Exodus 24 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Exodus 24

The Covenant Confirmed

24:1 Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2 Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”

3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules.¹ And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

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

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

Footnotes

[1] 24:3 Or all the just decrees

Commentary

v1-8: The law had been laid down and explained. Moses had told the people what God had said, and now it was time for decision. The children of Israel had the choice of whether to come into Covenant with God.

v1: God's instruction, "Come up to the Lord". He graciously invites people to meet with Him.

v2: Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, with the seventy elders, had to stay at a distance. But Moses was allowed to draw nearer to God. He continued to enjoy a special closeness to God.

v3: Moses reported all the Lord's words, as recorded in ch 20-23, to the people. The people agreed to obey all that the Lord had said, as in 19.8. The danger was that, in the thrill of all that they had seen and heard, they made a decision too hastily.

What would have happened if they had said that the law was a burden too heavy to bear? (see Acts 15.10); we need Jesus Christ to fulfil God's righteousness for us.

v4: So that the people could be reminded of the Lord's words, Moses wrote them all down.

v4-6: Moses prepared a sacrifice, indicating the entering into the Covenant by the people. Offerings of worship, burnt offerings and fellowship (or peace) offerings were made.

v7: Again the people promised to obey all that the Lord had said.

v8: The Covenant was sealed with blood, see Heb 9.19-22, and the children of Israel were now "under law", debtors to keep the whole law (Deut 27.26; Gal 5.3). They would therefore receive its blessings AND its curses. It their relationship with God, this was a crucial milestone for the Israelites.

v9-11: From v1, Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, saw the Lord God of Israel. Here they draw nearer than before, and even ate and drank in His presence. Yet, within a short while, Nadab and Abihu were negligent and careless in their approach of God (Lev 10.1-2).

v12: The Lord God wrote certain words on tablets of stone. These contained simply the Ten Commandments, as in 20.1-17. Moses alone could come onto the mountain, and stay there.

v14: In Moses' absence, Aaron and Hur, with the, presumably seventy, elders, were left in charge.

v16: Moses went up onto the mountain, Mount Sinai. He had to wait six days before meeting with God.

v17: From outside, the cloud looked like a consuming fire, but inside, Moses was totally safe.

v18: Moses remained forty days with the Lord. Elsewhere this time indicates a period of testing, see Gen 7.12; Matt 4.2. The testing here was for the Israelites.

The Lord had given instructions about practical obedience (ch 19-24); now He explains details of worship (ch 25-31).