Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 24:9
Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
It would appear that Moses, Aaron with his two sons, and seventy of the elders Exo 19:7 went a short distance up the mountain to eat the meal of the covenant (compare Gen 31:43-47), which must have consisted of the flesh of the peace offerings Exo 24:5. Joshua accompanied Moses as his servant Exo 24:13.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Exo 24:9-11
They saw God, and did eat and drink.
The vision of God, and the feast before Him
These are strangely bold words, both for the assertion with which they begin, and for the juxtaposition of the two things which they declare. They come at the close of the solemn ceremonial by which God and Israel entered into covenant. Lightly-uttered vows of obedience to all that God could speak had echoed among the rocks. On the basis of that promise a covenant was formed and ratified by sacrifice. They pass within the fence, they witness that access to God is possible on the footing of covenant and sacrifice. They behold, as I suppose, unclouded, the material and fiery symbol of His presence: witness that men through sacrifice and covenant can see God. But our eyes are stayed on the pavement beneath His feet. No form is described. Enough for us that there is spread beneath Him that which is blue and gleaming as the cloudless heaven above Sinai. They eat and drink–witness that men who draw nigh to God, on the footing of sacrifice and covenant, and thereby behold His face, have therein festal abundance for all their need. So this incident, in its form adapted to the infantile development of the people that first received it, carries in its symbols the deepest truths of the best communion of the Christian life, and may lend itself to the foreshadowing of the unspoken glories of the heavens. From that point of view I want to look at it.
I. I ask you to consider the vision of god possible for us. Jesus Christ is the Revealer. This generation is very fond of saying, No man hath seen God at any time, nor can see Him. It is a pity, but they would go on with the quotation and say, the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. The eradiation of His brightness, and the express image of His person, is that Divine man, God manifest in the flesh. The knowledge of God which we have in Jesus Christ is real, as sight is real. It is not complete, but it is genuine knowledge. We know the best of God, if I may use such a phrase, when we know what we knew in Christ, that He is a loving and a righteous will; when we can say of Him He is love, in no metaphor but in simple reality, and His will is a will towards all righteousness, and towards all blessing, anything that heaven has to teach us about God afterwards is less than that. We see Him in the reality of a genuine, central, though by no means complete, knowledge. Our knowledge of God in Christ is as sight, in reference to certitude. People say, Seeing is believing. I should turn it the other way about, and say, Believing is seeing. For we may be a great deal surer of God than ever we can be of this outer world. And the witness which is borne to us in Christ of the Divine nature is far more reliable than even the evidence that is borne to us by sense of an external universe. Then remember, too, that where we have learned to know, and absolutely to rely upon, and vividly to realize our Fathers presence through Jesus Christ, there we shall see Him in all things and everywhere. Then, remember, further, that the degree of this vision depends upon ourselves, and is a matter of cultivation. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. There are three things wanted for sight–something to see; something to see by; something to see with. God has given us the two first, and He will help us to the last if we like. But we have to bring the eye, without which the sunbeam is vain, and that which it reveals also. Christ stands before us, at once the Master-Light of our seeing, and the Object that we are to behold. But for us there is needed that the eye shall be pure; that the heart shall turn towards Him. Faith is the eye of the soul. Meditation and habitual occupation of mind and heart with Jesus Christ, the Revealer of God, are needed if we are to see God.
II. Secondly, notice the feast in the divine presence. They did eat and drink. That suggests in the singular juxtaposition of the two things, that the vision of God is consistent with, and consecrates, common enjoyment and everyday life. Even before that awful blaze these men sat down and fed, eating their meal with gladness and singleness of heart, and finding no contradiction nor any profanity in the close juxtaposition of the meal and the vision. There is no false asceticism as the result of the Christian sight of God. It takes nothing out of life that ought to be in it. If we see God there is only one thing that we shall be ashamed to do in His presence, and that is to sin. For all the rest the vision of God blends sweetly and lovingly with common service and homely joys. It will interpret life. Nothing is small with such a background; nothing common-place when looked at in connection with Him. It will ennoble life; it will gladden life. But there is another thought here to which I must refer for a moment. That strange meal on the mountain was no doubt made on the sacrifices that had preceded, of which a part were peace-offerings. The ritual of that species of sacrifice partly consisted in a portion of the sacrifice being partaken of by the offerers. The same meaning lies in this meal on the mountain that lay in the sacrificial feast of the peace-offering, the same meaning that lies in the great feast of the new covenant, This is My body; this is My blood. God spreads in His presence a table, and the food on that table is the Bread which came down from heaven that it might give life to the world. The vision of God and the feast on the mountain are equally provided and made possible by Christ our Passover, who was sacrificed for us.
III. And so, lastly, we may gather out of this incident a glimpse of a prophetic character, and see in it the perfecting of the vision and of the feast. We know the apostles wonderful statement of the difference between the beatific knowledge of heaven and the indirect and partial knowledge of earth. Here we see in a glass darkly; there face to face. It is not for us to try before the time to interpret the latter of these statements; only this, let us remember that whatever may be the change in manner of knowledge, and in measure of apprehension, and in proximity of presence, there is no change in heaven in the medium of revelation. For heaven as for earth God is the King invisible; for heaven as for earth no man can see Him, the only begotten Son declares Him. Christ is for ever the Manifester of God, and the glorified saints see God as we see Him in the face of Jesus Christ, though they see that Face as we do not. Yonder there are new capacities indeed. When there are more windows in the house there will be more sunshine in the rooms. When there is a new speculum in the telescope galaxies will be resolved that are now nebulous, and new brightnesses will be visible that are now veiled. But with all the new powers and the extension of present vision, there will be no corrections in the present vision. We shall see Him as He is, and learn that what we knew of Him in Christ here is true for ever. And on that perfect vision will follow the perfect meal, which will still be the feeding on the sacrifice. For there were no heaven except He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, and there is no spiritual life above except a life derived from Him. The feast means perfect satisfaction, perfect repose, perfect gladness, perfect companionship. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The God of Sinai approached through sacrifice
Two distinct aspects of the Divine character had already been made known to the Israelites–His goodness and His severity, His tenderness and His righteousness. Now a third lesson is given them. The awful God of Sinai may be approached and communed with; they need not be terrified away for ever from Him, or be afraid to approach Him.
I. The awful God of Sinai may be approached by sinful men through sacrifice. Upon the nobles of Israel He laid not His hand.
II. The awful God of Sinai is seen by sinful men through sacrifice. Also they saw God.
III. The awful God of Sinai is communed with by sinful men through sacrifice. Also they did eat and drink. There is safety for the transgressor only under the shadow of the sacrifice–the atonement of Jesus Christ. Socrates once cried, Plato, Plato, perhaps God can forgive wilful sin. You see the gospel of Socrates–Perhaps. But, he added, I do not see how. In the gospel of Jesus Christ there is no perhaps. It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. There is no perhaps about that. Socrates said, I do not see how. We do see how. Through this Man is preached forgiveness of sins. (R. Roberts.)
A glorious vision
I. Glorious ascension. Mountain climbing is always wholesome. The more we climb, the less will be our difficulty, on the summit of Divine mountains are gracious manifestations to reward the praying climbers.
II. Blessed vision. And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under etc. Calm repose. We may rest sweetly on the Divine fidelity.
III. Glorious preservation. Gods hand will ever be laid on the spiritual nobility. They are under His protecting, preserving care.
IV. Wondrous festivity. The saints shall eat and drink in the Divine presence. Heavenly manna. New wine. (W. Burrows, B. A.)
Mans approach to God
I. That mans approach to God is commanded (Exo 24:1). This is both reasonable and necessary. Servant to master; scholar to teacher; child to parent; sinner to Saviour.
II. That mans approach to God must be through a mediator; worship thou afar off, and Moses alone shall come near unto the Lord. So Jesus has entered into the holy place for us. He is the one mediator, etc., the new and living way (Joh 14:6). We must remember that this was in answer to their own prayer (20:19).
III. That mans approach to God must be reverent. Worship ye afar off.
IV. That mans approach to God is rewarded by a manifestation of the divine glory (Exo 24:10). Not a literal or physical vision of the king–invisible (Deu 4:2; 1Ti 6:16); but spiritual (Isa 6:1-13.; Act 9:3-4, and refs.; 1Co 12:2).
V. That mans approach to God is not to be dreaded, but welcomed and enjoyed. They find His presence no more a source of disturbance and dread, but radiant in all the bright loveliness of supernal glory: a beautiful sign that the higher religion and state of conformity to law, now established, shall work onward to eternal blessedness. (J. W. Burn.)
A glorious sight and a holy feast
I. The sight of God, to which the nobles of Israel were admitted.
II. The safety and comfort which they enjoyed.
III. The feast with which they were provided. They ate of the peace-offerings which had been recently sacrificed, and drank of the libations which had just been offered, on the ratification of the covenant. Even thus are the disciples of Christ invited to partake of Him by faith, and that in joy and gladness, as the great peace-offering of the Church. Thus are they seated at the table of their adorable Lord, in token of gracious communion with the family in heaven; and thus is their fellowship manifested with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. In this fellowship His children truly see God in Christ. They behold, and they partake, the glory of His person, the glory of His covenant, the hidden glory of His Word, the glory of His redeeming and everlasting love. (R. P. Buddicom, M. A.)
