgments,’ the series of laws, which had been lodged in his mind by God, and is answered by the many-voiced shout of too swiftly promised obedience. Glance over the preceding chapters, and you will see how much was covered by ‘all that the Lord hath spoken.’ Remember that every lip which united in that lightly made vow drew its last breath in the wilderness, because of disobedience, and the burst of homage becomes a sad witness to human weakness and changefulness. The glory of God flashed above them on the barren granite, the awful voice had scarcely died into desert silence, nerves still tingled with excitement, and wills were bowed before Jehovah, manifestly so near. For a moment, the people were ennobled, and obedience seemed easy. They little knew what they were saying in that brief spasm of devotion. It was high-water then, but the tide soon turned, and all the ooze and ugliness, covered now, lay bare and rotting. ‘Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.’ We may take the lesson to ourselves, and see to it that emotion consolidates into strenuous persistency, and does not die in the very excitement of the vow. The pledge of obedience was needed before the Covenant could be made, and, as we shall find, was reiterated in the very centre of the ceremonial ratification. For the present, it warranted Moses in preparing for the morrow’s ritual. His first step was to prepare a written copy of the laws to which the people had sworn. Here we come across an old, silenced battery from which a heavy fire used to be directed against the historical accuracy of the Pentateuch. Alphabetic writing was of a later date. There could not have been a written code. The statement was a mere attempt of a later age to claim antiquity for comparatively modern legislation. It was no more historical than similar traditions in other countries, Sibylline books, etc. All that is out of court now. Perhaps some other guns will be spiked in due time, that make a great noise just at present. Then comes the erection of a rude altar, surrounded by twelve standing stones, just as on the east of Jordan we may yet see dolmens and menhirs. The altar represents the divine presence; and the encircling stones, Israel gathered around its God. The group is a memorial and a witness to the people,-and a witness against them, if disobedient. Thus two permanent records were prepared, the book and the monument. The one which seemed the more lasting has perished; the more fragile has endured, and will last to the world’s end. II. ote the rite of ratification of the covenant. The ceremonial is complex and significant. We need not stay on the mere picture, impressive and, to our eyes, strange as it is, but rather seek to bring out the meaning of these smoking offerings, and that blood flung on the altar and on the crowd. First came two sorts of sacrifices, offered not by priests, but by selected young men, probably one for each tribe, whose employment in sacrificial functions shows the priestly character of the whole nation, according to the great words of Exodus 19:6. Burnt-offerings and peace-offerings differed mainly in the use made of the sacrifice, which was wholly consumed by fire in the former, while it was in part eaten by the offerer in the
- 18. latter. The onesymbolised entire consecration; the other, communion with God on the basis of sacrifice. The sin-offering does not appear here, as being of later origin, and the product of the law, which deepened the consciousness of transgression. But these sacrifices, at the threshold of the covenant, receive an expiatory character by the use made of the blood, and witness to the separation between God and man, which renders amity and covenant friendship impossible, without a sacrifice. They must have yielded much blood. It is divided into two parts, corresponding to the two parties to the covenant, like the cloven animals in Abraham’s covenant. One half is ‘sprinkled’ on the altar, or, as the word means, ‘swung,’-which suggests a larger quantity and a more vehement action than ‘sprinkling’ does. That drenching of the altar with gore is either a piece of barbarism or a solemn symbol of the central fact of Christianity no less than of Judaism, and a token that the only footing on which man can be received into fellowship with God is through the offering of a pure life, instead of the sinner, which, accepted by God, covers or expiates sin. There can be no question that the idea of expiation is at the very foundation of the Old Testament ritual. It is fashionable to regard the expiatory element of Christianity as ‘Hebrew old clothes,’ but the fact is the other way about. It is not that Christianity has not been able to rid itself of a rude and false conception, but that ‘Judaism’ had its sacrifices appointed by God, in order to prepare the way for the true offering, which takes away sin. The expiation by blood having been thus made, the hindrances to the nation’s entering into covenant are removed. Therefore follows in logical order the next step, their formal {alas! how purely formal it proved to be} taking on themselves its obligations. The freshly written ‘book’ is produced, and read there, to the silent people, before the bloody altar, beneath the peak of Sinai. Again the chorus of assent from a thousand throats echoes among the rocks. They accept the conditions. They had done so last night; but this is the actual contract on their part, and its place in the whole order of the ceremony is significant. It follows expiation, without which man cannot enter into friendship with God, without the acceptance of which man will not yield himself in obedience. The vows which God approves are those of men whose sins are covered. The final step was the sprinkling of the people with the blood. The division of the blood into two portions signifies that it had an office in regard to each party to the covenant. If it had been possible to pour it all on the altar, and then all on the people, that would have been done. The separation into two portions was inevitable; but in reality it is the same blood which, sprinkled on the altar, expiates, and on the worshipper, consecrates, cleanses, unites to God, and brings into covenant with Him. Hence Moses accompanies the sprinkling of the people with the explanation, ‘This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you, upon all these conditions’ {Rev. Ver. margin}. It ratifies the compact on both sides. God ‘hath made’ it, in accepting the sprinkled blood; they have made it, in being sprinkled therewith. But while the rite sets forth the great gospel truth of expiation, the Covenant moves within the region of law. It is made ‘on the basis of all these words,’ and is voidable by disobedience. It is the Magna Charta of the nation, and its summing up is ‘this do, and thou shalt live.’ Its promises are mainly of outward guardianship and national blessings. And these are suspended by it, as they were in fact contingent, on the national observance of the national vow. The general idea of
- 19. a covenant isthat of a compact between two parties, each of whom comes under obligations contingent on the other’s discharge of his. Theologians have raised the question whether God’s covenant is of this kind. Surely it is. His promises to Israel had an ‘if,’ and the fulfilment of the conditions necessarily secured the accomplishment of the promises. The ritual of the first covenant transcends the strictly retributive compact which it ratified, and shadows a gospel beyond law, even the new covenant which brings better gifts, and does not turn on ‘do,’ but simply on the sprinkling with the blood of Jesus. The words of Moses were widened to carry a blessing beyond his thoughts, which was disclosed when, in an upper chamber, a dying man said to the twelve representatives of the true Israel, ‘This is the new covenant in My blood, drink ye all of it.’ The blood which Moses sprinkled gave ritual cleansing, but it remained outside the man. The blood of Jesus gives true purification, and passes into our veins to become our life. The covenant by Moses was ‘do and live’; that in Christ is ‘believe and live.’ Moses brought commandments, and on them his covenant was built; Christ brings gifts, and His covenant is all promises, which are ours on the simple condition of taking them. III. ote the vision and feast on the basis of the covenant. The little company that climbed the mountain, venturing within the fence, represented the whole people. Aaron and his sons were the destined priests. The elders were probably seventy, because that number is the product of the two perfect numbers, and perhaps with allusion to the seventy souls who went down into Egypt with Jacob. It is emphatically said that they saw ‘the God of Israel,’ for that day’s covenant had made him so in a new closeness of relationship. In token of that new access to and possession in Him, which was henceforth to be the prerogative of the obedient people, some manifestation of His immediate presence was poured on their astonished eyes. It is needless to inquire its nature, or to ask how such a statement is consistent with the spirituality of the divine nature, or with what this same book of Exodus says, ‘There shall no man see Me, and live.’ The plain intention is to assert that there was a visible manifestation of the divine presence, but no attempt is made to describe it. Our eyes are stayed at the pavement beneath His feet, which was blue as sapphire, and bright as the cloudless sky gleaming above Sinai. It is enough to learn that ‘the secret of the Lord is with them’ to whom He shows ‘His covenant’; that, by the power of sacrifice, a true vision of God may be ours, which is ‘in a mirror, darkly,’ indeed, but yet is real and all sufficing. Before the covenant was made, Israel had been warned to keep afar lest He should break through on them, but now ‘He laid not His hand’ upon them; for only blessing can stream from His presence now, and His hand does not crush, but uphold. or is this all which we learn of the intercourse with God which is possible on the ground of His covenant. They ‘did eat and drink.’ That may suggest that the common enjoyments of the natural life are in no way inconsistent with the vision of God; but more probably it is meant to teach a deeper lesson. We have remarked that the ritual of the peace-offering included a feast on the sacrifice ‘before the Lord,’ by which was signified communion with Him, as at His table, and this meal has the same meaning. They who stand in covenant relations with God, feed and feast on a sacrifice, and thereby hold fellowship with Him, since He too has accepted the sacrifice which nourishes them. So that strange banquet on Sinai taught a fact which is ever true, prophesied the deepest joys of Christian experience, which are
- 20. realised in thesoul that eats the flesh and drinks the blood of Christ, the Mediator of the new covenant, and dimly shadowed the yet future festival, when, cleansed and consecrated by His blood, they who have made a covenant with Him by His sacrifice, shall be gathered unto Him in the heavenly mount, where He makes a ‘feast of fat things and wines on the lees well refined,’ and there shall sit, for ever beholding His glory, and satisfied with the provisions of His house. PETT, "Verse 1-2 The People Respond to the Covenant and Confirm Their Acceptance of Its Terms (Exodus 24:1-11). This passage can be analysed as follows: a Moses, Aaron and his eldest sons, and the seventy are called up to worship ‘afar off’ (Exodus 24:1). b Only Moses may approach Yahweh (as the mediator) (Exodus 24:2). c Moses declares the words of Yahweh and all His judgments and the people respond, ‘All the words which Yahweh has said we will do’ (Exodus 24:3). d Moses writes all the words of Yahweh (preparing the covenant document for the people) (Exodus 24:4 a). e Moses builds an altar and erects twelve pillars in accordance with the tribes of Israel (Exodus 24:4 b). e Moses sends young men who offer whole burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings to Yahweh (Exodus 24:5). d Moses takes of the blood and sprinkles it on the altar (committing the covenant to Yahweh) (Exodus 24:6). c The covenant having been accepted by the Overlord Moses takes the book of the covenant and reads it to the people and they respond, ‘All that Yahweh has said we will do and be obedient’ (Exodus 24:7). b Moses sprinkles the people with the blood of the covenant sealing the covenant with them (as the mediator) (Exodus 24:8). a Moses, Aaron and his eldest sons, and the seventy go up to behold Yahweh and to eat and drink before Him (Exodus 24:9-11). We note that the first five references refer to preparation for the covenant and the second five refer to the application of the covenant. In ‘a’ the representatives of Israel are called together to worship (preparation), and in parallel eat and drink the covenant meal before Yahweh (application). In ‘b’ Moses approaches Yahweh as the mediator (preparation), and in parallel sprinkles the people as the mediator (application). In ‘c’ the covenant is declared and accepted (preparation) and in the parallel it is read out (having meanwhile been written down) and accepted (application), with in both cases a willing response from the people. In ‘d’ the covenant words of Yahweh are written down for presentation to the people (preparation) and in parallel the blood of the written covenant is presented to Yahweh (application). And central to all in ‘e’ is the preparation for and offering of the offerings and sacrifices. We can now look at it in more detail.
- 21. Exodus 24:1-2 ‘And hesaid to Moses, “Come up to Yahweh, you and Aaron, and adab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you will worship afar off. And Moses alone will come near to Yahweh, but they shall not come near, neither shall the people go up with him.” ’ This is the commencement of the covenant procedure, the call of the Overlord for the people’s representatives to approach. It is then followed by the selection of the mediator who alone can approach the Overlord. “And He said to Moses.” The use of ‘He’ instead of ‘Yahweh’ (contrast Exodus 20:22 with which it therefore connects, see also Exodus 24:12), demonstrates the close connection between this and the previous words, stressing that this is a continuation of the theme. He had been speaking to all Israel through Moses (Exodus 21:1), now He speaks to Moses in his own right. Exodus 24 is integrally connected with what has gone before, The change of person in the sentence from ‘you’ to ‘him’ appears to be a pattern (compare Exodus 23:23), and here indicates a firm and emphasised movement from the general welcome of all to the particular access provided to the chosen mediator. The purpose here would seem to be to stress the names of Yahweh and of Moses, and the latter’s unique privilege of access. A group of ‘seventy of the elders of Israel’, as the people’s representatives, together with Moses, Aaron, adab and Abihu, were to ascend the lower mount so as to ‘worship afar off’. But they were not to go up higher. That was to be left for Moses alone. And the people were excluded altogether. This feasting before Yahweh would seal the covenant. adab and Abihu were two sons of Aaron (Exodus 28:1; see also Exodus 6:23). Here they were given a huge privilege and were being prepared for great responsibility. But they would shortly sadly die before they had fulfilled themselves because they dealt lightly with sacred things (Leviticus 10:1-2). Great privilege brings great responsibility of many kinds. “Seventy of the elders of Israel.” These would seem to represent specifically the combined leadership (compare umbers 11:16; umbers 11:24-25). The number seventy signifies divine completeness (compare Exodus 1:5), and the leading elders were possibly limited to that number. Compare umbers 11:24-25 with 26. The two were ‘of those who were written’ and therefore part of ‘the seventy’. But it may be that this means that at that stage there were seventy two, although ‘gathered the seventy’ might simply be describing the group as a whole without saying that they were all present. The group was probably known as ‘the seventy’ regardless of exact numbers. On this number was patterned the later Sanhedrin, the governing body of the Jews in the time of Christ. Compare also Luke 10:1; Luke 10:17.
- 22. The purpose ofthis event was as a ceremony at which Yahweh would receive the response of the people to His covenant and would seal it by handing over the official covenant documents, just as a great overlord would when sealing his suzerainty treaty. But before this could be done there were things that Moses had to do. PULPIT, "Verses 1-8 COMPLETIO OF THE COVE A T, A D ASCE T OF MOSES I TO THE CLOUD O SI AI. EXPOSITIO THE RATIFICATIO OF THE COVE A T. The giving of the Book of the Covenant being now completed, Moses, having received directions with respect to another ascent into the mount (Exodus 24:1, Exodus 24:2), descended to the people, and in the first instance declared to them the main heads of the Covenant, which they received with favour, and expressed their willingness to obey (Exodus 24:3). ot, however, regarding this as a sufficiently formal ratification, the Prophet proceeded to write out in a "Book" the whole of the commands which he had received, He then built an altar, erected twelve pillars, offered sacrifice, and having collected half the blood of the victims in basins, summoned the people to an assembly. At this, he read over solemnly all the words of the Book to them, and received their solemn adherence to it (Exodus 24:7); whereupon, to complete the ceremony, and mark their entrance into covenant, he sprinkled the blood from the basins on the twelve tribes, represented by their leaders, and declared the acceptance complete (Exodus 24:8). The ceremony was probably modelled on some customary proceedings, whereby important contracts between man and man were ratified among the Hebrews and Syrians. Exodus 24:1, Exodus 24:2 It has been supposed that these verses are out of place, and suggested to remove them to the end of Exodus 24:8. But no change is necessary. It is quite natural that God should have given the directions before Moses descended from the mount, and that he should have deferred executing them until the people had accepted the covenant. adab and Abihu were the two eldest of Aaron's sons, and so his natural successors in the priesthood, had they not sinned by offering "strange fire" (Le Exodus 10:1, Exodus 10:2). They had been mentioned previously, in Exodus 6:23. Seventy of the elders. On the elders of Israel, see Exodus 3:16, and Exodus 18:21. The "seventy" eiders may, together with adab and Abihu, have represented the twelve tribes, six from each. Worship ye afar off. Though all were to ascend the mount to a certain height, only Moses was to go to the top. The others, being less holy than Moses, had to worship at a distance. BI 1-8, "Behold the blood of the covenant. The sprinkling of blood
- 23. I. He sprinkledthe book in his hand. It was the Bible of his day, and yet it needed sprinkling. And we hold our Bibles—do they need sprinkling? The Bible is the transmitted mind of God—it is perfect truth, it is essential holiness—must it be sprinkled? Human words are all unclean. The mind of God must pass to men through the organs of the human voice—and that humanity mingling even with the revelation of God, wants washing. The materials of which the book is made are human. And again and again with our defiled hands we have soiled it—and we never open the book but it is a sinner’s hand that touches it. Our Bibles need the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus. II. And he sprinkled the altar—for he had reared it. The altar was a holy thing—dedicate, consecrated, yet for the manhood which was associated with it, it needed the sprinkling of the blood. And we have our altars. You rise in the morning, and you set up your altar on your bedside-and when you rise from your knees, how many wandering thoughts, what coldness and dulness of soul, what mixture of motive, calls out for mercy. The altar of the bedroom—it must be sprinkled. You come down, and you gather round the family altar. But is there no one there, in that little assembly, whose heart is wrong with God? Does the worship of the family all go up in purity? Is it not a dull thing—that family prayer each morning—a mere routine? And does not it want the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus? III. Moses sprinkled the people. There is no part of man that does not need that sprinkling. IV. The sprinkling of the blood was the token that whatever it touched became covenant. We have our covenanted Bibles and our covenanted altars; we ourselves are in covenant with Christ. Do you know that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is on you? And all that you must recognize if you would obey God. You must not rely upon “All the words that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” But you must go as a sprinkled and covenanted people, or you will not go at all. (J. Vaughan, M. A.) The blood of the covenant I. The sacredness of blood. This is taught both in Old and New Testament. II. The Christian covenant is a covenant of blood. The blood of the eternal Son of God, shed on Calvary, sprinkled on the high altar of heaven and on all who approach with penitence and faith. III. The covenant which Christ has instituted with His people is the most sacred covenant which God ever made with man. IV. The Lord’s supper is a memorial and a solemn public ratification of this Divine blood covenant. It sprinkles us afresh with the blood of the great atonement. (J. M. Sherwood, D. D.) The covenant I. Divinely revealed. 1. Revealed faithfully. (1) “Words.” for direction and encouragement.
- 24. (2) Judgment, forwarning. 2. Revealed intelligently. (1) Not an appeal to superstition and credulity. (2) In language which all could understand. (3) Under circumstances attesting Divine origin. (4) An appeal to reason, piety, interest. II. Accepted by man. 1. Unanimously. 2. Heartily. 3. Specifically. 4. Speedily. III. Permanently embodied. A written revelation is— 1. Necessary. 2. Advantageous. 3. Important. IV. Arrangements carefully and impressively prepared. 1. Altar and pillars—representing God and people. 2. Young men—symbolizing strength and earnestness that should be exerted in keeping covenant engagement. 3. Sacrifices. (1) Burnt-offerings, to signify dedication of people to Jehovah. (2) Peace-offerings, as typifying Jehovah’s reconciliation with people. V. Ratified with blood. In conclusion— 1. Christ is the Mediator of a better covenant. 2. That His blood is sprinkled on the altar of God (Heb_9:12), and in the heart of His people (Heb_9:13-15). 3. That He has instituted a “perpetual memorial of His precious death until His coming again” (1Co_9:25). (J. W. Burn.) God’s covenant with Israel I. The preparation and separation. God and Israel were to bind themselves in sacred oath. God was ready. Was man ready? Reverence and humility were required, a deep sense of the full meaning of all that was to be said and done. Special preparation is always demanded for special exhibitions of the Divine glory and power, and for special seasons of covenanting with God. Man is never ready for pledges of love and loyalty until he has sanctified himself through penitence and prayer. II. The people informed. Let the leaders of God’s host plainly point out the path. The need of our age is not speculation but declaration of things revealed by those who have been on the mount with God, have beheld His glory, and have received a message for
- 25. dying men. Thepeople would know what God has said, not what men imagine or guess. How about our Father in heaven? What are His purposes of grace? What are the conditions of blessing? These are the burning questions of our age and of all ages. If any one has been on the mount and heard the voice, let him come down and tell us what he knows. The world is waiting. III. Ratification of the covenant. Deliberation is always demanded before pledges of acceptance and obedience are made. No act of human life is more solemn than that of covenanting with God. Before men begin to build, they should count the cost. Many who run well for awhile afterwards halt and turn back because they started under the impulse of a sudden and ill-considered emotion. Christianity is righteous principle put in practice. IV. Sealing the covenant. Remember the hour, the spot, all the circumstances attending your public avowal of faith in Jesus Christ, and your covenanting with God and with His people. How have these vows been kept? How have the conditions of blessing been fulfilled? God has never failed you. Have you failed Him? Oh, these covenants! How many have been broken! These vows! How many have been slighted! We should frequently go back to the altar “under the hill,” and recall the sealing blood. V. New visions of God. This doubtless was a far more distinct vision than the former, when the law was given amid clouds and darkness and tempest. That was a display of majesty; this is of love. The language of the former was: Obey and thou shalt live. The language of the latter is: Love and confide. A little while before the vision was of a Law- giver. Now it is of a Saviour, inspiring confidence and peace. The mercy-seat appears. God’s glory is seen in the face of Jesus Christ, typified by the sapphire stone and, as I suppose, by the dimly outlined form of the world’s Redeemer. (J. E. Twitchell.) The strictness of God’s law “The Bible is so strict and old-fashioned,” said a young man to a grey-haired friend who was advising him to study God’s Word if he would learn how to live. “There are plenty of books written now-a-days that are moral enough in their teaching, and do not bind one down as the Bible.” The old merchant turned to his desk, and took out two rulers, one of which was slightly bent. With each of these he ruled a line, and silently handed the ruled paper to his companion. “Well,” said the lad, “what do you mean?” “One line is not straight and true, is it? When you mark out your path in life, do not take a crooked ruler!” (S. S. Chronicle.) Belief and disobedience Suppose, says the late Archbishop Whately, two men each received a letter from his father, giving directions for his children’s conduct; and that one of these sons hastily, and without any good grounds, pronounced the letter a forgery, and refused to take any notice of it; while the other acknowledged it to be genuine, and laid it up with great reverence, and then acted without the least regard to the advice and commands contained in the letter: you would say that both of these men, indeed, were very wrong; but the latter was much the more undutiful son of the two. Now this is the case of a disobedient Christian, as compared with infidels. He does not like them pronounce his Father’s letter a forgery; that is, deny the truth of the Christian revelation; but he acts in
- 26. defiance in hislife to that which he acknowledges to be the Divine command. The sealing of the covenant I. What occurred? The Law had been given, amplified (chaps. 21-23), and endorsed by the people (Exo_24:3). Necessary now to uncover that atonement which is ever the ground of God’s dealings with man. Hence the altar. No soul was to touch it, for the atonement is the creation of God. Still man had a part in these covenantal transactions, hence twelve pillars = twelve tribes. But sacrifice on the altar—the burnt offering = life surrendered—and the peace offering = communion with God and one another. The sacrifices were slain by young men = the flower of Israel. The Levitical priesthood not yet. Every age has its own special service for God. The blood was preserved. Now the blood stands for life. Half disappeared in fire on the altar. Gone! = forfeited life of the sinner. Half thrown back upon the people = life restored to man. How Israel ascended to a higher plane of life (Exo_24:9). In the only possible way—representatively. Then came the vision of God (Exo_24:10). Then the banquet (see Son_2:3-4). II. What did it mean? 1. Salvation has its ground in God and God alone. Calvary potentially before the Christian era, actually since, the Divine ground of salvation. 2. Forfeited life is given back to man on the ground of Christ’s atonement. Life, capacity, faculty, are all given back now to be man’s very own. 3. Now again to be given back to God in consecration. Being now my very own (in the sense just hinted), I give my own to God. This self-surrender is vital. The surrender is to be complete in intent and purpose. And the obligation presses now. Delay is disloyalty. 4. There will then be peace. With God; with ourselves; with men. 5. Life will move on a higher level (Exo_24:9; Exo_24:12-13). (Emphasize the meaning in the words “And BE there”: “And Moses went up into the Mount of God.”) Valley men have no idea of the bracing atmosphere, the brilliant light, the wider view, the grander visions, to be found on the mountain-plateau. It is so in Switzerland; so with the mountains celestial. 6. There shall be visions of God (Exo_24:10). Bushnell says: “So gloriously has my experience of God opened His greatness to me, I seem to have got beyond all physical images and measures, even those of astronomy, and simply to think God is to find and bring into my feeling more than even the imagination can reach. I bless God that it is so. I am cheered by it, encouraged, sent onward, and, in what He gives me, begin to have some very faint impression of the glory yet to be revealed.” 7. And banquetings and satisfactions of soul (Exo_24:11). As the body has its nutriment, so the soul. No more “husks.” High thought befitting immortal man. Manna: “Hidden manna.” Here on earth. At the marriage supper of the Lamb. Thereafter to all eternity. (H. T. Robjohns, B.A.) 2 but Moses alone is to approach the Lord; the
- 27. others must notcome near. And the people may not come up with him.” CLARKE, "Moses alone shall come near - The people stood at the foot of the mountain. Aaron and his two sons and the seventy elders went up, probably about half way, and Moses alone went to the summit. GILL, "And Moses alone shall come near the Lord,.... Into the cloud where he was, and talk with him face to face, as a man talketh with his friend; which was great nearness indeed, and a peculiar favour and high honour was this: but they shall not come nigh; Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel: neither shall the people go up with him; not any of them, much less the whole body. It seems, by this account, that Moses had been down from the mount after he had received the laws recorded in the two preceding chapters; though as yet he had not related them to the people, but did before he went up again by the above order, as appears from what follows. CALVI ,"2.And Moses alone shall come near the Lord. Three gradations are here marked. A station is prescribed for the people, from whence they may “worship afar off;” the elders and the priests are appointed to be the companions of Moses, to come closer, and thus to be witnesses to the people of all the things which we shall afterwards see to be shewn them; whilst, as they were separated from the multitude, so finally Moses alone was received up into the higher glory; for he was caught up on high in the covering of the cloud. This (307) distinction is marked in the words, “Moses alone shall come near...; but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up.” Some translators render the verbs in the past tense; but improperly, in my opinion; for Moses is not yet relating what was done, but only what God had commanded, as is plain from the next verse, wherein also the modesty and humility of the people is commended, because they received with reverence a command which was not in itself very agreeable or likely to be approved. For, such is the ambition of men, that it might have appeared insulting that they should be set afar off and prohibited from approaching the mountain, like strangers and heathens. It is, therefore, an evidence of their pious reverence, that they should submit to be placed at a distance, and should be contented with a position apparently less honorable. And Moses more clearly expresses their promptitude to obey, when he reports their words, that they would do all that he had declared to them from the mouth of God
- 28. BE SO ,"Exodus 24:2. And Moses alone shall come near — Being therein a type of Christ, who, as the high-priest, entered alone into the most holy place. In the following verse we have the solemn covenant made between God and Israel, and the exchanging of the ratifications: typifying the covenant of grace between God and believers through Christ. 3 When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” CLARKE, "And Moses alone shall come near the Lord,.... Into the cloud where he was, and talk with him face to face, as a man talketh with his friend; which was great nearness indeed, and a peculiar favour and high honour was this: but they shall not come nigh; Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel: neither shall the people go up with him; not any of them, much less the whole body. It seems, by this account, that Moses had been down from the mount after he had received the laws recorded in the two preceding chapters; though as yet he had not related them to the people, but did before he went up again by the above order, as appears from what follows. GILL, "And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments,.... Which according to Jarchi were the seven commands given to the sons of Noah, the laws concerning the sabbath, and honouring parents, the red heifer, and the judgments at Marah; but all these they were acquainted with before, excepting that of the red heifer, and the law, for that was not yet delivered to Moses, nor were these the ten commands, for they had heard them from the Lord themselves; but they doubtless were the judgments, or judicial laws, which he was ordered to set before the people, contained in the two preceding chapters, which were chiefly of the judicial kind, and related to the civil polity of the people of Israel: and all the people answered with one voice; one speaking for, and in the name of the rest, or they all lift up their voice together, and being unanimous in their sentiments, expressed them in the same words:
- 29. and said, allthe words which the Lord hath said will we do; that is, they would be careful to observe all the laws, statutes, judgments, and commands which the Lord had enjoined them; and less than this they could not say, for they had promised Moses, that if he would draw nigh to God, and hear what he should say, and deliver it to them, they would hearken to it, and obey it, as if they had heard God himself speak it; only they entreated the Lord would speak no more to them, as he did the ten commands, it being so terrible to them. HE RY, "In the following verses, we have the solemn covenant made between God and Israel, and the exchanging of the ratifications; and a very solemn transaction it was, typifying the covenant of grace between God and believers through Christ. I. Moses told the people the words of the Lord, Exo_24:3. He did not lead them blindfold into the covenant, nor teach them a devotion that was the daughter of ignorance; but laid before them all the precepts, general and particular, in the foregoing chapters; and fairly put it to them whether they were willing to submit to these laws or no. II. The people unanimously consented to the terms proposed, without reservation or exception: All the words which the Lord hath said will we do. They had before consented in general to be under God's government (Exo_19:8); here they consent in particular to these laws now given. O that there had been such a heart in them! How well were it if people would but be always in the same good mind that sometimes they seem to be in! Many consent to the law, and yet do not live up to it; they have nothing to except against it, and yet will not persuade themselves to be ruled by it. This is the tenour of the covenant, That, if they would observe the foregoing precepts, God would perform the foregoing promises. “Obey, and be happy.” Here is the bargain made. Observe, JAMISO ,"Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord — The rehearsal of the foregoing laws and the ten commandments, together with the promises of special blessings in the event of their obedience, having drawn forth from the people a unanimous declaration of their consent, it was forthwith recorded as the conditions of the national covenant. The next day preparations were made for having it (the covenant) solemnly ratified, by building an altar and twelve pillars; the altar representing God, and the pillars the tribes of Israel - the two parties in this solemn compact - while Moses acted as typical mediator. K&D, "The ceremony described in Exo_24:3-11 is called “the covenant which Jehovah made with Israel” (Exo_24:8). It was opened by Moses, who recited to the people “all the words of Jehovah” (i.e., not the decalogue, for the people had heard this directly from the mouth of God Himself, but the words in Exo_20:22-26), and “all the rights” (ch. 21-23); whereupon the people answered unanimously (ד ָח ֶא ּולק), “All the words which Jehovah hath spoken will we do.” This constituted the preparation for the conclusion of the covenant. It was necessary that the people should not only know what the Lord imposed upon them in the covenant about to be made with them, and what He promised them, but that they should also declare their willingness to perform what was imposed upon them. The covenant itself was commenced by Moses writing all the words
