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Exodus 24

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Invitation to the Mountain 1–2

1
And he said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off: ​
2
and Moses alone shall come near unto Jehovah; but they shall not come near; neither shall the people go up with him. ​

Reading and Sealing the Covenant 3–8

3
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. ​
4
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. ​
5
And he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt-offerings, and sacrificed peace-offerings of oxen unto Jehovah.
6
And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. ​
7
And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that Jehovah hath spoken will we do, and be obedient. ​
8
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. ​

The Vision and Covenant Meal 9–11

9
Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
10
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. ​
11
And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: and they beheld God, and did eat and drink. ​

Moses Ascends for the Tablets 12–18

12
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 commandment, which I have written, that thou mayest teach them. ​
13
And Moses rose up, and Joshua his minister: and Moses went up into the mount of God. ​
14
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. ​
15
And Moses went up into the mount, and the cloud covered the mount.
16
And the glory of Jehovah abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. ​
17
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. ​
18
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. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Exodus 24

Verse 1

worship ye afar off — Shachah is to bow down. Moses is to come up with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and 'seventy of the elders of Israel', as the LORD had once asked for 'seventy men of the elders' (Num 11:16). Nadab and Abihu are named again in Lev 10:1–2, where fire 'devoured them'. The people had earlier 'stood afar off' (Ex 20:21).

Verse 2

Moses alone shall come near — One verb, nagash, to approach, carries the contrast: Moses 'shall come near', the others 'shall not come nigh', and the people may not even go up (alah). Hebrews sets forth 'an high priest over the house of God' and bids believers 'draw near' (Heb 10:21–22); Christ has entered 'into heaven itself' (Heb 9:24).

Verse 3

all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments — The 'words' were spoken from the mount (Ex 20); the 'judgments' (mishpatim) are the rulings that begin at Ex 21:1. The people's answer repeats the one they gave before the law was spoken: 'All that the LORD hath spoken we will do' (Ex 19:8). They give it again in v.7.

Verse 4

twelve pillars — Matstsebah is a standing stone, such as Jacob set up at Bethel (Gen 28:18). Here twelve stand 'according to the twelve tribes of Israel', with the altar built 'under the hill'. Moses writes 'all the words of the LORD' first and then rises early (shakam): the book read in v.7 is written before the blood is shed.

Verse 6

half of the blood — The blood is held in 'basons' (aggan, bowls) and divided: half is 'sprinkled' (zaraq, scattered) on the altar, and the other half goes on the people in v.8. Hebrews recalls the rite when it says that 'neither the first testament was dedicated without blood' (Heb 9:18).

Verse 7

the book of the covenant — Sepher, the written scroll of v.4, is read 'in the audience of the people', literally in their ears (ozen). Josiah reads 'the book of the covenant' to Judah in the same way (2 Kgs 23:2). 'Be obedient' is shama, to hear: the people say they will do, and hear. The answer now follows the reading.

Verse 8

the blood of the covenant — Moses sprinkles the people and speaks the words that Hebrews repeats: 'This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you' (Heb 9:20). Christ at the supper says, 'this is my blood of the new testament' (Matt 26:28). 'The blood of the covenant' recurs in Heb 10:29, and 'the blood of thy covenant' in Zech 9:11.

Verse 10

a paved work of a sapphire stone — Of what was seen, only what lay 'under his feet' is described, and it is 'as it were the body of heaven in his clearness' (tohar, purity). Ezekiel sees 'the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone' (Ezek 1:26). John writes that 'the only begotten Son… hath declared him' (John 1:18).

Verse 11

he laid not his hand — The 'nobles' (atsil) are named only here and in Isa 41:9, where the same word is rendered 'chief men'. At Sinai the people were warned lest they break through 'to gaze, and many of them perish' (Ex 19:21); these saw God and were not struck. They 'did eat and drink', as Aaron and the elders ate 'before God' (Ex 18:12).

Verse 12

tables of stone, and a law, and commandments — Luach is a tablet, torah the law, mitsvah the commandment, all 'written' (kathab) by the LORD, 'the finger of God' (Ex 31:18). Torah comes from yarah, to teach, and the verse ends with that root: 'that thou mayest teach them'. Paul sets the heart against 'tables of stone' (2 Cor 3:3).

Verse 13

his minister Joshua — Sharath is to attend or serve. Joshua first appears in Ex 17:9–10, choosing men to fight Amalek, and he 'departed not out of the tabernacle' in Ex 33:11. He is at Moses' side again as they come down and he hears the shouting in the camp (Ex 32:17). Moses goes up 'into the mount of God'.

Verse 14

Aaron and Hur — The same two stood by Moses on the hill against Amalek and 'stayed up his hands' (Ex 17:12). 'Man' and 'matters' are two words, baal and dabar: a master of words, someone with a cause to be heard; he is to go to them. When Moses 'delayed to come down', the people gathered to Aaron (Ex 32:1).

Verse 16

the glory of the LORD abode — Kabod, glory, is properly weight. Shakan, abode, is the verb of 'that I may dwell among them' (Ex 25:8) and the root of mishkan, the tabernacle. Later 'the cloud abode thereon' and Moses 'was not able to enter' (Ex 40:35). Here the cloud covers the mount six days; on the seventh he is called out of it.

Verse 17

devouring fire — The Hebrew participle comes from akal, to eat: fire that eats. It burned 'on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel', in view of the whole camp. Moses says in Deut 4:24, 'the LORD thy God is a consuming fire', and Hebrews takes up the words: 'our God is a consuming fire' (Heb 12:29).

Verse 18

forty days and forty nights — Moses enters 'the midst of the cloud' and stays until the tables are given (Ex 31:18). He recounts that during this time he 'neither did eat bread nor drink water' (Deut 9:9). Elijah later goes 'forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God' (1 Kgs 19:8), and Christ 'fasted forty days and forty nights' (Matt 4:2).