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.