Exodus
24
THE RATIFICATION OF THE
COVENANT (vs. 1-8)
The
giving of the Book of the Covenant being now completed, Moses, having
received directions with respect to another ascent
into the mount (vs. 1-2), descended
to the people, and in the first instance
declared to them the main heads of the Covenant,
which they received with favor, and expressed
their willingness to obey (v. 3). Not,
however, regarding this as a sufficiently formal
ratification, the Prophet proceeded to
write out in a “Book” the whole of the commands which he had received, He then
built
an altar, erected twelve pillars, offered
sacrifice, and having collected half the blood of
the victims in basins, summoned the people to
an assembly. At this, he read over solemnly
all the words of the Book to them, and
received their solemn adherence to it
(v.
7); whereupon, to complete the ceremony, and mark their entrance into covenant,
he
sprinkled the blood from the basins on the twelve
tribes, represented by their leaders,
and declared the acceptance complete (v. 8).
The ceremony was probably modeled on
some customary proceedings, whereby important
contracts between man and man
were ratified among the Hebrews and Syrians.
vs. 1-8 – ‘And he said unto Moses, Come up
unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron,
Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders
of
Though
all were to ascend the mount to a certain height, only Moses was to go to the
top. The others, being less holy than Moses,
had to worship at a distance. “And
Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but
they shall not come nigh; neither
shall the people go up with him. And
Moses came and told the people all the
words of the LORD, and all the judgments” - Moses
descended from the mount,
and reported to the people “all the words of the
Lord” — all the
legislation
contained in the last three chapters and a half (chps.
20:19-23:33), not perhaps in
extenso, but as to its main provisions – “and all the people answered with one
voice, and
said, All the words which the LORD
hath said will we do.” - In times
of excitement, a common impulse constantly
animates an entire multitude, and
an exaltation of feeling leads them to make
pledges, which they are very unwilling
to stand by afterwards. Hence Moses requires
something more than a verbal assent.
“And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD,
and rose up early in the morning,
and builded an altar under the hill, and
twelve pillars, according to the twelve
tribes of
burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings
of oxen unto the LORD. And
Moses took half of the blood, and put it in
basins; and half of the blood he
sprinkled on the altar.” - The blood,
which symbolized the life of the victim, was
the essential part of every sacrifice, and was usually poured
over the altar, or at any
rate sprinkled upon it, as the very crowning act of
offering. (See Leviticus 1:5; 3:8)
On this
occasion Moses retained half of the blood, “and put it in basins”, for the
purpose of so uniting all the people in the sacrifice,
and thereby the more solemnly
pledging them to the covenant, which the sacrifice at
once consecrated and
consummated. “And he
took the book of the covenant” - In this book we have
the germ of the Holy Scriptures — the first “book” actually
mentioned as written in
the narrative of the Bible. Genesis may contain other older documents,
inserted by Moses,
under the sanction of the Holy Spirit, in his compilation.
But his own composition, if we
except the burst of poesy called forth by the passage
of the
would seem to have commenced with “the Book of the Covenant.” Upon this nucleus
the rest of the law was based; and it was to explain and
enforce the law that Moses
composed the Pentateuch – “and read in the audience of the people: and they said,
All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.” - The people made the
same answer as before (v. 3), adding a general
promise of obedience to all that God might
command in future.
“And Moses took the blood, and
sprinkled it on the people” –
We read, in
the Epistle to the Hebrews, that he “sprinkled both the book, and
all
the people” (Hebrews 9:19). As he sprinkled, he said, “Behold the blood of the
covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.”
MAN’S READINESS TO ENTER
INTO COVENANT WITH GOD
AND PROMISE UNLIMITIED
OBEDIENCE
In any
covenant which God proposes to man, the advantages offered to him are so
great, and the requirements made of him so manifestly
“holy, just, and
good,” that it
is almost impossible that he should calmly consider the terms
and reject them. It is his
natural instinct to exclaim — “All that the Lord hath said I will do, and be obedient.”
