Exodus 24

KJV · Chapter 24/40

1And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.

2And Moses alone shall come near the Lord: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.

3And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.

4And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

5And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord.

6And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

7And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.

8And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.

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

10And 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.

11And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.

12And 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.

13And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.

14And 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.

15And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount.

16And 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.

17And 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.

18And 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.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Moses reads the Book of the Covenant to the people, who respond by promising obedience; a sacrifice formally seals the covenant with sprinkled blood on the people, and Moses goes up Mount Sinai to receive the stone tablets of the Law.

Explanation

This chapter ritually formalizes the covenant between God and Israel, which had been verbally accepted in the previous chapters. The blood of the sacrifice, half sprinkled on the altar (representing God) and half on the people, visually and symbolically seals this mutual commitment — an act that the New Testament letter to the Hebrews will directly compare to the blood of Christ sealing a 'new covenant.' The extraordinary vision granted to Moses, Aaron, his sons, and seventy elders, in which they 'saw the God of Israel' and yet 'did eat and drink' without being destroyed, is a unique moment of divine closeness that anticipates, but does not replace, the even greater intimacy Moses would have alone on top of the mountain. Moses' long stay on the mountain (forty days and forty nights) sets the emotional stage for the people's despair that will lead to the golden calf episode in the following chapter.

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