Sunday, May 27, 2007

Exodus 24

Review "Feast of Weeks" in the Rose Publishing booklet "Feasts & Holidays of the Bible".


   Shavuot (pronounced shu voo ot) occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan (May 22 - 25, 2007
this year). It marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer and the day the Torah was given at Mount Sinai. It is one of the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals mandated by the Torah. The Torah mandates the seven-week Counting of the Omer, beginning on the second day of Passover and culminating on the 50th day, Shavuot. At Passover, the Jewish people were freed from being slaves to Pharaoh; at Shavuot they accepted the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God.


   Shavuot (Hebrew for weeks) is called by several names. In the Torah it is called Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10); Festival of Reaping (Exodus 23:16), and Day of the First Fruits (Numbers 28:26). Since Shavuot occurs 50 days after Passover, Christians gave it the name Pentecost ("fiftieth [day]"). However, the actual Christian commemoration of Pentecost occurs on the seventh Sunday after Easter. Fifty (50) is the number of Jubilee - the year when all slaves were set free.


   Besides its significance as the day on which the Torah was given by God to the Jewish nation at Mount Sinai, Shavuot is also connected to the season of the grain harvest in Israel. In ancient times, the grain harvest lasted seven weeks. It began with the harvesting of the first fruits of barley during Passover and ended with the harvesting of the wheat at Shavuot. Shavuot began the harvesting of wheat and was another first fruit festival. During the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, an offering of two loaves of bread from the wheat harvest was made on Shavuot (Leviticus 23:15-21).


Leviticus 23:15-21: “From the day after the Sabbath—the day you bring the bundle of grain to be lifted up as a special offering—count off seven full weeks. Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days later. Then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. From wherever you live, bring two loaves of bread to be lifted up before the Lord as a special offering. Make these loaves from four quarts of choice flour, and bake them with yeast. They will be an offering to the Lord from the first of your crops. Along with the bread, present seven one-year-old male lambs with no defects, one young bull, and two rams as burnt offerings to the Lord. These burnt offerings, together with the grain offerings and liquid offerings, will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Then you must offer one male goat as a sin offering and two one-year-old male lambs as a peace offering. “The priest will lift up the two lambs as a special offering to the Lord, together with the loaves representing the first of your crops. These offerings, which are holy to the Lord, belong to the priests. That same day will be proclaimed an official day for holy assembly, a day on which you do no ordinary work. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live. - Why do you think that this is the only time that God wanted an offering of bread with leaven (yeast)?


   All harvest festivals are symbolic of resurrection. Jesus said in Matthew 13:30: Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. (KJV)


   The Book of Ruth corresponds to the holiday of Shavuot both in its descriptions of the barley and wheat harvest seasons and Ruth's desire to become a member of the Jewish people, who are defined by their acceptance of the Torah. Moreover, the lineage described at the end of the Book lists King David as Ruth's great-grandson. According to tradition, David was born and died on Shavuot.


   According to the Midrash (a traditional Jewish interpretation of Scripture), the night before the Torah was given, the Jews went to sleep to be well-rested for the big day ahead. However, they failed to rise early, and Moses had to come to wake them up to meet God, Who was already waiting atop the mountain. To make up for this error, religious Jews stay up all night to study Torah. In many communities, classes and lectures in the wee hours of the morning are offered for men and women. In Jerusalem, thousands of people finish off the nighttime study session by walking on foot to the Western wall - Wikipedia - Shavuot: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shavuot



Messianic Significance


   The New Testament recalls something very remarkable which took place during this festival in the year that Yeshua ascended to the Father. Jews and proselytes from throughout the known world were gathered at Jerusalem. The talmidim or disciples of Yeshua were there too, of course, with more than the usual holiday excitement, as only 10 days earlier they had watched their teacher physically ascend into the clouds. According to the second chapter of the book of Acts, they were all gathered at one house, or building, when there was a sudden sound like a violent wind, then something that looked like tongues of fire came down and rested on each of them, and they began to prophecy in languages they had never learned. Hearing the noise, many of the out-of-towners came around to investigate, and were astonished to hear this crew of mostly uneducated Galileans speaking the various languages of their respective countries. Visitors from Rome heard Latin, and visitors from Egypt heard Coptic; those from Arabia heard Arabic, and those from Parthia heard the language of the Parthians and so on, so that everyone present heard the message in the language with which he was most familiar.


