Exodus 24:12-18 Moses on Mount Sinai

"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 laws and commands I have written for their instruction.'

 

Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide,

and Moses went up on the mountain of God.

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.'

 

When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it,

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.

To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire

on top of the mountain.

 

Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain.

And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights."

 

Exodus 24:12-18 (NIV)

 

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The LORD called to Moses to join him on the mountain so that He could give Moses stone tablets on which were written the laws and commands He had written.  Leaving the elders behind, Moses went up the mountain with his aide Joshua.  Any disputes which might arise during his absence were to be settled by Aaron and Hur.  The elders were to wait there until Moses and Joshua returned.

 

The glory of the LORD had settled upon Mount Sinai, and a cloud shielded onlookers from seeing the full glory of God.  To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain.  Moses entered the cloud as he ascended the mountain.  Presumable Joshua remained a short distance away, ready to be of service if Moses needed him.

 

Moses remained on the mountain in the presence of the LORD for forty days and nights.

I wonder what Joshua did during that time.  Could he see anything which was going on during the meeting between God and Moses? Or did he just have to wait patiently for his master's return?  Perhaps this time of waiting was further training for Joshua, who would one day lead the people of Israel after Moses' death.

Exodus 24:9-11 Meeting With God

"Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,

and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel.

Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire,

clear as the sky itself.

But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites;

they saw God, and they ate and drank.

Exodus 24:9-11 (NIV)

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 We have to just take a moment to appreciate what is going on here.  Moses and Aaron, along with Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu and seventy elders of Israel ascended the mountain and met with the God of Israel.  They had a personal encounter with the Creator of the universe.

 

Under God's feet stretched a pavement of sapphire, clear as the sky.  In the Old Testament book of Ezekiel there is an account of when the prophet Ezekiel had a vision of four creatures which stood near God's presence.  After describing these beings, Ezekiel notes:

 

"Then there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads

as they stood with lowered wings.

Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire,

and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.

 

I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal,

as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire;

and brilliant light surrounded him.

Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day,

so was the radiance around him.

 

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.  When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking."

 

Ezekiel 1:25-28 (NIV)

 

 

I included that account from Ezekiel just to give you somewhat of an idea of the majesty of the situation which Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and the seventy elders encountered.  There was a belief that if one saw God one would die, for who could stand before God's great holiness and power and live?  However, our passage states that God did not raise his hand against these people; rather, they saw God and ate and drank.  This seems to indicate a covenant meal, celebrated because of the agreement which the Israelites had made with their God.

 

This does not mean that they can just carelessly appear before God's presence in the future any time they wished.  In fact, later Nadab and Abihu will suffer severe consequences for their careless disregard of their position as priests before the LORD.  However, at this moment it is a time of joy and celebration as the covenant between God and Israel is again confirmed.

Exodus 24:1-8 Covenant Meeting

"Then he said to Moses,

 

'Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,

and seventy of the elders of Israel.

You are to worship at a distance,

but Moses alone is to approach the LORD;

the others must not come near.

And the people may not come up with him.'

 

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.'

 

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.

Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings

and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the LORD.

 

Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls,

and the other half he sprinkled on the altar.

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.'

 

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.'

 

Exodus 24:1-8 (NIV)

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This passage is actually a continuation from Exodus 19:25, where God had called Moses and the people of Israel to meet with Him at Mount Sinai.  The story of that meeting had been interrupted by Moses' account of the Book of the Covenant, which begins in Exodus 20:1 and ends at Exodus 23:33.  The people and the elders of Israel were gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai with Moses.  Now Moses and his brother Aaron, and Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu (the sons of Aaron), along with seventy of the elders of Israel are about to meet with God.

 

God warned that Moses alone was to draw near to God; Aaron and his sons and the seventy elders were to worship at a distance, and the people were strictly warned to remain at the foot of the mountain.  After a three day period of consecration, Moses led the people to the foot of Mount Sinai.  (Exodus 19:9-17)

 

The atmosphere must have been absolutely electric.  We are given some sense of this by the description of that morning recorded in Exodus 19:16-19:

 

"On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning,

with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast.

Everyone in the camp trembled.

Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God,

and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

 

Mount Sinai was covered with smoke,

because the LORD descended on it in fire.

The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace,

the whole mountain trembled violently,

and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.

 

Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him."

 

 

Moses built an altar and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.  Burnt offerings and fellowship offerings were presented to the LORD.  Moses took half of the blood from these sacrifices and put it in bowls.  The other half of the blood was sprinkled on the altar.