The vision of God
We have here the conjunction of that which is the highest attainment of faith, namely, the vision of God, with that which is the commonest act of our lives, namely, eating and drinking. Again, eating and drinking is only one form, and that one of the lowest forms of human enjoyment. Therefore, if the vision of God be compatible with that, it may be, it must be, equally so with every proper mode of employment or enjoyment among men.
I. In the first place, then, let it be noted, that there are some who eat and drink without seeing God. This is true in the very lowest sense in which the words can be employed; for, unhappily, there are multitudes who partake of their ordinary food without any perception of the fact that they are indebted for it to a higher power. In the same way there are many successful men of business, who enjoy the blessings of prosperity without seeing that God has had any hand in the bestowment of them. They are, as the phrase is, self-made. They have been the architects of their own fortunes. Similarly, there are those who have risen to places of power and influence, alike in the world and in the Church, who never think of God in their enjoyment of their eminence. It has come to them, so they say, all in the way of cause and effect. They have been able, diligent, and persevering, and, therefore, their prosperity or popularity is nothing more than the natural result of their use of appropriate means. And to mention only one other form of the same disposition: there are men among us whose delight it has been to unravel the secrets of the external world, and discover the operations of those forces which play so important a part in the physical universe. Their meat and their drink is to sit at the spectroscope, and by their wondrous analysis to bring out the composition of the sun, and of the various members of the planetary sphere. Their joy is to chain the lightning to their messages, and make it carry their words to the worlds ends. They rise into ecstasies over the detection of some new fact which witnesses to the uniformity of law; and they become enthusiastic at the prospect of being able to trace the mystery of the universe a step farther back than their predecessors have gone. But all this while they see nothing of God. No thrill of affection vibrates in their hearts to any personal agent; and their emotions are similar to those which one feels as he looks upon a mighty machine moving on in rhythmic regularity at its unceasing work. I do not need to say that all our men of science are not such as I have now described, but every one acquainted with the recent utterances of some of them will admit that these confirm what I have said. Now I have grouped all these together because they are all alike practical atheists. They eat and drink, but they do not see God.
II. In the second place, let it be remarked that there are some who see God, but cannot eat or drink. They have a vivid sense of the personal existence of Jehovah, and they feel Him always near, but they take no comfort in His presence. Rather, it seems to haunt them as a spectre, and to threaten them as an executioner. Now how shall we account for this? The answer is not far to seek. It is caused by a sense of guilt. They have never entered, through Jesus, into covenant with God. But even among those who have done this, there are some who seem to have had their happiness poisoned by the thought of God. They see Him, they are always seeing Him: but the vision seems to have paralyzed them, and they go through life halting, solemn, and severe. If they would see God, and eat and drink, they must rise out of service into sonship, and learn to think and speak of God as their Father in heaven. This will give sincerity and naturalness to their devotions, activity to their lives, happiness to their hearts, and cheerfulness to their deportment, so that men, as they behold them, will be won by the very radiance of their joy to Him from whom their gladness springs. But there are still others who, at certain times of their history, have had a vivid perception of the nearness of God, while yet they could neither eat nor drink. Affliction has come upon them. They have felt God very near them, but then they have felt as if He were having a controversy with them, as if, somehow, He were alienated from them, and that has made their sorrow all the deeper. But all this has sprung from a misinterpretation of His providence, and that again has its root in lack of faith in His fatherhood.
III. Finally, let it be observed, that there are some who, like those were described, see God and do eat and drink. They are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, His Son; they have learned to call Him Father, and the joy of their lives is that they have a constant sense of His presence. When they say, Thou God seest me, it is not with a feeling of uneasiness, like that of a suspected person who feels himself watched by some detective; but rather with an emotion of satisfaction, because they know that One is beside them who can make provision for every emerging necessity, and find for them also, as for Hagar, a fountain in the desert. When they think of Him, it is not so much as the Great Creator, Ruler, and Judge, as the Father; and because they can say Our Father, they have a sense of ownership in all His attributes and possessions. They have accepted His own assurance, I am the Lord thy God, and His omnipresence is the very joy and rejoicing of their hearts. It is not a melancholy thing, which poisons every other experience. It is not, like the sword of Damocles, a threatening thing, that keeps us from sitting down to the feast. Rather it is itself that which gives the feast its real glory, and the festival to us is twice a feast because He is there. He makes the brightest element in our blessings; He gives to us the real joy of our prosperity. And when affliction comes He mitigates it with His sympathy and cheers us under it with His fellowship. He comes to us not as a spectre in the night, but as a father, to lap us in the mantle of His love. Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure, alike are sanctified by His presence, and no darkness for us could be so dense as that which would envelop us if we were to be deprived of Him. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
The distinguishing privilege of Gods faithful servants
That a sight of God in Christ, and a holy familiarity with Him, with all safety, is the privilege of Gods covenant-people, especially in these solemn approaches to which He calls them.
I. To show what is that sight of God in Christ, which is the privilege of His people in their solemn approaches to Him.
There is a twofold solemn approach of Gods people to Him. There is a right approach.
1. When God calls them up to the mount of myrrh, where our Lord abides till the day break (Son 4:6); when He calls them to come up to the hill of God in Emmanuels land, where stands the Kings palace, namely heaven. This call comes to the believing soul at death.
2. When God calls them to come up to the mount of ordinances to meet Him at the sacred feast, as the nobles of Israel in the text, and as we at this time are called to feast on the great sacrifice in the sacrament. This is a solemn approach. Now, what is the sight of God in Christ which is the privilege here? As to this we observe–
(1) That it is a believing sight of God in their nature (Joh 1:14.).
(2) That it is a sight of this God in the place of His special residence; on the mount to which they were invited, where He stood, as it were, on a pavement of sapphire.
(3) It is a sight of the glory of the place of His feet (Exo 24:10).
(4) It is a sight of God as reconciled in Christ. They saw God, and did eat and drink as in the house of their friend (2Co 5:18-20).
(5) It is a sight of God as their God. They saw the God of Israel. Here lay the surpassing sweetness of their sight.
(6) It is a sight of transcendent glory in Him. Nothing is described but what was under His feet. For, search the universe, there is no person, no thing like Him. But the best things on earth are not sufficient to set forth the glory even of this, and therefore it is added, as if it were the body of heaven in His clearness. They who see Him, see that of which they can never see the like. We are now–
II. To show what is that holy familiarity which is the privilege of Gods people in their solemn approaches to Him–It is a believing, holy, humble freedom before their Lord (Eph 3:12) In whom we have boldness and access, with confidence, by the faith of Him.
1. They were allowed to come forward to God, when others must stand back (Isa 56:6-7); when others must abide at the foot of the hill, believers may come up to the mount and are welcome.
2. They were allowed to feast on the sacrifice set before them. Christ the sacrifice typically slain, and believers are allowed to feast on this sacrifice, to eat His flesh and drink His blood; to make a believing application of a whole Christ to their own souls for their spiritual nourishment: Take, eat, this is My body broken for you.
3. They were allowed to converse with God freely, as one at the table of his friends.
4. They were allowed to be in His secrets, to see what others have no access to. They saw God. Believers are allowed to see the glory of His person (Joh 1:14). The glory of His covenant (Psa 25:14). The glory of His redeeming, His everlasting love to them (Jer 31:3). The hidden glory of His word (Luk 24:32).
5. They were allowed to lay all their wants on Him.
III. To make some practical improvement.
1. To show that it is a wonder of grace that sinful creatures are admitted to see God, and be familiar with Him. We think we need say little for proof of this. Only consider–
(1) The infinite distance that there is between God and the creature in respect of perfection.
(2) That it is the same God who is such a severe and dreadful avenger of sin (Psa 5:5).
2. To show that it is a wonder of grace that sinful creatures, in their solemn approaches to God, and when they are thus favoured, come off safe. This will appear if we consider–
(1) The infinite holiness and spotless purity of that God before whom the sinful creature appears. He is glorious in holiness, and fearful in praises (Exo 15:11).
(2) That the best carry a sinful nature even up into the mount with them.
(3) That sinful creatures never miss to leave the marks of their foul feet, even when they are on holy ground (Rom 7:2).
(4) The particular jealousy which God has manifested about His worship.
3. To explain how it comes to pass that the safety of Gods people, when thus favoured, is secured. It is so–
(1) Because they are Gods covenant-people by marriage with His Son.
(2) Because they come up under the covert of the Redeemers blood (Heb 12:22-24).
(3) Because God looks on them as in His own Son, and not as in themselves; and so after a sort He overlooks their infirmities (Num 23:21).
(4) Because, though they be unclean creatures, they come up into the mount, to bathe in the fountain opened there, for sin and for uncleanness (Zec 13:1).
(5) Because it is the end of the covenant, to bring them to God.