   Amazed, the people began to ask each other what all this could mean. Some made fun, and said the young men must be drunk, but Simon Peter got up and explained that no one was drunk, being as it was only 9:00 in the morning, (in any case, drunkenness would not explain such a phenomenon,) and then proceeded to tell them everything that had taken place concerning the one called Yeshua. His entire speech is recorded in Acts 2:14-36. Three thousand native-born Jews and proselytes did exactly that, and so the church was born. Shavuot is the day of the sacrifice of the firstfruits, where the first loaves from the new grain were offered on the altar. In the New Testament, Yeshua is called, "the firstfruits of many brethren." "But the Messiah has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." -- I Corinthians 15:20 He is called the "firstfruits" because many others will be raised from the dead -- all the believers who have been "born again" (Yeshua's own words, John 3:3) into God's family through the Messiah, the "Second Adam." - www.amfi.org/shavuot.htm



(1) Then* the Lord (Elohim) instructed Moses: “Come up here to me (Yahweh), and bring along Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy** of Israel’s elders. All of you must worship from a distance***.


*Then: After God has give Moses the "Book of the Covenant" in chapters 21-23.


**seventy: The number in the Sanhedrin


***from a distance: Ephesians 2:13: But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.


   Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s two oldest sons, had been greatly honored by being included with Moses and Aaron and 70 elders to go up Mount Sinai at the Lord’s command. They had been given national recognition and God-ordained spiritual leadership. But, all this did not protect them from the consequences of their disobedience. These two newly ordained priests died before the Lord, when they offered strange (unlawful) fire before the Lord (in His presence), in the wilderness of Sinai (Numbers 3:4). They presumed to burn incense, symbolic of the prayers of the people, with unauthorized fire, that is, fire not kindled by God on the Brazen Altar (Leviticus 9:23-24; 10:1-2). God never overlooks disobedience to His Word whether one is a popular spiritual leader or just an ordinary Christian.


(2) Only Moses is allowed to come near to the Lord*. The others must not come near, and none of the other people are allowed to climb up the mountain with him.”


*Lord: Yahweh


   These seventy-four people were to go up the mountain to a certain point. Then they were to prostrate themselves and worship Yahweh as Moses went further up into the presence of Yahweh. Moses occupies the lofty position of mediator (as Christ in the NT), for he alone ascends “to Yahweh” while everyone waits for his return. The emphasis of “bowing down” and that from “far off” stresses again the ominous presence that was on the mountain. This was the holy God – only the designated mediator could draw near to him.


(3) Then Moses went down to the people and repeated all the instructions and regulations* the Lord had given him. All the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded*.”


*instructions and regulations: Words and Law - that is, the Ten Commandments and the Book of the Covenant (chapters 20-23).


**We will do everything: The 2nd time they's affirmed they would do EVERYTHING the Lord had commanded. Did they?


Twice in these verses (verses 3, 7), the Israelites have verbally committed themselves to keep this covenant. If this is not enough, they have said virtually the same words before, in chapter 19, verse 8. There has been great care taken to communicate the covenant clearly, and over a period of time, so that this verbal commitment is based upon a clear understanding of the conditions of the covenant. God spoke verbally, in the hearing of the Israelites (cf. 19:9; 20:18-19), and several times through Moses (cf. 19:3-7, 10-15, 20-25). Moses conveyed the contents of the “book of the covenant” to the Israelites, which the people committed to keep (24:3). Then, Moses put the “book of the covenant” into writing (24:4), which he later read to the Israelites, and they again committed themselves to keep the covenant (24:7). Finally, God will Himself write the covenant in stone, and have it placed in the ark of the covenant, so that Israel will not forget it. The commitment which the nation Israel makes here in chapter 24 is one which is based upon a clear understanding of the covenant which is put before them. - The Magnificent Meal on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 24:1-18): www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=157


   The general consensus among commentators is that this refers to Moses’ coming from the mountain after he made the ascent in 20:21. Here he came and told them the laws (written in 20:22-23:33), and of the call to come up to Yahweh.


   Israel here is perhaps guilty of tremendous over-confidence. The way they seemed to easily say to God, "we will keep Your law" seems to lack appreciation for how complete and searching God's law is. However, a nation that had been terrified by God's awesome presence at Sinai was in no state of mind to do anything but agree with God.


(4) Then Moses carefully wrote down all the Lord’s instructions. Early the next morning Moses got up and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He also set up twelve pillars, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.