 

Moses read to the people the Book of the Covenant, and they indicated their willingness to do everything which the LORD had said.  Moses then sprinkled the people with the other half of the blood from the sacrifices.  The NIV Study Bible note on Exodus 24:6 (page 123) had this to say about the blood from the sacrifice:

 

"The division of the blood points to the twofold aspect
of the "blood of the covenant" (v.8):
 

The blood on the altar symbolizes God's forgiveness
and his acceptance of the offering;
 

the blood on the people points to an oath
that binds them in obedience (see vv. 3,7)"
 





 After the people had agreed to the covenant by promising their obedience, Moses had sprinkled the people with the other half of the blood from the sacrifice, signifying that the covenant was in effect.  Of course God had already made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants (see Genesis 17), but this particular group of Israelites had not been born at that time, so perhaps it was important that they themselves make such a covenant, particularly since the LORD had delivered them out of slavery in Egypt and they are now heading towards the Promised Land.

Exodus 23:27-33 Terror and Snares

"I will send my terror ahead of you

and throw into confusion every nation you encounter.

I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run.

I will send the hornet ahead of you

to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.

But I will not drive them out in a single year,

because the land would become desolate

and the wild animals too numerous for you.

Little by little I will drive them out before you,

until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.

 

I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines,

and from the desert to the River.

I will hand over to you the people who live in the land

and you will drive them out before you.

Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods.

Do not let them live in your land,

or they will cause you to sin against me,

because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you."

 

Exodus 23:27-33 (NIV)

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This passage is actually a continuation of the matters which were spoken of in the previous passage (Exodus 23:20-26).  I would have put the whole discussion of Exodus 23:20-33 into one post, but it was just getting too long so I had decided to split it.  Besides, we were already discussing many significant issues:  the identity of the angel of the LORD, the Israelites' dealings with the inhabitants of the land of Canaan who worshipped other 'gods', God's blessings upon those who would obey Him, etc.

 

These further verses (v.27-33) are also going to raise some issues.  In this section, God gives more details about how He will remove Israel's enemies from the promised land.  He would send His terror ahead of the Israelites and cause their enemies to react in confusion.  Note:  This happens in other places in Scripture, where, despite the fact that the enemies of Israel are more numerous than the Israelites, God does something to throw them into confusion and the tide of the battle is turned in the Israelites' favor.

 

Here are some examples:

 

I Chronicles 14:8-17  David becomes king and the Philistines seek to defeat him in battle.  He defeats them and credits God with the victory and claims that God had broken out against David's enemies.  Note that the Philistines abandon their gods which they had apparently brought with them into this battle and David gives orders to have these idols burned with fire.  A second battle with the Philistines is also mentioned in this passage.  In this one, David is instructed to wait until he hears the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, which indicates that God has gone out ahead of them against their enemies.  This battle is also successful, and the surrounding nations fear David because they know that God fights for him.

 

Exodus 15 In the song of Moses and Miriam, as they sang to the LORD after He had delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh's hand in Egypt, verses 14-16 are full of phrases which indicate that the enemies of the LORD were incapacitated:   They tremble, are gripped with anguish, are terrified, melt away, terror and dread fall upon them, they are still as a stone.  This example is current to our passage, and it is clear that God is fighting in behalf of His people. 

 

Other examples which you may look up are II Chronicles 14:9-14, II Chronicles 17:10 and II Chronicles 20:1-30.  The last one is particularly detailed as to the attitude of the Israelites and the reality of the LORD's efforts on their behalf.]

 

Interestingly, God tells the Israelites in Exodus 23:29 that He will drive their enemies out of the promised land gradually.  Otherwise, God notes, the land would become desolate and overrun with wild animals.  Instead, God would drive their enemies out little by little, until they had increased in number and were able to take possession of the land in an effective manner.

 

God says that He "...will establish your [Israel's] borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River." (Exodus 23:31)  In other words, their land would be from the Red Sea (the modern Gulf of Aqaba) to the Mediterranean Sea and from the desert (northern Sinai) to the Euphrates River.  

 

He warns them that they must drive the current inhabitants out of the land, or else the worship of their 'gods' would become a snare to the Israelites.  In Scripture, a snare is a symbol of destruction, not just something which will trip you up a bit.  You can picture an animal caught in a snare:  It is not just inconvenienced, it is most likely dead or at least headed that way.  In the same way, worship of other gods "will certainly be a snare to you."  (Exodus 23:33 NIV)  The Israelites were not to make a covenant with these peoples and allow them to live in the land.  God says that if they did, it would cause the Israelites to sin against God (v.33)  Note that He does not say it "might" cause them to sin, but rather, it "would" cause them to sin...and the worship of other gods would "certainly" (not "possibly") become a snare to them.