Exodus chapter 24
Blood sacrifices. Moses goes up the mountain.
BLOOD SACRIFICES
VERSE 1. He said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship from a distance.
He. This verses continues from the previous chapter, where the LORD God was speaking.
VERSE 2. Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but they shall not come near. The people shall not go up with him.”
Moses alone shall come near to the LORD. In our day, this can be misrepresented to mean that Christian leaders are worthy to coming near to the LORD God.
they shall not come near. In our day, this can be misrepresented to mean that common people are not holy enough be close to the LORD God.
VERSE 3. Moses came and told the people all the LORD’s words, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words which the LORD has spoken will we do.”
the people answered with one voice. They answer with ONE voice. This is a rare moment of unity.
VERSE 4. Moses wrote all the LORD’s words, then rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the base of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.
Moses wrote all the LORD’s words. This is the first written record of the LORD God!
VERSE 5. He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to the LORD.
burnt offerings … offerings of cattle. From where did they get the idea to do this?
VERSE 6. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
blood he sprinkled on the altar. From where did Moses get the idea to do this?
VERSE 7. He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “We will do all that the LORD has said, and be obedient.”
the book of the covenant. That is, the commands from the LORD God.
Hebrews 9:20. saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.”
VERSE 8. Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you concerning all these words.”
VERSE 9. Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up.
VERSE 10. They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was like a paved work of sapphire stone, like the skies for clearness.
They saw the God of Israel. Jacob saw the LORD God face-to-face. But after that, nobody was permitted to see the face of God. Not even Moses. No one was permitted to see him and live. Read more »
sapphire stone. Or “lapis lazuli.”
VERSE 11. He didn’t lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. They saw God, and ate and drank.
MOSES GOES UP THE MOUNTAIN
VERSE 12. The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and stay here, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commands that I have written, that you may teach them.”
Come up to me on the mountain. Moses is summoned to go up the mountain.
The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King was also summoned to go up that mountain. During his final speech, he said:
He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land.
the mountain. It is sometimes referred to as Mt. Sinai, and sometimes as Mt. Horeb.
VERSE 13. Moses rose up with Joshua, his servant, and Moses went up onto God’s Mountain.
Joshua, his servant. This is Joshua son of Nun. In the days to come, he will become a great leader. He will lead the nation into the Promised Land.
VERSE 14. He said to the elders, “Wait here for us, until we come again to you. Behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever is involved in a dispute can go to them.”
VERSE 15. Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.
VERSE 16. The LORD’s glory settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud.
the cloud. We want to see God. But we are unable to apprehend the LORD God in all his glory. So at the great moments of biblical history, he appears in the hidden form of a Cloud. Read more »
VERSE 17. The appearance of the LORD’s glory was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.
the LORD’s glory was like devouring fire. The presence of God is a burning, consuming fire.
John of the Cross called it The Living Flame of Love.
It burns within the hearts of God’s people. It burns within them, whether they are aware of it or not. That fire burns within you!
The fire of God’s presence, God’s Holy Spirit, burns within you, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, in happy times and in terrible times.
VERSE 18. Moses entered into the middle of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Moses entered into the middle of the cloud. The people perceived Moses as entering into the direct presence of the Most High God.
In our day, some people will perceive some of us Christians as living in the presence of God.
EXODUS
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, Pharaoh’s Heart, Moses’ fast
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.