Exodus 24:1-71And 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. (Exodus 24:1‑7)
IN THE previous chapters God had told His people Israel, through Moses, of the covenant that He would make with them. He told them too of what their conduct should be, in view of this relationship they had been brought into with Himself. Now the time had come to have this covenant confirmed. Moses, Aaron, Nab, and Abihu (Aaron’s sons), and seventy of the elders of Israel were called up unto the Lord into the mountain. Then with the exception of Moses, they were called to “worship afar off.”
That was under the law, but how different now under grace, since Christ has died and redemption through His blood has been brought in! This is the only way of approach to God as we are told: “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,... let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” (Heb. 10:19, 2219Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, (Hebrews 10:19)
22Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:22)). Now, all who are saved, can come into the very presence of God and worship without any doubt or fear as to their acceptance, for we are “accepted in the Beloved (God’s dear Son)" (Eph. 1:1616Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; (Ephesians 1:16)). The believer is without spot before the all-searching eye of a holy God, and the light of His holy presence, instead of bringing to light his sin, only shows up the perfection of Christ in which he stands before God.
“And Moses alone shall come near the LORD". This was wonderful grace shown to Moses, but he was in the position of mediator and the type of Christ, “the one Mediator between God and men.”
“And 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.” All those laws and precepts which God had given to His people were good and righteous, but they did not know God, nor the evil of their own hearts, or they would not have answered Moses as they did. Yet on one occasion before the giving of the law, and twice after, they answered in this way. They never seemed to realize how helpless man is before God, and yet how many there are who act the same way today! How many cling to their own self-righteous rags (Isa. 64:66But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)), and will not exchange them for the “best robe” God provides, which is Christ. How few are willing to own their true position before God as helpless, ruined sinners! Later on, we shall see how things went with His people, how they turned away from the Lord and refused to keep His commandments. These things were written for our learning, dear young reader, so that we might learn from Israel’s experiences and failures not to trust in ourselves, for our hearts are no better than theirs. We need to cast ourselves upon the mercies of the Lord and ask Him to keep us by His grace.
In the latter part of the chapter we have the glory of the Lord displayed in keeping with the giving of the law. But this is not the glory which is the hope of the Christian. “And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount.” Even Moses said, “I exceedingly fear and quake.” Heb. 12:2121And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) (Hebrews 12:21). Oh, if this were the only side of God that we could ever know, there would be no hope for us. We would be punished as sinners forever. But God “hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son,” and He “commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom. 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8).
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