- 30. of Jehovah in“the book of the covenant” (Exo_24:4 and Exo_24:7), for the purpose of preserving them in an official record. The next day, early in the morning, he built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and erected twelve boundary-stones or pillars for the twelve tribes, most likely round about the altar and at some distance from it, so as to prepare the soil upon which Jehovah was about to enter into union with the twelve tribes. As the altar indicated the presence of Jehovah, being the place where the Lord would come to His people to bless them (Exo_20:24), so the twelve pillars, or boundary- stones, did not serve as mere memorials of the conclusion of the covenant, but were to indicate the place of the twelve tribes, and represent their presence also. BE SO , "Exodus 24:3. Moses told the people all the words of the Lord — He laid before them all the precepts, in the foregoing chapters, and put it to them, whether they were willing to submit to these laws or not? And all the people answered, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do — They had before consented in general to be under God’s government; here they consent in particular to these laws now given. COFFMA , "Verse 3-4 "And Moses came and told the people all the words of Jehovah, and all the ordinances: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which Jehovah hath spoken will we do. And Moses WROTE ALL THE WORDS OF JEHOVAH, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the mount, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel." "Moses told the people ..." It was absolutely necessary that the people should have been told specifically exactly what was expected of them. It is not clear whether these words refer to something Moses had already done (which he certainly had done) or to a recapitulation of"all the ordinances." Either way, it was thoroughly and effectively done. "All the words which Jehovah hath spoken will we do ..." Esses, a believing Rabbi, renders this: "All that the Lord has spoken and all that he will speak we will do and obey."[7] Even if this rendition should not be allowed, it is certain that the acceptance on the part of the people of God's commands was unanimous, enthusiastic, and complete. What a tragedy that their subsequent actions cast a dark shadow over what they did here. Within a month they would reject Moses, make a golden calf, and rebel against God! "And Moses WROTE ALL THE WORDS OF JEHOVAH ..." We have capitalized these letters because, apparently, no critic on earth has ever noticed them. The ridiculous fancy that the Exodus record is dependent upon "oral traditions" handed down for centuries until some self-serving priests decided to write it can be nothing except nonsense. Writing had been known for a least five or six centuries at this time. The Code of Hammurabi (2100-2000 B.C.) is written in the most detailed and circumstantial fashion, and to suppose that Moses, brought up in the palace of Pharaoh was unfamiliar with writing is merely an elephant error that only a fool
- 31. could swallow. "MOSESWROTE IT ALL DOW ." Of course, he did! Only Moses knew the facts presented here; only Moses was present when the events mentioned occurred. Have oth, Clements, Davies, or any of the unbelieving critics established "their favorite authors," such as E, J, P, or D, as having been present at these events? Certainly not! The following words of Allis are appropriate: "Hammurabi, writing centuries BEFORE Moses, codified his laws and reduced them to writing. He had them carved on blocks of diorite stone. Would Moses have done anything less? The neocritic who PREFERS oral tradition is forced to admit that a written code was quite possible."[8] We marvel at the "possible" in Allis' quotation above. The written record was not merely possible but certain, being the only possible way that the exceedingly extensive and complicated records of the O.T. could ever have reached down the centuries. "MOSES WROTE ALL THE WORDS OF JEHOVAH!" (Exodus 24:3). It is an axiom of true O.T. interpretation that EVERY APPEAL to "oral tradition" or "tradition," by which the same thing is meant, is merely a confession on the part of critics that they prefer their own vain imaginations to God's written record. The fact of Moses' actually writing down the laws of God is here affirmed: "hence the laws received the designation `Book of the Covenant'"[9] "And builded an altar under the mount ..." The ratification of the covenant took place not on Mount Sinai, but at the foot of it. That is where the blood was sprinkled. "Twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel ..." The mention of these has the utility of proving that there were indeed "twelve tribes of Israel" who participated in the Exodus. The erroneous view that some of the tribes of Israel did not descend into Egypt is denied by this. To be sure the critics find all kinds of superstitions about those pillars, but that their use was symbolic only, and not superstitious, is indicated by the fact that, "The blood was dashed over the people themselves, and not upon the pillars (Exodus 24:8)."[10] Dummelow's opinion that the "pillars were smeared with blood"[11] is unsupported by the Biblical account here. ELLICOTT, "(3) Moses . . . told the people all the words of the Lord.—Moses gave them an outline of the legislation which he subsequently committed to writing (Exodus 24:4) and formed into “the Book of the Covenant” (Exodus 24:7). Its general purport and main heads were communicated, but probably not all its details. Otherwise it would scarcely have been necessary to read the contents of the book to them. The people willingly gave in their adhesion, feeling the laws to be “holy, just, and good,” and not yet knowing how difficult they would find it to render a perfect obedience. PETT, "Verse 3 ‘And Moses came and told the people all the words of Yahweh and all the judgments, and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words
- 32. which Yahweh hasspoken we will do.” Moses called the people together for the explanation of the treaty. He declared to them Yahweh’s offer and detailed Yahweh’s requirements as contained in Exodus 20-23. Then the people ‘with one voice’ declared their acceptance. The words appear to be in accepted phraseology (compare Exodus 19:8). It was unanimous. “All the words of Yahweh.” These are described mainly in Exodus 20:1-17 with a codicil in Exodus 20:22-26. “And all the judgments.” These are described in Exodus 21:1 to Exodus 23:19. They are then followed by the reconfirmation of what Yahweh will do for His people (Exodus 23:20-33). “And all the people answered with one voice.” This was their confirmation that as one people they were willing to enter into the covenant. PULPIT, "And Moses came. Moses descended from the mount, and reported to the people all the words of the Lord—all the legislation contained in the last three chapters and a half (Exodus 20:19, to Exodus 23:33), not perhaps in extenso, but as to its main provisions. And all the people answered with one voice, promising obedience. In times of excitement, a common impulse constantly animates an entire multitude, and an exaltation of feeling leads them to make pledges, which they are very unwilling to stand by afterwards. Hence Moses requires something more than a verbal assent. 4 Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. BAR ES, "Twelve pillars - As the altar was a symbol of the presence of Yahweh, so these twelve pillars represented the presence of the Twelve tribes with whom He was making the covenant.
- 33. CLARKE, "Moses wroteall the words of the Lord - After the people had promised obedience, (Exo_24:3), and so entered into the bonds of the covenant, “it was necessary,” says Calmet, “to draw up an act by which the memory of these transactions might be preserved, and confirm the covenant by authentic and solemn ceremonies.” And this Moses does. 1. As legislator, he reduces to writing all the articles and conditions of the agreement, with the people’s act of consent. 2. As their mediator and the deputy of the Lord, he accepts on his part the resolution of the people; and Jehovah on his part engages himself to Israel, to be their God, their King, and Protector, and to fulfill to them all the promises he had made to their fathers. 3. To make this the more solemn and affecting, and to ratify the covenant, which could not be done without sacrifice, shedding and sprinkling of blood, Moses builds an altar, probably of turf, as was commanded, Exo_20:24, and erects twelve pillars, no doubt of unhewn stone, and probably set round about the altar. The altar itself represented the throne of God; the twelve stones, the twelve tribes of Israel. These were the two parties, who were to contract, or enter into covenant, on this occasion. GILL, "And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord,.... Jarchi says, all from the creation, to the giving of the law, and the commands at Marah; but though these were written by him, yet not at this time; but as Aben Ezra more truly observes, what are mentioned in this "parashah", or section, or what is contained in the two preceding chapters, he not only related to them from his memory, but he wrote them in a book, which is after mentioned, that they might be seen and read hereafter; for these were not the ten commands, they were written as well as spoken by the Lord himself, but the judicial laws before mentioned: and rose up early in the morning: not on the fifth of Sivan, as Jarchi, the day before the giving of the law, but on the eighth of that month, two days after it: and built an altar under the hill: under Mount Sinai, about the place where the bounds were set, beyond which the people were not to go: and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel: to answer to them, and which were to represent them, as seems by the following account; these probably were made of marble stone, of which Mount Sinai consisted, and of which there was plenty thereabout. HE RY, "How it was engrossed in the book of the covenant: Moses wrote the words of the Lord (Exo_24:4), that there might be no mistake; probably he had written them as God dictated them on the mount. As soon as ever God had separated to himself a peculiar people in the world, he governed them by a written word, as he has done ever since, and will do while the world stands and the church in it. Moses, having engrossed the articles of agreement concluded upon between God and Israel, read them in the
- 34. audience of thepeople (Exo_24:7), that they might be perfectly apprised of the thing, and might try whether their second thoughts were the same with their first, upon the whole matter. And we may suppose they were so; for their words (Exo_24:7) are the same with what they were (Exo_24:3), but something stronger: All that the Lord hath said (be it good, or be it evil, to flesh and blood, Jer_42:6) we will do; so they had said before, but now they add, “And will be obedient; not only we will do what has been commanded, but in every thing which shall further be ordained we will be obedient.” Bravely resolved! if they had but stuck to their resolution. See here that God's covenants and commands are so incontestably equitable in themselves, and so highly advantageous to us, that the more we think of them, and the more plainly and fully they are set before us, the more reason we shall see to comply with them. CALVI ,"4.And Moses (308) wrote all the words of the Lord. This parenthesis is opportunely inserted; for we shall see a little further on that the book was read before the people; but, in order to awaken greater attention, before the reading he built an altar and offered victims in the sight of all the people. Moreover, it must be observed that statues (309) were erected near the altar according to the number of the tribes, that they might know that they were not kept afar off in token of rejection, but only that, conscious of their own unworthiness, they might humble themselves before God in fear and trembling; for, though they were removed to a considerable distance, still they were remembered before God, and thus He embraced them all, as it were, by means of these statues. What Moses, however, calls by this name, were not images bearing the shape of a man, but heaps of stones, which might be as monuments representing the twelve tribes; that they might know that they were by no means excluded from the sanctity of the altar. BE SO , "Exodus 24:4. And Moses wrote the words of the Lord — That there might be no mistake; as God dictated them on the mount, where, it has been thought by many, God taught him the use of letters; these Moses taught the Israelites, from whom they afterward travelled to Greece and other nations. As soon as God had separated to himself a peculiar people, he governed them by a written word, as he has done ever since, and will do while the world stands. Pillars according to the number of the tribes — These were to represent the people, the other party to the covenant; and we may suppose they were set up over against the altar, and that Moses, as mediator, passed to and fro between them. Probably each tribe set up and knew its own pillar, and their elders stood by it. He then appointed sacrifices to be offered upon the altar. COKE, "Verse 4 Exodus 24:4. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord— Some have supposed that the art of writing was derived immediately from GOD himself, and shewn to Moses particularly by the writing on the tables of stone, mentioned Exodus 24:12 but it appears from hence, that Moses understood the art of writing before those tables were delivered to him; and there seem good reasons to believe, that this art had already been long in use. See note on ch. Exodus 18:6.
- 35. And builded analtar—and twelve pillars— The parties in the covenant were GOD and the people of Israel: the altar, therefore, was to be a representation of the throne of the Deity; the twelve pillars of the twelve tribes. For the rest, the usual foederal rites are observed. ELLICOTT, "(4) Moses wrote.—Comp. Exodus 17:14. The familiarity of Moses with writing is throughout presumed in the Pentateuch. One “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians” under the nineteenth dynasty could not well be ignorant of this ordinary Egyptian accomplishment. Under the hill.—Heb., the mountain. The Ras Sufsafeh is intended. Twelve pillars.—As the altar symbolised and indicated the presence of Jehovah, one party to the Covenant, so the twelve pillars—probably long stones set up on end (Genesis 28:18)—symbolised the presence of the twelve tribes, the other party. (For another instance of the employment of such symbolism see Joshua 4:3; Joshua 4:9; Joshua 4:20.) PETT, "Verses 4-8 ‘And Moses wrote all the words of Yahweh and rose up early in the morning and built an altar under the Mount, and twelve pillars in accordance with the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to Yahweh. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant and read in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold, the blood of the covenant which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.” ’ ow that the covenant had been offered and accepted the official procedures had to be gone through. First it had to be put into writing (as most ancient covenants were, compare regularly in the Book of Genesis) and then the covenant offerings were made prior to the blood of the covenant being presented to the Overlord, seeking His acceptance of the covenant as written and commitment to it. Then the covenant, having been agreed by the Overlord, was read to the people for their acceptance, after which the blood of the covenant was sprinkled on them and they confirmed their acceptance of it. Moses may well have worked through the night writing out the covenant. Then he went about the solemn process of ratification. First he built an altar which in a sense represented Yahweh’s side of things. Then he erected twelve pillars to represent the whole people of Israel. (Compare here Genesis 31:45-46). ote that all were now seen as incorporated in the twelve tribes. Then he offered whole burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen. Then he applied the blood of the offerings, half to the altar and half to the people. It may be that the latter was mainly done by sprinkling it on the twelve pillars, which would seem to be their purpose, and then by a token sprinkling, but symbolically he was sprinkling the whole people.
- 36. “Moses wrote allthe words of Yahweh.” This would include ‘the word’ and ‘the judgments’ (Exodus 24:3). The whole covenant needed to be ratified. But on the Mount he will receive Yahweh’s copy of the treaty and that is possibly only of the ten words (Exodus 24:12 with Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13; Deuteronomy 5:22; Deuteronomy 10:4. See also Exodus 31:18; Exodus 32:15-16), so that may be the same here. But it may be that ‘the ten words’ were seen as including the whole, the rest seen as a codicil. “Rose up early in the morning.” The ceremony would take some time and he probably wished to complete it by the evening. “Twelve pillars.” This was a legitimate use of pillars as symbolic and as memorials. “In accordance with the twelve tribes of Israel.” Compare Genesis 49:28. The mixed multitude with their mixed descent are now seen as fully incorporated into the twelve tribes of Israel and as ‘descended’ from the patriarchs. “He sent young men of the children of Israel.” These were no doubt seen as representing Israel’s future. They acted under Moses’ instructions and there was at this stage no known limit as to who could offer sacrifices on behalf of the people. We may be sure that whatever requirements there were would be maintained. But it was Moses who took and applied the blood. Young men may have been used because they were strong and able to carry out their functions without difficulty. But we should note that the young men did not manipulate the blood. That was Moses task as the priest of the people. The use of young men from among the people may have been in order to make the people feel very closely involved. It was not their leadership, somewhat distant from the ordinary Israelite, but young men from among them, who offered these covenant offerings. It was very much a covenant made with them, rather than on their behalf. “Offered whole burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings (or sacrifices).” The whole burnt offerings were totally consumed and were a very ancient form of sacrifice (Genesis 8:20; Genesis 22:13; Exodus 10:25). Of the peace offerings/sacrifices the blood and fat must be offered to Yahweh but the flesh may be eaten (see Deuteronomy 12:27 for the distinction). There are, in this combination, elements of worship, of dedication, of propitiation and of gratitude. ote. On the whole burnt offerings were ‘offered’ (‘alah - in the hiphil ‘sent up’) and peace sacrifices ‘sacrificed’ or ‘slaughtered’ (zabach) or ‘offered’ (qarab). The verbs relate to the nouns, ‘offer’ to ‘burnt offerings’, and ‘sacrifice’ to ‘peace sacrifices’. However, in Exodus 20:24; 1 Kings 3:4 whole burnt offerings were also ‘sacrificed’, showing that they were ‘sacrifices’ and demonstrating that the difference was not a vital one, although this use is rare. But in the Pentateuch only whole burnt offerings and meal offerings were ever said to be ‘offered’ (‘alah - sent up) to Yahweh. Outside the Pentateuch ‘peace offerings’ (not designated sacrifices) were also ‘offered’, compare, for example, 2 Samuel 6:17-18; 2 Samuel 24:25; 1 Kings 9:25; 1 Chronicles 16:2; 1 Chronicles 21:26. These latter are also regularly
- 37. said to be‘sacrificed’, and there may be two kinds, those wholly offered to Yahweh and those sacrificed and partaken of. Offerings specifically designated as ‘sacrifices’ (zebach) are never ‘offered’ (‘alah). (End of note). “Put it in basins.” The blood was collected as it flowed out, in basins. “Sprinkled it on the altar.” By this means the covenant blood was offered to Yahweh, and Yahweh was joined in the covenant. The chiasmus suggests that this was very much the offer to the Overlord of the covenant for His acceptance prior to it being sealed with His vassals. “Took the Book of the Covenant and read it.” The offer to the Overlord was followed by the solemn reading with a view to official acceptance by the people. The people then formally accepted it. “Sprinkled it on the people.” This applied the shed blood to the people, joining them in the covenant. It was ‘the blood of the covenant’. The blood sprinkled on the altar and the blood sprinkled on the people was to be seen as ‘one blood’. Both Yahweh and His people were now seen as conjoined in participation of the covenant. As ‘the blood of the covenant’ it probably signified both that death would result from gross disobedience to the covenant, and the application of the benefit of the covenant, in all its atoning aspects, to the people. It had also been sprinkled on the altar, joining Yahweh in the covenant, and purifying the altar. The pillars (Exodus 24:4) were also probably sprinkled as representing the whole of the people. They were the counterpart of the altar which was sprinkled representing Yahweh. The fact that the blood was sprinkled on the people should warn us against making extravagant claims as to what the sprinkling of blood before Yahweh signified. It certainly signified specific application to the person or persons involved, incorporating them within the covenant on pain of death, but without being specific as to the exact further significance. We can, however, be sure that the multiplicity of sacrifices (whole burnt offerings and peace offerings) included atonement, a making of peace, and an indication by the people of tribute offered to their Lord and king, and that it rendered the people acceptable before Yahweh. Blood was regularly shed in the making of covenants among many peoples, but different peoples and interpreters would see it in different ways. Comparative religion can be helpful in supplying ideas, but each nation saw its rites in its own way. In order to understand Israel’s we must look at what Israel said about its own rites, and here they centred on tribute, atonement and the making of peace between God and man. PULPIT, "Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. We may presume that they were miraculously brought to his remembrance by that Spirit of Truth which guided all the Prophets (2 Peter 1:21; John 14:26). Having written the words, he waited till the next day, and then rose up early and builded an altar, in preparation for the sacrifice without which no covenant was regarded as binding. And twelve pillars. Symbolical of the twelve tribes. Compare Joshua 4:3, Joshua 4:9, Joshua 4:20.
- 38. 5 Then hesent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. BAR ES, "Young men of the children of Israel - See Exo_19:22; Exo_28:1; Lev_1:5. Burnt offerings ... peace offerings - The burnt offerings Lev. 1 figured the dedication of the nation to Yahweh, and the peace offerings Lev. 3 their communion with Yahweh and with each other. CLARKE, "He sent young men - Stout, able, reputable young men, chosen out of the different tribes, for the purpose of killing, flaying, and offering the oxen mentioned here. Burnt-offerings - They generally consisted of sheep and goats, Lev_1:10. These were wholly consumed by fire. Peace-offerings - Bullocks or goats; see Heb_9:19. The blood of these was poured out before the Lord, and then the priests and people might feast on the flesh. GILL, "And he sent young men of the children Israel,.... To the altar under the hill he had these young men, according to Jarchi, were the firstborn of the children of Israel; and so the Targums Onkelos and Jonathan; and the latter adds,"for unto this hour the worship was among the firstborn, as yet the tabernacle of the covenant was not made, and as yet the priesthood was not given to Aaron.''But though this is a notion that has obtained among learned men, both Jews and Christians, it has been called in question by some, who have such reasons against it, as are not easily refuted. And very probably, as the seventy elders were such as were selected from the senior and graver part of the people, so these were choice young men, that were separated from others for this service, without any regard to birthright: which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord; by way of thankfulness; and such were used at making covenants, when the parties ate and drank together. The Vulgate Latin version has it, "twelve calves", without any authority for it.
- 39. HE RY, "Howit was sealed by the blood of the covenant, that Israel might receive strong consolations from the ratifying of God's promises to them, and might lie under strong obligations from the ratifying of their promises to God. Thus has Infinite Wisdom devised means that we may be confirmed both in our faith and in our obedience, may be both encouraged in our duty and engaged to it. The covenant must be made by sacrifice (Psa_50:5), because, since man has sinned, and forfeited his Creator's favour, there can be no fellowship by covenant till there be first friendship and atonement by sacrifice. (1.) In preparation therefore for the parties interchangeably putting their seals to this covenant, [1.] Moses builds an altar, to the honour of God, which was principally intended in all the altars that were built, and which was the first thing to be looked at in the covenant they were now to seal. No addition to the perfections of the divine nature can be made by any of God's dealings with the children of men, but in them his perfections are manifested and magnified, and his honour is shown forth; therefore he will not be represented by an altar, to signify that all he expected from them was that they should do him honour, and that, being his people, they should be to him for a name and a praise. [2.] He erects twelve pillars, according to the number of the tribes. These were to represent the people, the other party to the covenant; and we may suppose that they were set up against the altar, and that Moses, as mediator, passed to and fro between them. Probably each tribe set up and knew its own pillar, and their elders stood by it. [3.] He appointed sacrifices to be offered upon the altar (Exo_24:5), burnt- offerings and peace-offerings, which yet were designed to be expiatory. We are not concerned to enquire who these young men were that were employed in offering these sacrifices; for Moses was himself the priest, and what they did was purely as his servants, by his order and appointment. No doubt they were men who by their bodily strength were qualified for the service, and by their station among the people were fittest for the honour. JAMISO ,"young men — priests (Exo_19:22), probably the oldest sons of particular families, who acted under the direction of Moses. oxen — Other animals, though not mentioned, were offered in sacrifice (Heb_9:18- 20). K&D, "After the foundation and soil had been thus prepared in the place of sacrifice, for the fellowship which Jehovah was about to establish with His people; Moses sent young men of the children of Israel to prepare the sacrifices, and directed them to offer burnt-offering and sacrifice slain-offerings, viz., ים ִמ ָל ְ,שׁ “peace-offerings (see at Lev_3:1) for Jehovah,” for which purpose רים ָ , bullocks, or young oxen, were used. The young men were not first-born sons, who had officiated as priests previous to the institution of the Levitical priesthood, according to the natural right of primogeniture, as Onkelos supposes; nor were they the sons of Aaron, as Augustine maintains: they simply acted as servants of Moses; and the priestly duty of sprinkling the blood was performed by him as the mediator of the covenant. It is merely as young men, therefore, i.e., as strong and active, that they are introduced in this place, and not as representatives of the nation, “by whom the sacrifice was presented, and whose attitude resembled that of a youth just ready to enter upon his course” (Kurtz, O. C. iii. 143). For, as Oehler says, “this was not a sacrifice presented by the nation on its own account. The primary object was to establish that fellowship, by virtue of which it could draw near to Jehovah in sacrifice. Moreover, according to Exo_24:1 and Exo_24:9, the nation possessed its proper representatives in
- 40. the seventy elders”(Herzog's Cyclopaedia). But even though these sacrifices were not offered by the representatives of the nation, and for this very reason Moses selected young men from among the people to act as servants at this ceremony, they had so far a substitutionary position, that in their persons the nation was received into fellowship with God by means of the sprinkling of the blood, which was performed in a peculiar manner, to suit the unique design of this sacrificial ceremony. CALVI ,"5.And he sent young men of the children of Israel. He either means that they were the sacrificial attendants (victimarios,) by whose hands the victims were killed, or that some were chosen who might be active and strong to drag the oxen to the altar. The tribe of Levi was not yet consecrated; whereas the word used for “offering,” (310) is only applied to the priests, where a distinction is marked between the Levites and the rest of the people. The first meaning is, therefore, the most suitable. We have stated elsewhere that the (311) sacrifices of prosperities were designed as acts of thanksgiving; and yet that they were not only expressions of gratitude, but also that prayers were mixed with them in supplication of good success. This offering, however, comprised in it a ratification of the Covenant, as appears immediately afterwards; for, in order to increase the sanctity and security of covenants, they have in all ages, and even (312) amongst heathen nations, been accompanied with sacrifices. To this end Moses, the victims being slain, pours half the blood upon the altar, and keeps half in basins to sprinkle the people, that by this (313) symbol the Covenant might be ratified, whereof he was the mediator and surety. Paul, in allusion to this custom, says, that he should rejoice, if he were “offered upon the sacrifice and service of their faith” whom he had gained for Christ, ( Philippians 2:17;) and he uses the word σπένδεσθαι, which (314) is primarily applied to covenants. But the case of this sacrifice was peculiar; for God desired the Jews to be reminded of the one solid confirmation of the Covenant, which He made with them; as if He had openly shown that it would then only be ratified and effectual, when it should be sealed with blood. And this the Apostle ( Hebrews 9:19) carefully takes into consideration, when he says, that after the Law had been declared, Moses “sprinkled both the book and all the people” with blood; for, although there is no express mention here made of the book, the Apostle does not unreasonably comprise it under the word “altar.” He also alludes to another kind of sacrifice, treated of in umbers 19:5, and therefore mentions “the scarlet- wool and hyssop.” The sum is, that the blood was, as it were, the medium whereby the covenant was confirmed and established, since the altar, as the sacred seat of God, was bathed with half of it, and then the residue was sprinkled over the people. Hence we gather that the covenant of gratuitous adoption was made with the ancient people unto eternal salvation, since it was sealed with the blood of Christ in type and shadow. ow, if this doctrine hold good under the Law, much more must it occupy a place with us now; and hence, in order that God’s promises may always maintain their power and certainty, let this sealing be constantly kept before us; and let us remember that the blood of Christ has therefore once been shed, that it might engrave upon our hearts the covenant whereby we are called to the hope of the
- 41. kingdom of heaven.For this reason Christ in the Holy Supper commends His blood as the seal of the ew Covenant; nay, whenever we take the sacred books into our hands, the blood of Christ, ought to occur to our minds, as if the whole (315) of its sacred instruction were written therewith; for it is obvious that Christ compares with the figure the truth which was manifested in Himself; to which also the admonition of the Apostle, which I have just quoted, refers. We must now carefully observe the course of the proceeding. First, Moses states that he read the book before the people; and then adds that the people themselves embraced the covenant proposed to them. Finally, he relates that when the people had professed their obedience, he sprinkled the blood, not without adding his testimony, and that in a loud voice. The context here shews us the true and genuine nature of the Sacraments, together with their correct and proper use; for unless doctrine precede them to be a connecting link between God and man, they will be empty and delusive signs, however honorable may be the encomiums passed on them. But inasmuch as mutual consent is required in all compacts, so, when God invites His people to receive grace, He stipulates that they should give Him the obedience of faith, so as to answer, Amen. Thus nothing can be more preposterous than the invention of dumb sacraments: such as those childish charms which the Papists hawk about as sacraments, without the word of God; whilst, at the same time, it must be added that the word, which gives life to the Sacraments, is not an obscure whisper, like that magical incantation of the Papists, when they blow on the bread and the cup, and which they call the consecration; but it is a clear and distinct voice which is addressed to men, and avails to beget faith in them. Thus Moses here speaks aloud to the people, and reminds them that God enters into covenant with him. ow, although the profession here recorded might seem to be derived from too great confidence, when the people declare that they will do whatsoever God commands, still it contains nothing amiss or reprehensible; inasmuch as the faithful among them promised nothing, except in reliance on the help of God: and gratuitous reconciliation, if they should sin, was included in it. This was not indeed the proper office of the Law, to incline men’s hearts to the obedience of righteousness; as also under the Law there was no true and real expiation to wash away the guilt of sins; but the office of the Law was to lead men step by step to Christ, that they might seek of Him pardon and the Spirit of regeneration. It is, therefore, unquestionable that the elect of God embraced by faith the substance and truth of the shadows when they voluntarily offered themselves to keep the covenant of God. 9.Then went up Moses and Aaron, adab and Abihu. Thus it is that I connect the history: Moses, having finished reading the Law, and having sprinkled the blood, took with him the companions pointed out to him by God, and having left the people, went with these some way up the mountain. I have thought it well slightly to touch upon this, because some translators render the verb improperly in the pluperfect tense, as if he and the elders had already before (316) been separated from the people; but this is very absurd, for it was necessary for him to remain in the plain, in order to address the people.