1. Let us, then, nevermore think lightly of solemn approaches to God, whether in private or in public ordinances.
2. Let this commend Christ and the covenant to us, especially to those who stand off from Him and His covenant.
3. Let us long for that day which will put an end to our sinfulness, weakness, and imperfection, when we shall see Him as He is, without any danger of sinning or suffering, which is far better (Php 1:23). It would be a token for good that we had seen the Lord, if we were now longing for that blessed day. (T. Boston, D. D.)
Seeing God
The soul has eyes. There are hours not related to the clock; there are birthdays for which the calendar provides no line of registry. How natural is this endeavour to make the conception plain by a visible picture, and how visible pictures are lifted up to new meanings and clothed with new solemnities by such sacred uses. There have been times, even in our cold experience, when nature has had to be called in to help the expression of the souls delight. Every heart has its own image, or parable, or symbol, by which it sets forth to itself the best aspect of its supreme delight. When we want to represent God, and our view of Him, how naturally we turn to the heavens. No earthly object will suffice. There burns in us a sacred contempt for all things measurable. We want all the broad brilliance of noonday, all the tender glory of the midnight, all the pomp of the summer sky. There is verily a natural religion; it is a poor deity that can be set forth in clay, and iron, and carved stone. Find any race that has lifted up its religious conceptions so as to require for their imaging all heaven, and surely you have found a race that may at any moment alight upon the true God. What Ezekiel saw was as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. John said that the face he saw was like a jasper and a sardine stone, and the rainbow which gave tenderness to the throne was in sight like unto an emerald. When Jesus was transfigured, His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light. Do not take these as equivalents, but as hints–some idea of the majesty which must have beamed upon the eyes of worship as they gazed with religious awe upon sights for which there is no language. It does us good to be wrought into passions which transcend all adequate speech–yes, it does the soul good to pray itself into silence. We may have clear vision of God to such an extent as to have every word taken away from our use and be left dumb in the eloquence of silence. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
In obedience to that command of God given Exo 24:1.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. Then went up Moses, and Aaroninobedience to a command given (Exo 24:1;Exo 24:2; also Ex19:24), previous to the religious engagement of the people, nowdescribed.
Nadab, and Abihuthetwo oldest sons of Aaron [Ex 6:23].
seventy of the eldersaselect number; what was the principle of selection is not said; butthey were the chief representatives, the most conspicuous forofficial rank and station, as well as for their probity and weight ofcharacter in their respective tribes.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,…. After the above things were done, the words of the Lord were told the people, and the book of the covenant read unto them, to which they agreed, sacrifices were offered, and the blood of them sprinkled on the altar, and on the people. The Samaritan version adds to these, Eleazar and Ithamar, the two younger sons of Aaron:
and seventy of the elders of Israel, who were called up to the mountain to the Lord, Ex 24:1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Through their consecration with the blood of the covenant, the Israelites were qualified to ascend the mountain, and there behold the God of Israel and celebrate the covenant meal; of course, not the whole of the people, for that would have been impracticable on physical grounds, but the nation in the persons of its representatives, viz., the seventy elders, with Aaron and his two eldest sons. The fact that the latter were summoned along with the elders had reference to their future election to the priesthood, the bearers of which were to occupy the position of mediators between Jehovah and the nation, an office for which this was a preparation. The reason for choosing seventy out of the whole body of elders (Exo 24:3) is to be found in the historical and symbolical significance of this number. “ They saw the God of Israel.” This title is very appropriately given to Jehovah here, because He, the God of the fathers, had become in truth the God of Israel through the covenant just made. We must not go beyond the limits drawn in Exo 33:20-23 in our conceptions of what constituted the sight ( Exo 24:11) of God; at the same time we must regard it as a vision of God in some form of manifestation which rendered the divine nature discernible to the human eye. Nothing is said as to the form in which God manifested Himself. This silence, however, is not intended “to indicate the imperfection of their sight of God,” as Baumgarten affirms, nor is it to be explained, as Hoffmann supposes, on the ground that “what they saw differed from what the people had constantly before their eyes simply in this respect, that after they had entered the darkness, which enveloped the mountain that burned as it were with fire at its summit, the fiery sign separated from the cloud, and assumed a shape, beneath which it was bright and clear, as an image of untroubled bliss.” The words are evidently intended to affirm something more than, that they saw the fiery form in which God manifested Himself to the people, and that whilst the fire was ordinarily enveloped in a cloud, they saw it upon the mountain without the cloud. For, since Moses saw the form ( ) of Jehovah (Num 12:8), we may fairly conclude, notwithstanding the fact that, according to Exo 24:2, the representatives of the nation were not to draw near to Jehovah, and without any danger of contradicting Deu 4:12 and Deu 4:15, that they also saw a form of God. Only this form is not described, in order that no encouragement might be given to the inclination of the people to make likenesses of Jehovah. Thus we find that Isaiah gives no description of the form in which he saw the Lord sitting upon a high and lofty throne (Isa 6:1). Ezekiel is the first to describe the form of Jehovah which he saw in the vision, “as the appearance of a man” (Eze 1:26; compare Dan 7:9 and Dan 7:13). “ And there was under His feet as it were work of clear sapphire ( , from whiteness, clearness, not from a brick),
(Note: This is the derivation adopted by the English translators in their rendering “ paved work.” – Tr.)
and as the material ( body, substance) of heaven in brilliancy, ” – to indicate that the God of Israel was enthroned above the heaven in super-terrestrial glory and undisturbed blessedness. And God was willing that His people should share in this blessedness, for “ He laid not His hand upon the nobles of Israel, ” i.e., did not attack them. “ They saw God, and did eat and drink, ” i.e., they celebrated thus near to Him the sacrificial meal of the peace-offerings, which had been sacrificed at the conclusion of the covenant, and received in this covenant meal a foretaste of the precious and glorious gifts with which God would endow and refresh His redeemed people in His kingdom. As the promise in Exo 19:5-6, with which God opened the way for the covenant at Sinai, set clearly before the nation that had been rescued from Egypt the ultimate goal of its divine calling; so this termination of the ceremony was intended to give to the nation, in the persons of its representatives, a tangible pledge of the glory of the goal that was set before it. The sight of the God of Israel was a foretaste of the blessedness of the sight of God in eternity, and the covenant meal upon the mountain before the face of God was a type of the marriage supper of the Lamb, to which the Lord will call, and at which He will present His perfected Church in the day of the full revelation of His glory (Rev 19:7-9).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| 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 4:4; Rev 4:6; Rev 5:8; Rev 5:9. 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.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 9-11:
Those individuals named in verse 1 ascended part of the way up the Mount. They clearly did not go all the way to the summit, for Moses alone was allowed this experience. There on the mountain side, all seventy-four men saw “the God of Israel.” The text does not record in what form He appeared. Likely it was a human form.
Under the feet of God, the men saw as it were a pavement of sapphire, clear and blue as the skies of heaven. They were not smitten with death, or disease, or blindness (see Ge 32:30 Ex 32:20; Jg 6:22, 23, et. al.). The text implies they saw God as they partook of the sacrificial meal.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Exo. 24:10. And they saw the God of Israel.] The wordsthey saw = Vyiruhin this verse is qualified in its ordinary meaning by the word saw in the following verse
(11). There the word Vyechsuh = they sawmeans literally they visioned, that is, they had a vision of God clear enough to be assured of His actual presence.
Paved = libnath in this construction (stat. constr.)does not mean brick-lebenah, and hence pavement, but should be rendered white or transparent-splendour. The translation of a paved work of a sapphire stone=kimseh libnath hassappir, like a work of transparent sapphire.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 24:9-11
A GLORIOUS VISION
There was an indication of unity in the Old Testament Church, Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up together. Prophet, priests, and representatives of the people were united together on the great occasion. And there must be this practical unity on the part of the modern Church if there is to be any great work accomplished, if there is to be any glorious divine vision obtained. The primitive Church was united by the spirit of love. We need the welding power of this gracious spirit.
I. Glorious ascension. This united body went up to the mount of divine manifestation. The Church must not stay in the plain. There are mountains to climb. Upward should be the Churchs motto. It may be difficult work to climb, but difficulties brace up the energies. Mountain climbing is always wholesome. The more we climb the less will be our difficulty. On the summit of divine mountains are gracious manifestations to reward the praying climbers.
II. Blessed vision. 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. No man hath seen God at any time. It may be that they saw no objective image, but only the place where the God of Israel stood. Certainly it was a vision that gave them very exalted views of the divine nature. The very place of the divine feet was glorious. A paved work of sapphire stone, as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. The clear blue stretched itself out as a divine pavement. This is suggestive of calm repose. We may rest sweetly on the divine fidelity. If the footstool be thus glorious, how glorious must be the throne! If the fringes of the divine vesture are thus splendid, how much more splendid the nature that is thus enshrined! Blessed visions are most surely the portion of those who climb the divine mountains. The pure in heart shall see God. Waiting spirits shall not wait in vain. Praying souls shall receive special disclosures of divine love.