There are
many reasons for
this
feeling, of which the following are some:
That which an
intelligent agent has made belongs to him absolutely, and
cannot resist his will without rebellion. Now, “it is God that has made us,
and not we
ourselves.” (Psalm
100:3) - We are His, whether we choose to
obey Him or
no — His to punish or reward — to kill or make alive — to
exalt to
happiness or condemn to misery. We cannot resist His will without
being
self-condemned. The reasons which make disobedience to a father
morally
wrong tell with increased force if applied to God, who is far more
truly our
father. He is:
ü The author
of our existence;
ü The
preserver of our life; and
ü The
bestower upon us of favors and benefits which we cannot
possibly
repay.
OBEDIENCE. Every law
ever imposed by God on man has been imposed
for man’s
sake, and tends to his advantage. If a man were
truly wise, he
would lay down for himself as rules of conduct exactly those
laws which
are laid down for his guidance in Holy Scripture. The man
whose
obedience
approaches nearest to perfection is the happiest. For every
act of
disobedience
there is a natural penalty.
GOD’S WILL. Angels have no other desire but this. Man has a
thousand
desires,
but, together with them, has an inward conviction that it is better
for him to
resist than to gratify the greater number. His passions draw him
one way,
his reason another, his affections, perhaps, a third. He has no
unmixed
satisfaction but in following the lead of the highest principle
within him;
and this principle is the love of God, which prompts him to
make it the
sole object of his life to please God by so acting as God would
have him. Man,
therefore, readily promises obedience — as of old at Sinai,
so now at
baptism and confirmation, or, again, after a sudden conversion;
and, under
the excitation of stirred feelings and an awakened conscience,
imagines
that he will keep to his brave resolve; but when the excitement is
past, and
the feelings have calmed down, and the tame, dull course of
ordinary
life is entered upon, then it is found not so easy to observe the
promises
made, and “do
all that the Lord has said, and be obedient.” The
flagrant
contrast between the conduct of the Israelites and their words is
known to
all. The contrast is, perhaps, less, but it is still great, between the
pledges
given by Christians and their acts. Performance ever lags far
behind
promise. “The
spirit, indeed, is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38)
Temptations assail — Satan
spreads his wiles — the lower nature turns traitor,
and men fall
away. Happy, if, while there is still time, they “return and repent,
and do the first works,” (Revelation 2:5) and casting themselves upon Christ
obtain pardon for their disobedience from the ever-merciful
God!
THE SACRIFICIAL FEAST AND THE VISION
OF GOD (vs. 9-11)
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. 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 (vs.2 and 12). The
object of the ascent was twofold:
naturally
desire to partake of it as near the Divine presence as should be
permitted
them. This was their purpose in ascending.
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 (v. 11).
This was His purpose in inviting
their presence. The manifestation is
described
in v.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.
vs. 9-11 - Then went up Moses, and Aaron,
Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the
elders of
“And they saw the God of
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” (Numbers 12:8).
Isaiah “saw the Lord sitting upon His throne” - (Isaiah 6:1).
Ezekiel saw
upon the throne “the appearance of a man” (Ezekiel 1:26). It does not
follow from Deuteronomy 4:12,15, 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
(ch. 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.” – “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. And upon the nobles of the children of
also they saw God, and did eat and drink.” God did not smite them with death, or
pestilence, or even blindness. It was thought to be
impossible to see God and live. (See
Genesis
32:30; Exodus 32:20; Judges 6:22, 23) 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
(Jesus Christ) who
condescended to show Himself. (As Bro. Marion Duncan used
to preach in a series of sermons on “Premanifestations
of the Incarnation of Christ” –
CY –
2010)
THE COVENANT MEAL ON MT.
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
(v.
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:
THE LORD
INSTITUTED ON THE NIGHT OF HIS BETRAYAL, FOR
THE SUSTENTATION OF HIS PEOPLE. The Holy Communion
is a feast
upon a sacrifice — the sacrifice of Christ — partaken 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 kingdom — eating and drinking and seeing
God.
SUPPER OF THE
LAMB, WHEREOF ALL THE FAITHFUL SHALL
ONE DAY PARTAKE
IN HEAVEN (Revelation 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. (Matthew 26:29) - 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” (Revelation 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” (ib, 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”
(Revelation 22:4). Thrice blessed
they
who attain to this heavenly feast, and
are counted worthy of that beatific
vision!
