CHAPTER 24

(1491 B.C.)

THE BLOOD

¹And H e (the Lord) said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, you, and Aaron, and Nadab, and Abihu (Aarons sons), and seventy of the elders of Israel; and you shall worship afar off. (The short phrase afar off proclaims the best the Law can do. One can search out the Law, and not be able to find the two words, Draw nigh. The Blood of Jesus Alone makes it possible for believing sinners to draw nigh, and that alone [Eph. 2:13-18].)

²And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they (all the others) shall not come near: 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 has said will we do. (That which Moses told the people as he came down from the mountain pertained to the legislation given us in Chapters 21-23.)

⁴And Moses wrote all the Words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and built an Altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the Twelve Tribes of Israel. (The Altar represents Christ and what He would do at the Cross. The twelve pillars represent the Government of God, with the number twelve in the Bible always standing for that principle. So, we see here that the Government of God is built on the Foundation of the Cross, which, in effect, was in the Mind of God from before the foundation of the world [I Pet. 1:18-20]. If we attempt to build a government outside of the Cross, or to tamper in any way with the Cross, as it regards the changing of its meaning, we have just instituted a government devised by man, which God can never accept. And thats exactly what the modern Church is doing.)

⁵And he sent young men of the Children of Israel, which offered Burnt Offerings, and sacrificed Peace Offerings of oxen unto the LORD. (The Burnt Offerings signified that God would give His all as it refers to the Redemption of man, and the Peace Offerings signified that the Whole Burnt Offering was accepted by God, and peace is now restored. The Peace Offering could also be offered after the Sin and Trespass Offerings.)

⁶And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; 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 [Lev. 1:5; 3:8].)

⁷And he took the Book of the Covenant, and read in the audience of the people (the first mention of the Bible, at least in its beginning form, is given in Exodus 17:14; it is interesting that the first mention would be in connection with the hostility of the natural man, symbolized by Amalek, to the spiritual man, symbolized by Israel; and now the Bible is mentioned again in connection with the giving of the Law): and they said, All that the LORD has said will we do, and be obedient. (While they possibly desired to be obedient, there was no way they could be, because the obedience that God demands is a perfect obedience, which man is incapable of rendering. Their only recourse was the Altar, i.e., the Cross.)

⁸And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the Blood of the Covenant, which the LORD has made with you concerning all these words. (The blood being sprinkled on the people probably pertained to their leaders and representatives. It could hardly have referred to being sprinkled on nearly 3 million people. Half of the blood was sprinkled on the Altar, thus pledging God to His engagement; the other half was sprinkled upon the people, so pledging them.)

⁹Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the Elders of Israel (before the invitation of Verse 1 could be accepted, the Blood of the Burnt and Peace Offerings must be shed; men, even though they may be as distinguished as these Princes, cannot approach God in their own person; they can only draw near through the Blood of Jesus):

¹⁰And they saw the God of Israel (John 1:18 says: No man has seen God at any time; this statement given by Moses does not contradict that statement; for the word seen in John 1:18 refers to comprehend, or to fully comprehend; in other words, No man has fully comprehended God at any time.): and there was under His Feet as it were a paved work of a Sapphire Stone (the Sapphire Stone expressed the purity of God), and as it were the body of Heaven in His clearness (means that they saw Him clearly).

¹¹And upon the nobles of the Children of Israel He laid not His Hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink. (Previously, they couldnt even approach the mountain. So, how do we explain here the difference? We must assume that it was the Altar which made the difference. Blood had been shed, a Covenant had been made.)

FORTY

¹²And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to Me into the Mount, and be there: and I will give you Tables of Stone, and a Law, and Commandments which I have written; that you may teach them. (Its our business as Preachers of the Gospel to teach the Word of God to the people.)

¹³And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the Mount of God. (Evidently, Moses was instructed by the Lord to take Joshua with him. It is doubtful that Joshua was able to go into the very Presence of God as did Moses; nevertheless, he at least went part way, and evidently stayed the entirety of the time, because we find him coming down with Moses, when, some forty days later, Moses descended from the mountain [32:17].)

¹⁴And he (Moses) said unto the Elders (70 men), 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 (the latter two were left in charge).

¹⁵And Moses went up into the Mount, and a Cloud covered the Mount. (Evidently, Moses stopped when he arrived at the Cloud.)

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. (Moses evidently waited until the Lord called him.)

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. (It looked like the entirety of the top of the Mountain was on fire, with this being seen by all of the Children of Israel.)

¹⁸And Moses went into the midst of the Cloud (Joshua stayed at the edge of the Cloud, and did not go further), and got him up into the Mount: and Moses was in the Mount forty days and forty nights (without food or water; so the Lord had to miraculously sustain him).