III. Gracious preservation. Upon the nobles of Israel He laid not His hand. Sinners may well fear lest the hand of justice crush; but saints may believingly clasp the hand of divine mercy. Faith may venture where tear cannot approach. The nobles who trust the hand of God will find that it is a saving and not a destroying hand. Gods hand will never be laid upon the spiritual nobility. The earthly ignoble may become spiritually noble. The nobles of the spiritual Israel are under Gods protecting, preserving care.
IV. Wondrous festivity. Also they saw God, and did eat and drink. These two short sentences must be connected. They saw God, and yet they did eat and drink. Fear says that the sight of God is death, but faith finds that the divine vision is feeding and sustaining. Blessed are they that did thus eat and drink after, and close upon, such a vision. Here is a wondrous festivity indeed. It is prophetic. The saints shall eat and drink in the Divine Presence. Their food will be heavenly manna. Their drink the new wine of the upper Paradise. Their banqueting chamber the courts of heaven. The banner over them will be love. The attendant music will be struck from golden harps. The song will be that of Moses and the Lamb. May we stand amid prophets, priests, elders, and the great company of the redeemed!
W. Burrows, B.A.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
MANS APPROACH TO GOD.Exo. 24:1-2; Exodus 9-11
From these words we learn
I. That mans approach to God is commanded, Exo. 24:1. This is both reasonable and necessary. Servant to master; scholar to teacher; child to parent; sinner to Saviour.
II. That mans approach to God must be through a mediator; worship thou afar off, and Moses alone shall come near unto the Lord. So Jesus has entered into the Holy place for us. He is the one mediator, &c., the new and living way (Joh. 14:6). We must remember that this was in answer to their own prayer (Exo. 20:19).
III. That mans approach to God must be reverent. Worship ye afar off.
IV. That mans approach to God is rewarded by a manifestation of the divine glory, Exo. 24:10. Not a literal or physical vision of the king invisible (Deu. 4:2; 1Ti. 6:16); but spiritual (Isaiah 6; Act. 9:3-4, and refs.; 1Co. 12:2).
V. That mans approach to God is not to be dreaded, but welcomed and enjoyed. They find His presence no more a source of disturbance and dread, but radiant in all the bright loveliness of supernal glory: a beautiful sign that the higher religion and state of conformity to law, now established, shall work onward to eternal blessedness.Ewald.
Application.Heb. 4:14-16.
J. W. Burn.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. W. ADAMSON
Covenant-Blood! Exo. 24:9. Doddridge, in his Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, suggested a solemn covenant being entered into with God. Samuel Pearce acted upon it by writing it with blood drawn from his own body. But he soon afterwards fell into sin, and thus broke his covenant. Driven into more close examination of the question, he was led to see that it was not his own blood, but that of Jesus. Carrying the blood-stained covenant to the top of his fathers house, he tore it into pieces, and scattered them to the winds, resolved thenceforth to depend upon the peace-making and peace-keeping blood of Jesus.
Thy blood, not mine, O Christ,
Thy blood so freely spilt,
Can blanch my blackest stains,
And purge away my guilt.
Bonar.
Sapphire-Pavement! Exo. 24:10. Paved stone should be whiteness, clearness. Splendour of sapphire, says Wordsworth. Kalisch calls it pellucid sapphire. It is one of the brightest and most valuable of jewels. Born of darkness, says Macmillan, it yet holds in its core of focussed rays the blue of heaven. There is one variety, of a singularly soft pure azure, which has the power of retaining its lovely memory of heaven even by candlelight, when an ordinary sapphire looks black. It formed the throne of glory which appeared to Ezekiel in visions; and here it forms the pavement, like the body of heaven in its clearness, under the feet of the God of Israel, as seen by the elders of Israel. Gods throne is Love, its foundations are Love, and the treadings of His feet are Love. Such an interpretation is in strict accordance with the symbolism of nearly all rations, among whom sapphire-blue has always been associated with ideas of Love.
In heavens starred pavement at the midnight,
In roseate hues that come at morning dawn,
In the bright bow athwart the falling showers,
In woods and waters, hills and velvet lawn,
One truth is written, all conspire to prove,
What grace of old revealed, that GOD IS LOVE.Davies.
Sapphire-Symbolism! Exo. 24:10. During the Belfast revival of 1859, one of the converts who had previously been crying out under the crushing burden of an evil heart of unbelief said, If they would but look up at the blue sky, would not that be enough, Jesus? I used to think it was only the blue sky; I did not know that THOU reignedst up there. How came she to connect the blue sky with the Lords loving tender mercies? Was it not because she was Spirit-taught? And is not the blue sky a most beautiful emblem of the pavement of love, on which the Kings throne rests?
I know He reigneth now
In yonder heaven of love;
And He will quickly come again,
To carry me above.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(9) Then went up.According to the ordinary ideas of the time, the ratification of the covenant was now complete, and nothing more was needed. It pleased God, however, to terminate the whole transaction by a closing scene of extraordinary grandeur, beauty, and spiritual significance. A sacrifice implied a sacrificial meal (Exo. 18:12). Moses understood that God, by summoning Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders into the mount (Exo. 24:1), had intended the sacrificial meal to be held there; and accordingly, as soon as he had sprinkled the people, ascended Sinai with the persons summoned, and had the feast prepared. A sacrificial meal was always regarded as a religious actan act done before God (Exo. 18:12), involving communion with Him. God willed now to signalise this sacrificial feast above all others by making His presence not only felt but seen. As Moses, Aaron with his two sons, and the elders were engaged in the feast (Exo. 24:11), a vision of marvellous splendour broke upon them. They saw the God of Israel (Exo. 24:10). God showed Himself to themnot, as before, amid thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud, and fire, and smoke, and earthquake (Exo. 19:16; Exo. 19:18), but in His loveliness (Son. 5:16) and His beauty, standing on pellucid sapphire, blue as the blue of heaven. They saw God, and were neither hurt nor even terrified; they could, while seeing Him, still eat and drinkthey felt themselves like guests at His board, as if He were banqueting with them. So was impressed upon them the mild and sweet relation into which they were brought towards God by covenanta covenant made, and not yet infringed. The gentle, lovely, attractive side of Gods character was shewn to them, instead of the awful and alarming one; and they were taught to look forward to a final state of bliss, in which Gods covenanted servants would dwell in His presence continually.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Then went up Moses Immediately after the sacrifice and sprinkling of the blood they would all proceed to feast upon the flesh of the peace offerings; but Moses and Aaron, and the others mentioned in Exo 24:1, ascended some distance up the mountain, and ate and drank (Exo 24:11) where they had a nearer view of the glory and majesty of the Sinaitic theophany . It would seem from Exo 24:16 that they continued thus together for six days, and on the seventh Moses went into the midst of the cloud, where he remained forty days, (Exo 24:18,) receiving instructions concerning the tabernacle, and the holy ministrations which were now to be ordained.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel, and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the very heaven for clearness. And on the chief men of the children of Israel he did not lay his hand, and they beheld God and ate and drank.’
Following the covenant offer, sacrifice, and final acceptance was the covenant feast which sealed the whole ceremony. This was shared, as it were, between Yahweh and His people as represented by the elders (although noticeably Yahweh does not partake. There is no suggestion of God in human form). This was made possible because the blood had been shed, and the covenant had been sealed. Now His people could meet with Him as His covenant people.
“And they saw the God of Israel.” The sealing of the covenant made a huge difference. The God of Israel now came down to meet them. There was a manifestation of God, probably in the same cloud and fire and smoke of Exo 19:18; Exo 23:17. No description is given and we dare not speculate further. But ‘under His feet’ was a vision of glorious blue which reminded them of sapphires and the glorious clear blue of the heavens. The fact that this is outlined and emphasised must suggest that His own presence was veiled (compare Isa 6:1-6 where Isaiah describes everything but Yahweh).
“He laid not His hand.” They were allowed to see God and live. But it was not in His full glory for this was not even possible for Moses (Exo 33:22-23).
“And they beheld God and ate and drank.” They feasted with God although God did not feast with them. This covenant feast was an essential part of the making of the covenant. It was a symbol of their now expressed dependence on and fellowship with the Overlord. They were now His vassals. Such feasting would be an essential part of a covenant ceremony.
“The God of Israel.” In Exo 5:1 He was described as the ‘Yahweh, God of Israel’ but here it is the stark declaration of the new position. They have taken Him as their only God, and He is their God alone.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Exo 24:11 “he laid not his hand” – Comments – That is, God did not kill them. They saw God and lived.
Exo 19:21, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.”
Exo 24:11 “eat and drink” Comments – The act of eating and drinking was a common practice in cutting covenants. It is a part of the institution of the Lord’s Supper in the New Testament.
Exo 24:12 “which I have written” Scripture References – Note:
Psa 119:89, “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.”
Exo 24:16 Comments – Six days of silence must have required patience.