   Since the Israelites have verbally ratified this covenant, Moses now carries out the ratification process, which we have seen previously in the Book of Genesis, by the use of symbols and representatives. Symbolically, Moses offered covenant sacrifices (note: these are not sin offerings), making an altar with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. The blood of the sacrifices is sprinkled upon the altar and upon the people, thus linking the people with the covenant sacrifices. Israel has truly ratified the covenant which God gave through Moses. - The Magnificent Meal on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 24:1-18): www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=157


(5) Then he sent some of the young Israelite men to present burnt offerings and to sacrifice bulls as peace offerings to the Lord.


(6) Moses drained half the blood* from these animals into basins. The other half he splattered against the altar.


*blood:
Hebrews 9:9-10:4: ... For the gifts and sacrifices that the priests offer are not able to cleanse the consciences of the people who bring them. For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies—physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established. So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant. Now when someone leaves a will, it is necessary to prove that the person who made it is dead. The will goes into effect only after the person’s death. While the person who made it is still alive, the will cannot be put into effect. That is why even the first covenant was put into effect with the blood of an animal. For after Moses had read each of God’s commandments to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, and sprinkled both the book of God’s law and all the people, using hyssop branches and scarlet wool. Then he said, “This blood confirms the covenant God has made with you.” And in the same way, he sprinkled blood on the Tabernacle and on everything used for worship. In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals. For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age] to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him. The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared. But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.


   There was nothing "magical" about blood, but because it represents the life of a being (For the life of the flesh is in the blood, Leviticus 17:11), blood represents the outpouring of life, of one life being given for another. Almost a thousand years later, God did not forget the blood of this covenant: Because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. (Zechariah 9:11). The blood of Jesus' covenant saves us: this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matthew 26:28) The blood of Jesus' covenant is also the foundation for all our growth and maturity in Christ: Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)


(7) Then he took the Book of the Covenant* and read it aloud to the people. Again they all responded, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded. We will obey.”


*Book of the Covenant: Chapters 20-23 of Exodus


   The book would be the scroll just written containing the laws of chaps. 20-23. On the basis of this scroll the covenant would be concluded here. The reading of this book would assure the people that it was the same that they had agreed to earlier. But now their statement of willingness to obey would be more binding, because their promise would be confirmed by a covenant of blood.


(8) Then Moses took the blood from the basins and splattered it over the people, declaring, “Look, this blood confirms the covenant the Lord has made with you in giving you these instructions.”


   The people and Yahweh through this will be united by blood, for half was spattered on the altar and the other half spattered on/toward the people


(9) Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up* the mountain.


*up: Fourth time Moses went up the mountain.


(10) There they saw* the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli**, as clear as the sky itself.


*saw: Hebrew ra ah, meaning simply to see, view or look upon. Verse 11 is the Hebrew word hazah.



HAS SEEN:


Genesis 17:1– “Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty ; Walk before Me, and be blameless;


Genesis 18:1 - Now the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.”


Exodus 6:2-3– “God spoke further to Moses and said to him, "I am the LORD; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty , but by My name, LORD, I did not make Myself known to them.”


Exodus 24:9-11– “Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank.”



Exodus 33:20: But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.”


Numbers 12:6-8– “He said, "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision . I shall speak with him in a dream. "Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household; With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant, against Moses ?"


Acts 7:2 - "And he [Stephen] said, "Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. . . "


HAS NOT SEEN:


Exodus 33:20–“But He [God] said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live !"


John 1:18– “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”


John 5:37– “And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.”


John 6:46 - "Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father.”


John 14:8-9: Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?


1 Timothy 6:15-16 – “He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.”


   It is evident above that God was seen. But, considering the "can't-see-God" verses, some would understandably argue that there would be a contradiction. One explanation offered is that the people were seeing visions, or dreams, or the Angel of the LORD (Numbers 22:22-26; Judges 13:1-21) and not really God Himself. But the problem is that the verses cited above do not say vision, dream, or Angel of the LORD. They say that people saw God (Exodus 24:9-11), that God was seen, and that He appeared as God Almighty (Exodus 6:2-3).



    At first, this is difficult to understand. God Almighty was seen (Exodus 6:2-3) which means it was not the Angel of the Lord, for an angel is not God Almighty, and at least Moses saw God, not in a vision or dream, as the LORD Himself attests in Numbers 12:6-8. If these verses mean what they say, then we naturally assume we have a contradiction. Actually, the contradiction exists in our understanding, not in the Bible--which is always the case with alleged biblical contradictions.



