2 Sep 2025 – jeffersonvann

Exodus 24

Exodus 24:1 Then he told Moses, “Come up to Yahveh, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from a distance.

Exodus 24:2 Moses alone should come near to Yahveh, but the others should not come near, and the people should not come up with him.”

Exodus 24:3 Moses came and told the people all the words of Yahveh and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that Yahveh has spoken we will do.”

Exodus 24:4 And Moses wrote down all the words of Yahveh. He got up early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

Exodus 24:5 And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, who offered ascending offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to Yahveh.

Exodus 24:6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar.

Exodus 24:7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that Yahveh has spoken we will keep doing, and we will remain obedient.”

Exodus 24:8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, Notice, the blood of the covenant that Yahveh has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Exodus 24:9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up,

Exodus 24:10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the sky itself for clearness.

Exodus 24:11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they saw God and ate and drank.

Exodus 24:12 Yahveh told Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the instruction and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.”

Exodus 24:13 So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God.

Exodus 24:14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And notice, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.”

Exodus 24:15 Then Moses climbed the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.

Exodus 24:16 The glory of Yahveh stayed on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

Exodus 24:17 Now the appearance of the glory of Yahveh was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain before the eyes of the sons of Israel.

Exodus 24:18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

Exodus 24 quotes:

“What is worth noting is that, from the beginning of Exodus to the end, the issue of divine presence was of deep concern. God assured Moses that God would be with him before Moses ever confronted Pharaoh (Exodus 3:12; 4:12). The people had worried in the wilderness about God’s » presence (Exodus 17:7). From the time when God’s “glory” (kabod), veiled + by the heavy cloud, had settled on Mount Sinai, Moses and the people had. struggled with a desire for and fear of the presence of God (Exodus 24:15). After the debacle of the golden calf, Moses was deeply concerned whether God would go with him and the people and had to be reassured by God» (Exodus 32:14). Once again, Moses had prayed for God’s presence even after | receiving the proclamation of God name (Exodus 34:9, NRSV). Now Moses’ shining face was the eloquent demonstration of God’s continuing presence.

March, W. Eugene. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Abingdon Press, 2012.p. 45.

“God seemed always to appear in some semblance of human form. Naturally, many texts are too sketchy to give much of an indication, but where there is a brief hint, human form seems to have been the characteristic feature. Genesis 18 and 32; Joshua 5:13-15; Judges 13:3, 6, 8-11 and other portions clearly speak of the form by designating the theophanic individual a “man.” In addition, Exodus 24:911 and 1 Samuel 3:10, 21 record theophanies where a human appearance is strongly implied. This man-like form of the Christophany being properly emphasized, let it also be reaffirmed here that human form is not equivalent to full participation in human nature with body, soul, and spirit. This was reserved solely for the unique and permanent incarnation of Christ.”

Borland, James A. Christ in the Old Testament. Revised and expanded edition, Mentor, an imprint of Christian Focus Publications, 1999. p. 30.

“The altar was built in preparation for the sacrifice without which no covenant was considered binding. By making the people wait one day before they could officially ratify the covenant, Moses reduced the emotional influence of the Israelites’ hasty acceptance of the covenant.”

Kroll, Woodrow. Early in the Morning. Loizeaux Brothers. 1990. p. 42.