- 42. There the gloryof God was beheld more closely by the elders, that they might afterwards relate to the people what they had seen, and that thus the thing, being proved by competent witnesses, might obtain undoubted credit. For this reason he says, that “they saw the God of Israel,” not in all His reality and greatness, but in accordance with the dispensation which He thought best, and which he accommodated to the capacity of man. The form of God is indeed nowhere described, but the pediment ( basis) on which He stood was like a work of sapphire. (317) The word ,לבנת libnath, some translate stone, others whiteness, others brick. Whichever sense it is preferred to take it in, but little affects the main point in the matter; for the color of a sapphire was presented to them, to elevate their minds by its brightness above the world; and therefore it is immediately added, that its appearance was as of the clear and serene sky. By this symbol they were reminded that the glory of God is above all heavens; and since in His very footstool there is such exquisite and surpassing beauty, something still more sublime must be thought of Himself, and such as would ravish all our senses with admiration. Thus the throne of God was shewn to Ezekiel “as the appearance of a sapphire-stone.” ( Ezekiel 1:26.) Finally, on the footstool Infinite Majesty appeared, such as to strike the elders with astonishment, so that they might humble themselves with greater reverence before the incomprehensible glory of God. “The Hebrews, (says Willet, in loco,) whom Lyranus and Lippoman follow, — in that the pavement or brick-work was like sapphire, — understand the happy change which was now made for Israel: their servitude in making of brick was turned into glorious liberty, as if a floor should be paved with sapphire instead of brick!” BE SO , "Exodus 24:5. He sent young men — So also the Septuagint, τους νεανισκους: but the Chaldee renders it, the firstborn. The firstborn were priests in every family; but, among the Israelites, they were afterward redeemed, and the tribe of Levi given to God in their stead, for his service. But the Hebrew word ,נערי nagnarei, here used, signifies active as well as young, and as these persons were employed in slaying and offering up the oxen, strength and activity were necessary. As Moses himself performed the principal office of the priest, (Exodus 24:6,) it cannot be concluded from this passage that these young men were priests. But it is worthy of observation, that even after the appointment of Aaron’s family to the priesthood, no man was permitted to serve at the altar after the age of fifty, see umbers 8:25 . COFFMA , "Verse 5-6 "And he sent young men of the children of lsrael, who offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace-offerings of oxen unto Jehovah. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar." We shall not enter into the question of whether or not these young men were the
- 43. first-born, or otherdistinguished members of the community, for we simply are not told. Apparently, their choice was due to their youth and strength, important considerations in the size of such a sacrifice as this. They did not participate in any way in the ceremony, Moses officiating as the great priest and mediator who, as a type of Jesus Christ, sprinkled the blood. ote that the blood was sprinkled, not merely upon the altar, but upon the people also. Thus, Christ offered his blood in heaven as an atonement once for all for the sins of mankind, and yet, it is that same blood of Christ by which the hearts of all true believers are "sprinkled" (Hebrews 10:19-22). "Burnt offerings, and peace offerings ..." The multiple sacrifices were not only numerous, but of various kinds. Although sin-offering is not specifically mentioned here, there was nevertheless inherent in all sacrifices, especially of blood sacrifices, the admission of human sin and guilt. It was therefore appropriate that prior to the blood-rite confirming the covenant these offerings acknowledging the sins of Israel should have been offered. Esses even affirmed that "Because there was sin in Israel, the sin offering had to be made before the burnt offering."[12] Certainly, we must reject the notion that "They were a redeemed people, "[13] and therefore did not need to offer a sin offering! "Half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar ..." This was the first of the double sprinkling, the other being related in the next verses. COKE, "Verse 5 Exodus 24:5. And he sent young men— The Chaldee renders it the first-born; with which agrees the Arabic translation of R. Saadiah and the Persian of Tauasius. The first-born were priests in every family; but, among the Israelites, they were afterwards redeemed, and the whole tribe of Levi, in their stead, given to God, for his service. The Hebrew word נערי naarei, signifies as well those who were active and fit for service, as young in years; and hence Joshua, Moses's minister, and other servants, are often called נערי naarei; see ch. Exodus 33:11. Genesis 14:24; Genesis 22:3. 1 Kings 20:14 and, indeed, as these young men were employed in slaying and offering up the oxen, strength and activity were necessary. Moses himself, however, performed the high and peculiar office of the priest, Exodus 24:6 so that it cannot be concluded from the word, that these young men were priests: but it should be observed, that, even after the appointment of Aaron's family to the priesthood, no man was permitted to serve at the altar after the age of fifty. See umbers 8:25. In the same manner, among the heathens, young men were employed to lead the sacrifices to the altar, and, no doubt, to perform laborious offices. These, according to the Divine law, any one might perform; but no one was allowed to sprinkle the blood, save only the priest: see Leviticus 3:2; Leviticus 4:24-25. ELLICOTT, "(5) Young men . . . which offered burnt offerings.—It is to be noted that, even subsequently to the appointment of the Levitical priesthood, the acts of slaughtering the victims and arranging the flesh upon the altar were regarded as appropriately per formed by any Israelite (Leviticus 1:5-6; Leviticus 1:11-12, &c). The sprinkling of the blood and the lighting of the fire were the special sacrificial
- 44. acts reserved tothe priest (Leviticus 1:5; Leviticus 1:7; Leviticus 1:11; Leviticus 1:13). At this time, before the Levitical priest hood had been instituted, the sprinkling of the blood would seem to have been the sole act reserved. Young men were employed to slay the animals as best qualified by their strength to deal with them. Burnt offerings . . . peace offerings.—Burnt offerings were at once expiatory and signs of self-dedication. Peace offerings were indications of man’s gratitude for mercies received. Both were now offered together, to mark (1) Israel’s thankfulness for being taken into covenant, and (2) Israel’s determination to consecrate itself wholly to the service of God. PULPIT, "And he sent young men. The Levitical priesthood not being as vet instituted, either all the people were regarded as holy, and so any one might offer sacrifice, or the "young men" selected may have been of the number of the first- born, who were priests in their respective families until the appointment of Aaron and his sons to be priests of the nation (Exodus 28:1). o doubt young men were selected as most competent to deal with struggling animals. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. GILL, "And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins,.... Half of the blood of the above sacrifices, this he put into basins, and set by, in order to sprinkle on the people: and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar; the Targum of Onkelos adds, to atone for the people. But the altar here seems to represent the Lord, who was one of the parties covenanting, and therefore is sprinkled with blood as a ratification of the covenant on his part, and the promises of it. HE RY 6-8, "Preparation being thus made, the ratifications were very solemnly exchanged. [1.] The blood of the sacrifice which the people offered was (part of it) sprinkled upon the altar (Exo_24:6), which signifies the people's dedicating themselves, their lives, and beings, to God, and to his honour. In the blood (which is the life) of the dead sacrifices all the Israelites were presented unto God as living sacrifices, Rom_12:1. [2.] The blood of the sacrifice which God had owned and accepted was (the remainder of
- 45. it) sprinkled eitherupon the people themselves (Exo_24:8) or upon the pillars that represented them, which signified God's graciously conferring his favour upon them and all the fruits of that favour, and his giving them all the gifts they could expect or desire from a God reconciled to them and in covenant with them by sacrifice. This part of the ceremony was thus explained: “Behold the blood of the covenant; see here how God has sealed to you to be a people; his promises to you, and yours to him, are both yea and amen.” Thus our Lord Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant (of whom Moses was a type), having offered up himself a sacrifice upon the cross, that his blood might be indeed the blood of the covenant, sprinkled it upon the altar in his intercession (Heb_ 9:12), and sprinkles it upon his church by his word and ordinances and the influences and operations of the Spirit of promise, by whom we are sealed. He himself seemed to allude to this solemnity when, in the institution of the Lord's supper, he said, This cup is the New Testament (or covenant) in my blood. Compare with this, Heb_9:19, Heb_ 9:20. JAMISO ,"Moses took half of the blood ... sprinkled — Preliminary to this was the public reading of the law and the renewed acceptance of the terms by the people; then the sprinkling of the blood was the sign of solemn ratification - half on each party in the transaction. K&D 6-8, "The blood was divided into two parts. One half was swung by Moses upon the altar (ק ַרָז to swing, shake, or pour out of the vessel, in distinction from הָ ִה to sprinkle) the other half he put into basins, and after he had read the book of the covenant to the people, and they had promised to do and follow all the words of Jehovah, he sprinkled it upon the people with these words: “Behold the blood of the covenant, which Jehovah has made with you over all these words.” As several animals were slaughtered, and all of them young oxen, there must have been a considerable quantity of blood obtained, so that the one half would fill several basins, and many persons might be sprinkled with it as it was being swung about. The division of the blood had reference to the two parties to the covenant, who were to be brought by the covenant into a living unity; but it had no connection whatever with the heathen customs adduced by Bähr and Knobel, in which the parties to a treaty mixed their own blood together. For this was not a mixture of different kinds of blood, but it was a division of one blood, and that sacrificial blood, in which animal life was offered instead of human life, making expiation as a pure life for sinful man, and by virtue of this expiation restoring the fellowship between God and man which had been destroyed by sin. But the sacrificial blood itself only acquired this signification through the sprinkling or swinging upon the altar, by virtue of which the human soul was received, in the soul of the animal sacrificed for man, into the fellowship of the divine grace manifested upon the altar, in order that, through the power of this sin-forgiving and sin-destroying grace, it might be sanctified to a new and holy life. In this way the sacrificial blood acquired the signification of a vital principle endued with the power of divine grace; and this was communicated to the people by means of the sprinkling of the blood. As the only reason for dividing the sacrificial blood into two parts was, that the blood sprinkled upon the altar could not be taken off again and sprinkled upon the people; the two halves of the blood are to be regarded as one blood, which was first of all sprinkled upon the altar, and then upon the people. In the blood sprinkled upon the altar, the natural life of the people was given up
- 46. to God, asa life that had passed through death, to be pervaded by His grace; and then through the sprinkling upon the people it was restored to them again, as a life renewed by the grace of God. In this way the blood not only became a bond of union between Jehovah and His people, but as the blood of the covenant, it became a vital power, holy and divine, uniting Israel and its God; and the sprinkling of the people with this blood was an actual renewal of life, a transposition of Israel into the kingdom of God, in which it was filled with the powers of God's spirit of grace, and sanctified into a kingdom of priests, a holy nation of Jehovah (Exo_19:6). And this covenant was made “upon all the words” which Jehovah had spoken, and the people had promised to observe. Consequently it had for its foundation the divine law and right, as the rule of life for Israel. BE SO , "Exodus 24:6. 1st, The blood of the sacrifice which the people offered, was (part of it) sprinkled upon the altar — Which signified the people’s dedicating themselves to God, and his honour. In the blood of the sacrifices, all the Israelites were presented unto God as living sacrifices, Romans 12:1. 2d, The blood of the sacrifice which God owned and accepted was (the remainder of it) sprinkled, either upon the people themselves, or upon the pillars that represented them, which signified God’s conferring his favour upon them, and all the fruits of that favour, and his giving them all the gifts they could desire from a God reconciled to them, and in covenant with them. Thus our Lord Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, (of whom Moses was a type,) having offered up himself a sacrifice upon the cross, that his blood might be indeed the blood of the covenant, sprinkles it upon the altar in his intercession, (Hebrews 9:12,) and sprinkles it upon his church by his word and ordinance, and operations of the Spirit of promise, by whom we are sealed to be to him a people. COKE, "Exodus 24:6. Half of the blood be sprinkled on the altar— Expressive of God's acceptance and ratification of the covenant; the other half he sprinkled, Exodus 24:8 on the people; i.e. either on the people themselves, or, most probably, on the twelve pillars, representative of the people. It is to be observed, that their engagement in this covenant was to be a matter of free choice, Exodus 24:7. God, in his dealings with men, always treats them as a people endowed with the power of election. The apostle to the Hebrews fully informs us, that this method of covenanting by blood, had constant allusion to that great covenant by the blood of CHRIST, which all the blood shed in sacrifices from the foundation of the world prefigured; see Hebrews 9:18; Hebrews 9:28. REFLECTIO S.—Moses is now dismissed to carry down the ordinances, and bring back with him seventy of the elders of Israel, to behold the glory of God, and confirm the people in their obedience. They must come and worship in the Mount, but far off: Moses alone must come near. ote; Every believer must ascend into the mount of prayer, to see God's glory; and we may now boldly draw nigh through our Mediator Jesus Christ: this honour have all his saints. Moses, hereupon, 1. Comes down, rehearses, and writes in a book, for standing use, these ordinances.
- 47. The people solemnlyconsent to them. It was as much their interest as duty so to do. ote; Many are convinced of their duty, and hastily resolve to follow it; but going forth in their own strength, they quickly fail in their promises, and forget their vows. 2. A solemn covenant is made between God and Israel, Moses being mediator. An altar stands for Jehovah, and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes. Sacrifices are offered; for without an atonement, there can be no intercourse between God and sinners: and the blood sprinkled, partly upon the altar, partly upon the people, signified the sealing and ratification of the terms agreed upon. ote; Christ is the true sacrifice which makes peace between God and us: his blood confirms the covenant of grace. He sprinkles it on our consciences by faith, and as our High Priest appears with it before the altar of God in heaven, at all times to plead that covenant of redemption, which he has on our behalf fulfilled by his obedience unto death, even the death of the cross. SIMEO , "GOD’S COVE A T WITH ISRAEL Exodus 24:6-8. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words. OF such terrible majesty is God, that none could behold his face and live. Even in his most condescending intercourse with men, he has made them to feel, that he is “a God greatly to be feared, and to be had in reverence of all them that are round about him.” When he descended on Mount Sinai, to proclaim his law, all the people of Israel entreated that he would not speak to them any more, except through the intervention of a Mediator. He was graciously pleased to make further communications to his people, and to enter into a covenant with them: but here a select number only were permitted to approach him, and of them none but Moses was suffered to “come near unto him.” The covenant which he made with them, is the subject now before us: and we shall consider it in a two-fold view: I. As made with Israel— An altar being built, together with twelve pillars, the one to represent Jehovah, and the other the twelve tribes of Israel, the covenant was, 1. Made— [God, as the author of that covenant, declared by Moses the terms on which he would acknowledge Israel as his peculiar people. Moses had written In a book the
- 48. laws which Godhad made known to him, the moral, the ceremonial, the judicial; and all these he read in the audience of the people. To these, in the name of God, he required a cheerful and uniform obedience: and, upon their obedience to these, God promised on his part to favour them with his continued protection, and with the ultimate and peaceful enjoyment of the promised land. Thus was care taken that they should know to what they were to subscribe, and that their future welfare depended on their fidelity to their own engagements. The people on their part gave their consent to the terms prescribed: and this they did in the most solemn manner. In declaring their acceptance of the covenant they were unanimous, cordial, unreserved. There was not one dissentient voice. They had repeatedly before engaged to do whatever the Lord should enjoin [ ote: Exodus 19:8; Exodus 24:3.]: but here they do it with additional force and emphasis [ ote: “We will do, and be obedient.”]. or do they make the least exception to any one thing as burthensome or oppressive. In the most unqualified manner they bind themselves to a perfect and perpetual obedience; “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.”] 2. Ratified— [From the very time that God first set apart Abraham to be the progenitor of his peculiar people to the time when that people were carried captive to Babylon, it seems to have been customary to confirm covenants by sacrifices; which, when slain, were divided into parts placed opposite to each other; and then the parties covenanting passed between those parts, and thereby pledged themselves to a faithful observance of the covenant [ ote: In Abraham’s time, Genesis 15:9-10; Genesis 15:17; in David’s, Psalms 50:5; in Jeremiah’s, Jeremiah 34:18-20. A similar custom obtained also among the Greeks.]. But in this instance solemnities were used, which shewed that the sacrifices were essential to the covenant itself. God could not enter into covenant with sinners till an atonement had been offered for their sins. And now that this atonement was offered, one half of the blood of the sacrifices was poured upon the altar, to evince that God was reconciled to them; and the remainder was sprinkled upon the book and upon the people, in order to seal upon their hearts and consciences his pardoning love, and to remind them, that all their hope in that covenant depended on the blood of atonement with which it was sprinkled.] After having duly considered this covenant as made with Israel, it will be proper to view it, II. As typifying that under which we live— That it was a type of the Christian covenant we are sure, because St. Paul quotes the very words of our text, to prove that the death of Christ was necessary to give efficacy to his mediation, and to secure to us the blessings of his covenant [ ote: Hebrews 9:17-19.]. He mentions also some additional circumstances not related in the history: but of them we forbear to speak, that our attention may be confined to
- 49. the point immediatelybefore us. The connexion between the two is that which we assert, and which we wish to illustrate. Let us then return to the covenant made with Israel, and notice more particularly, 1. The nature of it— [The covenant made with Israel was a mixed covenant; partly legal, for it contained the law of the ten commandments delivered on Mount Sinai; partly evangelical, for it comprehended many ceremonial institutions whereby the people were to obtain remission of their sins; and partly national, because it comprised many civil restrictions which were peculiar to that people. But the covenant under which we are, is purely evangelical, having not the smallest mixture of any thing else with it. Our covenant does not prescribe laws, by obedience to which we are to obtain mercy; but offers mercy freely as the gift of God through Christ, and promises grace, whereby we shall be enabled to fulfil the will of God. Sanctification is not required of us as a ground for our justification, but is promised to us as a fruit and evidence of our justification. In this covenant we are not to obey in order that God may give, but to obey because he has given, and will give. We are not first to give to God that he may afterwards give to us; but he gives all, and we receive all.] 2. The ratification of it— [The blood of sprinkling used by Moses was a mere shadow; it had of itself no value whatever: it could neither satisfy the justice of God, nor bring peace into the consciences of men. But the blood with which our covenant is ratified is called “the blood of God [ ote: Acts 20:28.],” because it was the blood of Him who was God as well as man. That blood has indeed an efficacy that transcends all conception. It has reconciled God to a guilty world: and, when sprinkled on the hearts of men by faith, it fills them with “a peace which passeth all understanding.” And as Moses, in the quality of God’s high-priest, sprinkled the blood both upon the altar and the people, so does our “great High-Priest,” the Lord Jesus, now sprinkle his blood for us before the throne of God, and sprinkle it also on our hearts, whensoever we go to him for that purpose. The covenant too itself is continually exhibited to us as sprinkled with his blood; so that we may be certain that God will fulfil it to us in all its parts. If only we accept it, and rely upon it, all its blessings shall be ours, both in time and in eternity.] 3. The acceptance of it— [There was much in the people’s acceptance of that covenant worthy of our imitation: but there was also much which it becomes us carefully to avoid. In the first place, guard against their ignorance. They were evidently not acquainted with the requisitions of the covenant to which they subscribed. They heard its contents read to them indeed; but they did not enter into their full meaning, neither had they duly considered them. Let not this be the case with us, lest we “begin to build without counting the cost.” Let us consider that it requires us to receive every
- 50. thing as personswholly destitute, and to receive it in every part without the smallest partiality or reserve. Let us remember, that though it does not require holiness as a meritorious condition of our acceptance. it promises holiness as one of its chief blessings [ ote: Ezekiel 36:25-27.]: and that, if we do not desire, and strive, to be “holy as God is holy,” and “perfect as God is perfect,” all our professed hope in the covenant is vain and delusive. We can no more be saved by the covenant without holiness, than we can without faith. Let this be known, and weighed, yea and be wrought into the soul as a fixed principle, before we presume to think that we have any interest in Christ, or in the covenant which he has sealed with his blood. In the next place, guard against their self-righteousness. They imagined that they could so fulfil their obligations as to earn and merit all the blessings of the covenant. Let not us make so fatal a mistake. Let us rather acknowledge, that “if we had done all that is commanded us, we should be only unprofitable servants.” But who will say that he has done all that is commanded him, or indeed any one thing, in which God could not discern some imperfection and defect? If this be so, then do we need mercy and forgiveness even for our best actions; and consequently can never merit by them the salvation of God. Let this then be also engrafted in our minds, that we may be accepted with the publican, and not be rejected with the Pharisee. Lastly, let us guard against their self-dependence. They never doubted but that they were able to do all that was commanded them. They thought it was as easy to perform as to promise. But in a very few days they provoked God to jealousy with their golden calf: so little did they remember the precepts that had been given them, or the vows that were upon them. Let it not be so with us. Let us bear in mind, “we have not of ourselves a sufficiency even to think a good thought;” and that “without Christ we can do nothing.” If we embrace the covenant as they embraced it, we shall fail as they failed.] We cannot better conclude this subject than by addressing you as Moses addressed the Israelites: “Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you,”—or, as St. Paul quotes the words, “the covenant which God hath enjoined unto you!” 1. Behold the covenant itself— [It is “ordered in all things and sure:” there is not a want which a human being can feel, for which ample provision is not made in it. And it is free for every creature under heaven. Whatever you may have been in times past, you may at this moment partake of all the blessings of this covenant, if only you be willing to receive them freely, and without reserve. On the other hand, if you disregard this covenant, and “count the blood of it an unholy thing,” “there remains no other sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation to consume you.” God has shut you up to this, and enjoined it unto you by an irreversible decree. Receive it therefore, and live; reject it, and perish.] 2. Behold the blood of the covenant—
- 51. [What instruction doesthat blood convey! Did the Israelites see their bleeding sacrifices, and not discern the desert of sin? How much more then must we discern it in the precious blood of our incarnate God! And surely we may also see in it the transcendent love of Christ, who submitted to “make his soul an offering for sin,” that, the covenant being sealed with his blood, we might be partakers of its richest blessings. What comfort too does it convey to the soul! Look on that blood, thou doubting Christian, and then say whether God will not fulfil all the promises that he has ever made: say whether, in such a mode of ratifying his covenant he has not provided “strong consolation for all who flee to the refuge set before them” in the Gospel. Finally, What a stimulus does it give to all holy and heavenly affections! Shall not that question be continually upon thy mind, “What shall I render unto the Lord?” Look on that blood, and grudge God your services, if ye can. Think much of any duties you can perform, or of any sufferings you can endure for him, if ye can. Only keep your eye fixed upon that blood, and you shall be irresistibly constrained to exult and glory in God, and to consecrate unto him all the faculties and powers of your souls.] PULPIT, "Moses took half of the blood. The blood, which symbolised the life of the victim, was the essential part of every sacrifice, and was usually poured over the altar, or at any rate sprinkled upon it, as the very crowning act of offering. (See Le Exodus 1:5; Exodus 3:8; etc.) On this occasion Moses retained half of the blood, and put it in basins, for the purpose of so uniting all the people in the sacrifice, and thereby the more solemnly pledging them to the covenant, which the sacrifice at once consecrated and consummated. (See Hebrews 9:18-20.) The other half of the blood was, according to the usual practice, sprinkled upon the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” BAR ES, "The book of the covenant - See Exo_20:22 note. The people had to
- 52. repeat their assentto the book of the covenant before the blood was thrown upon them. Compare 2Ki_23:2, 2Ki_23:21; 2Ch_34:30. CLARKE, "The book of the covenant - The writing containing the laws mentioned in the three preceding chapters. As this writing contained the agreement made between God and them, it was called the book of the covenant; but as no covenant was considered to be ratified and binding till a sacrifice had been offered on the occasion, hence the necessity of the sacrifices mentioned here. 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. God was bound to the People to support, defend, and save them; the People were bound to God to fear, love, and serve him. On the ancient method of making covenants, see Clarke on Gen_ 6:18 (note); and see Clarke on Gen_15:18 (note). Thus the blood of the new covenant was necessary to propitiate the throne of justice on the one hand, and to reconcile men to God on the other. On the nature and various kinds of the Jewish offerings, see Clarke’s note on Lev_7:1, etc. GILL, "And he took the book of the covenant,.... Which contained the words of the Lord he is said to write, Exo_24:4, and consisted both of laws and judgments required of the people, and to which they had given their assent, and promised obedience to; and of promises made by the Lord of sending his angel before them to guide them in the way, and bring them to Canaan, and to drive the Canaanites from thence, and put the Israelites into the possession of it; so that here were promises on both sides, a restipulation of parties, which made a formal covenant: and read in the audience of the people; he had rehearsed what was contained in it from his memory, by word of mouth, to which they had assented, Exo_24:3 and having written the same in a book, he read it to them distinctly, that they might the better take notice of the contents of it: and they said, all that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient; which is a repetition and confirmation of what they had before said, and is expressed in stronger terms; so that this was not done suddenly and inconsiderately, and yet they seem not to be so well apprised of their own inability to keep the laws of God, and of the treachery of their own hearts as to their regard to them; see Deu_5:28. COFFMA ,"Verse 7-8 "And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that Jehovah hath spoken we will do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which Jehovah hath made with you concerning all these words." "All that Jehovah hath spoken we will do ..." This reaffirmation on the peoples' part that they would indeed obey the word of God followed the reading of the Book of the Covenant in their hearing by Moses himself. "This was Israel's third promise to obey. See Exodus 19:8; 24:3; and Exodus 23:22.[14]
- 53. "And Moses tookthe blood ... and sprinkled it on the people ..." ote that none was sprinkled on the pillars. This double blood-sprinkling was the establishment of the covenant, the covenant being specifically mentioned in connection with the ceremony itself: "This is the blood of the Covenant!" (Exodus 24:8). Significantly, Jesus Christ himself on the night in which he was betrayed instituted the Lord's Supper, saying, "This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many unto the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28). Thus, Jesus Christ himself made the blood-shedding to be the establishment of the ew Covenant, indicating at the same time that it was the blood-shedding here that established the Old Covenant. This was not part of it, but ALL of it. The fellowship meal mentioned later only celebrated a past event that was already accomplished. Why was the covenant established in blood? Many reasons could be given, but here are a few: (1) it stressed the serious, even fatal, nature of sin, in that only blood, indicating death, could cleanse it; (2) particularly, it was a type of the sacrifice of Christ "for the sins of the whole world"; (3) in God's view of a covenant, "Before it could be in force, a death must have occurred (Hebrews 9:15-17)."[15] (4) ot even the first covenant was dedicated without blood (Hebrews 9:18). (5) This also constituted a reminder that death was the penalty of breaking the covenant. (6) It symbolized the unity between God and Israel, since the same blood was sprinkled upon both, upon God in a figure, at the altar, and upon the people also (Exodus 24:7). (7) "The blood symbolizes the grace of God in man's redemption.[16] ELLICOTT, "(7) The book of the covenant—i.e., the book which he had written overnight, the collection of laws and promises which we have in Exodus 20:22 to Exodus 23:33. In the audience of the people.—Heb., in the ears of the people. And they said.—Having heard the ipsissima verba spoken by God to Moses, they repeated their previous acceptance (see Exodus 24:3), adding a general promise of obedience. PULPIT, "And he took the Book of the Covenant. In this book we have the germ of
- 54. the Holy Scriptures—thefirst "book" actually mentioned as written in the narrative of the Bible. Genesis may contain other older documents, inserted by Moses, under the sanction of the Holy Spirit, in his compilation. But his own composition, if we except the burst of poesy called forth by the passage of the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1- 18), would seem to have commenced with "the Book of the Covenant." Upon this nucleus the rest of the law was based; and it was to explain and enforce the law that Moses composed the Pentateuch. In the audience of the people, Literally, "in the ears of the people," which is equally intelligible, and more graphic. And they said, etc The people made the same answer as before (verse 3), adding a general promise of obedience to all that God might command in future. 8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” BAR ES, "The blood which sealed the covenant was the blood of burnt offerings and peace offerings. The sin-offering Lev. 4 had not yet been instituted. That more complicated view of human nature which gave to the sin-offering its meaning, had yet to be developed by the law, which was now only receiving its ratification. The covenant between Yahweh and His people therefore took precedence of the operation of the law, by which came the knowledge of sin. Rom_3:20. Upon the people - Either upon the elders or those who stood foremost; or, upon the twelve pillars representing the Twelve tribes, as the first half had been cast upon the altar, which witnessed to the presence of Yahweh. The blood thus divided between the two parties to the covenant signified the sacramental union between the Lord and His people. Cf. Psa_50:5; Zec_9:11. GILL, "And Moses took the blood,.... The other half of the blood which was in the basins: and sprinkled it on the people; not on the whole body of the people, who could not be brought nigh enough, and were too numerous to be all sprinkled with it; though the apostle so expresses it, a part being put for the whole, Heb_9:19 either this was sprinkled on the young men that offered the sacrifices in the name of all the people; or on the seventy elders, as the heads of them, so Aben Ezra; or upon the twelve pillars,