    The solution is simple. All you need to do is accept what the Bible says. If the people of the Old Testament were seeing God, the Almighty God, and Jesus said that no one has ever seen the Father (John 6:46), then they were seeing God Almighty, but not the Father. It was someone else in the Godhead. I suggest that they were seeing the Word before He became incarnate. In other words, they were seeing Jesus.



    If God is a Trinity, then John 1:18 is not a problem either because in John chapter one, John writes about the Word (Jesus) and God (the Father). In verse 14 it says the Word became flesh. In verse 18 it says no one has seen God. Since Jesus is the Word, God then, refers to the Father. This is typically how John writes of God: as a reference to the Father. We see this verified in Jesus' own words in John 6:46 where He said that no one has ever seen the Father. Therefore, Almighty God was seen, but not the Father. It was Jesus before His incarnation. There is more than one person in the Godhead and the doctrine of the Trinity must be true.


-- Has anyone seen God or not?: www.carm.org/diff/Exod6_3.htm



   This is indeed a most unusual incident hidden away in the middle of the Book of Exodus. Seventy-four men beheld God and ate a festive meal in His presence. There is no question that this is God and that these men all looked upon Him in some fashion. The wonder is that they lived to tell about it. But if one were to describe God solely on the basis of this description of a most unusual encounter with God, how much would you know about the way God looks? The only thing this text tells us is that when they saw God, they saw feet (verse 10). We are told more about what was under God’s feet than anything else. This is surely a most vague description. God may have been visible here, but certainly not fully so.


   One of the great texts of the Old Testament describing an appearance of God to men is found in Isaiah 6:


In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, with a burning coal in his hand which he had taken from the altar with tongs (Isaiah 6:1-6).


   Isaiah most certainly saw the God of Israel, and it had a tremendous impact on him. But what do we know about how God looks from this passage? How would you describe God based upon Isaiah’s description of Him? Isaiah himself has more to say about the appearance of the angels than about the appearance of God. God was seated on a throne, and He wore a robe. The angels did not proclaim what God looked like, but what He was like. They proclaimed the character of God. They spoke of His holiness and of His glory. The impact on Isaiah was an enhanced awareness of his own wretchedness as a sinner. This revelation of God’s character caused Isaiah to see how woefully short of God’s glory he fell. As Isaiah grew in his knowledge of the character of God, he grew in his knowledge of himself. The picture Isaiah saw of himself was not pretty.


   In those instances where men are said to have seen God, surprise is expressed that they lived to tell about it. Jacob marveled that his life had been preserved (Genesis 32:30). Moses noted that God “did not stretch out His hand” against the 74 men who are said to have seen the God of Israel (Exodus 24:10-11). God informed Moses that He could not see Him and live (Exodus 33:20). When Gideon realized he had seen the “angel of the Lord face to face” (Judges 6:22), he was encouraged with the assurance that he would not die (verse 23). Manoah and his wife, soon to become the parents of Samson, were amazed they did not die for having seen God as the “angel of the Lord” (Judges 13:21-23). Paul seems to be saying that men cannot see God and live when he declares that God dwells in “unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16). Getting close to God is like drawing near to a blast furnace. It is dangerous to one’s health (see also Exodus 33:2-5).


   God was “seen eye to eye” by the Israelites. In the context, this means that God made His presence known to the Israelites by the cloud which led them and which became a pillar of fire at night. It does not mean God has physical eyes and that the Israelites saw these eyes. God’s presence was with His people, and He made that presence known. But nowhere did anyone see the face of God, because God has no face. God is Spirit and is not made of flesh. He is invisible to men because He has no body, and He becomes visible to men by various means. He appeared as a mere man, which was the angel of the Lord. He made Himself known by means of a cloud and through various other appearances, but none of these were the full revelation of God. And none were an occasion where men saw God’s face.


-- The Invisibility of God: www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=267


-----------------------


Revelation 4:6a: In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal...


**lapis lazuli: sapphire.
Ezekiel 1:26: Above this surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue lapis lazuli. And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. Ezekiel 10:1: In my vision I saw what appeared to be a throne of blue lapis lazuli above the crystal surface over the heads of the cherubim.


 (11) And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon* God**, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!


*gazed upon: Hebrew hazah, meaning to see with the mental eye, or in a vision.


