Exodus - Chapter 24
In Chapter 24 of the Book of Exodus, you can witness the solemn ratification of the Covenant between God and the Israelites. The people affirm their commitment to obey all the words that the Lord has spoken. Moses builds an altar, offers sacrifices, and sprinkles the blood of the covenant on the people. Then, Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel's elders ascend the mountain where they behold God and partake in a covenant meal. The chapter concludes with Moses' ascent into the cloud on Mount Sinai to receive the tablets of stone with the law and the commandments. This chapter is a pivotal moment that seals the covenant relationship between God and the Israelites, with Moses serving as the mediator.
Covenant
1 Now He said to Moses, "Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar.
2 "And Moses alone shall come near the LORD, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him."
3 So 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 has said we will do."
4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
5 Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.
6 And Moses took half the blood and put [it] in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient."
8 And Moses took the blood, sprinkled [it] on the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words."
Moses on the Mount
9 Then Moses went up, also 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 sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in [its] clarity.
11 But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank.
Tablets of the Covenant
12 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them."
13 So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God.
14 And he said to the elders, "Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed Aaron and Hur [are] with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them."
15 Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain.
16 Now the glory of the LORD rested 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.
17 The sight of the glory of the LORD [was] like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.
18 So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.