Exo 24:18 Comments – The Scriptures record a number of forty-day fastings: (1) Moses [Exo 34:28, Deu 9:18 ]; (2) Elijah [In 1Ki 19:8 he ate cake from the angel of the Lord and went in its strength 40 days and nights]; [3] Jesus [Mat 4:2, Mar 1:13, Luk 4:2 ]. In all instances they fasted in the wilderness. Moses and Elijah were on Mount Sinai. Jesus may have travelled there as well. Moses neither ate nor drank for forty days and nights (Deu 9:9).
Deu 9:9, “When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water.”
It is possible that Moses either visited Heaven during two forty-day periods on the mount (Exo 9:9; Exo 34:28), or at least had a vision of Heaven. The Scriptures tell us that the Lord commanded Moses to build the Tabernacle after the heavenly pattern that he had seen (Exo 25:40, Heb 8:5.
Exo 34:28, “And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.”
Exo 25:40, “And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.”
Heb 8:5, “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Exo 24:9 to Exo 31:18 Instructions to Build Tabernacle (Ceremonial Law) In Exo 24:9 to Exo 31:18 God instructs Moses on the details of the building of the Tabernacle. In the description of the building of the articles, the Lord begins with those of the inner sanctuary, the ark of the covenant and mercy seat, then the altar of incense, followed by the table of showbread and the candlestick. Thus, the construction of these articles are arranged in a logical order, from the innermost sanctuary to the outermost. Perhaps one reason for this order is the fact that the order of the erection of the Tabernacle begins with the innermost articles and expands outward to the hangings of the outer court, as described in Exo 40:1-33. Thus, the order of the construction of the Tabernacle follows the order of its erection.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Elders Appear Before God; Moses Remains
v. 9. Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, v. 10. and they saw the God of Israel, v. 11. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He laid not His hand, v. 12. And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to Me into the mount and be there. v. 13. And Moses rose up and his minister, v. 14. And he said unto the elders, v. 15. And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount, v. 16. And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days, v. 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. v. 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.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THE SACRIFICIAL FEAST AND THE VISION OF GOD. After the covenant had been ratified by the unanimous voice of the people, Moses proceeded to carry out the injunctions with respect to Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the elders, which he had received while still in the mount (see the comment on Exo 24:1, Exo 24:2). Taking them with him, he ascended Sinai once more to a certain height, but clearly not to the summit, which he alone was privileged to visit (Exo 24:2 and Exo 24:12). The object of the ascent was twofold.
1. A sacrificial meal always followed upon a sacrifice; and the elders might naturally desire to partake of it as near the Divine presence as should be permitted them. This was their purpose in ascending.
2. God desired to impress them with a sense of his awful majesty and beauty, and was prepared for this end to manifest himself to them in some strange and wonderful way as they were engaged in the solemn meal (Exo 24:11). This was his purpose in inviting their presence. The manifestation is described in Exo 24:10. It was a “vision of God,” but of what exact nature it is impossible to say. Having recorded it, the author parenthetically notes that the Divine vision did not destroy any of those who beheld it, or cause them any injury, as might have been expected.
Exo 24:9
Then went up. Compare Exo 24:1. The mountain was to be partially ascended, but not to any great height. Nadab, Abihu, and the elders were to “worship God afar off.”
Exo 24:10
They saw the God of Israel. These words can scarcely mean less than that they saw with their bodily eyes some appearance of the Divine being who had summoned them to his presence for the purpose. Moses, we know, saw a “similitude of God” (Num 12:8). Isaiah “saw the Lord sitting upon his throne “(Isa 6:1). Ezekiel saw upon the throne “the appearance of a man” (Eze 1:26). It does not follow from Deu 4:12, Deu 4:15, that the elders saw no similitude, since in that passage Moses is speaking, not to the elders, but to the people, and referring, not to what occurred at the sacrificial feast after the ratification of the covenant, but to the scene at the giving of the Ten Commandments previously (Exo 20:1-18). What the form was which the elders saw, we are not told; but as it had “feet,” it was probably a human form. It may have been hazy, indefinite, “too dazzling bright for mortal eye” to rest upon. But it was a true “vision of God”and, as Keil says, “a foretaste of the blessedness of the sight of God in eternity.” There was under his feet, as it were, a paved work of a sapphire stone. Rather, “and under his feet was, as it were, a work of clear sapphire.” Nothing is said concerning a pavement, but only that below the feet of the figure which they saw was something, which looked as if it were made of bright blue sapphire stone, something as clear and as blue as the blue of heaven. Canon Cook supposes the actual sky to be meant; but the expression, “as it were, the body of heaven,” or “like the very heaven,” makes this impossible. A thing is not like itself.
Exo 24:11
The noblesi.e; the notablesthe seventy elders, and other persons, already mentioned (Exo 24:1, Exo 24:9). He laid not his hand. God did not smite them with death, or pestilence, or even blindness. It was thought to be impossible to see God and live. (See above, Gen 32:30; Exo 32:20; Jdg 6:22, Jdg 6:23, etc.) Man was unworthy to draw near to God in any way; and to look on him was viewed as a kind of profanity. Yet some times he chose to show himself, in vision or otherwise, to his people, and then, as there could be no guilt on their part, there was no punishment on his. It is generally supposed that, in all such eases, it was the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity who condescended to show himself. Also they saw God. Rather, “they both saw God, and did eat and drink.” The two were simultaneous. As they were engaged in the sacrificial meal, God revealed himself to them.
HOMILETICS
Exo 24:9-11
The Covenant Meal on Sinai.
The Old Testament contains no mention of any other meal so wonderful as this. Newly entered into covenant with God, fresh from the blood of sprinkling, which was representative of the blood of Christ, Moses, Aaron with his two sons, and the seventy elders, half-way up Sinai, engaged in the sacrificial feast upon the peace-offerings (Exo 24:5), when lo! the heaven was opened to them, and there burst upon their astonished sight a vision of Jehovah in his glory and his beauty, standing on pellucid sapphire, dazzling in its brilliance. As the meat and drink entered their mouths, God shone in upon their souls. It was indeed a “wondrous festivity,” and certainly not without a spiritual meaning, extending to all time, and even beyond time into eternity. Surely, we may say, without over-great boldness, or any undue prying into holy things:
I. THAT THE MEAL WAS A TYPE OF THAT DIVINE FEAST WHICH THE LOUD INSTITUTED ON THE NIGHT OF HIS BETRAYAL, FOR THE SUSTENTATION OF HIS PEOPLE. The Holy Communion is a feast upon a sacrificethe sacrifice of Christpartaken of by Christians as the most solemn rite of their religion, in the wilderness of this life, for their better sustentation and support through its trials. It brings them very near to him, as it were into his presence. As they partake of the bread and wine, they partake of him; his light shines into their souls; his beauty and glory are revealed to their spirits; they obtain a foretaste of heaven. Blessed is the man who thus eats and drinks in his kingdomeating and drinking and seeing God.
II. THAT THE MEAL WAS, FURTHER, A TYPE OF THAT MARRIAGE–SUPPER OF THE LAMB, HEREOF ALL THE FAITHFUL SHALL ONE DAY PARTAKE IN HEAVEN (Rev 19:7-9). There the saints shall eat and drink in the Divine presence, their meat the heavenly manna, angels’ food, their drink the wine which they “drink new” in their Father’s kingdom. The glory of God shall shine on them. For the place of their dwelling “has no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it;” for it is “the glory of God that lightens it, and the Lamb that is the light thereof” (Rev 21:23). The sapphire of Sinai has there its counterpart; for “the first foundation” of the city wherein they dwell “is jasper, and the second sapphire” (Rev 21:19). The Divine presence is with them perpetually; for the “throne”of God is there, and they “see his face,” and “his Name is in their foreheads” (Rev 22:4). Thrice blessed they who attain to this heavenly feast, and are counted worthy of that beatific vision!
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
Exo 24:1, Exo 24:2, Exo 24:9-12
A vision of God.
Prior to the ratification of the covenant, God had given Moses instructions that, immediately on the conclusion of the ceremonies, he, together with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu (representatives of the future priesthood), and seventy of the elders of Israel (representatives of the body of the people), should again ascend the mountain (Exo 24:1, Exo 24:2). The design was to partake of a sacrificial feast, perhaps held on the flesh of the peace-offerings of Exo 24:5, by way of solemn conclusion to the proceedings of the day. Another part of the design was that the eiders might receive a new revelation of Jehovah, setting forth the milder glories of his character as a God reconciled with Israel, in contradistinction to the manifestations on Sinai, which revealed him solely as the God of law and terror. The later revelation was the counterbalance of the earlier. It does that justice to the character of God, as standing in friendly relations to his people, which was not possible in harmony with the special design, and within the special limits, of the revelation from the summit of the mount. It showed him as the God of grace. It taught Israel to think of him, to love him, to trust him, and to worship him as such. It kept them from being overwhelmed by the remembrance of the former terrors. It forestalled that view of the graciousness of God which was afterwards peculiarly associated with the mercy-seat and with Mount Zion, and is now the aspect of his character predominant in the Gospel (see on Sinai and Zion, Exo 19:16-19). We are told, accordingly, that when the company ascended the mount, “they saw the God of Israel” (Exo 24:10). What they did see is not further described than that “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” (Exo 24:10). The vision, however, was plainly one addressed to the outer or inner sense, an “appearance” of God in some recognisable way. So mild and beneficent was the spectacle, nevertheless, that it seems to have disarmed all terror; and Aaron and his sons, with the “nobles,” ate and drank while still witnessing it. We may regard the vision, in its relation to the situation of Israel, as
1. Declarative. It gave a view of the character of God.
(1) To some extent of his essential character. The blue of the sapphire symbolised his holiness, while in the deep, clear ether was mirrored his untroubled purity, his superiority to earthly passion and disturbance, his perfect blessedness, his transcendency over creation, etc.