- 55. which answered tothe twelve tribes, and represented them as the altar did the Lord: and said, behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words; being a ratification of the covenant on both sides, having been sprinkled both upon the altar, and upon the people. In allusion to which, the blood of Christ is sometimes called the blood of sprinkling, and which, sprinkled upon the mercy seat, calls for pardon for men; and sprinkled on their consciences, speaks peace and pardon to them, and cleanses from all sin; and sometimes the blood of the everlasting covenant, the covenant of grace made with him, by which it is ratified and confirmed; and our Lord may have regard to this rite and mode of expression in Mat_26:28. JAMISO ,"Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people — probably on the twelve pillars, as representing the people (also the book, Heb_9:19), and the act was accompanied by a public proclamation of its import. It was setting their seal to the covenant (compare 1Co_11:25). It must have been a deeply impressive, as well as instructive scene, for it taught the Israelites that the covenant was made with them only through the sprinkling of blood - that the divine acceptance of themselves and services, was only by virtue of an atoning sacrifice, and that even the blessings of the national covenant were promised and secured to them only through grace. The ceremonial, however, had a further and higher significance, as is shown by the apostle (see as above [Heb_9:19-28]). ELLICOTT, "(8) And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it . . . —Half of the blood had been sprinkled upon the altar, which symbolised Jehovah; the other half was now sprinkled upon the people, or rather upon their representatives—the elders and others who stood nearest to Moses. Thus the two parties to the covenant, sprinkled with the blood of the same sacrifices, were brought into sacramental union. Rites somewhat similar, involving blood communion, were common throughout the East in connection with covenants (Horn. Il. iii. 298, xix. 252; Herod. I. 74, iii. 8, iv. 70; Xen. Anab. ii. 2, § 9; Lucian. Toxar. 37; Pomp. Mel. ii. 1; Tac. Ann. xii. 47; &c), and were regarded as adding to their force and sacredness. On the people.—It has been suggested (Abarbarnel) that the blood was really sprinkled on the twelve pillars which represented the people; but the words used scarcely seem to admit of such an interpretation. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews understood the passage as declaring that the people were sprinkled (Hebrews 9:19). PULPIT, "Moses then proceeded to the final act—He took the blood from the basins, and sprinkled it—not certainly upon all the people, who numbered above two millions—but upon their leaders and representatives, the "elders" and other chief men, drawn up at the head of each tribe, and thus brought within his reach. It has been supposed by some that he merely sprinkled the blood on the twelve pillars, as representing the twelve tribes; but, had this been the case, the expression in the text would probably have been different. We read, in the Epistle to the Hebrews,
- 56. that he "sprinkledboth the book, and all the people" (Hebrews 9:19). As he sprinkled, he said, Behold the blood of the covenant, etc. It was a common practice among the nations of antiquity to seal covenants with blood. Sometimes the blood was that of a victim, and the two parties to the covenant prayed, that, if they broke it, his fate might be theirs (Hom. 1l. 3.298; 19.252; Le 1:24; 21:45; etc.). Sometimes it was the blood of the two parties themselves, who each drank of the other's blood, and thereby contracted a blood-relationship, which would have made their breaking the covenant more unpardonable (Herod. 1.74; 4.70; Tacit. Ann. 12.47). Moses seems to have followed neither practice at all closely, but, adopting simply the principle that a covenant required to be sealed with blood, to have arranged the details as he thought best. By the sprinkling of both the altar and the people the two parties to the covenant were made partakers of one and the same blood, and so brought into a sort of sacramental union. 9 Moses and Aaron, adab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up BAR ES, "It would appear that Moses, Aaron with his two sons, and seventy of the elders Exo_19:7 went a short distance up the mountain to eat the meal of the covenant (compare Gen_31:43-47), which must have consisted of the flesh of the peace offerings Exo_24:5. Joshua accompanied Moses as his servant Exo_24:13. GILL, "Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,.... After the above things were done, the words of the Lord were told the people, and the book of the covenant read unto them, to which they agreed, sacrifices were offered, and the blood of them sprinkled on the altar, and on the people. The Samaritan version adds to these, Eleazar and Ithamar, the two younger sons of Aaron: and seventy of the elders of Israel, who were called up to the mountain to the Lord, Exo_24:1. HE RY 9-11. "The people having, besides their submission to the ceremony of the sprinkling of blood, declared their well-pleasedness in their God and his law, again and again, God here gives to their representatives some special tokens of his favour to them (for God meets him that rejoices and works righteousness), and admits them nearer to him than they could have expected. Thus, in the New Testament church, we find the four living creatures, and the four and twenty elders, honoured with places round the throne, being redeemed unto God by the blood of the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne, Rev_4:4, Rev_4:6; Rev_5:8, Rev_5:9. Observe, 1. They saw the God of Israel
- 57. (Exo_24:10), that is,they had some glimpse of his glory, in light and fire, though they saw no manner of similitude, and his being no man hath seen nor can see, 1Ti_6:16. They saw the place where the God of Israel stood (so the Septuagint), something that came near a similitude, but was not; whatever they saw, it was certainly something of which no image nor picture could be made, and yet enough to satisfy them that God was with them of a truth. Nothing is described but that which was under his feet; for our conceptions of God are all below him, and fall infinitely short of being adequate. They saw not so much as God's feet; but at the bottom of the brightness, and as the footstool or pedestal of it, they saw a most rich and splendid pavement, such as they never saw before nor after, as it had been of sapphires, azure or sky-coloured. The heavens themselves are the pavement of God's palace, and his throne is above the firmament. See how much better wisdom is than the precious onyx or the sapphires, for wisdom was from eternity God's delight (Pro_8:30), and lay in his bosom, but the sapphires are the pavement under his feet; there let us put all the wealth of this world, and not in our hearts. 2. Upon the nobles (or elders) of Israel, he laid not his hand, Exo_24:11. Though they were men, the dazzling splendour of his glory did not overwhelm them; but it was so moderated (Job_26:9), and they were so strengthened (Dan_10:19), that they were able to bear it. Nay, though they were sinful men, and obnoxious to God's justice, yet he did not lay his punishing avenging hand upon them, as they feared he would. When we consider what a consuming fire God is, and what stubble we are before him, we shall have reason to say, in all our approaches to him, It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. 3. They saw God, and did eat and drink. They had not only their lives preserved, but their vigour, courage, and comfort; it cast no damp upon their joy, but rather increased and elevated it. They feasted upon the sacrifice, before God, in token of their cheerful consent to the covenant now made, their grateful acceptance of the benefits of it, and their communion with God, in pursuance of that covenant. Thus believers eat and drink with Christ at his table, Luk_22:30. Blessed are those that shall eat bread in the kingdom of our Father, and drink of the wine new there. JAMISO ,"Then went up Moses, and Aaron — in obedience to a command given (Exo_24:1, Exo_24:2; also Exo_19:24), previous to the religious engagement of the people, now described. Nadab, and Abihu — the two oldest sons of Aaron [Exo_6:23]. seventy of the elders — a select number; what was the principle of selection is not said; but they were the chief representatives, the most conspicuous for official rank and station, as well as for their probity and weight of character in their respective tribes. K&D 9-11, "Through their consecration with the blood of the covenant, the Israelites were qualified to ascend the mountain, and there behold the God of Israel and celebrate the covenant meal; of course, not the whole of the people, for that would have been impracticable on physical grounds, but the nation in the persons of its representatives, viz., the seventy elders, with Aaron and his two eldest sons. The fact that the latter were summoned along with the elders had reference to their future election to the priesthood, the bearers of which were to occupy the position of mediators between Jehovah and the nation, an office for which this was a preparation. The reason for choosing seventy out of the whole body of elders (Exo_24:3) is to be found in the historical and symbolical significance of this number. “They saw the God of Israel.” This title is very appropriately given to Jehovah here, because He, the God of the fathers, had become in truth the God
- 58. of Israel throughthe covenant just made. We must not go beyond the limits drawn in Exo_33:20-23 in our conceptions of what constituted the sight (הָז ָח Exo_24:11) of God; at the same time we must regard it as a vision of God in some form of manifestation which rendered the divine nature discernible to the human eye. Nothing is said as to the form in which God manifested Himself. This silence, however, is not intended “to indicate the imperfection of their sight of God,” as Baumgarten affirms, nor is it to be explained, as Hoffmann supposes, on the ground that “what they saw differed from what the people had constantly before their eyes simply in this respect, that after they had entered the darkness, which enveloped the mountain that burned as it were with fire at its summit, the fiery sign separated from the cloud, and assumed a shape, beneath which it was bright and clear, as an image of untroubled bliss.” The words are evidently intended to affirm something more than, that they saw the fiery form in which God manifested Himself to the people, and that whilst the fire was ordinarily enveloped in a cloud, they saw it upon the mountain without the cloud. For, since Moses saw the form (הָמוּנ ְ ) of Jehovah (Num_12:8), we may fairly conclude, notwithstanding the fact that, according to Exo_24:2, the representatives of the nation were not to draw near to Jehovah, and without any danger of contradicting Deu_4:12 and Deu_4:15, that they also saw a form of God. Only this form is not described, in order that no encouragement might be given to the inclination of the people to make likenesses of Jehovah. Thus we find that Isaiah gives no description of the form in which he saw the Lord sitting upon a high and lofty throne (Isa_6:1). Ezekiel is the first to describe the form of Jehovah which he saw in the vision, “as the appearance of a man” (Eze_1:26; compare Dan_7:9 and Dan_7:13). “And there was under His feet as it were work of clear sapphire (תַנ ְב ִ,ל from הָנ ָב ְל whiteness, clearness, not from הָנ ֵב ְל a brick), (Note: This is the derivation adopted by the English translators in their rendering “paved work.” - Tr.) and as the material (ם ֶצ ֶע body, substance) of heaven in brilliancy,” - to indicate that the God of Israel was enthroned above the heaven in super-terrestrial glory and undisturbed blessedness. And God was willing that His people should share in this blessedness, for “He laid not His hand upon the nobles of Israel,” i.e., did not attack them. “They saw God, and did eat and drink,” i.e., they celebrated thus near to Him the sacrificial meal of the peace-offerings, which had been sacrificed at the conclusion of the covenant, and received in this covenant meal a foretaste of the precious and glorious gifts with which God would endow and refresh His redeemed people in His kingdom. As the promise in Exo_19:5-6, with which God opened the way for the covenant at Sinai, set clearly before the nation that had been rescued from Egypt the ultimate goal of its divine calling; so this termination of the ceremony was intended to give to the nation, in the persons of its representatives, a tangible pledge of the glory of the goal that was set before it. The sight of the God of Israel was a foretaste of the blessedness of the sight of God in eternity, and the covenant meal upon the mountain before the face of God was a type of the marriage supper of the Lamb, to which the Lord will call, and at which He will present His perfected Church in the day of the full revelation of His glory (Rev_19:7-9). COFFMA , "Verse 9-10 "Then went up Moses, and Aaron, adab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: and they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a
- 59. paved work ofsapphire stone, and as it were the very heaven for clearness." ote the marvelous unity and clearness of this passage. This is impossible of consideration as being derived from some "other source," because identically the same persons are again mentioned, and the word "then" indicates that immediately after the establishment of the covenant by the blood sprinkling, these representatives were granted a special theophany to celebrate and to stress the epic importance of what had just occurred. Who were the seventy? It is not surely known. Perhaps they were men selected by Moses, some six men from each of the twelve tribes, as representatives of all Israel. "And they saw the God of Israel ..." Due to the teaching of many other passages in the Bible, it must be received as certain that they did not see God "face to face" in all of his eternal glory (See Deuteronomy 4:15; 1 John 4:12; and 1 Timothy 3:16). However, they did behold a very wonderful display of God's excellent presence, sufficiently miraculous to inspire them with the knowledge that it truly was God Himself who had given them the covenant and sealed it with blood. The fact of this "seeing God" being mentioned before the sacrificial meal may not mean that the chronological sequence of the vision is strictly followed here. It may have occurred during the meal, being mentioned first because of its importance. It will be remembered that when Jesus shared that evening meal with the two disciples whom he had encountered on the way to Emmaus, that he was made known unto them "in the breaking of bread" (Luke 24:30). Again, we have light from the .T. on the O.T. Thus, that event also fails to qualify as "another covenant ceremony," but as a celebration of the ew Covenant already sealed with the blood of Christ! Therefore, we must conclude with Fields that, "3-8 are the ratification of the covenant, followed by a glorious experience of fellowship with God upon the mount."[17] Deuteronomy 4:15 states categorically that the seventy and others on the mountain did not actually see any "form" whatever; thus what they did see was a special display of God's glory. Significantly, the things mentioned as being seen by them included that remarkable sapphire pavement, described also as "clear," reminding us of the "crystal sea" that lay beneath the throne of God, as described in Revelation 4. The Septuagint (LXX) here states that "they saw the place where God stood," and although we do not believe they had any right to change the text as they did, we can find no fault with their interpretation of what it means! COKE, "Verse 9-10 Exodus 24:9-10. Then went up Moses and Aaron, &c.— Moses, having ratified the covenant with the people, now, agreeably to the command in Exodus 24:1, went up, with Aaron, and the elders, representative of the children of Israel, as mediator between GOD and the people, to announce their assent and ratification of the covenant: and accordingly GOD discovered to them some more immediate manifestation of his glory than usual; (Exodus 24:10.) they saw the GOD of Israel; i.e. as the Chaldee has it, the glory of God; some high and sensible demonstration of his peculiar Presence; for otherwise God is invisible to human sight: his immediate
- 60. and essential gloryno eye hath seen, or can see. One would, however, from some expressions, be led to believe, as this God of Israel was that MESSIAH, or Divine Person, who afterwards assumed a human form; that now, confirming the present covenant by blood, He appeared in glory in a human form: for it is said, that under his feet was, as it were, a paved work of a sapphire-stone, &c. and in Exodus 24:11 mention is made of his laying his hand; expressions, which must either be understood as above; or else as spoken more humano (after the manner of men). He laid not his hand upon them, to hide that degree of glory from them which he was then pleased to manifest, as was the case with Moses, ch. Exodus 33:22 where the Lord says, I will cover thee with my hand, while I pass by. As to the objection drawn from Deuteronomy 4:15 against the God of Israel's appearing in a human shape, let it be observed, that the words there immediately refer to God's first and awful appearance to all the people on Mount Horeb, ch. Exodus 19:14, &c. The verses may be thus read and interpreted: Exodus 24:10. And they saw the God of Israel, beneath whom there was, as it were, a paved-work of sapphire stones, [a bright aethereal blue,] and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness, [as the purest sky in its greatest brightness:] Exodus 24:11. And upon the nobles [or select ones, Hebrew] of the children of Israel, he did not lay his hand, [so as to conceal himself from them;] therefore they saw God, and did eat and drink; i.e. continued to exist: see Genesis 32:30 from whence, and other passages of Scripture, it will seem to have been a common opinion, that no mortal could sustain the appearance of the Divinity. Le Clerc thinks, that the eating and drinking refers to their feasting upon the remains of the sacrifice, Exodus 24:5 but that which we have given appears to us the more natural interpretation. Some think, that the phrase of laying the hand is a Hebraism, signifying to hurt or injure; and that it means here, that God did no hurt to the elders of Israel; they saw him and lived: see Genesis 37:22. 1 Samuel 11:15. Job 1:11-12. A paved work of a sapphire-stone— The original signifies brick-work of a sapphire colour, but transparent at the body of heaven: from which the author of the Observations concludes, that pavements of polished marble were not yet in use; while the expression, he thinks, points to that sort of pavement which is formed of painted tiles (or bricks,) and is common to this day in the East, according to Dr. Shaw. They are the same, I suppose, says he, as those painted tiles, with which the Doctor tells us they were wont frequently to adorn part of their walls, by incrustating it with these tiles: the Doctor does not particularly describe them; but it appears, from other writers, that they are frequently blue. So Le Bruyn tells us, vol. 2: p. 238 that the mosque at Jerusalem, which the Turks call the Temple of Solomon, is almost covered over with green and blue bricks, which are glazed, so that, when the sun shines, the eye is perfectly dazzled. Some of these bricks or tiles, the reader will observe, are blue, the colour which Moses mentions; but bricks and tiles are not transparent: to describe then, the pavement under the feet of the God of Israel with due majesty, Moses represents it as like the floors of painted tile which he had seen, but transparent, however, as the body of heaven. Had Moses known any thing of marble pavements, it is natural to suppose, he would rather have compared what was seen in this august vision to them, than to a floor of painted tile, though such a one is not without its beauty; which ought to be remarked, to prevent
- 61. our receiving impressionsof too debasing a kind from Moses's mentioning brick- work under the feet of God: our imaginations might otherwise have been led to the poor pavements of brick in our cottages; whereas Moses seems, on the contrary, to have thought of the most splendid floors which Egypt then knew. CO STABLE, "Verses 9-11 The ratification ceremony concluded with a meal ( Exodus 24:9-11), not a picnic lunch but a sacrificial meal ( Exodus 24:5). ""They ate and drank" describes a covenant meal celebrating the sealing of the covenant described in Exodus 24:3-8." [ ote: Ibid, p450.] We must understand the statement that the leaders of Israel saw God ( Exodus 24:10) in the light of other passages ( Exodus 33:20-23; Isaiah 6:1; John 1:18). Perhaps they only saw His feet or, more exactly, a representation of part of God in human form (cf. Isaiah 6:1; Revelation 4:2; Revelation 4:6). The pavement of clear sapphire contributed to the vision of God as the supra-terrestrial sovereign (cf. Ezekiel 1:22; Revelation 4:6; Revelation 12:2). ". . . what Moses and his companions experience is a theophany of the Presence of God, not a vision of his person, and what they see, bowed before even that awesome reality, is what could be seen from a position of obeisant prostration, the surface on which his Presence offered itself.... The reference in Exodus 24:10 may therefore be a double one, calling up the deep dark blue of an endless sky and the building materials of legendary divine dwelling-places." [ ote: Durham, p344.] God in mercy did not consume the sinners before Him. Rather He allowed them to eat in His presence thus symbolizing the fact that He was taking on responsibility for their safety and welfare (cf. Genesis 31:44-46). [ ote: See Livingston, pp157-62.] "We have argued that the awkward surface structure of the narrative [in chapters19-24], which results in the non-linear temporal ordering of events, can be explained when one takes into account the sequence structure of the narrative, particularly the use of the literary device called resumptive repetition. As a result of this literary device we have demonstrated that the narrative contains two different perspectives of the theophany. First, there is the perspective of Yahweh which emphasizes the preparation and execution of the covenant as well as highlighting the holiness of God, which is a key to understanding the relationship that exists between Yahweh and His people. Second, there is the perspective of the people, which is elaborated upon in the two resumptive narratives in20 , 18-21,24 , 1-8. The first resumptive narrative in20 , 18-21 , which elaborates in detail the fear of the people, serves as a preface and introduction to the Decalogue and Covenant Code. In addition, it also acts as a causal link between the fear of the people and their sinful acts below the mountain in Exodus 32. The second resumptive narrative in24 , 1-8 elaborates in detail the ratification of the covenant and also leads into the subsequent ascent of Moses to the mountain where he receives the rest of God"s regulations." [ ote: G. C. Chirichigno, "The arrative Structure of Exodus 19-24 ,"
- 62. Biblica68:4 (1987):478-79.] ELLICOTT, "(9)Then went up.—According to the ordinary ideas of the time, the ratification of the covenant was now complete, and nothing more was needed. It pleased God, however, to terminate the whole transaction by a closing scene of extraordinary grandeur, beauty, and spiritual significance. A sacrifice implied a sacrificial meal (Exodus 18:12). Moses understood that God, by summoning Aaron, adab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders into the mount (Exodus 24:1), had intended the sacrificial meal to be held there; and accordingly, as soon as he had sprinkled the people, ascended Sinai with the persons summoned, and had the feast prepared. A sacrificial meal was always regarded as a religious act—an act done “before God” (Exodus 18:12), involving communion with Him. God willed now to signalise this sacrificial feast above all others by making His presence not only felt but seen. As Moses, Aaron with his two sons, and the elders were engaged in the feast (Exodus 24:11), a vision of marvellous splendour broke upon them. “They saw the God of Israel” (Exodus 24:10). God showed Himself to them—not, as before, amid thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud, and fire, and smoke, and earthquake (Exodus 19:16; Exodus 19:18), but in His loveliness (Song of Solomon 5:16) and His beauty, standing on pellucid sapphire, blue as the blue of heaven. They “saw God,” and were neither hurt nor even terrified; they could, while seeing Him, still eat and drink—they felt themselves like guests at His board, as if He were banqueting with them. So was impressed upon them the mild and sweet relation into which they were brought towards God by covenant—a covenant made, and not yet infringed. The gentle, lovely, attractive side of God’s character was shewn to them, instead of the awful and alarming one; and they were taught to look forward to a final state of bliss, in which God’s covenanted servants would dwell in His presence continually. PETT, "Verses 9-11 ‘Then Moses and Aaron, adab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel, and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the very heaven for clearness. And on the chief men of the children of Israel he did not lay his hand, and they beheld God and ate and drank.’ Following the covenant offer, sacrifice, and final acceptance was the covenant feast which sealed the whole ceremony. This was shared, as it were, between Yahweh and His people as represented by the elders (although noticeably Yahweh does not partake. There is no suggestion of God in human form). This was made possible because the blood had been shed, and the covenant had been sealed. ow His people could meet with Him as His covenant people. “And they saw the God of Israel.” The sealing of the covenant made a huge difference. The God of Israel now came down to meet them. There was a manifestation of God, probably in the same cloud and fire and smoke of Exodus 19:18; Exodus 23:17. o description is given and we dare not speculate further. But ‘under His feet’ was a vision of glorious blue which reminded them of sapphires and the glorious clear blue of the heavens. The fact that this is outlined and emphasised must suggest that His own presence was veiled (compare Isaiah 6:1-6 where Isaiah
- 63. describes everything butYahweh). “He laid not His hand.” They were allowed to see God and live. But it was not in His full glory for this was not even possible for Moses (Exodus 33:22-23). “And they beheld God and ate and drank.” They feasted with God although God did not feast with them. This covenant feast was an essential part of the making of the covenant. It was a symbol of their now expressed dependence on and fellowship with the Overlord. They were now His vassals. Such feasting would be an essential part of a covenant ceremony. “The God of Israel.” In Exodus 5:1 He was described as the ‘Yahweh, God of Israel’ but here it is the stark declaration of the new position. They have taken Him as their only God, and He is their God alone. BI 9-11, "They saw God, and did eat and drink. The vision of God, and the feast before Him These are strangely bold words, both for the assertion with which they begin, and for the juxtaposition of the two things which they declare. They come at the close of the solemn ceremonial by which God and Israel entered into covenant. Lightly-uttered vows of obedience to all that God could speak had echoed among the rocks. On the basis of that promise a covenant was formed and ratified by sacrifice. They pass within the fence, they witness that access to God is possible on the footing of covenant and sacrifice. They behold, as I suppose, unclouded, the material and fiery symbol of His presence: witness that men through sacrifice and covenant can see God. But our eyes are stayed on the pavement beneath His feet. No form is described. Enough for us that there is spread beneath Him that which is blue and gleaming as the cloudless heaven above Sinai. “They eat and drink”—witness that men who draw nigh to God, on the footing of sacrifice and covenant, and thereby behold His face, have therein festal abundance for all their need. So this incident, in its form adapted to the infantile development of the people that first received it, carries in its symbols the deepest truths of the best communion of the Christian life, and may lend itself to the foreshadowing of the unspoken glories of the heavens. From that point of view I want to look at it. I. I ask you to consider the vision of god possible for us. Jesus Christ is the Revealer. This generation is very fond of saying, “No man hath seen God at any time, nor can see Him.” It is a pity, but they would go on with the quotation and say, “the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” The eradiation of His brightness, “and the express image of His person,” is that Divine man, God manifest in the flesh. The knowledge of God which we have in Jesus Christ is real, as sight is real. It is not complete, but it is genuine knowledge. We know the best of God, if I may use such a phrase, when we know what we knew in Christ, that He is a loving and a righteous will; when we can say of Him “He is love,” in no metaphor but in simple reality, and His will is a will towards all righteousness, and towards all blessing, anything that heaven has to teach us about God afterwards is less than that. We see Him in the reality of a genuine, central, though by no means complete, knowledge. Our knowledge of God in Christ is as sight, in reference to certitude. People say, “Seeing is believing.” I should turn it the other way about, and say, “Believing is seeing.” For we may be a great deal surer of God than ever we can be of this outer world. And the witness which is borne to us in Christ of
- 64. the Divine natureis far more reliable than even the evidence that is borne to us by sense of an external universe. Then remember, too, that where we have learned to know, and absolutely to rely upon, and vividly to realize our Father’s presence through Jesus Christ, there we shall see Him in all things and everywhere. Then, remember, further, that the degree of this vision depends upon ourselves, and is a matter of cultivation. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” There are three things wanted for sight— something to see; something to see by; something to see with. God has given us the two first, and He will help us to the last if we like. But we have to bring the eye, without which the sunbeam is vain, and that which it reveals also. Christ stands before us, at once the Master-Light of our seeing, and the Object that we are to behold. But for us there is needed that the eye shall be pure; that the heart shall turn towards Him. Faith is the eye of the soul. Meditation and habitual occupation of mind and heart with Jesus Christ, the Revealer of God, are needed if we are to “see God.” II. Secondly, notice the feast in the divine presence. “They did eat and drink.” That suggests in the singular juxtaposition of the two things, that the vision of God is consistent with, and consecrates, common enjoyment and everyday life. Even before that awful blaze these men sat down and fed, “eating their meal with gladness and singleness of heart,” and finding no contradiction nor any profanity in the close juxtaposition of the meal and the vision. There is no false asceticism as the result of the Christian sight of God. It takes nothing out of life that ought to be in it. If we see God there is only one thing that we shall be ashamed to do in His presence, and that is to sin. For all the rest the vision of God blends sweetly and lovingly with common service and homely joys. It will interpret life. Nothing is small with such a background; nothing common-place when looked at in connection with Him. It will ennoble life; it will gladden life. But there is another thought here to which I must refer for a moment. That strange meal on the mountain was no doubt made on the sacrifices that had preceded, of which a part were peace-offerings. The ritual of that species of sacrifice partly consisted in a portion of the sacrifice being partaken of by the offerers. The same meaning lies in this meal on the mountain that lay in the sacrificial feast of the peace-offering, the same meaning that lies in the great feast of the new covenant, “This is My body; this is My blood.” God spreads in His presence a table, and the food on that table is the “Bread which came down from heaven that it might give life to the world.” The vision of God and the feast on the mountain are equally provided and made possible by Christ our Passover, who was sacrificed for us. III. And so, lastly, we may gather out of this incident a glimpse of a prophetic character, and see in it the perfecting of the vision and of the feast. We know the apostle’s wonderful statement of the difference between the beatific knowledge of heaven and the indirect and partial knowledge of earth. Here we “see in a glass darkly; there face to face.” It is not for us to try before the time to interpret the latter of these statements; only this, let us remember that whatever may be the change in manner of knowledge, and in measure of apprehension, and in proximity of presence, there is no change in heaven in the medium of revelation. For heaven as for earth God is the King invisible; for heaven as for earth no man can see Him, the only begotten Son declares Him. Christ is for ever the Manifester of God, and the glorified saints see God as we see Him in the face of Jesus Christ, though they see that Face as we do not. Yonder there are new capacities indeed. When there are more windows in the house there will be more sunshine in the rooms. When there is a new speculum in the telescope galaxies will be resolved that are now nebulous, and new brightnesses will be visible that are now veiled. But with all the new powers and the extension of present vision, there will be no corrections in the present vision. We shall see Him as He is, and learn that what we knew of Him in Christ
- 65. here is truefor ever. And on that perfect vision will follow the perfect meal, which will still be the feeding on the sacrifice. For there were no heaven except “He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever,” and there is no spiritual life above except a life derived from Him. The feast means perfect satisfaction, perfect repose, perfect gladness, perfect companionship. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) The God of Sinai approached through sacrifice Two distinct aspects of the Divine character had already been made known to the Israelites—His goodness and His severity, His tenderness and His righteousness. Now a third lesson is given them. The awful God of Sinai may be approached and communed with; they need not be terrified away for ever from Him, or be afraid to approach Him. I. The awful God of Sinai may be approached by sinful men through sacrifice. “ Upon the nobles of Israel He laid not His hand.” II. The awful God of Sinai is seen by sinful men through sacrifice. “Also they saw God.” III. The awful God of Sinai is communed with by sinful men through sacrifice. “Also they did eat and drink.” There is safety for the transgressor only under the shadow of the sacrifice—the atonement of Jesus Christ. Socrates once cried, “Plato, Plato, perhaps God can forgive wilful sin.” You see the gospel of Socrates—“Perhaps.” “But,” he added, “I do not see how.” In the gospel of Jesus Christ there is no “perhaps.” “It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” There is no “perhaps” about that. Socrates said, “I do not see how.” We do see how. “Through this Man is preached forgiveness of sins.” (R. Roberts.) A glorious vision I. Glorious ascension. Mountain climbing is always wholesome. The more we climb, the less will be our difficulty, on the summit of Divine mountains are gracious manifestations to reward the praying climbers. II. Blessed vision. “And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under” etc. Calm repose. We may rest sweetly on the Divine fidelity. III. Glorious preservation. God’s hand will ever be laid on the spiritual nobility. They are under His protecting, preserving care. IV. Wondrous festivity. The saints shall eat and drink in the Divine presence. Heavenly manna. New wine. (W. Burrows, B. A.) Man’s approach to God I. That man’s approach to God is commanded (Exo_24:1). This is both reasonable and necessary. Servant to master; scholar to teacher; child to parent; sinner to Saviour. II. That man’s approach to God must be through a mediator; “worship thou afar off, and Moses alone shall come near unto the Lord.” So Jesus has entered into the holy place for us. He is the “one mediator,” etc., “the new and living way” (Joh_14:6). We must remember that this was in answer to their own prayer (20:19).
