E
X O D U S
CHAP. XXIV.
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 therewith God
forty days and forty nights, ver. 18.
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Israel
's Acceptance of the
Laws.
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B.
C. 1491.
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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.
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A
Manifestation of God.
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B.
C. 1491.
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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.
Contents
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