Bible
Commentary
Exodus 24
Moses,
as mediator between God and Israel, having received divers laws and ordinances
from God privately in the three foregoing chapters, in this chapter, I. Comes
down to the people, acquaints them with the laws he had received, and takes
their consent to those laws (ver. 3), writes the laws, and reads them to the
people, who repeat their consent (ver. 4-7), and then by sacrifice, and the
sprinkling of blood, ratifies the covenant between them and God, ver. 5, 6, 8.
II. He returns to God again, to receive further directions. When he was
dismissed from his former attendance, he was ordered to attend again, ver. 1,
2. He did so with seventy of the elders, to whom God made a discovery of his
glory, ver. 9-11. Moses is ordered up into the mount (ver. 12, 13); the rest
are ordered down to the people, ver. 14. The cloud of glory is seen by all the
people on the top of mount Sinai (ver. 15-17), and Moses is there with God
forty days and forty nights, ver. 18.
Israel's
Acceptance of the Laws. B. C. 1491.
1 And he said unto
Moses, Come up unto the LORD, 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 the LORD: but they shall not come
nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.
3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all
the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the
words which the LORD hath said will we do.
4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the
morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to
the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he
sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and
sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD. 6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put
it in basons; 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 the LORD hath said
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 the LORD hath made with you concerning all these
words.
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, v. 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, v. 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.
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, v. 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 (ch. xix. 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,
1. How it was engrossed in the book of
the covenant: Moses wrote the words of the Lord (v. 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 audience of
the people (v. 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 (v. 7) are
the same with what they were (v. 3), but something stronger: All that the Lord
hath said (be it good, or be it evil, to flesh and blood, Jer. xlii. 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.
2. 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 (Ps. l. 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 (v. 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.
(2.) 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 (v. 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. xii. 1.
[2.] The blood of the sacrifice which God had owned and accepted was (the
remainder of it) sprinkled either upon the people themselves (v. 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. ix. 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. ix. 19, 20.
A
Manifestation of God. B. C. 1491.
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 a sapphire stone, and as it were
the body of heaven in his clearness. 11
And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they
saw God, and did eat and drink.
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. iv. 4, 6; v. 8, 9. Observe, 1. They saw the God of
Israel (v. 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, 1 Tim. vi. 16. They saw the place where the God of Israel stood (so the
LXX.), 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 (Prov. viii. 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, v. 11. Though they were men, the
dazzling splendour of his glory did not overwhelm them; but it was so moderated
(Job xxvi. 9), and they were so strengthened (Dan. x. 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, Luke xxii. 30. Blessed are those that shall eat
bread in the kingdom of our Father, and drink of the wine new there.
12 And the LORD said
unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee
tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou
mayest teach them. 13 And Moses rose
up, and his minister Joshua: 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: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them. 15 And Moses went up into the mount, and a
cloud covered the mount. 16 And the
glory of the LORD 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 sight of the glory of the LORD
was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of
Israel. 18 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.
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 (v. 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, v. 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, v. 15, 16. God thus tried the patience of
Moses, and his obedience to that command (v. 12), Be there. If Moses had been
tired before the seventh day (as Saul, 1 Sam. xiii. 8, 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, Ps. cviii. 1.
II. He is called up into a cloud on the
seventh day, probably on the sabbath day, v. 16. Now, 1. The thick cloud opened
in the sight of all Israel, and the glory of the Lord broke forth like
devouring fire, v. 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, v. 18. It was an
extraordinary presence of mind which the grace of God furnished him with by his
six days' 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. xxxiii. 14, 15. There are persons and
works that will abide the fire, 1 Cor. iii. 12, &c., 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 (v. 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 brook, mentioned, Deut.
ix. 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.