- 66. III. That man’sapproach to God must be reverent. “Worship ye afar off.” IV. That man’s approach to God is rewarded by a manifestation of the divine glory (Exo_24:10). Not a literal or physical vision of “the king”—invisible (Deu_4:2; 1Ti_ 6:16); but spiritual (Isa_6:1-13.; Act_9:3-4, and refs.; 1Co_12:2). V. That man’s approach to God is not to be dreaded, but welcomed and enjoyed. “They find His presence no more a source of disturbance and dread, but radiant in all the bright loveliness of supernal glory: a beautiful sign that the higher religion and state of conformity to law, now established, shall work onward to eternal blessedness.” (J. W. Burn.) A glorious sight and a holy feast I. The sight of God, to which the nobles of Israel were admitted. II. The safety and comfort which they enjoyed. III. The feast with which they were provided. They ate of the peace-offerings which had been recently sacrificed, and drank of the libations which had just been offered, on the ratification of the covenant. Even thus are the disciples of Christ invited to partake of Him by faith, and that in joy and gladness, as the great peace-offering of the Church. Thus are they seated at the table of their adorable Lord, in token of gracious communion with the family in heaven; and thus is their fellowship manifested with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. In this fellowship His children truly see God in Christ. They behold, and they partake, the glory of His person, the glory of His covenant, the hidden glory of His Word, the glory of His redeeming and everlasting love. (R. P. Buddicom, M. A.) The vision of God We have here the conjunction of that which is the highest attainment of faith, namely, the vision of God, with that which is the commonest act of our lives, namely, eating and drinking. Again, eating and drinking is only one form, and that one of the lowest forms of human enjoyment. Therefore, if the vision of God be compatible with that, it may be, it must be, equally so with every proper mode of employment or enjoyment among men. I. In the first place, then, let it be noted, that there are some who eat and drink without seeing God. This is true in the very lowest sense in which the words can be employed; for, unhappily, there are multitudes who partake of their ordinary food without any perception of the fact that they are indebted for it to a higher power. In the same way there are many successful men of business, who enjoy the blessings of prosperity without seeing that God has had any hand in the bestowment of them. They are, as the phrase is, “self-made.” They have been the architects of their own fortunes. Similarly, there are those who have risen to places of power and influence, alike in the world and in the Church, who never think of God in their enjoyment of their eminence. It has come to them, so they say, all in the way of cause and effect. They have been able, diligent, and persevering, and, therefore, their prosperity or popularity is nothing more than the natural result of their use of appropriate means. And to mention only one other form of the same disposition: there are men among us whose delight it has been to unravel the secrets of the external world, and discover the operations of those forces which play so important a part in the physical universe. Their meat and their drink is to sit at the
- 67. spectroscope, and bytheir wondrous analysis to bring out the composition of the sun, and of the various members of the planetary sphere. Their joy is to chain the lightning to their messages, and make it carry their words to the world’s ends. They rise into ecstasies over the detection of some new fact which witnesses to the uniformity of law; and they become enthusiastic at the prospect of being able to trace the mystery of the universe a step farther back than their predecessors have gone. But all this while they see nothing of God. No thrill of affection vibrates in their hearts to any personal agent; and their emotions are similar to those which one feels as he looks upon a mighty machine moving on in rhythmic regularity at its unceasing work. I do not need to say that all our men of science are not such as I have now described, but every one acquainted with the recent utterances of some of them will admit that these confirm what I have said. Now I have grouped all these together because they are all alike practical atheists. They eat and drink, but they do not see God. II. In the second place, let it be remarked that there are some who see God, but cannot eat or drink. They have a vivid sense of the personal existence of Jehovah, and they feel Him always near, but they take no comfort in His presence. Rather, it seems to haunt them as a spectre, and to threaten them as an executioner. Now how shall we account for this? The answer is not far to seek. It is caused by a sense of guilt. They have never entered, through Jesus, into covenant with God. But even among those who have done this, there are some who seem to have had their happiness poisoned by the thought of God. They see Him, they are always seeing Him: but the vision seems to have paralyzed them, and they go through life halting, solemn, and severe. If they would “see God, and eat and drink,” they must rise out of service into sonship, and learn to think and speak of God as their Father in heaven. This will give sincerity and naturalness to their devotions, activity to their lives, happiness to their hearts, and cheerfulness to their deportment, so that men, as they behold them, will be won by the very radiance of their joy to Him from whom their gladness springs. But there are still others who, at certain times of their history, have had a vivid perception of the nearness of God, while yet they could neither eat nor drink. Affliction has come upon them. They have felt God very near them, but then they have felt as if He were having a controversy with them, as if, somehow, He were alienated from them, and that has made their sorrow all the deeper. But all this has sprung from a misinterpretation of His providence, and that again has its root in lack of faith in His fatherhood. III. Finally, let it be observed, that there are some who, like those were described, “see God and do eat and drink.” They are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, His Son; they have learned to call Him Father, and the joy of their lives is that they have a constant sense of His presence. When they say, “Thou God seest me,” it is not with a feeling of uneasiness, like that of a suspected person who feels himself watched by some detective; but rather with an emotion of satisfaction, because they know that One is beside them who can make provision for every emerging necessity, and find for them also, as for Hagar, a fountain in the desert. When they think of Him, it is not so much as the Great Creator, Ruler, and Judge, as the Father; and because they can say “Our Father,” they have a sense of ownership in all His attributes and possessions. They have accepted His own assurance, “I am the Lord thy God,” and His omnipresence is the very joy and rejoicing of their hearts. It is not a melancholy thing, which poisons every other experience. It is not, like the sword of Damocles, a threatening thing, that keeps us from sitting down to the feast. Rather it is itself that which gives the feast its real glory, and the festival to us is twice a feast because He is there. He makes the brightest element in our blessings; He gives to us the real joy of our prosperity. And when affliction comes He mitigates it with His sympathy and cheers us under it with His fellowship. He comes to
- 68. us not asa spectre in the night, but as a father, to lap us in the mantle of His love. “Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure,” alike are sanctified by His presence, and no darkness for us could be so dense as that which would envelop us if we were to be deprived of Him. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.) The distinguishing privilege of God’s faithful servants That a sight of God in Christ, and a holy familiarity with Him, with all safety, is the privilege of God’s covenant-people, especially in these solemn approaches to which He calls them. I. To show what is that sight of God in Christ, which is the privilege of His people in their solemn approaches to Him. There is a twofold solemn approach of God’s people to Him. There is a right approach. 1. When God calls them up to the mount of myrrh, where our Lord abides till the day break (Son_4:6); when He calls them to come up to the hill of God in Emmanuel’s land, where stands the King’s palace, namely heaven. This call comes to the believing soul at death. 2. When God calls them to come up to the mount of ordinances to meet Him at the sacred feast, as the nobles of Israel in the text, and as we at this time are called to feast on the great sacrifice in the sacrament. This is a solemn approach. Now, what is the sight of God in Christ which is the privilege here? As to this we observe— (1) That it is a believing sight of God in their nature (Joh_1:14.). (2) That it is a sight of this God in the place of His special residence; on the mount to which they were invited, where He stood, as it were, on a pavement of sapphire. (3) It is a sight of the glory of the place of His feet (Exo_24:10). (4) It is a sight of God as reconciled in Christ. They saw God, and did eat and drink as in the house of their friend (2Co_5:18-20). (5) It is a sight of God as their God. They saw the God of Israel. Here lay the surpassing sweetness of their sight. (6) It is a sight of transcendent glory in Him. Nothing is described but what was under His feet. For, search the universe, there is no person, no thing like Him. But the best things on earth are not sufficient to set forth the glory even of this, and therefore it is added, “as if it were the body of heaven in His clearness.” They who see Him, see that of which they can never see the like. We are now— II. To show what is that holy familiarity which is the privilege of God’s people in their solemn approaches to Him—It is a believing, holy, humble freedom before their Lord (Eph_3:12) “In whom we have boldness and access, with confidence, by the faith of Him.” 1. They were allowed to come forward to God, when others must stand back (Isa_ 56:6-7); when others must abide at the foot of the hill, believers may come up to the mount and are welcome. 2. They were allowed to feast on the sacrifice set before them. Christ the sacrifice typically slain, and believers are allowed to feast on this sacrifice, to eat His flesh and
- 69. drink His blood;to make a believing application of a whole Christ to their own souls for their spiritual nourishment:” Take, eat, this is My body broken for you.” 3. They were allowed to converse with God freely, as one at the table of his friends. 4. They were allowed to be in His secrets, to see what others have no access to. They saw God. Believers are allowed to see the glory of His person (Joh_1:14). The glory of His covenant (Psa_25:14). The glory of His redeeming, His everlasting love to them (Jer_31:3). The hidden glory of His word (Luk_24:32). 5. They were allowed to lay all their wants on Him. III. To make some practical improvement. 1. To show that it is a wonder of grace that sinful creatures are admitted to see God, and be familiar with Him. We think we need say little for proof of this. Only consider— (1) The infinite distance that there is between God and the creature in respect of perfection. (2) That it is the same God who is such a severe and dreadful avenger of sin (Psa_5:5). 2. To show that it is a wonder of grace that sinful creatures, in their solemn approaches to God, and when they are thus favoured, come off safe. This will appear if we consider— (1) The infinite holiness and spotless purity of that God before whom the sinful creature appears. He is glorious in holiness, and fearful in praises (Exo_15:11). (2) That the best carry a sinful nature even up into the mount with them. (3) That sinful creatures never miss to leave the marks of their foul feet, even when they are on holy ground (Rom_7:2). (4) The particular jealousy which God has manifested about His worship. 3. To explain how it comes to pass that the safety of God’s people, when thus favoured, is secured. It is so— (1) Because they are God’s covenant-people by marriage with His Son. (2) Because they come up under the covert of the Redeemer’s blood (Heb_12:22- 24). (3) Because God looks on them as in His own Son, and not as in themselves; and so after a sort He overlooks their infirmities (Num_23:21). (4) Because, though they be unclean creatures, they come up into the mount, to bathe in the fountain opened there, for sin and for uncleanness (Zec_13:1). (5) Because it is the end of the covenant, to bring them to God. 1. Let us, then, nevermore think lightly of solemn approaches to God, whether in private or in public ordinances. 2. Let this commend Christ and the covenant to us, especially to those who stand off from Him and His covenant. 3. Let us long for that day which will put an end to our sinfulness, weakness, and imperfection, when we shall see Him as He is, without any danger of sinning or
- 70. suffering, which isfar better (Php_1:23). It would be a token for good that we had seen the Lord, if we were now longing for that blessed day. (T. Boston, D. D.) Seeing God The soul has eyes. There are hours not related to the clock; there are birthdays for which the calendar provides no line of registry. How natural is this endeavour to make the conception plain by a visible picture, and how visible pictures are lifted up to new meanings and clothed with new solemnities by such sacred uses. There have been times, even in our cold experience, when nature has had to be called in to help the expression of the soul’s delight. Every heart has its own image, or parable, or symbol, by which it sets forth to itself the best aspect of its supreme delight. When we want to represent God, and our view of Him, how naturally we turn to the heavens. No earthly object will suffice. There burns in us a sacred contempt for all things measurable. We want all the broad brilliance of noonday, all the tender glory of the midnight, all the pomp of the summer sky. There is verily a natural religion; it is a poor deity that can be set forth in clay, and iron, and carved stone. Find any race that has lifted up its religious conceptions so as to require for their imaging all heaven, and surely you have found a race that may at any moment alight upon the true God. What Ezekiel saw was as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. John said that the face he saw was like a jasper and a sardine stone, and the rainbow which gave tenderness to the throne was in sight like unto an emerald. When Jesus was transfigured, His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light. Do not take these as equivalents, but as hints—some idea of the majesty which must have beamed upon the eyes of worship as they gazed with religious awe upon sights for which there is no language. It does us good to be wrought into passions which transcend all adequate speech—yes, it does the soul good to pray itself into silence. We may have clear vision of God to such an extent as to have every word taken away from our use and be left dumb in the eloquence of silence. (J. Parker, D. D.) 10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. BAR ES, "And they saw the God of Israel - As they ate the sacrificial feast, the presence of Yahweh was manifested to them with special distinctness. In the act of solemn worship, they perceived that He was present with them, as their Lord and their
- 71. Deliverer. It isidle to speculate on the mode of this revelation. That no visible form was presented to their bodily eyes, we are expressly informed, Deu_4:12; see Exo_33:20; compare Isa_6:1. The latter part of this verse may be read: “under His feet, it was like a work of bright sapphire stone, and like the heaven itself in clearness.” On the sapphire, see Exo_28:18; compare Eze_1:26. The pure blue of the heaven above them lent its influence to help the inner sense to realize the vision which no mortal eye could behold. CLARKE, "They saw the God of Israel - The seventy elders, who were representatives of the whole congregation, were chosen to witness the manifestation of God, that they might be satisfied of the truth of the revelation which he had made of himself and of his will; and on this occasion it was necessary that the people also should be favored with a sight of the glory of God; see Exo_20:18. Thus the certainty of the revelation was established by many witnesses, and by those especially of the most competent kind. A paved work of a sapphire stone - Or sapphire brick-work. I suppose that something of the Musive or Mosaic pavement is here intended; floors most curiously inlaid with variously coloured stones or small square tiles, disposed in a great variety of ornamental forms. Many of these remain in different countries to the present day. The Romans were particularly fond of them, and left monuments of their taste and ingenuity in pavements of this kind, in most countries where they established their dominion. Some very fine specimens are found in different parts of Britain. Sapphire is a precious stone of a fine blue color, next in hardness to the diamond. The ruby is considered by most mineralogists of the same genus; so is also the topaz: hence we cannot say that the sapphire is only of a blue color; it is blue, red, or yellow, as it may be called sapphire, ruby, or topaz; and some of them are blue or green, according to the light in which they are held; and some white. A very large specimen of such a one is now before me. The ancient oriental sapphire is supposed to have been the same with the lapis lazuli. Supposing that these different kinds of sapphires are here intended, how glorious must a pavement be, constituted of polished stones of this sort, perfectly transparent, with an effulgence of heavenly splendor poured out upon them! The red, the blue, the green, and the yellow, arranged by the wisdom of God, into the most beautiful emblematic representations, and the whole body of heaven in its clearness shining upon them, must have made a most glorious appearance. As the Divine glory appeared above the mount, it is reasonable to suppose that the Israelites saw the sapphire pavement over their heads, as it might have occupied a space in the atmosphere equal in extent to the base of the mountain; and being transparent, the intense brightness shining upon it must have greatly heightened the effect. It is necessary farther to observe that all this must have been only an appearance, unconnected with any personal similitude; for this Moses expressly asserts, Deu_4:15. And though the feet are here mentioned, this can only be understood of the sapphirine basis or pavement, on which this celestial and indescribable glory of the Lord appeared. There is a similar description of the glory of the Lord in the Book of Revelation, Rev_4:3 : “And he who sat [upon the throne] was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone; and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.” In neither of these appearances was there any similitude or likeness of any thing in heaven, earth, or sea. Thus God took care to preserve them from all incentives to idolatry, while he gave them the fullest proofs of his being. In Scheuchzer’s Physica Sacra, among his numerous fine engravings, there is one of this glorious manifestation, which cannot be too severely reprehended. The Supreme Being is represented as an old man, sitting on a throne, encompassed with glory, having a crown on his head, and a scepter in his hand,
- 72. the people prostratein adoration at the foot of the piece. A print of this kind should be considered as utterly improper, if not blasphemous. GILL, "And they saw the God of Israel,.... The Targum of Jonathan restrains this to Nadab and Abihu whereas it is doubtless true of Moses and Aaron, and the seventy elders, who all saw him, and who were witnesses to the people that it was a divine Person that spoke to Moses, and delivered the laws unto him, to be observed by them; which seems to be the reason of their being called up, and favoured with this sight which must not be understood as of anything criminal in them, as if they curiously looked and pried to see something they should not, for which they deserved some sort of punishment, as the Targum intimates; but of a privilege, and a very high one they were favoured with: and this sight they had was not by a vision of prophecy, or with the eyes of their understanding, but corporeally; they saw the Son of God, the God of Israel, in an human form, as a pledge and presage of his future incarnation, who is the Angel that spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, as Stephen says, and the Lord that was among the angels there, who afterwards became incarnate, and having done his work on earth, ascended on high, Act_7:38. and there was under his feet; which shows that there was a visible form, and that human; nor is this contrary to what is said, "ye saw no similitude"; Deu_4:12, since what is here related does not respect the same time, nor the same persons; this was after the giving of the ten commands, that at the time of it; this is said of the seventy elders, with Moses, Aaron, and his two sons, that of all the people: as it were paved work of a sapphire stone: like a pavement pitched with sapphire. The Septuagint version is,"and they saw the place where the God of Israel stood, and what were under his feet, as the work of a sapphire brick.''The sapphire stones, of which the pavement was, were as broad as bricks, and being like a brick, was a memorial, as the Targum of Jonathan says, of the servitude the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with in clay and bricks; but being a sapphire, bright and glorious, may denote the liberty they now enjoyed in exchange for their bondage. And the Targum of Jonathan understands it of the colour, and not of the form of the sapphire, and renders it, the white sapphire; and so do some Jewish writers (w); though the colour of the sapphire is azure, or sky coloured, with which agrees what follows: and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness; and Ruaeus (x) says, the sapphire is sky coloured, and some of them shine and sparkle with golden points or spots, and are reckoned the best sapphires; so that this represents the heaven as quite clear and serene, bespangled with stars; and as the heavens, covered with clouds, may denote the displeasure of God, so a serene heaven his favour and good will, and in such an amiable light was he now beheld. JAMISO ,"And they saw the God of Israel — That there was no visible form or representation of the divine nature, we have expressly intimated (Deu_4:15). But a symbol or emblem of His glory was distinctly, and at a distance, displayed before those chosen witnesses. Many think, however, that in this private scene was discovered, amid the luminous blaze, the faint adumbrated form of the humanity of Christ (Eze_1:26; compare Gal_3:24).