(2) More especially of his gracious character. The idea suggested was that of a God at peace with Israelreconciled. The vision would be read in its contrast with the previous revelation. The terrors of the law-giving were now laid aside; all is sweetness, beauty, mildness, serenity, love. This vision of God as a God at peace with Israel, is mediated by the offering of sacrifice. It is so also under the Gospel. “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself” (2Co 5:19).
2. Symbolic of privilege.
(1) The “nobles,” though in God’s presence, suffered no harm. “Upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand” (Exo 24:11). He might have done so, for they were by nature sinners. But they were safe, as sprinkled with blood of atonement, and as in presence of a God of mercy. Though sinners, we are permitted in Christ to draw nigh to God. He will not harm us; he will welcome, accept of, and bless us.
(2) Though in God’s presence, they “did eat and drink” (Exo 24:11). They had this freedom before him; this feeling of confidence. It is only the revelation of God as a God of grace which can inspire this confidence. Their eating and drinking was symbolical of the privilege of every pious Israelite, sheltered from his sin in God’s mercy, and taking confidence from his word of grace. Much more is it symbolic of the privilege of Christians, in whom perfect love casts out fear (1Jn 4:18).
3. Prefigurative of future blessedness. The goal of the kingdom of God is the feast of perfected bliss in glory, where the saints shall eat and drink and see God with no intervening veils, and in the full beauty of his love and holiness.
4. A warning. These seventy elders ate and drank in God’s presence, yet at last perished in the desert. Nadab and Abihu were consumed by fire. Cf. the warning (Luk 13:26, Luk 13:27).
Lessons
1. The vision of God in Christ disarms fear.
2. Let us try to see God, even in our eating and drinking (1Co 10:31).
3. Those sheltered by Christ’s blood are safe. Note the following”
(1) There are those who eat and drink, and do not see God.
(2) There are those who see God, and cannot eat and drink.
(3) There are those who eat and drink, and see God” (Rev. W.B. Robertson, D.D.).J.O.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Exo 24:9-10. Then went up Moses and Aaron, &c. Moses, having ratified the covenant with the people, now, agreeably to the command in Exo 24:1, went up, with Aaron, and the elders, representative of the children of Israel, as mediator between GOD and the people, to announce their assent and ratification of the covenant: and accordingly GOD discovered to them some more immediate manifestation of his glory than usual; (Exo 24:10.) they saw the GOD of Israel; i.e. as the Chaldee has it, the glory of God; some high and sensible demonstration of his peculiar Presence; for otherwise God is invisible to human sight: his immediate and essential glory no eye hath seen, or can see. One would, however, from some expressions, be led to believe, as this God of Israel was that MESSIAH, or Divine Person, who afterwards assumed a human form; that now, confirming the present covenant by blood, He appeared in glory in a human form: for it is said, that under his feet was, as it were, a paved work of a sapphire-stone, &c. and in Exo 24:11 mention is made of his laying his hand; expressions, which must either be understood as above; or else as spoken more humano (after the manner of men). He laid not his hand upon them, to hide that degree of glory from them which he was then pleased to manifest, as was the case with Moses, ch. Exo 33:22 where the Lord says, I will cover thee with my hand, while I pass by. As to the objection drawn from Deu 4:15 against the God of Israel’s appearing in a human shape, let it be observed, that the words there immediately refer to God’s first and awful appearance to all the people on Mount Horeb, ch. Exo 19:14, &c. The verses may be thus read and interpreted: Exo 24:10. And they saw the God of Israel, beneath whom there was, as it were, a paved-work of sapphire stones, [a bright aethereal blue,] and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness, [as the purest sky in its greatest brightness:] Exo 24:11. And upon the nobles [or select ones, Hebrew] of the children of Israel, he did not lay his hand, [so as to conceal himself from them;] therefore they saw God, and did eat and drink; i.e. continued to exist: see Gen 32:30 from whence, and other passages of Scripture, it will seem to have been a common opinion, that no mortal could sustain the appearance of the Divinity. Le Clerc thinks, that the eating and drinking refers to their feasting upon the remains of the sacrifice, Exo 24:5 but that which we have given appears to us the more natural interpretation. Some think, that the phrase of laying the hand is a Hebraism, signifying to hurt or injure; and that it means here, that God did no hurt to the elders of Israel; they saw him and lived: see Gen 37:22. 1Sa 11:15. Job 1:11-12.
A paved work of a sapphire-stone The original signifies brick-work of a sapphire colour, but transparent at the body of heaven: from which the author of the Observations concludes, that pavements of polished marble were not yet in use; while the expression, he thinks, points to that sort of pavement which is formed of painted tiles (or bricks,) and is common to this day in the East, according to Dr. Shaw. They are the same, I suppose, says he, as those painted tiles, with which the Doctor tells us they were wont frequently to adorn part of their walls, by incrustating it with these tiles: the Doctor does not particularly describe them; but it appears, from other writers, that they are frequently blue. So Le Bruyn tells us, vol. 2: p. 238 that the mosque at Jerusalem, which the Turks call the Temple of Solomon, is almost covered over with green and blue bricks, which are glazed, so that, when the sun shines, the eye is perfectly dazzled. Some of these bricks or tiles, the reader will observe, are blue, the colour which Moses mentions; but bricks and tiles are not transparent: to describe then, the pavement under the feet of the God of Israel with due majesty, Moses represents it as like the floors of painted tile which he had seen, but transparent, however, as the body of heaven. Had Moses known any thing of marble pavements, it is natural to suppose, he would rather have compared what was seen in this august vision to them, than to a floor of painted tile, though such a one is not without its beauty; which ought to be remarked, to prevent our receiving impressions of too debasing a kind from Moses’s mentioning brick-work under the feet of God: our imaginations might otherwise have been led to the poor pavements of brick in our cottages; whereas Moses seems, on the contrary, to have thought of the most splendid floors which Egypt then knew.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Was not this the Lord Jesus? see Joh 1:18 , compared with Joh 1:14 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
XXV
THE FEAST OF THE COVENANT, THE ASCENT OF MOSES AND JOSHUA INTO THE MOUNTAIN, THE BREACH OF THE COVENANT, THE COVENANT RESTORED BUT MODIFIED
Exo 24:9-34:35
1. What is this lesson and its outline?
Ans. The lesson is from Exo 24:9 to the end of that chapter, with a mere glance at the next seven chapters, 25-31, and then 32; it covers three full chapters, nearly all of another chapter, and a glance at seven other chapters. I will explain to you about that glance as we go along.
The outline of the lesson is:
The Feast of the Covenant, Exo 24:9-11 .
The Ascent of Moses and Joshua into the Mountain, Why and How Long, Exo 24:12-31:18 .
The Breach of the Covenant, Exo 22:1-6 .
The Covenant Restored but Modified, Exo 32:1-34:35 .
We commence at the first item of the outline, viz.:
The Feast of the Covenant. That part of the lesson is Exo 24 and commences at Exo 24:9-11 . Let us read that: “Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu [two sons of Aaron], and seventy of the elders of Israel [and we learn from Exo 24:17 that Joshua, the minister or servant of Moses, was along. That makes seventy-five persons [: and they saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the very heaven for clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: and they beheld God and did eat and drink.” That is the feast of the covenant.
2. What of the custom after ratifying a covenant and an example from Genesis?
Ans. Nearly always just after a covenant was ratified the parties to the covenant partook together of a meal to show their fraternity and communion. The Genesis example you will find where Laban and Jacob made a covenant. The covenant is prepared, they agree to enter into a covenant, they put up a token of the covenant, they build an altar, they make sacrifices, they ratify the covenant in the blood of that sacrifice. Then they sit down and eat a meal together, which is the feast of the covenant. You will find all of that in the Genesis account of Laban and Jacob. So here a covenant having been proposed, an agreement to enter into it made, a preparation for it, the terms of the covenant given as stated in their threefold characters, that covenant carefully read, an altar erected, sacrifices offered, the blood of the covenant sprinkled upon the altar and upon the people, and so ratified, then follows this feast of the covenant.
3. What are the provisions used at the feast in such cases?
Ans. The provisions are the bodies of the peace offering. There are two offerings, viz.: the burnt offering, which has to be burned up, then the eucharistic or thank offering. That thank offering furnishes the material of the feast after the covenant is ratified.