MOSES’S
ENTRY INTO THE CLOUD AND
HIS
FORTY DAYS COMMUNE WITH GOD
It was
necessary now that Moses should receive full directions for the external
worship
of God, the sanctuary, and the priesthood. Every religion has
something tangible and
material about it — holy places, holy things, rites,
ceremonies, rules, forms, regulations.
If man sets
himself to devise these things of his own head, he may very easily go wrong,
and
find his elaborate inventions “an offence” to God. To
avoid this — to secure the result
that all should be pleasing and acceptable to “the High and Holy One which inhabiteth
eternity,” (Isaiah 57:15) - it was thought fitting that “patterns” should be
shown to
Moses of
all that was to be made for the worship (Hebrews 8:5), and exact details given
him with respect to the material, size, shape, and construction
of each.
(And the
Lord told him “See….that thou make all
things according to the pattern
shewed thee in the mount” – CY –
2010) The results
are put before us in seven
chapters (chs. 25-31.). For the purpose of allowing
ample time for the communications
which had to be made and of securing that undivided
attention which was requisite in
order that all should remain fixed in the memory, God
summoned his servant to a
long and solitary colloquy, on the mountain summit
whereon the cloud rested
(ch. 19:18), apart from all his people. Moses, of course,
obeyed; but before ascending,
arranged with the elders that in his absence Aaron and
Hur should have the direction
of affairs, and decide all doubtful questions (v. 14). He then
went up the mountain,
accompanied for part of the way by Joshua, who is now
spoken of as his “minister,”
or “attendant” (v.13). Joshua probably remained with him for six
days, while Moses
waited for a summons to enter the cloud. On the
seventh day the summons came:
and Moses, leaving Joshua, entered the cloud, and was hid from
the sight of all men.
vs. 12-18 – “And the LORD said unto Moses,
Come up to me into the mount,
and be there: and I will give thee tables of
stone, and a law, and commandments
which I have
written; that
thou mayest teach them.” - Rather, “to teach them.”
God wrote
the commandments on stone, in order to inculcate them with the greater
force upon His people. “And
Moses rose up, and his minister 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 a cloud covered the mount.” Moses, though
called up into the mount, would not intrude into
this inner sanctuary, until
specially bidden to enter it. Now occurred
a remarkable pause. The summons had
been given to Moses, and he had obeyed it. He
was there on the platform a little
below the summit, ready, but waiting for a
further call. The call was not made for
six days. A holy calm reigned upon Sinai — the
cloud rested upon the summit, and
in the cloud was “the
glory of the Lord”. Moses and Joshua waited near — but for
six days there was no sign. God thus
taught Moses, and through him the world, that
near approach to him requires long and careful
preparation. Moses, no doubt, was
occupied during the six days in
continual prayer. At last, on the seventh day, the
call, which Moses had expected, came.
“God called unto Moses out of the midst
of the cloud.” God summoned him to a
closer approach — bade him enter the
cloud — and draw as nigh to him as possible. “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
on the summit above them, was “like
devouring fire on the top of the mount” - They
had but to lift their eyes thither, and they saw His wonderful glory —
showing like a huge fire –
on the spot from which He had spoken to them
(Exodus 20:18). This manifestation continued
certainly for the first six days; whether it lasted longer or not is open to
question.
(Remember
that when Moses came off the mount that he was so bright
that the people could not look upon him, so they put
a vail on his head – (ch. 34:
29-35, II
Corinthians 3:7 – CY - 2010) - “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.”
– Quitting Joshua, Moses at last, in obedience to the call out of
the midst of the cloud, entered within its shadow and
disappeared from human vision.
In this abnormal condition, alone with God, he
continued for thirty-four days,
making, together with the six days before he entered
the cloud, the “forty
days and forty nights” of the text
before us. It is noted in Deuteronomy 9:9, that
during the whole of this time he was without food.
Compare Elijah’s fast
(I Kings 19:8), and our blessed Lord’s (Matthew 4:2).
PROLONGED
COMMUNION WITH GOD
Prolonged
commune with God is the soul’s truest strengthening, and sweetest refreshment.