- 73. sapphire — oneof the most valuable and lustrous of the precious gems - of a sky-blue or light azure color and frequently chosen to describe the throne of God (see Eze_1:26; Eze_10:1). K&D, " BE SO , "Exodus 24:10. They saw the God of Israel — That is, they had some glimpse of his glory, in light and fire, though they saw no manner of similitude. They saw the place where the God of Israel stood, so the Septuagint; whatever they saw, it was certainly something of which no image or picture could be made, and yet enough to satisfy them that God was with them of a truth. othing is described but that which was under his feet, for our conceptions of God are all below him. They saw not so much as God’s feet, but at the bottom of the brightness they saw (such as they never saw before or after, and as the footstool or pedestal of it) a most rich and splendid pavement, as it had been of sapphires, azure, or sky-coloured. The heavens themselves are the pavement of God’s palace, and his throne is above the firmament. ELLICOTT, "(10) They saw the God of Israel.—Probably, in human form, as Isaiah saw Him (Isaiah 6:1-5), and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:26), and even ebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3:25). It is not of this appearance that Moses says: “Ye saw no similitude” (Deuteronomy 4:12). The appearance which they saw had “feet.” A paved work of a sapphire stone.—Heb., a work of the clearness of sapphire. The “sapphire” (sappir) of the Pentateuch is probably lapis lazuli. The body of heaven—i.e., “the very heaven,” or “the heaven itself.” 11 But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank. BAR ES, "He laid not his hand - i. e. He did not strike them. It was believed that
- 74. a mortal couldnot survive the sight of God Exo_33:20; Gen_32:30; Jdg_6:22; Jdg_ 13:22 : but these rulers of Israel were permitted to eat and drink, while they were enjoying in an extraordinary degree the sense of the divine presence, and received no harm. CLARKE, "Upon the nobles of - Israel he laid not his hand - This laying on of the hand has been variously explained. 1. He did not conceal himself from the nobles of Israel by covering them with his hand, as he did Moses, Exo_33:22. 2. He did not endue any of the nobles, i.e., the seventy elders, with the gift of prophecy; for so laying on of the hand has been understood. 3. He did not slay any of them; none of them received any injury; which is certainly one meaning of the phrase: see Neh_13:21; Psa_55:20. Also they saw God, i.e., although they had this discovery of his majesty, yet they did eat and drink, i.e., were preserved alive and unhurt. Perhaps the eating and drinking here may refer to the peace-offerings on which they feasted, and the libations that were then offered on the ratification of the covenant. But they rejoiced the more because they had been so highly favored, and were still permitted to live; for it was generally apprehended that God never showed his glory in this signal manner but for the purpose of manifesting his justice; and therefore it appeared a strange thing that these should have seen God as it were face to face, and yet live. See Gen_16:13; Gen_33:10; and Jdg_13:22, Jdg_13:23. GILL, "And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand,.... Which some interpret of his hand of prophecy, and of the measure of the Spirit, such an one as Moses had, and by virtue of which he lived forty days and nights without eating and drinking; but these not having such a measure of the Spirit, were obliged to eat and drink to support nature, as in the next clause: but it is rather to be understood of the hand of God; he did not inflict any disease or death upon them on their sight of him, it being a notion that no man could see God and live; but these men did live, not only Moses, and Aaron and his two sons, but the seventy elders, who were the principal choicest persons among the children of Israel; wherefore the Targum of Jonathan wrongly restrains this to Nadab and Abihu: also they saw God, and did eat and drink: though they saw God, they continued alive and well, and in good health, of which their eating and drinking were a sign and evidence; or they ate, as Abendana, the sacrifices of the peace offerings, which were usually eaten by the priests and the people; and as a feast was common at covenant making, here was a feast kept by the elders, the representatives of the people, when they covenanted with God. Onkelos favours this sense,"and they rejoiced in their sacrifices, which were accepted with good will, as if they had ate and drank.'' JAMISO ,"upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand — The “nobles,” that is, the elders, after the sprinkling of the blood, were not inspired with terror in presence of the calm, benign, radiant symbol of the divine majesty; so different from the terrific exhibitions at the giving of the law. The report of so many competent
- 75. witnesses would tendto confirm the people’s faith in the divine mission of Moses. eat and drink — feasted on the peace offering - on the remnants of the late sacrifices and libations. This feast had a prophetic bearing, intimating God’s dwelling with men. CALVI ,"11.And upon the nobles of the children of Israel. These words, as it seems to me, are violently distorted by those (318) who expound them, that the elders were not made participators of the prophetic gift, or that the virtue of God did not extend to them; for these clauses are to be taken connectedly thus: although they saw God, His hand was not laid upon them but they ate and drank. Hence we may gather that God’s paternal favor towards them is pointed out in that He spared them; for we must bear in mind what is said elsewhere, “There shall no man see my face and live.” (Exodus 33:20.) Thus, amongst the ancients, this was a kind of proverbial expression: We shall die, because we have seen God. So Jacob, in commendation of God’s grace, says, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” (Genesis 32:30.) For if the mountains melt at the sight of Him, what must needs happen to a mortal man, than whom there is nothing more frail or feeble? Herein, then, does God’s incomparable lenity betray itself, when, in manifesting Himself to His elect, He does not altogether absorb and reduce them to nothing; especially when some special vision is presented to them. In sum, therefore, Moses shews us that it was a miracle that the rulers of Israel remained safe and sound, although the terrible majesty of God had appeared to them. ow, this was the case, because they had not rashly thrust themselves forward, but had come near at the call of God. Hence we learn that our boldness never exceeds its due bounds, nor can be condemned as presumption, when it is founded on the command of God; whilst worse than any pride or self-confidence is timidity, which, under pretense of modesty, leads us to distrust the word of God. If any one of the people had attempted to do the same as the rulers, he would have experienced in his destruction what it is to advance beyond bounds. But the reason why their free and bold access turned out successfully to the elders, was because they obeyed the command of God. What follows, as to their eating, I interpret to mean a solemn banquet, which was a part or appendage of a sacrifice, as we have seen on Exodus 18:0 (319) and in many other places. BE SO , "Exodus 24:11. Upon the nobles — Or elders; of Israel he laid not his hand — Though they were men, the splendour of his glory did not overwhelm them, but it was so moderated, (Job 36:9,) and they were so strengthened, (Daniel 10:19,) that they were able to bear it: nay, though they were sinful men, and obnoxious to God’s justice, yet he did not lay his avenging hand upon them, as they feared he would. When we consider what a consuming fire God is, and what stubble we are before him, we shall have reason to say, in all our approaches to him, “It is of the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed.” They saw God, and did eat and drink — They had not only their lives preserved, but their vigour, courage, and comfort; it cast no damp upon their joy, but rather increased it. They feasted upon the sacrifice before God, in token of their cheerful consent to the covenant, their grateful acceptance of the benefits of it, and their communion with God in pursuance of that
- 76. covenant. COFFMA , "Verse11 "And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: and they believed God and did eat and drink." "Upon the nobles ..." This indicates the character of the "seventy," who were evidently chosen by Moses for qualities of character, leadership, and ability. "He laid not his hand ..." That is, God did not cause the men to die who had experienced so remarkable a glimpse of God's glory. There was a widespread conviction among the ancients that anyone who beheld God's face would die at once. We believe Clements, and others, were wrong who placed this theophany "at the top of Mount Sinai."[18] It has already been explained in this chapter (Exodus 24:1-2) that "Only Moses went to the summit." We may believe that this theophany occurred but a little way further up the mountain from the whole camp of Israel. ELLICOTT, "(11) The nobles.—The word used is an unusual one, but seems to designate the “elders” of Exodus 24:1; Exodus 24:9. It implies nobility of birth. He laid not his hand—i.e., He in nowise hurt or injured them. The belief was general that a man could not see God and live (Genesis 32:30; Exodus 32:20; Judges 6:22-23, &c.). In one sense it was true—“ o man hath seen the Father.” But the Son could reveal Himself under the Old Dispensation, as under the ew, and not even cause terror by His presence. (See the last clause of the verse.) Also they saw God.—Rather, they both saw God, and also did eat and drink. It is intended to express in the clearest way that the two facts were concurrent. As they feasted on the sacrificial meal, the vision of God was made manifest to them. It is impossible to doubt that we have here a precious forecast of the Christian’s highest privilege—the realisation of the presence of God in the sacred feast of the Holy Communion. EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "The Vision of God and the Feast Before Him Exodus 24:11 I. Consider the vision of God possible for us. The Bible says two things about that. It asserts, and it denies with equal emphasis, the possibility of our seeing Him. That vision which is impossible is the literal vision by sense, or, in a secondary meaning, the full, adequate, direct knowledge of God. The vision which is affirmed is the knowledge of Him, clear, certain, vivid, and, as I believe, yielding nothing to sense in any of these respects. What lessons does this vision bring for us? That we Christians may, even here and
- 77. now, see God,the God of the covenant. Christ, the revealer of God, makes God visible to us. The degree of this vision depends upon ourselves, and is a matter of cultivation. There are three things wanted for sight—something to see; something to see by; something to see with. God has given us the two first, and He will help us to the last if we like. Christ stands before us, at once the Master-Light of all our seeing, and the Object. Faith, meditation, purity, these three are the purging of our vision, and the conditions in us of the sight of God. II. otice the feast in the Divine presence. "They did eat and drink." That suggests, in the singular juxtaposition of the two things, that the vision of God is consistent with, and consecrates, common enjoyment and everyday life. If we see God there is only one thing that we shall be ashamed to do in His presence, and that is to sin. That strange meal on the mountain was no doubt made on the sacrifices that had preceded, of which a part were peace-offerings. The same meaning lies in this meal on the mountain that lay in the sacrificial feast of the peace-offering, the same meaning that lies in the great feast of the ew Covenant, "This is My Body; this is My Blood". The vision of God and the feast on the mountain are equally provided and made possible by Christ our Passover, who was sacrificed for us. III. We may gather out of this incident a glimpse of a prophetic character, and see in it the perfecting of the vision and of the feast. Whatever may be the change in manner of knowledge, and in measure of apprehension, and in proximity of presence, there is no change in heaven in the medium of revelation. Christ is forever the Manifester of God, and the glorified saints see God as we see Him in the face of Jesus Christ, though they see that face as we do not. The feast means perfect satisfaction, perfect repose, perfect gladness, perfect companionship. —A. Maclaren, The Unchanging Christ, p125. EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "The Vision of God and the Feast Before Him Exodus 24:11 I. Consider the vision of God possible for us. The Bible says two things about that. It asserts, and it denies with equal emphasis, the possibility of our seeing Him. That vision which is impossible is the literal vision by sense, or, in a secondary meaning, the full, adequate, direct knowledge of God. The vision which is affirmed is the knowledge of Him, clear, certain, vivid, and, as I believe, yielding nothing to sense in any of these respects.
- 78. What lessons doesthis vision bring for us? That we Christians may, even here and now, see God, the God of the covenant. Christ, the revealer of God, makes God visible to us. The degree of this vision depends upon ourselves, and is a matter of cultivation. There are three things wanted for sight—something to see; something to see by; something to see with. God has given us the two first, and He will help us to the last if we like. Christ stands before us, at once the Master-Light of all our seeing, and the Object. Faith, meditation, purity, these three are the purging of our vision, and the conditions in us of the sight of God. II. otice the feast in the Divine presence. "They did eat and drink." That suggests, in the singular juxtaposition of the two things, that the vision of God is consistent with, and consecrates, common enjoyment and everyday life. If we see God there is only one thing that we shall be ashamed to do in His presence, and that is to sin. That strange meal on the mountain was no doubt made on the sacrifices that had preceded, of which a part were peace-offerings. The same meaning lies in this meal on the mountain that lay in the sacrificial feast of the peace-offering, the same meaning that lies in the great feast of the ew Covenant, "This is My Body; this is My Blood". The vision of God and the feast on the mountain are equally provided and made possible by Christ our Passover, who was sacrificed for us. III. We may gather out of this incident a glimpse of a prophetic character, and see in it the perfecting of the vision and of the feast. Whatever may be the change in manner of knowledge, and in measure of apprehension, and in proximity of presence, there is no change in heaven in the medium of revelation. Christ is forever the Manifester of God, and the glorified saints see God as we see Him in the face of Jesus Christ, though they see that face as we do not. The feast means perfect satisfaction, perfect repose, perfect gladness, perfect companionship. —A. Maclaren, The Unchanging Christ, p125. Vision and Drudgery Exodus 24:11 It has been said by a very competent scholar, that this is the most significant chapter in the whole of the Old Testament. It is the basis of that covenant between God and Prayer of Manasseh , which is glorified in the ew Covenant of Christ. There was first the shedding of the blood of oxen, and "This cup is the ew Covenant in My Blood". There was the pouring of half the blood upon the altar, in token of lives that
- 79. were forfeited toGod. And then there was the sprinkling of the people with the other half, as if God were saying, "My children, live again". For the blood is the life, and God, in covenant-mercy, was redeeming them from the death which they deserved. It was then that Moses and the seventy elders went upwards to the rocky heights of Sinai. And above a heaven, blue as a sapphire stone, somehow the vision of the Eternal broke on them. And they saw God, not with the eye of sense, for no man hath seen God at any time—and they saw God and did eat and drink. Is not that a strange conclusion to the matter? It is a magnificent and unequalled anticlimax. They saw God and began to sing His praise? ot so; they saw God and did eat and drink. What does it mean? I. First, the vision of God is the glory of the commonplace. It was an old and a widespread belief that the vision of God was the harbinger of death. You are all familiar with Old Testament passages where men have voiced this primitive conviction. We are far away from that conception now, thanks to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our God is love; He has a Father"s heart; He has a Father"s yearning for the prodigal. But God was terrible and dreadful once; and to see Him was not a blessing but a woe, driving a man apart from all his fellows into a loneliness horrible as death. I have no doubt that these seventy men of Israel had some such heavy feeling in their hearts. Let them see God, and then farewell for ever to the common lights and shadows of humanity. And so they climbed the hill, and had their vision above the pavement of the sapphire stones, and they saw God, and did eat and drink. Do you see what they were learning in that hour? They were learning that the vision of God does not withdraw us. It is not vouchsafed to drive a man apart, and rob him for ever of familiar joys. It is vouchsafed to consecrate the commonplace; to shed a glory on the familiar table; to send a man back into his daily round with the light that never was on sea or land. II. The vision of God is the secret of tranquillity. That day at Sinai, as you may well conceive, had been a day of most intense excitement. It was a day when the most deadened heart was wakened to awe and to expectancy. If that were so with the body of the people, it was doubly so with these seventy elders. Think what it must have signified to them as they clambered up the rocky steeps of Sinai. There God had dwelt: there He had spoken to Moses: there there was blackness and darkness and tempest, and so terrible was the sight that even Moses said, "I exceedingly fear and quake". I do not think that these seventy elders were in any state to think of food or drink. Like a soldier in the excitement of the charge, they forgot that they were hungry or athirst. And then they had their vision of the infinite, and it brought them to their quiet selves again, and the tumult and confusion passed away, and they saw God, and did eat and drink. That means that in the vision of God there is a certain tranquillizing power. Just to realize that He is here, is one of the deep secrets of repose. The man who has learned that can eat and drink and join in the happiness of feast and fellowship, although his table be set upon Mount Sinai, and be ringed about with darkness and with fire. —G. H. Morrison, The Return of the Angels, p235.
- 80. The Vision ofGod Exodus 24:11 Bishop Chadwick remarks on this passage: "They saw the God of Israel," and under His feet the blue-ness of the sky like intense sapphire. And they were secure: they beheld God, and ate and drank. I. But in privilege itself there are degrees: Moses was called up still higher, and left Aaron and Hur to govern the people while he communed with his God. For six days the nation saw the flanks of the mountain swathed in cloud, and its summit crowned with the glory of Jehovah like devouring fire. Then Moses entered the cloud, and during forty days they knew not what had become of him. Was it time lost? Say rather that all time is wasted except what is spent in communion, direct or indirect, with the Eternal. The narrative is at once simple and sublime. We are sometimes told that other religions besides our own rely for sanction upon their supernatural origin. "Zarathustra, Skya-Mooni, and Mahomed pass among their followers for envoys of the Godhead; and in the estimation of the Brahmin the Vedas and the laws of Manou are holy, Divine books" (Kuenen, Religion of Israel, i. p6). This is true. But there is a wide difference between nations which assert that God privately appeared to their teachers, and a nation which asserts that God appeared to the public. It is not upon the word of Moses that Israel is said to have believed; and even those who reject the narrative are not entitled to confound it with narratives utterly dissimilar. There is not to be found anywhere a parallel for this majestic story. II. But what are we to think of the assertion that God was seen to stand upon a burning mountain? He it is Whom no man hath seen or can see, and in His presence the seraphim veil their faces. It will not suffice to answer that Moses "endured as seeing Him that is invisible," for the paraphrase is many centuries later, and hostile critics will rule it out of court as an after-thought. At least, however, it proves that the problem was faced long ago, and tells us what solution satisfied the early Church. With this clue before us, we ask what notion did the narrative really convey to its ancient readers? If our defence is to be thoroughly satisfactory, it must show an escape from heretical and carnal notions of deity, not only for ourselves, but also for careful readers from the very first. ow it is certain that no such reader could for one moment think of a manifestation thorough, exhaustive, such as the eye receives of colour and of form. Because the effect produced is not satisfaction, but desire. Each new vision deepens the sense of
- 81. the unseen. Thuswe read first that Moses and Aaron, adab and Abihu and the seventy elders, saw God, from which revelation the people felt and knew themselves to be excluded. And yet the multitude also had a vision according to its power to see; and indeed it was more satisfying to them than was the most profound insight enjoyed by Moses. To see God is to sail to the horizon; when you arrive, the horizon is as far in front as ever; but you have gained a new consciousness of infinitude. "The appearance of the glory of the Lord was seen like devouring fire in the eyes of the children of Israel." But Moses was aware of a glory far greater and more spiritual than any material splendour. When theophanies had done their utmost, his longing was still unslaked, and he cried out, "Show me, I pray thee, Thy glory". To his consciousness that glory was still veiled, which the multitude sufficiently beheld in the flaming mountain. And the answer which he received ought to put the question at rest for ever, since, along with the promise "All My goodness shall pass before thee," came the assertion "Thou shalt not see My face, for no man shall see Me and live". III. Song of Solomon , then, it is not our modern theology, but this noble book of Exodus itself, which tells us that Moses did not and could not adequately see God, however great and sacred the vision which he beheld. From this book we learn that, side by side with the most intimate communion and the clearest possible unveiling of God, grew up the profound consciousness that only some attributes and not the essence of deity had been displayed. Reference.—XXIV:11.—J. Kerr Campbell, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xli1892 , p119. SIMEO , "A SIGHT OF GOD IS A FEAST TO THE SOUL Exodus 24:11. They saw God, and did eat and drink. GOD is every where present, but no where visible, unless he please to draw aside the veil, and reveal himself to us. It is in heaven alone that his unveiled glory is continually seen. There have however in former times been many occasions whereon he has discovered himself to men, sometimes in human, sometimes in angelic form, and sometimes in a bright appearance, in which no similitude could be traced, and of which no representation can be made. The manifestation of which the text speaks, seems to have been of the last kind. It was vouchsafed to a great many persons at once: and while they beheld his presence, they feasted before him. In discoursing upon this interesting event, we shall notice, I. Their vision— The circumstances of the vision are particular, and deserve an attentive consideration— [The persons to whom it was vouchsafed were Moses, and Aaron with his two eldest
- 82. sons, adab andAbihu, and seventy of the “elders of Israel,” who are also called “nobles.” Who these nobles were we cannot absolutely determine; but it is most probable that they were persons of consequence in the different tribes, who were selected to represent the nation at large; and, if six were taken out of each tribe, they might in round numbers be called seventy, though strictly speaking they would amount to seventy-two. The time at which they were thus favoured, was after they had consented to the covenant which God had made with them. Subsequent to the publication of the moral law from Mount Sinai, God ordained a variety of statutes, which were peculiar to Israel as a nation; and at the same time made with them a national covenant, partaking of a covenant of works, and partly of a covenant of grace. In this, they undertook to serve God; and God undertook to protect and bless them. This covenant had been confirmed by a sacrifice, in which the different parties had met, as it were, and given their consent to it. God was represented by the altar; and the twelve tribes were represented by the twelve pillars which Moses had erected near the altar, as well as by the seventy elders, who had been chosen out from among them. The blood of the sacrifice had been sprinkled on them all; on the altar, the pillars, and the people. The book of the covenant also had been sprinkled with it [ ote: Hebrews 9:18-23.], to shew, that, though God did not relax the demands of his law, he would not be extreme to mark the unallowed violations of it. After this covenant had been thus made and ratified, God called Moses and the others to come up higher on the mountain; and revealed to them his glory. The manner also in which God revealed himself, is worthy of notice. There had been a manifestation of the Deity prior to this: but O! how different from it! That display which God made of himself at the giving of the law was in “blackness and darkness, and tempest; and attended with such tremendous thunderings and lightenings, that all the people, yea, and “Moses himself, exceedingly trembled and quaked.” But, in this vision all was light and serene, and calculated to inspire the beholders with joy and confidence. The appearance of the Deity was beyond the brightness of the meridian sun; and underneath it “the pavement, as it were, upon which he stood, was like the sapphire” stone, or like the azure sky, bespangled with stars [ ote: 0.]. Thus the vision altogether was suited to a new-covenant state, wherein the people were introduced into communion with their God, and honoured with these astonishing tokens of his love and favour.] Such a vision is now vouchsafed to us under the Gospel— [We shall not indeed behold God precisely as they did; for such visions have long since been discontinued. But there is a spiritual view of the Deity, which we may, and must, partake of; and which. we are authorized to say, was typified by the vision before us. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the preceding context is expressly quoted, and that too with some additional circumstances not related by Moses [ ote: Hebrews 9:18-23.]: and we are told that the event there referred to, was “a pattern of the heavenly things,”, which we enjoy under the Gospel. The view which
- 83. we have ofthe Deity, prior to our embracing the new covenant, inspires us with nothing but terror: but when we have accepted the covenant of grace, which was confirmed by the sacrifice of Christ, and have sprinkled on our consciences die blood of that sacrifice, then we shall be admitted to a more clear, but less terrific, new of God: his justice will appear more awful in the sacrifice which it demanded, than even in the curses it denounced: but it will be seen tempered with mercy; and ready to harmonize with mercy in every act of love. This vision we are to enjoy, not through the medium of representatives, but every one of us for himself. It is of Christians in general, and not of some distinguished favourites only, that the Apostle says, “God hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ [ ote: 2 Corinthians 4:6.].” Here, by the way, we see where we are to have this vision: it is to be “in our hearts:” it is an object of contemplation to the mind; and not of sight to our bodily organs.] Together with their vision, it will be proper to notice also, II. Their feast— It was generally supposed that none could see God and live [ ote: Genesis 32:30.]: but here the seventy elders, as well as Moses and Aaron, beheld him, and yet “he laid not his hand on any one of them” to hurt them [ ote: This is the meaning of the words preceding the text.]. On the contrary, They feasted on their sacrifice in the divine presence— [They had sacrificed burnt-offerings, and peace-offerings. Of the latter, the offerers were allowed to eat, in token of their acceptance with God. Indeed it had long before been customary for parties covenanting with each other, to feast together at the ratification of their covenant [ ote: Genesis 31:54.]. And here, if we may so speak, the different parties feasted together: God’s part of the sacrifices had been consumed upon his altar; and the remainder was eaten by the offerers. And doubtless it must have been a precious feast to those, who had so lately trembled at the thunders of Mount Sinai. Their souls must have been yet more refreshed with a sense of the divine favour, than their bodies by the provision thus allotted for their support.] But their feast was. no less typical than their vision— [Christ, who is our sacrifice, calls all his people to “eat his flesh, and to drink his blood.” But we must not imagine that this refers to corporeal food: our Lord speaks of spiritual food, of which our souls are to partake by the exercise of faith on him. Yes, his atonement is indeed a feast to the soul: in this sense it may be truly said, “His flesh is meat indeed; and his blood is drink indeed [ ote: John 6:53-56.].” On this we are to feed in the immediate presence of our God. However “far off we are, we may draw nigh by the blood of Jesus [ ote: Ephesians 2:13.],” yea, “we may have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus [ ote: Hebrews 10:19.]:” we may see God reconciled to us in him; and may rejoice in him as our
- 84. God and portionfor ever. The wonders of his love are to be the continual banquet of our souls. His “exceeding great and precious promises” are “a feast of fat things, of wines on the lees well refined [ ote: Isaiah 25:6.].” Of these we are to “eat freely, and abundantly [ ote: Song of Solomon 5 :l.]:” we are to “sit under his shadow; and his fruit will be sweet unto our taste [ ote: Song of Solomon 2:3.]:” yea, “we shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness [ ote: Psalms 63:5.] ;” enjoying a “peace that passeth all understanding,” and being “filled with joy unspeakable and glorified [ ote: 1 Peter 1:8.].”] Address, 1. Those who are afar off from God— [The prohibition given to the Israelites, is cancelled with, respect to you. The veil of the temple was rent in twain at the death of Christ, in token that a new and living way was opened to all, and that all who believed, were constituted “a royal priesthood [ ote: 1 Peter 2:9.].” Will ye then decline the invitation that is sent you? We are commissioned to go forth into the highways and hedges to call you to the feast, which a God of infinite love has prepared for you. O come, and partake of it. But remember that, in order to enjoy it, you must first accept, the new covenant, and submit to be saved by the free mercy of God in Christ Jesus. Sprinkle yourself with the blood of Christ, your all-atoning sacrifice; and then you may have fellowship both with the Father and the Son, and feast before God for ever on the provisions of redeeming love.] 2. Those who are inclined to rest in external privileges— [Such was the case with the greater part of those to whom the text refers. One would have supposed that they could never have forgotten their obligations to God, or have ceased to serve him: but, alas! in a very little time, adab and Abihu were struck dead for their impiety; and of the seventy elders, not one, as far as we know, held fast his integrity. They were ready, as indeed were all the people also, to profess their allegiance to the Deity; “All that the Lord hath said, will we do, and be obedient:” but they soon forgat their pious resolutions, and revolted from their duty. Beware, Brethren, lest it be so with you. It will be to very little purpose to say at last, “Lord, Lord, have we not eaten and drunk in thy presence [ ote: Luke 13:26.] ?” If you have “not been steadfast in his covenant.” your outward professions, or past experiences, will avail little. Maintain therefore continually your dependence upon Christ; and, in his strength, exert yourselves to fulfil his holy will.] 3. Those who are coming to the table of their Lord— [We ask not whether you have a deep experience of divine truth, but whether you have fled to Christ from the terrors of the law? Have you seen yourselves condemned by the covenant of works: and are you seeking mercy through the covenant of grace? Are you really sprinkling yourselves with the blood of Christ, your great sacrifice, and coming to God through him alone? If so, behold, there is a
- 85. table spread, andyou are called to come and feast upon your sacrifice in the presence of your God. Come thither in faith; and your God will make his glory to pass before your eyes; yea, Christ will “reveal himself to you in the breaking of bread [ ote: Luke 24:31; Luke 24:35.],” “and fill you with “his loving-kindness, which is better than life itself.” Thus shall you be strengthened for all future services, till at last you shall be called to “eat and drink at Christ’s table in the kingdom of your Father. [ ote: Luke 22:30.].”] 12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.” BAR ES, "Many Jews understand the “tables of stone” to denote the Ten Commandments; “a law,” the law written in the Pentateuch; and the “commandments” (or “the commandment”), the oral or traditional law which was in after ages put into writing in the Mishna and the Gemara. But it is more probable that the Ten Commandments alone are spoken of, and that the meaning is, “the tables of stone with the law, even the commandment.” CLARKE, "Come up to me into the mount, and be there - We may suppose Moses to have been, with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders, about midway up the mount; for it plainly appears that there were several stations on it. GILL, "And the Lord said unto Moses, come up to me into the mount,.... For as yet Moses was not got up to the top of the mount, only up some part of it with the elders, though at some distance from the people: but now he is bid to come up higher: and be there; continue there, as he did six days after this:
- 86. and I willgive thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that is, the law of the ten commandments, which were written on tables of stone by the Lord himself; he had already spoken them in the hearing of the people, but now he had wrote them, and that in tables of stone; partly for the duration of them, and partly to represent the hardness of the hearts of the Israelites, the stubbornness of their wills to comply with his law, their contumacy and obstinate persistence in disobedience to it: that thou mayest teach them; these being in hand and sight, would have an opportunity of explaining them to them and inculcating them on their minds, and pressing them to yield an obedience to them. HE RY 12-15, "The public ceremony of sealing the covenant being over, Moses is called up to receive further instructions, which we have in the following chapters. I. He is called up into the mount, and there he remains six days at some distance. Orders are given him (Exo_24:12): Come up to the mount, and be there, that is, “Expect to continue there for some considerable time.” Those that would have communion with God must not only come to ordinances, but they must abide by them. Blessed are those that dwell in his house, not that merely call there. “Come up, and I will give thee a law, that thou mayest teach them.” Moses taught them nothing but what he had received from the Lord, and he received nothing from the Lord but what he taught them; for he was faithful both to God and Israel, and did neither add nor diminish, but kept close to his instructions. Having received these orders, 1. He appointed Aaron and Hur to be as lords-justices in his absence, to keep the peace and good order in the congregation, Exo_ 24:14. The care of his government he would leave behind him when he went up into the mount, that he might not have that to distract his mind; and yet he would not leave the people as sheep having no shepherd, no, not for a few days. Good princes find their government a constant care, and their people find it a constant blessing. 2. He took Joshua up with him into the mount, v. 13. Joshua was his minister, and it would be a satisfaction to him to have him with him as a companion, during the six days that he tarried in the mount, before God called to him. Joshua was to be his successor, and therefore thus he was honoured before the people, above the rest of the elders, that they might afterwards the more readily take him for their governor; and thus he was prepared for service, by being trained up in communion with God. Joshua was a type of Christ, and (as the learned bishop Pearson well observes) Moses takes him with him into the mount, because without Jesus, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, there is no looking into the secrets of heaven, nor approaching the glorious presence of God. 3. A cloud covered the mount six days, a visible token of God's special presence there, for he so shows himself to us as at the same time to conceal himself from us. He lets us know so much as to assure us of his presence, power, and grace, but intimates to us that we cannot find him out to perfection. During these six days Moses staid waiting upon the mountain for a call into the presence-chamber, Exo_24:15, Exo_ 24:16. God thus tried the patience of Moses, and his obedience to that command (Exo_ 24:12), Be there. If Moses had been tired before the seventh day (as Saul, 1Sa_13:8, 1Sa_ 13:9), and had said, What should I wait for the Lord any longer? he would have lost the honour of entering into the cloud; but communion with God is worth waiting for. And it is fit we should address ourselves to solemn ordinances with a solemn pause, taking time to compose ourselves, Psa_108:1. JAMISO ,"I will give thee tables of stone — The ten commandments, which had