4. Who was the representative at this feast with God and a New Testament analogy?
Ans. The representatives here are: First, Moses, then his servant Joshua, his army chief; second, the high priest and his two sons that is five; and third, the seventy elders of Israel. All Israel did not meet God and partake of a feast, but the representatives of Israel in the persons of Moses, Joshua, Aaron and his two sons, and the seventy elders, who meet God and partake of this feast. Now the New Testament analogy is that the Lord’s Supper which was to memorialize the sacrifice of Christ was participated in by representatives of the church, the apostles. The apostles were there, but not there as individuals. They represented the church just as they represented the church in receiving the Commission, so that it was simply a church observance even at the time of its institution.
5. What of the communion in this feast and the New Testaments analogy?
Ans. The communion is not the communion between Moses, Aaron, and the elders, that is, it is not a communion with each other, but it is a communion with God, and the New Testament analogy is as Paul expresses in his first letter to the Corinthians: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion, or participation, of the blood of Christ?” and yet how often people misrepresent the idea of that communion, as when A, B, and C commune together to show their fellowship for each other, or a man’s communing to show his fellowship for his wife. The word means “participation” and the one in whom is the participation is God: “The loaf which we bless, is it not a participation, the communion of the body of Jesus?” So here these representatives of all Israel communed with God a little way up the mountain, not far.
6. The record says that they saw God. What kind of a sight of God did they see, and what other cases in the Old and New Testaments?
Ans. They did not see any form or likeness of God. Moses is very careful to say that “no man can see God and live.” He is careful to say in Deu 4 that at Sinai they saw no similitude or likeness. Now, in Isa 6 he (Isaiah) sees God as they saw him, that is, he sees the throne; he sees the pavement; he sees a great many things about the throne, the angels, the cherubim and the seraphim, but he doesn’t see any likeness of God, though he hears God talking. Precisely so you find it in Eze 1 . He sees the chariot of God, four cherubim, their wheels, their wings, and their faces looking every way, but he doesn’t see the One in the chariot, and so it is in Rev 4 where John is caught up to heaven and he sees the very same thing, this very pavement, and the throne, the cherubim, the angels round about the throne, and he sees something that represents the Holy Spirit, and he sees something that represents Jesus Christ, a precious stone which represents God, but he doesn’t see God.
7. Apply this thought to transubstantiation and consubstantiation in our feast, as the Romanists and Luther taught.
Ans. The Romanist says, “This is the very body and the very blood of Christ; you can see it and you can taste it.” And the consubstantiation advocate, Luther, says, “The bread is not the body of Christ and the wine is not the blood of Christ, but Christ is there this way: You take a knife and put it in the fire and take it out of the fire when it is red hot, and you have the same metal, but you have something there that was not there before, viz.: heat, you can touch it and feel the effect of that heat burning.” You can take cognizance of that kind of a presence, but in this analogous communication with God they saw no similitude, no form.
8. Explain that part of the feast where it is said that “God laid not his hand on the elders of Israel, though they saw him.”
Ans. It means that God did not slay them. The declaration is often made, “Whoever sees God shall die.” They can’t bear the sight of God. But the kind of a sight of God that these people saw, they were able to see without having the hand of God laid on them, and what a beautiful lesson! Before the covenant was made, when the trumpet sounded and the darkness came and the earth quaked and the lightning flashed, and that strange, awful voice speaking the ten words, the people were scared almost to death; they wanted a mediator, somebody to come between them and that awful Being. But knowing that a covenant had been established and had been ratified by the blood of a substitute, they can see God in the sacrifice of the substitute and not die; see him in perfect peace, just as you, before you are converted, look upon God as distant and unapproachable, but after you see him in Christ in the covenant, the terror of God is taken away and you can sit there just as if eating a meal with a friend.
9. Give again a complete outline of the covenant.
Ans. The complete outline of the covenant is:
(1) God’s proposition of a covenant and their agreement to enter into a covenant;
(2) Their preparation for the covenant;
(3) The three great terms of the covenant;
(4) The ratification of the covenant;
(5) The feast that follows the covenant. Will you keep that in mind? You need to be drilled on that every now and then, so that when anybody asks you where there can be found a copy of the Sinai covenant and all the parts of it, you can answer: “It commences with Exo 19 , and closes with Exo 24 .” That is the whole thing in all its parts.
The Ascent of Moses into the Mount, Why and How Long? This is the second item of the outline. That is found immediately after what we have been discussing, commencing at Exo 24:12 . “And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there”: that means, Moses, you are to be there quite awhile; “and I will give thee the tables of stone, and the law and the commandment, which I have written, that thou mayest teach them.” And Moses rose up, and his servant Joshua; and Moses went up into the mount of God. 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. And Moses went up into the mount, and the cloud covered the mount. 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. 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. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and went up into the midst of the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.” Now here are the questions on that:
10. Why is Moses, after the covenant is ratified and the feast is held, taken up into the mount? (He and Joshua alone go).
Ans. He is carried up to receive the same law which had been spoken orally, now in writing “which I have written.” And what he went up particularly to get was the two tables or the Ten Commandments, and in God’s own handwriting that he might keep them as a witness. “The tables of the Testimony” is the name of them. Moses wrote a copy that the people learned, but that particular copy was God’s own autograph. That was put up and preserved as “tables of the testimony.”
11. What is the meaning of “tables of stone,” “the law,” and “the commandment”?
Ans. The tables of stone I have just described. But what was the law that Moses goes up after? You would miss that if you had to answer it off-hand, and the commentators all miss it. They don’t get in a thousand miles of it. You will find that it was what he received when he went up there a special law, and that special law was that the sabbath, God’s sabbath, should be the sign of the covenant. You find that at the end of this section that we are now on. So the law he went after was the law of the sign. Then what was the commandment he went after? The Commandments are all given in seven chapters (25-32) and every one of them touches the law of the altar. We will glance at the outline of that directly.
12. Why were these tables of testimony and this sign of the covenant and these laws concerning the altar given to Moses?
Ans. The lesson says, “That thou mayest teach them.”
13. Who was to represent Moses in the camp while he was absent in the mount?
Ans. Aaron and Hur.
14. What reminder of a New Testament incident is in these words of Moses: “Tarry ye here for us until we come again”?
Ans. It is Jesus in Gethsemane, when he let the representatives stop, and said, “Stay here while I go yonder and pray.”
15. What was the visible token that God was present with Moses, and why that token?
Ans. Exo 24:16-17 : “And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it 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.” Now, why is that last word, or clause, “In the eyes of the children of Israel”? That was a token to them not to get impatient. “When you begin to say, ‘Moses stays a long time,’ you look up there at that cloud on top of that mountain, how exceedingly glorious it is, you may know that Moses is right in that cloud communing with God.”
16. How long was Moses up there in that cloud before God spoke to him, and why did he speak to him on the particular day that he did?
Ans. Moses was up there six days. God called him up there: “Don’t you get impatient. Here is the test of your faith. You wait. I have called you up here, to have an interview and to receive certain things, and you wait; be patient.” Now on the seventh day, that is, the sabbath, which was the sign of the covenant, God spoke.
17. How long was Moses in the mount, and what is the New Testament parallel?
Ans. Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights, and the New Testament parallel is that after Christ was sacrificed for the ratification of the covenant and they had eaten the feast of the covenant and Christ was risen from the dead, he remains with them forty days, instructing them. That is just exactly what God is doing with Moses. Just as Jesus uses forty days after his sacrifice in careful instruction of his disciples, so God after this sacrifice and ratification of the covenant, takes Moses up into that mountain for forty days of continued explanation.
18. Give, for the present, a mere summary of what Moses received on the mount, set forth in the seven chapters, 25-31.
Ans. Just now all we want is a summary and the reason we don’t want to go into the details is that we take that up in the next chapter in connection with what follows. But all you want to know now is the outline. The outline is:
(1) He received the tables of the testimony;
(2) He received the law of the sign;
(3) He received the commandments as follows:
(a) The commandment upon the people to furnish voluntary offerings for what was to be made;
(b) The making of the ark with the mercy seat on it where God was to be met; the making of a tabernacle for the shewbread; the making of the candlestick; the making of a tabernacle or tent with its subdivisions and its marvelous veil between the divisions; and the court and the oil that was to supply the lampstand or candlestick;
(c) The garments for Aaron, the high priest, when he officiated before God;
(d) The law of the consecration of Aaron to the office of high priest;
(e) The law of the consecration of the altar by which approach to God was to be made;
(f) The law of the daily sacrifice;
(g) The law of the golden altar, or the altar of incense, and bow it is to be offered. Incense is to be offered twice a day just like the lamp is to be lit twice a day and the sacrifice is to be offered twice a day in the morning Aaron goes to trim the lamps as the morning offering and the ascent of the morning cloud of incense representing the going up of the prayers of God’s people, and in the afternoon he goes to light the lamp, and there is the evening sacrifice and the going up of the incense;
(h) The atonement or ransom money and what that signifies;
(i) The laver, that was to be between the altar and the mercy seat, and what it was to be used for;
(j) The marvelous recipe of the anointing oil that was to be poured upon the head of a prophet or a priest or a king or a sacrifice;
(k) The perfume that was to be put at the place of entrance, indicating that they were to meet the fragrance of God right at the threshold of entrance or approach to him;
(l) The inspiration of the artificers of all this work. Just as an apostle was inspired to do his work, so certain men were here named that were inspired to do this work called for in all these things;
(m) That sabbath for a sign which I have already mentioned.