**God: Elohim


   The covenant meal, eaten by the 75 leaders of Israel in the presence of God, is the final act of ratification. As God had summoned them in verses 1 and 2, now Moses (attended by Joshua) and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the 70 elders went up on the holy mountain. Here, we are told, they “saw the God of Israel” (verse 10), and yet He did not strike them dead (verse 11). In the light of the way covenants were made, it is not unusual to find the leaders of the nation Israel eating the covenant meal in the presence of God, for both parties were present at the covenant meal. What is unusual is that men saw God and did not perish, and that the vision of God is indeed rare, unlike all other manifestations of God in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible). Precisely what did these leaders see? Well, we know that they saw God. We also know that the God they saw had feet (cf. verse 10). All that is described, to our dismay, is the feet of God and the sapphire-like clear blue pavement under them. Why does our text describe only the feet of God and the pavement under them? One might think that this is all one would have seen stretched out on one’s face before God, since most of those who had such visions of God fell before Him in terror or in humility (cf. Ezekiel 1:28; Rev. 1:17). I believe that there is another explanation, however. - The Magnificent Meal on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 24:1-18): www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=157


(12) Then the Lord* said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain. Stay there, and I will give you the tablets of stone** on which I have inscribed the instructions and commands so you can teach the people.”


* Lord: Yahweh


**tablets of stone: Exodus 32:15: Then Moses turned and went down the mountain. He held in his hands the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.


The Ten Commandments


   These are the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments would be written. This is the first time they are mentioned. The commandments were apparently proclaimed by God first and then proclaimed to the people by Moses. Now that they have been formally agreed on and ratified, they will be written by God on stone for a perpetual covenant.



(13) So Moses and his assistant Joshua set out, and Moses climbed up the mountain of God.


(14) Moses told the elders, “Stay here and wait for us until we come back. Aaron and Hur are here with you. If anyone has a dispute while I am gone, consult with them.”


(15) Then Moses climbed up the mountain, and the cloud covered it.


(16) And the glory of the Lord settled* down on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud.


*settled: The Hebrew verb is sakan, which is the verbal of the noun miskan, which means tabernacle, dwell or abide. From this is derived the term “the Shekinah Glory,” the dwelling or abiding glory. The “glory of Yahweh” was a display visible at a distance, clearly in view of the Israelites. To them it was like a consuming fire in the midst of the cloud that covered the mountain. That fire indicated that Yahweh wished to accept their sacrifice, as if it were a pleasant aroma to him, as Leviticus would say. This “appearance” indicated that the phenomena represented a shimmer of the likeness of his glory. This word also gives an inkling of the next section of the book, the building of the “tabernacle,” the dwelling place, the mishkan. The vision of the glory of Yahweh confirmed the authority of the revelation of the Law given to Israel. This chapter is the climax of God’s bringing people into covenant with himself, the completion of his revelation to them. It ends with the mediator going up in the clouds to be with God, and the people down below eagerly awaiting his return. The message of the whole chapter could be worded this way: Those whom God sanctifies by the blood of the covenant and instructs by the book of the covenant may enjoy fellowship with him and anticipate a far more glorious fellowship. So too in the New Testament, the commandments and teachings of Jesus are confirmed by his miraculous deeds and by his glorious manifestation on the Mount of the Transfiguration, where a few who represented the disciples would see his glory and be able to teach others. The people of the new covenant have been brought into fellowship with God through the blood of the covenant; they wait eagerly for his return from heaven in the clouds. - BibleGateway - Exodus 24: www.bible.org/netbible/exo24.htm


(17) To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain, the glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a consuming fire.


(18) Then Moses disappeared into the cloud as he climbed higher up the mountain. He remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.


Exodus 34:28: Moses remained there on the mountain with the Lord forty days and forty nights. In all that time he ate no bread and drank no water. And the Lord wrote the terms of the covenant—the Ten Commandments—on the stone tablets.


   The forty days of Moses’ absence provide a test, one which Israel failed.


1Cor. 6:19 "Your body, you know, is the Temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you"



   Under the 'Old' Covenant, the ancient Tabernacle and Temple had a Most Holy inner Chamber where the Stone Tablets of the Law were stored in the Ark of the Covenant. Under the 'New' Covenant, the body of the professing believer forms a Temple for YHVH to dwell in - with the Law of YHVH now written on "the tables of the heart", in the inner 'chamber of the body': 1 Corinthians 6:19: Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,




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