- 87. already been spoken,were to be given in a permanent form. Inscribed on stone, for greater durability, by the hand of God Himself, they were thus authenticated and honored above the judicial or ceremonial parts of the law. K&D, "Exo_24:12-18 prepare the way for the subsequent revelation recorded in ch. 25-31, which Moses received concerning the erection of the sanctuary. At the conclusion of the covenant meal, the representatives of the nation left the mountain along with Moses. This is not expressly stated, indeed; since it followed as a matter of course that they returned to the camp, when the festival for which God had called them up was concluded. A command was then issued again to Moses to ascend the mountain, and remain there (ם ָה־שֵׁי ְהֶ,)ו for He was about to give him the tables of stone, with (ְו as in Gen_3:24) the law and commandments, which He had written for their instruction (cf. Exo_31:18). CALVI ,"12.And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me. Moses himself is now taken up higher; because it was sufficient that the elders should be admitted to that intermediate vision, from whence they might certainly know that he would not proceed further, except by God’s command, in order that he might be received to familiar colloquy. Although, however, Joshua began to go on with him, it is plain that he was only his companion for six days, until Moses left him behind, and was gathered into the cloud. When God declares that He will give him “a law and commandment,” this must not be understood of any new instruction, but of the authentic writing (consignatione) of the Law: for, after having spoken of the two tables, He immediately mentions, in apposition, the Law and Commandment, by way of explanation; as if He had said that He would give the tables, which were to be a divine monument (320) of His covenant; so that a summary of doctrine should exist among the people, not written with ink, and by the hand of man, but by the secret power of the Spirit. I am afraid the speculation of Augustine is more subtle than correct, that the Law was written by the finger of God, (321) because only the Spirit of God engraves it on our hearts; for, to pass over the fact that the hardness of the stones was not changed, what will their breaking mean, which will be spoken of hereafter? Surely it does not accord that, whereas the grace of regeneration endures unto the end, the Law should be only engraven efficaciously by the Spirit upon men’s hearts for a moment. What I have advanced, however, is beyond controversy, that the Law was inscribed upon these polished stones, that the perpetuity of the covenant might be testified in all ages. BE SO , "Verse 12 Exodus 24:12. The Lord said unto Moses, Come up — There were different stations on the mountain. The glory of the Lord occupied the highest place, the top of the mountain: to this place Moses is now called up, leaving the elders below to wait for him, and commissioning Aaron and Hur to transact any business in his absence. It has been thought that Moses might not expect so long a continuance in the mount with God as forty days and forty nights, when he enjoined the elders to tarry for him on the mount, and commissioned Aaron and Hur to go backward and forward
- 88. between them andthe people; and that it is not probable the elders continued all that time upon that part of the mountain where he left them. Concerning this, however, nothing can be affirmed with certainty. COFFMA , "Verses 12-14 "And Jehovah said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee the tables of stone, and the law and the commandments, which I have written, that thou mayest teach them. And Moses rose up and Joshua his minister: and Moses went up into the mountain of God. And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whosoever hath a cause, let him come near unto them." "Unto Moses ... come up ... into the mount ..." Moses, who without any doubt participated in that marvelous meal and the theophany, along with the seventy, etc., was not "up into the mount" when that event occurred, as indicated by this commandment. "With Joshua his minister ..." Since Joshua did not receive that name till long afterward when Moses changed it from "Oshea," we are left with the conclusion that Moses revised these words at the time of his putting all of his writings together, near the time of the Exodus, and for greater clarity placed it here proleptically. It is not indicated that even Joshua went to the summit. Perhaps he waited for Moses at some appointed place until-the forty days were concluded. See Exodus 32:17. Aaron and Hur (Exodus 24:14) were charged as Moses' deputies to take charge of the affairs of the nation during the time when Moses waited upon God in the mountain. The disaster that ensued will be revealed later. COKE, "Exodus 24:12. And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up— We have before observed, on ch. 19: that there were different stations on the mountain: the glory of the Lord occupied the highest place, the top of the Mount, as it is called, Exodus 24:17. And to this highest place Moses is now enjoined to ascend, leaving the elders behind to wait for him, and commissioning Aaron and Hur to transact any business during his absence. It is probable, that Moses might not expect so long a continuance in the Mount with God, as forty days and forty nights, when he enjoined the elders to tarry for him on the Mount, and commissioned Aaron and Hur to go backwards and forwards between them and the people; nor can we suppose, that, during this long stay of his, the elders continued all the time upon that part of the mountain where he left them. CO STABLE, "Verses 12-18 C. Directions regarding God"s dwelling among His people24:12-31:18 Having given directions clarifying Israel"s obedience in the Book of the Covenant ( Exodus 20:22 to Exodus 23:33), God now summoned Moses up into the mountain again to receive His directions regarding Israel"s worship. The Book of the Covenant specified how the Israelites were to live with one another, but the
- 89. tabernacle showed themhow God wanted them to worship Him. [ ote: Cf. Davis, p192.] "The establishment of a covenant relationship necessitated a means whereby the vassal party could regularly appear before the Great King to render his accountability. In normal historical relationships of this kind between mere men, some sort of intercession was frequently mandatory and, in any case, a strict protocol had to be adhered to. [ ote: For Hittite practice, see O. R. Gurney, The Hittites, pp74-75.] How much more must this be required in the case of a sinful people such as Israel, who must, notwithstanding, communicate with and give account to an infinitely transcendent and holy God." [ ote: Merrill, "A Theology . . .," pp48-49.] Why did Moses record God"s instructions for the tabernacle before the people sinned by making the golden calf? It was, after all, the golden calf incident that led to the giving of the priestly laws. ". . . according to the logic of the narrative, it was Israel"s fear that had created the need for a safe approach to God, that Isaiah , one in which the people as such were kept at a distance and a mediator was allowed to represent them. It was precisely for this reason that the tabernacle was given to Israel." [ ote: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p58.] ELLICOTT, "(12) Come up to me into the mount, and be there.—After the sacrificial meal, the seventy-four persons engaged in it had descended into the plain of Er-Rahah, and possibly spent some time there, before a second summons came to Moses. This time he was directed to ascend accompanied only by his minister, Joshua (Exodus 24:13), and was warned that his stay was to be a prolonged one in the words, “And be there.” And I will give thee tables of stone . . . —It is remarkable that these are not expressly said, either here or in Exodus 31:18, to have contained the ten commandments. The fact, however, is distinctly stated in Deuteronomy 5:22; and with respect to the second tables, the same is affirmed in Exodus 34:28. The fiction of a double decalogue is thus precluded. Verses 12-18 THE SECO D ASCE T OF MOSES I TO MOU T SI AI. (12-18) The great work still remained to be done. A series of laws had been laid down for the nation and accepted with unanimity (Exodus 24:3; Exodus 24:7). But “quid prosunt leges sine moribus?” It was necessary for the sustentation of the religious life of the people that a sacred polity should be instituted, a form of worship set up, and regulations established with regard to all the externals of religion—holy persons, holy places, rites, ceremonies, vestments, incense, consecration. Moses was directed to ascend into the mount, and hold prolonged communion with God, in order that he might learn the mind of God with respect to
- 90. all these things.His prolonged stay for “forty days and forty nights” (Exodus 24:18) was necessary to give him a full and complete knowledge of all the details so elaborately set forth in Exodus 25-30, and again in Exodus 35-40, which thenceforth constituted the essentials of the external worship of Israel, whereby the minds and habits of the people were moulded and impressed in a far more efficacious way than could ever have been done by a mere set of abstract propositions, appealing only to the intellect. “Segnius irritant animum demissa per aures, Quam quœ sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus.” The Decalogue and the Book of the Covenant had no doubt a considerable share in forming the character of the Hebrew nation; but a larger share must be assigned to the ritual and ceremonial which Moses was now instructed to set up, and which forms the main subject of the remainder of the Book. EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "Exodus 24:12 "The monastical life," says Bacon in the second part of The Advancement of Learning, "is not simple, contemplative, but performeth the duty either of incessant prayers and supplications, which hath been truly esteemed as an office in the Church, or else of writing or taking instructions for writing concerning the law of God, as Moses did when he abode so long in the mount.... But for contemplation which should be finished in itself, without casting beams upon society, assuredly divinity knoweth it not." My life is not stolen from me. I give it. A pleasure which is for myself alone touches me slightly. It is for myself and for my friends that I read, that I reflect, that I write, that I meditate, that I hear, that I observe, that I feel. I have consecrated to them the use of all my senses. —Diderot. PETT, "Verses 12-18 Moses Called Up Into The Mount (Exodus 24:12-18). Exodus 24:12 gives the impression that they were now back in the camp. Thus it would seem that the call came to Moses there, and Moses went up into the Mount to receive the Overlord’s version of the covenant. We may analyse this passage as follows: a Moses is to go up into the mount to receive the written Law, and Moses and Joshua go up into the mount while the elders remain to oversee the people (Exodus 24:12-14). b Moses goes up into the mount and the cloud covers the mount (Exodus 24:15). c The glory of Yahweh is revealed on the mount (Exodus 24:16 a). d The cloud covers the mount and Yahweh speaks to Moses from the midst of the cloud (Exodus 24:16 b). c The appearance of the glory of Yahweh is like a devouring fire on the mount (Exodus 24:17).
- 91. b Moses enteredinto the cloud and went up into the mount (Exodus 24:18 a). a Moses was in the mountain forty days and forty nights (Exodus 24:18 b). We note that in ‘a’ Moses goes up into the mount and in the parallel he is there for forty days and forty nights. In ‘b’ Moses goes up into the mount and the cloud covers the mount (where Moses is), in the parallel Moses enters the cloud and goes up into the mount a deliberate reversal. Both things occurred at the same time. In ‘c’ the glory of Yahweh is revealed and in the parallel it is described. The central point is that Yahweh is there and gives His words to Moses. We also note that there is here a gradually increasing crescendo as Moses goes up to meet with Yahweh. Exodus 24:12 ‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to me into the Mount and be there. And I will give you the tables of stone, and the law (instruction) and the commandment which I have written that you may teach them.” ’ “And Yahweh said to Moses.” In contrast with ‘He said to Moses’ (Exodus 24:1) this indicates a new section in the narrative. In Exodus 24:14 the elders were now clearly in the camp. Thus this is after the elders have left the mount and returned to the camp. “Come up to me into the Mount and be there.” ow that the covenant feast was over the solemn presentation of the covenant by the Overlord, written by His own hand, would take place. Moses was called up to receive it solemnly from the hand of the Overlord. ‘And be there’ suggests that he would be there for some time. “The tables of stone, even the instruction and the commandment which I have written.” The tablets of stone contained the instruction and the commandment. God’s covenant both guides and commands. We may possibly see here the distinction between the judgments (instruction) and the words (commandments) of Yahweh (see on Exodus 24:3). “The tables of stone --- which I have written.” The tables of stone signified permanence. The writing of God stressed His personal involvement in the matter. They were written ‘with the finger of God’ (Exodus 31:18; Exodus 32:16), that finger which had worked so powerfully in Egypt (Exodus 8:19). “That you may teach them.” It was to be Moses’ solemn responsibility to ensure that the words and judgments of Yahweh were made known to the people constantly. Exodus 24:13-15 ‘And Moses rose up, and Joshua his servant, and Moses went up into the Mount of God , and he said to the elders, “You wait here for us until we come to you again. And behold Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a cause let him come near to them.” And Moses went up into the Mount and the cloud covered the Mount.’
- 92. In full obedienceto his Lord Moses went up into the Mount taking with him Joshua, his ‘servant’. That Joshua does go is brought out in that Moses says ‘us’. But from then on we might think that Moses was alone. Ancient writings were often like this. They concentrated on the essentials. ‘Servant’ may be compared with the earlier ‘servants of Pharaoh’ (Exodus 8:21), his chief officials. Joshua has clearly been selected out to be groomed for the future. ‘The servant of Moses’ is now Joshua’s official and prestigious title (Exodus 33:11; umbers 11:28; Joshua 1:1). “You wait here.” The words that follow show that this was not meant literally. It simply meant that they were not to go up any further. They were to wait at the bottom of the mountain and not go any higher. They were in fact to continue with their responsibility of judging the people, with Aaron and Hur designated as chief judges. “Until we come to you again.” Moses did not know how long he would be and thus made provision for the judging of the people until he returned. But this suggests that he expected to be there for some time. “Aaron and Hur”. Compare Exodus 17:10-12. These were his two deputies. But Joshua was the heir apparent. “And Moses went up into the Mount.” He climbed up higher taking Joshua with him, but did not yet enter the cloud. “And the cloud covered the Mount.” This was preparatory to the appearing of the glory of Yahweh. Exodus 24:16-18 ‘And the glory of Yahweh abode on Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it for six days, and the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud, and the appearance of the glory of Yahweh was like a devouring fire on the top of the Mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud and went up into the Mount. And Moses was in the Mount forty days and forty nights.’ Moses did not go directly into the presence of Yahweh. He had to wait to be called. This period of waiting was probably in order to indicate that Moses had to be prepared before he could enter into God’s presence. Periods of waiting are often prescribed later as a part of the cleansing process. The waiting is for seven days. His cleansing is divinely perfect. Then he could be called and enter the cloud. “The glory of Yahweh, like a devouring fire (see on Exodus 19:18) ‘dwelt” on the Mount for the seven days, manifested to the children of Israel (Exodus 22:17), who must have watched in awe as they realised that Moses and Joshua were up there with God. The glory was seen through the cloud. “And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud and went up into the Mount.” The
- 93. ascent has takenplace in stages. Going up with Joshua, then leaving him, and then going further up, and now the final ascent to come into the very presence of God. “And Moses was in the Mount forty days and forty nights.” ‘Forty days and forty nights’ was regularly a significant period when men of God waited on God at special moments in history (Moses - Exodus 24:18; Exodus 34, 28; Deuteronomy 9:9; Deuteronomy 9:18; - Elijah - 1 Kings 19:8; and Jesus Himself - Matthew 4:2 and parallels). The mention of both days and nights shows the intensity of the experience. It was unceasing. The phrase probably means ‘for longer than a moon period’, i.e. a month. ‘Forty days’ had probably already from earliest days (Genesis 7:4; Genesis 7:12; Genesis 7:17) begun to mean an unspecified period of a little over a month, as it certainly would later as a period of waiting for judgment (Ezekiel 4:6; Jonah 3:4) or as a more general period of waiting ( umbers 13:25; 1 Samuel 17:16 - both significant periods of waiting for Israel). It was thus a period which stressed the significance of the event. So Moses spent ‘forty days and forty nights’ with God. And Joshua was in the Mount with him. Here he would receive the tables of stone written with the finger of God, the final sealing of the covenant that Yahweh had made with His people. The Great Overlord will hand over to His people His version of the finalised covenant. He will then establish His throne (the Ark of the covenant) and His dwelling-place (the Tabernacle), both portable, among them. Details of this are given in the next section. ote for Christians. What significance has this covenant ceremony for us? It reminds us that we too have entered into solemn covenant with God when we became Christians. We too are solemnly bound by the covenant in His blood, a covenant enunciated for us in Hebrews 8:7-13 which has replaced the old by adding to it and improving it, for the old had been marred by misinterpretation and misuse. For the old covenant had come to have a different meaning and significance because of its misinterpretation. Thus it had to be replaced by a better covenant. But the one that was superseded was not the one that God made, but the misinterpretation of it that had changed it from what it was. PULPIT, "Verses 12-18 EXPOSITIO MOSES' E TRY I TO THE CLOUD, A D FORTY DAYS' COMMU E WITH GOD. It was necessary now that Moses should receive full directions for the external worship of God, the sanctuary, and the priesthood. Every religion has something tangible and material about it—holy places, holy things, rites, ceremonies, rules, forms, regulations. If man sets himself to devise these things of his own head, he may
- 94. very easily gowrong, and find his elaborate inventions "an offence" to God. To avoid this—to secure the result that all should be pleasing and acceptable to "the High and Holy One which inhabiteth eternity," it was thought fitting that "patterns" should be shown to Moses of all that was to be made for the worship (Hebrews 8:5), and exact details given him with respect to the material, size, shape, and construction of each. The results are put before us in seven chapters (chs. 25- 31.). For the purpose of allowing ample time for the communications which had to be made and of securing that undivided attention which was requisite in order that all should remain fixed in the memory, God summoned his servant to a long and solitary colloquy, on the mountain summit whereon the cloud rested (Exodus 19:18), apart from all his people. Moses, of course, obeyed; but before ascending, arranged with the elders that in his absence Aaron and Hur should have the direction of affairs, and decide all doubtful questions (Exodus 24:14). He then went up the mountain, accompanied for part of the way by Joshua, who is now spoken of as his "minister," or "attendant" (verse 13). Joshua probably remained with him for six days, while Moses waited for a summons to enter the cloud. On the seventh day the summons came: and Moses, leaving Joshua, entered the cloud, and was hid from the sight of all men. Exodus 24:12 Come up to me. Moses, apparently, had descended again into the plain, with Aaron and the seventy elders, after the festival was over. (See Exodus 24:14, and compare Exodus 32:1.) He is now commanded to reascend, and be there—i.e; "And continue there"—foreshadowing the length of the stay. Tables of stone, and a law, and commandments, etc. Literally, "Tables of stone, and the law and the commandments which I have written." The three expressions alike refer to the Decalogue, which alone God wrote. That thou mayest teach them. Rather," to teach them." God wrote the commandments on stone, in order to inculcate them with the greater force upon his people. BI 12-18, "Come up to Me into the mount. Divine preparations I. Each one has his own position to occupy. II. Each man has his own Divine vision. To-day we may experience Divine chidings, and to-morrow we may be on the Mount of Beatitude. III. But there are specialities of work. IV. Therefore there must be speciality in the preparations. Learn to be much in the right, much in prayer, much in mountain solitude; but much also with the people. Let waiting and working go hand in hand. Above all things, obey the Divine voice. (W. Burrows, B. A.) Communion with God
- 95. I. That communionwith God is necessary. 1. For religious teachers. 2. For those engaged in business. 3. For parents, etc. II. That special places are appointed for communion with God. 1. House of God. 2. Privacy of own chamber. III. That preparation should be made for communion with God (Exo_24:14; see Mat_ 6:6). 1. Guard against interruptions from without. 2. Drive away worldly and anxious thoughts within. IV. That communion with God should be most frequently alone. 1. Presence of others may distract mind or embarrass thoughts. 2. Presence of others may divert attention from personal concerns of soul. 3. Private sins and wants to be laid bare. V. That in communion with God, the presence of others is sometimes helpful and even necessary. Family worship—prayer meetings—for those who have common wants, interests, etc. VI. That communion with God is the condition upon which man may witness the Divine glory (Exo_24:16-17; see Isa_6:1-13.) VII. That communion with God may re protracted, and man must not weary of it. VIII. That among the purposes of communion with God, are recognition of the Divine authority and preparation for future work. (J. W. Burn.) The best recommendation A young man once came to London bearing a letter of introduction to Baron Rothschild with the request that he would give him employment. The great banker received him warmly, but expressed his regret that he had no position for him. As the young man was going, the baron put on his hat and walked along with him, pointing out the various objects of interest. Passing a bank the rich man went in to transact some business. Afterwards the young man applied at that very bank for work, and they asked, “Are you not the young man who was walking with the baron this morning?” “Yes.” “Well, you were in good company: and since we need a young man we will consider this a sufficient recommendation.” To walk with God is the best recommendation. When men of the world have need of an assistant or helper, they will be likely to consider such a fact as a commendation. (A. J. Gordon.) On the mount with God Moses would never have been the law-giver he was had he not remained there on the
- 96. mount, in sightof the glory and in communion with his God. The disciples would never have wrought as they did, had they not tarried in Jerusalem. Eminent preachers and teachers would never have thrilled and won hearts to Christ as they have, had they not gained their power in long seasons of prayer and communion with God. 1. Spiritual endowment is always the measure of success in work for Christ. Preachers fail and teachers fail because they are so little on the mount with God. 2. The want of Christian workers everywhere is revelation of the Divine glory. From this, power springs. God can use us only as we become equipped by vision of, and communion with, Him. We can tell only as we know. We know only as we are taught of God. Have we been on the mount, under the cloud? Have we seen the glory and heard the voice? What is our message from God to men? (J. E. Twitchell.). 13 Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. CLARKE, "Moses rose up - In Exo_24:16 it is said that the glory of the Lord abode on the mount, and the cloud covered it. The glory was probably above the cloud, and it was to the cloud that Moses and his servant Joshua ascended at this time, leaving Aaron and the elders below. After they had been in this region, viz., where the cloud encompassed the mountain, for six days, God appears to have called Moses up higher: compare verses Exo_24:16 and Exo_24:18. Moses then ascended to the glory, leaving Joshua in the cloud, with whom he had, no doubt, frequent conferences during the forty days he continued with God on the mount. GILL, "And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua,.... In order to go up higher on the mount. Joshua, and he only, was to go up higher with him, though not to the top of the mount, at least not into the cloud upon it, as Moses did. Joshua was his minister or servant, and waited upon him wherever he went, and was to be his successor; and therefore for his encouragement, and to qualify him the better for it, he was indulged with a sight and knowledge of things others were not; for by his not knowing anything of the idolatry of the golden calf, Exo_32:17 it appears that he was on some part of the mount all the forty days and forty nights; and if it should be asked whether he fasted all that time, or, if he did not, how he was provided with food and drink? it may be replied, that there is no necessity to suppose that he fasted all that time; and it is easy to imagine how he was supplied, for the manna fell round about the mountain, of which he might gather and eat day by day, as Aben Ezra observes; and there was a brook which descended out of the mount, from whence he might have water, Deu_9:21.
- 97. and Moses wentup into the mount of God; Mount Sinai, where he had formerly appeared to him in a bush, and now had descended on it to give the law, and was still upon it, where his glory was seen; and therefore might, with great propriety, be called the mount of God; to the top of which Moses was preparing to go, but before he went gave the following instructions. JAMISON, "Moses went up into the mount of God — He was called to receive the divine transcript. Joshua was taken a little higher, and it would be a great comfort for the leader to have his company during the six days he was in patient waiting for the call on the seventh or sabbath day. K&D, "Exo_24:13-14 When Moses was preparing to ascend the mountain with his servant Joshua (vid., Jos_17:9), he ordered the elders to remain in the camp (הֶז ָ i.e., where they were) till their return, and appointed Aaron and Hur (vid., Exo_17:10) as administrators of justice in case of any disputes occurring among the people. ים ִר ָב ְ ל ַע ַי־ב ִמ whoever has matters, matters of dispute (on this meaning of ל ַע ַ see Gen_37:19). BE SO , "Exodus 24:13. Joshua was his minister or servant, and it would be a satisfaction to him to have him as a companion during the six days that he tarried in the mount before God called to him. Joshua was to be his successor, and therefore thus he was honoured before the people, and thus he was prepared by being trained up in communion with God. Joshua was a type of Christ, and (as the learned Bishop Pearson well observes) Moses takes him with him unto the mount, because without Jesus, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, there is no looking into the secrets of heaven, nor approaching the presence of God. ELLICOTT, "(13) Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua.—The close connection of Joshua with Moses is here, for the first time, indicated. His employment as a general against Amalek (Exodus 17:9-13) might have simply marked his military capacity; but from this point in the history it becomes apparent that he was Moses’ most trusted friend and assistant in all matters where there was need of confidential relations between the leader and his subordinates, and thus that he was to be his successor (see Exodus 32:17; Exodus 33:11; umbers 13:8; umbers 13:16; umbers 27:18-23; Deuteronomy 34:9), since no other person stood in any such close association. Moses went up into the mount of God.—Ascended, i.e., to the highest point of the mountain, whereof mention has been previously made; not, probably, to the Jebel Musa, but to the highest summit of the Ras Sufsafeh, upon which the cloud rested. PULPIT, "Exodus 24:13 Moses went up. Prompt to obey, Moses, though he had only just descended from the
- 98. mount, immediately madeready to set forth and again ascend it. This time he was attended by his minister, Joshua, whose arm he had employed on a former occasion against the Amalekites (Exodus 17:9-13). The name, Joshua, is, however, still given him by anticipation, since he did not receive it until he was sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan ( umbers 13:8, umbers 13:16). 14 He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.” CLARKE, "Tarry ye here for us - Probably Moses did not know that he was to continue so long on the mount, nor is it likely that the elders tarried the whole forty days where they were: they doubtless, after waiting some considerable time, returned to the camp; and their return is supposed to have been the grand cause why the Israelites made the golden calf, as they probably reported that Moses was lost. Aaron and Hur are with you - Not knowing how long he might be detained on the mount, and knowing that many cases might occur which would require the interference of the chief magistrate, Moses constituted them regents of the people during the time he should be absent. GILL, "And he said unto the elders,.... The seventy elders which were selected out of the several tribes of Israel, and now about to return to the camp: tarry ye here for us; meaning himself and Joshua, who was going with him: until we come again unto you; perhaps Moses might not know how long his stay would be at the top of the mount, but supposed it would be some time by the provision he makes for hearing and adjusting cases in his absence: and behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; Hur is not mentioned before, as being with Moses and the rest; but doubtless he was, at least it is highly probable he was one of the seventy elders of him; see Gill on Exo_17:10.
- 99. if any manhave any matters to do: any cases to be considered, any cause to be tried in difference between him and another man, and which cannot be determined by the inferior judges, is too difficult for them to take in hand: let him come unto them; bring his case before them, and have their advice and opinion, and be determined by them. JAMISO ,"he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us — There is a circular valley or hollow a good way up on the brow of Jebel Musa, which was their halting place, while he alone was privileged to ascend the highest peak. The people stood below, as in the “outer court,” the elders in the “holy place,” Moses, as a type of Christ, in “the holy of holies.” CALVI ,"14.Tarry ye here for us, until we come again. I do not take the words so precisely as to suppose that he commanded them to stand still in the same place; but since he was just about to be separated from intercourse with men, I suppose, that our earthly dwelling-place is indicated by the adverb, (322) since it immediately follows, that if anything should occur, Aaron and Hur were to be his substitutes for ruling the people and settling quarrels. For, since care and anxiety might beset their minds, as being deprived of their only guide in counsel, and minister of safety, he offers this consolation to relieve their despondency. Hence it follows that they were sent back to occupy their charge, which could not be the case, unless they were in communication with the people. We are not aware whether Moses was pre-informed as to the time (of his absence, (323)) although it is more probable that he was in doubt and suspense, until he penetrated into the secret counsel of God. From the last verse but one, we learn, that though the majesty of God was more clearly revealed to the elders, still it was conspicuous to all, from the least to the greatest, lest any excuse for ignorance should remain; for when the fire was seen burning for six continuous days, as if it would consume the mountain, how could they afterwards pretend that it was not fully understood from what Author the Law proceeded? ELLICOTT, "(14) He said unto the elders.—Moses understood that his stay in the mount was about to be a prolonged one (see Exodus 24:12). He therefore prudently determined to make arrangements for the government and direction of the people during his absence. Aaron his brother, and Hur, the father of Bezaleel, perhaps his brother- in-law, seemed to him the fittest persons to exercise authority over the people during his absence; and accordingly he named them as the persons to whom application was to be made under any circumstances of difficulty. Here.—In the plain below the mountain. The injunction was that the camp should not be moved until Moses came down, however long he might be detained by the Divine colloquy. PULPIT, "Exodus 24:14 And he said unto the elders. Before taking his departure for the long sojourn implied in God's address to him, "Come up to me into the mount, and be there"
- 100. (Exodus 24:12), Mosesthought it necessary to give certain directions to the elders as to what they should do in his absence— 1. They were to remain where they were—i.e; in the plain at the foot of Sinai, until his return, however long it should be delayed. 2. They were to regard Aaron and Hur as their leaders, and his (Moses') representatives. In case of any difficulty arising, they were to refer the matter to them. On Hur see the comment upon Exodus 17:12. 15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, GILL, "And Moses went up into the mount,.... To the top of it, and as it seems alone, leaving Joshua behind in a lower part of the mountain: and a cloud covered the mount; in which cloud Jehovah was. K&D, "Exo_24:15-17 When he ascended the mountain, upon which the glory of Jehovah dwelt, it was covered for six days with the cloud, and the glory itself appeared to the Israelites in the camp below like devouring fire (cf. Exo_19:16); and on the seventh day He called Moses into the cloud. Whether Joshua followed him we are not told; but it is evident from Exo_ 32:17 that he was with him on the mountain, though, judging from Exo_24:2 and Exo_ 33:11, he would not go into the immediate presence of God. COFFMA , "Verse 15-16 "And Moses went up into the mount, and the cloud covered the mount. And the glory of Jehovah shone upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the cloud." "The cloud ..." The significance of that cloud is that, "It represents God's presence. evertheless, it is not to be wholly identified with him. It is intended to affirm that his presence was with Israel, without lessening the idea of his divine majesty and heavenly sovereignty.[19]
- 101. The period ofsix days waiting must have been a trial for Moses. Men have a great deal of trouble with their impatience. Men are always in a hurry, but God is never in a hurry. Moses may have felt that he needed to be with Israel; and, as events developed, it is certain that such a need was there. But the duty of Moses was to wait, as patiently as possible, until God revealed for him his next duty. EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "Exodus 24:15 "There was an idea of sanctity," says Ruskin, in the third volume of Modern Painters, "attached to rocky wilderness, because it had always been among hills that the Deity had manifested Himself most intimately to men, and to the hills that His saints had nearly always retired for meditation, for especial communion with Him, and to prepare for death. Men acquainted with the history of Moses, alone at Horeb, or with Israel at Sinai... were not likely to look with irreverent or unloving eyes upon the blue hills that girded their golden horizon, or drew down upon them the mysterious clouds out of the height of the darker heaven." How insignificant Sinai appears when Moses stands on its summit! This mountain seems but a pedestal whereon rest the feet of the Prayer of Manasseh , whilst his head reaches to the clouds, where he speaks with God. —Heine. PULPIT, "Exodus 24:15 Moses went up into the mount. Having made the necessary arrangements for the government of the people during his absence, Moses ascended, in company with Joshua, to the upper part of the mountain, and there waited for some further summons. A cloud, or, rather, the cloud previously mentioned (Exodus 19:16), stood gathered upon the highest eminence, and marked the special presence of God there. Moses, though called up into the mount, would not intrude into this inner sanctuary, until specially bidden to enter it. 16 and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.