The Breach of the Covenant. This is the third item. Where do you find that breach of the covenant? In chapter 32. We are coming to awful things now. The most interesting thing in the Old Testament: “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf: and they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To-morrow shall be a feast to Jehovah. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.”
19. Give the seven elements of this breach of the covenant.
Ans.
(1) The rejection of Moses and of God and a demand for other gods to be made: “Make us gods.”
(2) This god, of course, being man made, was an idol.
(3) The form of the god was the Egyptian god, Apis, calf or ox, the Egyptian god that died of the murrain through one of the miracles of Moses.
(4) They built an altar of worship and of sacrifice.
(5) They offered both burnt and peace offerings.
(6) They had a feast to follow this covenant they were making with this new god, and,
(7) Stripping off their clothes, naked, they go into a drunken orgy and practice all of the beastly and infamous lusts that characterized that worship in Egypt and in other idol worshiping countries. Paul says, “The people sat down to eat and rose up to play,” and then adds, “Be ye not fornicators and adulterers as they were.”
20. What was God’s announcement to Moses and what were the purposes announced concerning Israel and the raising up of a new people?
Ans. God saw that breach of the covenant that had just been made. The answer is this, commencing with Exo 32:7 : “The Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and have said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and now, behold it is a stiffnecked people: now therefore let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.” That is the terrible announcement. They have broken the covenant. “I will instantly destroy them; I will raise up a new people from Moses. He will be the basis of the new people.” Now before they get out of this trouble there will be four intercessions of Moses.
21. What was the first intercession of Moses and its result?
Ans. I quote it, commencing at Exo 32:11 : “And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swearest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.” So the first thing was to stop instant destruction of that people. The result: “And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.” He didn’t kill them right then, but he at least suspended that terrible bolt of divine wrath that was about to fall upon them.
22. What did Moses and Joshua see on their return to the camp?
Ans. All the above happened before Moses came down from the mount. Joshua says, “I hear a great shout down in the camp. There must be an army or there must be a battle.” Moses says, “No, that is not the shout, neither of men on the battlefield, nor of men crying for mercy. That is the shout of singing; those people are singing down there.” And they came down and saw that calf; they saw their naked and beastly orgies; they saw the whole hideous sin which the people had committed.
23. What was the first token that the covenant was broken?
Ans. Moses took the tables of the testimony and broke them all to pieces right in the sight of the people. “You do not need these tokens any more. I have brought you in the handwriting of God the witness of the covenant; you broke it; let the token be broken.”
24. What, in order, are the other things done in that camp by Moses when he got down there?
Ans. Moses was not a man to go down there and hold his finger in his mouth. When he sees that thing he is stirred. Let us see now what, in order, were the things that he did. First, he took that calf and burned it until it pulverized; then he mingled the ashes of it in water and made the people drink it. Second, he shook his finger in the face of Aaron and said, “What have these people done unto you that you led them into this sin? I went up in that mountain to meet God; I left you as my representative. Now what have these people ever done to you that you should lead them into this?” And Aaron pleads the baby act if ever a man did in the world. He says, “Well, they they they said, ‘Make us a god,’ and I told them to bring me the earrings and I put the earrings into the fire and there came out this calf; the fire did it.” An old father who, when his boy came home disappointed and broken in health and knowing nothing, after several years away at school, said, “All that money I put into the fire of education and there came out this calf.” Third, Moses said unto them in the camp, while naked and half drunk they stood before him not daring to open their lips, “Whoso is on the Lord’s side, let him stand by me. I am going to draw a line. Somebody in this great camp surely is on the Lord’s side.” And the Levites came. You remember when Jacob pronounced the prophecy of blessing on his children he gave a big slice to Levi. When Moses goes to pronounce a blessing he is going to pronounce a great honor on Levi, and he is going to assign as a reason what Levi does this day. That whole tribe lined up on the side of Moses. They didn’t stand up there just as a show. “Now, if you are on the Lord’s side, draw your swords and wade into that crowd. Don’t stop if it is your brother, or father, or mother, no matter how close kin to you. There must be a penalty inflicted for this awful sin,” and Levi pitched in and slew three thousand. Fourth, he began to take steps toward saving those people from temporal and eternal destruction, and that brings us to the next question:
25. What was the second intercession of Moses and God’s reply?
Ans. Moses said, “You have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord: peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.” Now you come to the next intercession of Moses: “And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said [and this is the greatest piece of intercession that ever took place on earth except in the case of Christ], Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin ; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” Only one other man ever said anything like that, and concerning this same stiffnecked people, and that was Paul, “I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren’s sake.” Moses, in other words, offered himself as a substitute for the people: “Don’t, don’t destroy them! Destroy me!” It was a grand proposition. Now, what did God say to that intercession? “The Lord said to Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me,, him will I blot out of my book. I will not blot you out for them. The soul that sinneth it shall die. Therefore now go, lead these people unto the place of which I have spoken unto them; behold mine angel shall go before thee; nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.”
26. What of the effect of this upon the people?
Ans. They mourned and laid aside their ornaments and did not put them on from Mount Horeb onward.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Exo 24:9 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
Ver. 9. And seventy of the elders. ] See Trapp on “ Exo 24:2 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
went up. Moses’ fourth ascent. See note on Exo 19:3. Exo 19:10 they saw. Hebrew. hazah, to see with the mental eye, or in vision (Isa 1:1; Isa 2:1; Isa 13:1. Eze 13:7. Amo 1:1. Mic 1:1. Hab 1:1. Num 24:4, Num 24:16). Hence, to discern, observe, contemplate, understand. Job 34:32. Psa 46:8. Pro 22:29; Pro 24:32; Pro 29:20. Psa 62:2.
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.
under. Was this seen from beneath?
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Exo 24:1
Reciprocal: Exo 6:23 – Nadab Exo 24:11 – nobles Exo 28:1 – Nadab Exo 29:32 – Aaron Lev 4:15 – the elders Lev 10:1 – Nadab Num 11:16 – seventy 1Ch 24:2 – Nadab Eze 8:11 – seventy Eze 44:3 – to eat
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
The ratification ceremony concluded with a meal (Exo 24:9-11), not a picnic lunch but a sacrificial meal (Exo 24:5).
"’They ate and drank’ describes a covenant meal celebrating the sealing of the covenant described in Exo 24:3-8." [Note: Ibid., p. 450.]
We must understand the statement that the leaders of Israel saw God (Exo 24:10) in the light of other passages (Exo 33:20-23; Isa 6:1; Joh 1:18). Perhaps they only saw His feet or, more exactly, a representation of part of God in human form (cf. Isa 6:1; Rev 4:2; Rev 4:6). The pavement of clear sapphire contributed to the vision of God as the supra-terrestrial sovereign (cf. Eze 1:22; Rev 4:6; Rev 12:2).
". . . what Moses and his companions experience is a theophany of the Presence of God, not a vision of his person, and what they see, bowed before even that awesome reality, is what could be seen from a position of obeisant prostration, the surface on which his Presence offered itself. . . . The reference in Exo 24:10 may therefore be a double one, calling up the deep dark blue of an endless sky and the building materials of legendary divine dwelling-places." [Note: Durham, p. 344.]
God in mercy did not consume the sinners before Him. Rather He allowed them to eat in His presence thus symbolizing the fact that He was taking on responsibility for their safety and welfare (cf. Gen 31:44-46). [Note: See Livingston, pp. 157-62.]
"We have argued that the awkward surface structure of the narrative [in chapters 19-24], which results in the non-linear temporal ordering of events, can be explained when one takes into account the sequence structure of the narrative, particularly the use of the literary device called resumptive repetition. As a result of this literary device we have demonstrated that the narrative contains two different perspectives of the theophany. First, there is the perspective of Yahweh which emphasizes the preparation and execution of the covenant as well as highlighting the holiness of God, which is a key to understanding the relationship that exists between Yahweh and His people. Second, there is the perspective of the people, which is elaborated upon in the two resumptive narratives in 20, 18-21 and 24, 1-8. The first resumptive narrative in 20, 18-21, which elaborates in detail the fear of the people, serves as a preface and introduction to the Decalogue and Covenant Code. In addition, it also acts as a causal link between the fear of the people and their sinful acts below the mountain in Exodus 32. The second resumptive narrative in 24, 1-8 elaborates in detail the ratification of the covenant and also leads into the subsequent ascent of Moses to the mountain where he receives the rest of God’s regulations." [Note: G. C. Chirichigno, "The Narrative Structure of Exodus 19-24," Biblica 68:4 (1987):478-79.]