Without
it our spirits languish — we grow weary and faint — worldliness creeps upon us
—
our thoughts and discourse become “of the earth, earthy” – (I
Corinthians 15:48) —
we have no life or liveliness in ourselves, and
can impart none to others. Moses’ commune
was abnormal, extraordinary, inimitable by us in its main
features — its duration, locality,
nearness of access, and completeness of isolation. But
it may serve as a pattern to us in
many respects, nevertheless:
ü A Ready Heart. “Moses rose up” — did not delay, did
not offer
objections,
did not say, “Suffer
me first” to do this or that, but
responded to the call of God at once.
ü A
Thoughtful Regard for Others. Moses instructed the elders how to
act while he was away. “Tarry
ye here” — “Seek ye to Aaron and
Hur, if ye have matters to do.”
ü A
Willingness to Help Others - towards the
higher life, to carry them
on with him, as far as he might. “Moses rose up, and
his minister,
Joshua.
ü A Patient
and Reverential Waiting. Summoned, called up, bidden to
draw
near, he yet rested for six days outside the cloud, longing to enter
in,
but withheld by a sense of unworthiness and a fear of intrusion,
fasting all the while, and seeking to prepare himself
for the nearer
approach by supplication
and meditation.
place
sacred from common uses — into which worldly thoughts could
scarcely
penetrate. We, who have no Sinai, have at any rate our churches,
and other
sacred buildings — some of them always open, not merely for
public
worship, but for private prayer and meditation — inviting us to enter
in and draw
nigh to God. In our houses we have, or may easily have, our
oratories —
spots reserved for prayer and praise, and sacred thought —
sanctuaries
in the desert of life — places in which all that we see will
remind us
of heavenly things.
elders,
people, left below in the plain — left with strict injunctions to
remain — “Tarry ye here.” Even the
faithful Joshua parted from — and
“the cloud” entered.
The cloud — the awful cloud — “thick darkness”
(ch.
20:21); yet within the darkness a marvelous light. Such seclusion we
cannot
obtain — but we may obtain an approach to it. We may “enter our
closet, and shut
to the door” (Matthew
6:6), and let it be known that we
would be
undisturbed; or we may seek the solitude of a church at an hour
when there
is no public service, and no one present who will meddle with us;
or we may,
even at the present day, find solitudes in nature, deep woods, or
lone
mountain tops, or unfrequented glens, where we may feel ourselves
secure from
intrusion, and stand face to face with God, and know Him
near,
and pour
out our hearts before Him. (Psalm 62:8) - A modern poet, in one of
his better moments, says —
“My altars are the mountains, and the ocean,
Earth,
air, sea — all that springs from the Great Whole,
Who
hath produced, and will receive the soul” —
and truly
on any lone spot an altar may be raised, and worship offered, as
acceptable
to God as any that is addressed to Him “in pillared fanes, ‘neath
fretted
roofs, ‘mid storied glass or sculptured monuments.” Even in the
whirl and
bustle of a great city, solitude is not very far from us. Half an
hour’s
journey by steamer or rail, and ten minutes’ walk, may take us into
still
woods, or shady lanes, or on to open heaths, where we shall not see a
fellow
creature or hear a sound reminding us of man.
we cannot
have the complete seclusion which Moses enjoyed, so neither
can we look
for such sustained commune as his. We must eat and drink —
we can rarely
leave our worldly work to others — family claims,
correspondence,
business imperatively require our attention — six weeks’
interruption
of communication between ourselves and the outer world
would, in
most cases, break or tangle all the threads of which our life is
composed.
But still some prolonged periods of religious contemplation and
commune
between the soul and God are needed, if the soul is to retain the
vigor of
its life, or its ability to be of service to others. With this
view
religious
“retreats” have been devised, lasting sometimes a week or ten
days. Where
men’s duties allow of it, they may be well worth a trial. The
weary
spirit may derive more refreshment from them than from the
ordinary
“holiday.” The heart may be purified, the aspirations raised, the
insight
into doctrinal truth augmented, above all, the love of God so
intensified
in the soul, by the suspension of all secular thought and the
devotion of
the whole mind to religion and worship, during the three, or
five, or
seven, or ten days of a “retreat,” as would scarcely be possible,
under the
present conditions of our life, in any other way.
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