- 102. CLARKE, "And theseventh day he called - It is very likely that Moses went up into the mount on the first day of the week; and having with Joshua remained in the region of the cloud during six days, on the seventh, which was the Sabbath, God spake to him, and delivered successively to him, during forty days and forty nights, the different statutes and ordinances which are afterwards mentioned. GILL, "And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai,.... The divine Shechinah or Majesty, some visible token of it, an exceeding great brightness and splendour: and the cloud covered it six days; either the glory of the Lord, so that it could not be seen it had been; or the mount, as Jarchi; but that is observed before, unless repeated for the sake of the time it covered it, six days; or him, Moses, as some in Jarchi, who for six days together was covered with a thick cloud, so that he was not seen by any while on the mountain; and thus he remained, until he was admitted into the immediate presence of God, for which he was now preparing: what he did, or was made known to him during this time, is not said; it is probable his thoughts were employed about the glory and greatness of the divine Being; and as he was abstracted from earthly men and things, he was more at leisure to contemplate on divine and heavenly things, and so was more fitted for an intercourse with God, and had more courage and presence of mind to enter into it: and on the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud; in which the glory of God was, and which seems to favour the first sense of the preceding clause, that it was the glory of God the cloud covered. HE RY, "He is called up into a cloud on the seventh day, probably on the sabbath day, Exo_24:16. Now, 1. The thick cloud opened in the sight of all Israel, and the glory of the Lord broke forth like devouring fire, Exo_24:17. God, even our God, is a consuming fire, and so he was pleased to manifest himself in the giving of the law, that, knowing the terrors of the Lord, we may be persuaded to obey, and may by them be prepared for the comforts of the gospel, and that the grace and truth which come by Jesus Christ may be the more acceptable. 2. The entrance of Moses into the cloud was very wonderful: Moses went into the midst of the cloud, Exo_24:18. It was an extraordinary presence of mind which the grace of God furnished him with by his six day's' preparation, else he durst not have ventured into the cloud, especially when it broke out in devouring fire. Moses was sure that he who called him would protect him; and even those glorious attributes of God which are most terrible to the wicked the saints with a humble reverence rejoice in. He that walks righteously, and speaks uprightly, is able to dwell even with this devouring fire, as we are told, Isa_33:14, Isa_33:15. There are persons and works that will abide the fire, 1Co_3:12, etc., and some that will have confidence before God. 3. His continuance in the cloud was no less wonderful; he was there forty days and forty nights. It should seem, the six days (Exo_24:16) were not part of the forty; for, during those six days, Moses was with Joshua, who did eat of the manna, and drink of the
- 103. brook, mentioned, Deu_9:21,and while they were together it is probable that Moses did eat and drink with him; but when Moses was called into the midst of the cloud he left Joshua without, who continued to eat and drink daily while he waited for Moses's return, but thenceforward Moses fasted. Doubtless God could have said what he had now to say to Moses in one day, but, for the greater solemnity of the thing, he kept him with him in the mount forty days and forty nights. We are hereby taught to spend much time in communion with God, and to think that time best spent which is so spent. Those that would get the knowledge of God's will must meditate thereon day and night. BE SO , "Exodus 24:16. A cloud covered the mount six days — A visible token of God’s special presence there, for he so shows himself to us, as at the same time to conceal himself from us; he lets us know so much as to assure us of his power and grace, but intimates to us that we cannot find him out to perfection. During these six days Moses stayed waiting upon the mountain, for a call into the presence-chamber. And on the seventh day — Probably the sabbath day; he called unto Moses — ow the thick cloud opened in the sight of all Israel, and the glory of the Lord broke forth like devouring fire. COKE, "Verse 16 Exodus 24:16. And the glory of the Lord abode— The glory of the Lord was, as appears from Exodus 24:17 like devouring fire; see Psalms 97:2-3. This was the immediate symbol of the Divine Presence. Besides this, a thick dark cloud enveloped the mountain; which cloud, for six days, covered or concealed from the view of Moses himself, the bright symbol of the Divine glory. On the seventh day God called Moses into the midst of this cloud, and, consequently, to the nearest possible access to the Divine Presence: he was pleased to exercise the patience and humility of Moses for the space of six days, and not to admit him to receive his orders till the seventh, which, probably, was the sabbath: where Joshua attended during this period, we are not informed. From this intercourse of Moses with God, the Pagans derived their fables concerning the intercourse of their most celebrated lawgivers with the gods who communicated their laws to them. ELLICOTT, "(16) The seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.—Moses, it is evident, would not enter the cloud without a positive summons. It pleased God to put off the summons for six days. Moses doubtless employed the time in such prayer and meditation as rendered him fit for near contact with Deity. PULPIT, "Exodus 24:16 Now occurred a remarkable pause. The summons had been given to Moses, and he had obeyed it. He was there on the platform a little below the summit, ready, but waiting for a further call. The call was not made for six days. A holy calm reigned upon Sinai—the cloud rested upon the summit, and in the cloud was the glory of the Lord. Moses and Joshua waited near—but for six days there was no sign. God thus taught Moses, and through him the world, that near approach to him requires long and careful preparation. Moses, no doubt, was occupied during the six days in continual prayer. At last, on the
- 104. seventh day, thecall, which Moses had expected, came. God called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. God summoned him to a closer approach—bade him enter the cloud—and draw as nigh to him as possible. 17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. CLARKE, "The glory of the Lord was like devouring fire - This appearance was well calculated to inspire the people with the deepest reverence and godly rear; and this is the use the apostle makes or it, Heb_12:28, Heb_12:29, where he evidently refers to this place, saying, Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear; for our God is a Consuming Fire. Seeing the glory of the Lord upon the mount like a devouring fire, Moses having tarried long, the Israelites probably supposed that he had been devoured or consumed by it, and therefore the more easily fell into idolatry. But how could they do this, with this tremendous sight of God’s glory before their eyes? GILL, "And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount,.... For when God spoke out of the cloud, the glory of the Lord flashed out like devouring fire; it was not devouring fire, but it was like it; it was like a great blaze of fire, which consumes all that is in its ways; it was such a large body of light, and so clear and bright, that it looked like devouring flames of fire; and being upon the top of the mount was very visible, and seen at a great distance in the eyes of the children of Israel throughout, their camp. COFFMA , "Verse 17-18 "And the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud, and went up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights." The glorious display on Mount Sinai was visible to all Israel, but Moses declined to give any other description than the few words already written. It is not actually clear whether or not the forty days and forty nights included the six days already mentioned. Though no mention of it was made here, it must be received as certain
- 105. that Moses waswithout food or drink during that time. Thus, as the unsurpassed Type of the Lord Jesus Christ, Moses also had his fast of forty days and forty nights, as did Jesus in the wilderness of his temptation (Matthew 4:1f). Elijah also fasted that same length of time; and significantly those two characters, Moses and Elijah, were the ones who would participate with Jesus Christ our Lord in another great theophany on the mountain of Our Lord's Transfiguration (Matthew 17). This concludes the Scriptural record of the giving of the Old Covenant. We cannot leave this without noting the astounding declaration of Davies that, "Jeremiah corrected Moses by omitting any reference to blood in the ew Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34), our Lord corrects Jeremiah by reintroducing the blood."[20] Such "mixed up" comments by critical scholars is common, and, for that reason, we shall include a section here on The Two Covenants. Before doing so, we should note that the alleged "correction of Moses" by Jeremiah is a colossal misunderstanding. Jeremiah, in that passage, was not discussing how that old covenant was made, but the fact that a new covenant which the Lord would make was to be "not according to the old covenant." The thing in view was the content of both covenants, not the manner of the making of either covenant! It is strange indeed that among learned men there should be such a colossal misunderstanding of so elementary a passage in the prophets! THE TWO COVE A TS "He (Christ) is the mediator of a better covenant. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then would no place have been sought for a second" (Hebrews 8:6,7). There are visible in this passage two and only two covenants. God made a number of covenants: (1) the covenants with oah (Genesis 6:18,9:9); (2) the two covenants with Abraham (Genesis 17:2,10; 15:18ff); (3) the covenant of salt ( umbers 18:19; Leviticus 2:13); and (4) a covenant of the everlasting priesthood ( umbers 25:13). However there were TWO COVE A TS, covenants of so vast and comprehensive a nature that they overshadowed all other covenants, those two covenants being so preeminently superior to all other covenants that in any Scriptural reference where "the covenant" is mentioned, it must invariably refer to one of those two. In our text for this study, there is reference to the first covenant, We shall first identify it. It was the one made with Israel and with the house of Judah (Jeremiah 31:8,9).
- 106. It was theone that had the Decalogue as a basic component (Exodus 34:2,28). It was the one that God made with Moses (Exodus 34:27). Therefore, the First Covenant, as used in the Bible means the entire religious system of the Jews, the Decalogue, the Book of the Covenant, the priesthood, the sacrifices, the tabernacle rituals, the temple services (as later developed), together with all the statutes, judgments and commandments embracing the total ceremonial and moral constitutions of Judaism. The First Covenant was abolished, abrogated, nailed to the Cross, taken out of the way. Why? God found fault with it. how could God find fault with His own work? Of course, He didn't! God removed the First Covenant because it had been, from the beginning, a temporary expedient. It was never intended to remain permanently, but much like the SCAFFOLDI G that a builder erects around a construction, it was designed to be replaced by the Second and Greater Covenant (Galatians 3:19). The fault, then, that God found with it came into view after the ew Israel in Christ appeared, eliminating any further utility of the Law (a code name for the First Covenant). There were also many other shortcomings of the Law in that it made no provision for the reception of the Holy Spirit by believers, provided no forgiveness whatever, and failed utterly to enable believers to keep it with any degree of satisfaction, and, in addition to all this, there was its failure to provide a suitable High Priest. The abrogation of the First Covenant became mandatory and impending immediately upon the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, the great High Priest Forever after the Order of Melchizedek. As the author of Hebrews expressed it: "For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the Law" (Hebrews 7:12). Certain religious groups, desiring to retain some provisions of the First Covenant, notably the sabbatarians, and others, have vainly sought to divide the First Covenant into: (1) Ceremonial; and (2) Moral categories, with the view of keeping their favorite part of it by designating it as a part of the moral law, and by affirming that only the ceremonial part of the First Covenant was annulled. This device is utterly unacceptable. While true enough that many of the moral requirements of the First Covenant are surely binding upon Christians, their authority for Christians derives not from Moses, but from Christ. The Spanish law in Texas forbade murder, so does the current law of the United States, but the authority of that law today derives not from Mexico City but from Washington. Also, those things of the First Covenant that did not find their place in the Second Covenant, such as sabbath keeping, animal sacrifice, burning incense, etc., are at this point of time void of any authority at all and should be totally rejected. ote too that such things as the sabbath day were ceremonial rather than moral. How was the First Covenant removed? The appearance of the ew Covenant in
- 107. Christ annulled andsupplanted the First Covenant. "In that he saith "A new covenant," he hath made the first old!" (Hebrews 8:13). "Having blotted out the bond written in ordinances (the First Covenant) that was against us, which was contrary to us, he (God) hath taken it out of the way, nailing to His (Christ's) cross" (Colossians 2:14). There were also two other acts of abrogation that applied to the First Covenant: (1) It was conditional. All of the glorious promises of God to Israel were contingent upon their obedience and continuance in the path of duty. "If thou shalt indeed hearken unto his voice, and do all that I say ..." (Exodus 23:22). Israel's frequent and outrageous acts of disobedience effectively cancelled the First Covenant. Many have not understood this. "God has never broken the covenant that he made with the people ... Israel may have broken it, but God never did."[21] This is of course true if understood as continuing in the terms of the ew Covenant; but as regards the Old Covenant (the First), it has been finally and irrevocably destroyed. "If thou wilt obey ... I will bless," does not and cannot mean, "I will bless whether you obey or not!" The entire O.T. is filled with one account after another of Israel's disobedience and rebellion against God. As Jeremiah said it, "They continued not in my covenant" (Exodus 31:9). When ready to abrogate the First Covenant, described also in the O.T. as a "Marriage" with Israel, God Himself died upon the Cross in the person of his Only Begotten Son, a fact that Paul amplified in Romans 7:1-6, showing that all people are now "dead to the law through the body of Christ." " ow we have been discharged from the Law" (Romans 7:6). Let every man take another look at his Bible. It is conspicuously divided into TWO parts, THE OLD TESTAME T, and THE EW TESTAME T; and the word "Testament" is exactly the same in the Bible as the word "Covenant"! ELLICOTT, "(17) The sight of the glory of the Lord.—To the Israelites in the plain below, the appearance on the top of the Ras Sufsafeh was “like devouring fire.” A light like that of a conflagration rested on the top of the Ras Sufsafeh all the time that Moses was away. PULPIT, "Exodus 24:17 Meanwhile, to those below in the plain, "the glory of the Lord" on the summit above them, was like devouring fire on the top of the mount. They had but to lift their eyes thither, and they saw his wonderful glory—showing like a huge fire—on the spot from which he had spoken to them (Exodus 20:18). This manifestation continued certainly for the first six days; whether it lasted longer or not is open to question. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up
- 108. the mountain. Andhe stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. BAR ES, "During this period of forty days, and the second period when the tables were renewed, Moses neither ate bread nor drank water. Compare marginal references. In like manner, Elijah fasted for forty days, when he visited the same spot 1Ki_19:8. The two who met our Saviour on the Mount of Transfiguration Mat_17:3, the one representing the law, the other representing the Prophets, thus shadowed forth in their own experience the Fast of Forty days in the wilderness of Judaea. CLARKE, "Forty days and forty nights - During the whole of this time he neither ate bread nor drank water; see Exo_34:28; Deu_9:9. Both his body and soul were so sustained by the invigorating presence of God, that he needed no earthly support, and this may be the simple reason why he took none. Elijah fasted forty days and forty nights, sustained by the same influence, 1Ki_19:8; as did likewise our blessed Lord, when he was about to commence the public ministry of his own Gospel, Mat_4:2. 1. Moses, who was the mediator of the Old Covenant, is alone permitted to draw nigh to God; none of the people are suffered to come up to the Divine glory, not even Aaron, nor his sons, nor the nobles of Israel. Moses was a type of Christ, who is the mediator of the New Covenant; and he alone has access to God in behalf of the human race, as Moses had in behalf of Israel. 2. The law can inspire nothing but terror, when viewed unconnected with its sacrifices, and those sacrifices are nothing but as they refer to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who alone by the sacrifice of himself, bears away the sin of the world. 3. The blood of the victims was sprinkled both on the altar and on the people, to show that the death of Christ gave to Divine justice what it demanded, and to men what they needed. The people were sanctified by it unto God, and God was propitiated by it unto the people. By this sacrifice the law was magnified and made honorable, so Divine justice received its due; and those who believe are justified from all guilt, and sanctified from all sin, so they receive all that they need. Thus God is well pleased, and believers eternally saved. This is a glorious economy, highly worthy of God its author. GILL, "And Moses went into the midst of the cloud,.... Where the glory of God was, and he must at this time be endowed with more than ordinary courage to enter into it, when the glory of the Lord flashed out of it like flames of fire; yet being called of God he was not intimidated, but with great serenity and composure of mind, as may be thought, he went into the presence chamber of the most High, to hear what he had to say unto him:
- 109. and gat himup into the mount; that is, he went into the cloud, after he had ascended the summit of the mount; for it cannot be supposed that he first went into the cloud, and then got himself up to the mount, which yet our version, if not carefully guarded against, may lead unto: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights; without eating or drinking; and just such a term of time Christ fasted in the wilderness; it is probable that the six days before mentioned are to be reckoned part of those forty days, since it is not said that he was in the cloud forty days and forty nights, but in the mount. The Targum of Jonathan adds,"learning the words of the law from the mouth of the Holy One, whose name is to be praised.''Living without food so long must be ascribed to a miracle; for Hippocrates (y) that great physician, says, that"those who remain without food seven days, thenceforward, if they would, cannot receive any support from food, because then the belly will not admit of any;''and gives this reason for it, because the fasting intestine coheres, or is wrinkled. JAMISO ,"Moses went into the midst of the cloud — the visible token of God’s presence. Divine grace animated and supported him to enter with holy boldness. Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights — The six days spent in waiting are not included. During that protracted period he was miraculously supported (Deu_9:9), on a peak scarcely thirty paces in compass. K&D, "Exo_24:18 “And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights,” including the six days of waiting, - the whole time without eating and drinking (Deu_9:9). The number forty was certainly significant, since it was not only repeated on the occasion of his second protracted stay upon Mount Sinai (Exo_34:28; Deu_9:18), but occurred again in the forty days of Elijah's journey to Horeb the mount of God in the strength of the food received from the angel (1Ki_19:8), and in the fasting of Jesus at the time of His temptation (Mat_4:2; Luk_4:2), and even appears to have been significant in the forty years of Israel's wandering in the desert (Deu_8:2). In all these cases the number refers to a period of temptation, of the trial of faith, as well as to a period of the strengthening of faith through the miraculous support bestowed by God. BE SO , "Exodus 24:18. Moses went into the midst of the cloud — It was an extraordinary presence of mind which the grace of God furnished him with, else he durst not have ventured into the cloud, especially when it broke out in devouring fire. And Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights — It should seem the six days were not part of the forty; for during those six days Joshua was with Moses, who did eat of the manna, and drink of the brook mentioned Deuteronomy 9:21, and while they were together, it is probable Moses did eat and drink with him; but when Moses was called into the midst of the cloud, he left Joshua without, who continued to eat and drink daily while he waited for Moses’ return, but from thenceforward Moses fasted. COKE, "Exodus 24:18. Forty days and forty nights— See ch. Exodus 34:28. Moses,
- 110. Elijah, and theLord Jesus Christ, each fasted forty days and forty nights. See 1 Kings 19:8. Matthew 4:2. REFLECTIO S.—The covenant being signed and sealed, Moses returns to God with seventy elders: and they are admitted to approach his presence. And God made some awful manifestation of his glory to them. But he neither overwhelmed them with his dazzling brightness, as worms; nor laid an avenging hand on them, as sinners; but they did eat and drink before him, in token of the friendship established in the covenant between them. It will be among the blessings enjoyed in the better Mount of God, to behold much more than Moses law, when we sit and eat bread in the company of him, who is the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person. But Moses has now another call, to come up higher. Hereupon Aaron and Hur are intrusted with the management of affairs in his absence. Joshua is taken with him, that peculiar honour might be put upon him, being designed for his successor. Six days Moses waited for the Lord. On the seventh, he is called up into the midst of this awful appearance, and fears not to dwell in this devouring fire. There he continued alone forty days and forty nights. Learn, 1. They who are found faithful in God's service, he will bring nearer to himself. 2. We must wait upon God patiently, but in the exercise and expectation of faith, till he is pleased to manifest himself to us, as he does not to the world. 3. Though God be a consuming fire to his enemies, his faithful people may draw near with confidence. 4. The time spent with God, will never be thought long by a believing soul: for the sake of this honour and comfort, he would forget to eat his bread. ELLICOTT, "(18) Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.—During the whole of this time he took no food (Deuteronomy 9:9). Comp. The fast of Elijah (1 Kings 19:8), and that of our blessed Lord (Matthew 3:2). Modern imitations are in all probability impostures. EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "Exodus 24:18 If we insist upon perfect intelligibility and complete declaration in every moral subject, we shall instantly fall into misery of unbelief. Our whole happiness and power of energetic action depend upon our being able to breathe and live in the cloud; content to see it opening here and (closing there; rejoicing to catch, through the thinnest films of it, glimpses of stable and substantial things; but yet perceiving a nobleness even in the concealment, and rejoicing that the kindly veil is spread where the untempered light might have scorched us, or the infinite clearness wearied. —Ruskin, Frondes Agrestes, p24. The region of dimness is not wholly without relations towards our moral state. —F. W. ewman.
- 111. Forty Days Exodus 24:18 Moseswas forty days and forty nights in the mount. He was away. The mount means high elevation, an altitude crowned with golden clouds, utmost distance, perspective, and all the music of mystery. Sometimes we can only say of the great Prayer of Manasseh , legislator, poet, or prophet, He is not here. Where is he? Away. Where? No man can tell; in the hidden places, in the invisible sanctuaries; away among the shaping clouds that are sometimes almost living presences. It is only when we are at some distance from our own life that we can make anything really of it; you cannot deeply consider that problem in the throng, you cannot use your slate and pencil in the great city multitude; you must go away into a mountain or valley or hang over the sanctuary-sea; in order to see yourself you must stand some distance back from yourself. I. Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights. What was he receiving? He was receiving the law. Our greatest men are not the men on the streets. We call these men on the streets very active persons, much too active; the law is not a street anecdote or an incident of the thoroughfare, the law is away in the sanctuary of the infinite, the invisible, and the ineffable. II. Moses was away forty days and forty nights receiving, not inventing, the law. There is a wondrous deliberation about the movement of God. The few commandments which we once called the law could be written in less than a minute each; it was not the handwriting but the heart- writing that required the time. III. In Matthew 4:2 we read that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, "And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungered". Moses and the Lamb; the similarities between their histories are worth tracing out; such collocation of coincidence and repetition constitutes itself into an argument. Forty days and forty nights Jesus was fasting: surely great preparation means great issues; surely this is an athlete in training for some fight; this cannot be a mere pedantic arrangement; we must wait and see what comes of this trial of the soul: it may be that fasting is the true feasting, it may be that this disciplining the body and all that gathering up of force which we call passion or desire may mean that the greatest contest ever fought on the theatre of time is about to take place. IV. What is the meaning of all this withdrawal, of all this forty days and forty nights" experience? 1. The meaning is rest. The prophets must go away for a time, they must become nothing, enter into a state of negativeness, forget for the time being their own office and function; to forget it may be best to remember it. But the withdrawal must not be too long; too much rest would mean weariness; there is a rest that leads to reluctance, disbelief, and despair. A measurable rest, and then a happy renewal of service, that is the Lord"s idea of the ministry of His own discipleship. 2. The meaning is self-culture. A man may be too busy keeping other vineyards to keep his own, a man may be so much from his own fireside that his own children shall be turned into atheists by a misconstruction of his false piety. We should not indulge in any culture that separates us from the people. 3. The meaning is reception. There must be a time of intaking, there must be periods when we are not giving out, but when we are receiving in. Understand therefore that withdrawment from the prophetic office and service, as in the case of Moses and Elijah, does not mean abandonment of that office, but further preparation for it, and that the best withdrawment is a withdrawment which takes us right into the very sanctuary of the soul of Jesus Christ. —Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. I. p132. PULPIT, "And Moses went into the midst of the cloud. Quitting Joshua, Moses at last, in obedience to the call out of the midst of the cloud, entered within its shadow and disappeared
- 112. from human visionIn this abnormal condition, alone with God, he continued for thirty-four days, making, together with the six days before he entered the cloud, the forty days and forty nights of the text before us. It is noted in Deuteronomy 9:9, that during the whole of this time he was without food. Compare Elijah's fast (1 Kings 19:8), and our blessed Lord's (Matthew 3:2). NISBET, "WITH GOD FOR FORTY DAYS ‘And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.’ Exodus 24:18 Again the people in the strength of their own resolution promise obedience. How little they knew themselves! Only those who are indwelt and possessed by the Holy Spirit can do what they promise. The covenant into which they entered with God was, however, ratified by the blood of victims slain beneath the mount. Yet, notwithstanding all, that covenant was destined to be broken and to be set aside, being superseded by a better, which does not depend on our obedience at all, but on the obedience of our Representative and Surety. The ‘new covenant, which is ordered in all things and sure!’ We, too, may ‘behold the glory of God,’ and may ‘eat and drink.’ There need be no discomposure or agitation in our proximity to Him. And well would it be if all our eating and drinking were carried on beneath the deep impression of His nearness. But there are circles within circles. Outside, the people; then the elders; then Joshua; but closest to God, in the very heart of the burning glory, Moses, the Man of God, the faithful servant. The great fact that stands out in the text is that Moses spent forty days in solitary communion with God. I. What is it to be alone with God?—(1) In order to be alone with God, we must do as Moses did— we must first get up high enough. Like him, we must go to the mount. If we reach the right standing-point, the converse with God is sure and easy. (2) We must not expect to be always there. Moses went twice, Elijah went once, Peter and James and John only once. (3) Solitude with God is the very opposite of being solitary. To make it there must be two things: we must be alone with God, and God must be alone with us. II. What are we to do when we are alone with God?—(1) We must be still, hush the mind, and listen for voices. (2) We should cultivate a simple and silent prostration of heart before the majesty and beauty of Deity. (3) We may form plans on the mount, or lay out the plans we have formed already. (4) We may go near to God at such times and hold communion with him, not familiarly, but lovingly and tenderly. —Rev. James Vaughan. Illustration ‘“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” That is what we want in order to see God—a clean heart. And what joy there is in the vision! “They saw God,” says our Lesson, “and did eat and drink.” They found satisfaction and joy in feeling near to God. And so there is no happiness like that of knowing God as our Friend and Father, and living close to Him. Two little fellows travelled hundreds of miles in Australia just to catch a glimpse of the Prince and Princess of Wales when they visited Sydney. Let us ask for the clean heart that we may know God better and love him better and live nearer to Him every day. That is the true secret of happiness—not wealth, not pleasure, but God. “In Thy presence is fulness of joy.”’