What to Do After You Hear God Speak (Exodus 24: 1-18)
I don’t have to tell you that Christians usually believe God has given us His Word. May seem a stupid question, but what are we supposed to do with it after we have got it? If we strongly believe he has given us His actual living Word, what should happens next? I suspect most would say, that’s simple, we’re supposed to obey what He tells us to do. And of course, that should go without saying. But what happens after that? Is anything else is needed?
I believe theirs is something extra indicated in the book of Exodus that I think is particularly important. So, I would like us to turn our attention today to Exodus chapter 24, and we’re going to see what happened to the people after God gave them the law. If you’ve been with me since we’ve been going through the book of Exodus, you will recall that they started out as slaves. In order to get them out of Egypt, the Lord brought plagues down on the Egyptians. Finally, they were allowed to leave, and they left Egypt, and they down to Sinai, (complaining all the way). And they arrived at Mount Sinai, and when they did, the Lord gave them the Ten Commandments. That was recorded for us in Exodus chapter 20.
Then immediately after that, in chapters 21 through 23, we are given a little subsection in the book of Exodus where Moses said, “These are the judgments.' And as I have explained going through those verses and chapters, this is like God says, 'Here are the main laws, the Ten Commandments, and here are the case studies, the applications of those Ten Commandments.' By and large, that’s what’s covered in chapters 21 through 23. There are other things that are touched on, but by and large, It all related to the Ten Commandments.
Now, having said that, we’ve arrived at chapter 24. So, we need to put this in the context of the book of Exodus and what has just happened.
God has just given Israel the law, the Ten Commandments, and some very practical specific applications of it. That’s the backdrop as we enter this next chapter.
Now look at Ch 24: 1
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, but Moses alone is to approach the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.”
(Exodus 24: 1-2)
And let me just pause right there. This is the beginning of a discussion. There are going to be two parts to this, the opening verses in the chapter, a section that goes from verse 1 to verse 8. In these verses, the Lord is calling a meeting. He’s calling a meeting with Moses and Aaron and two other people that are actually Aaron’s sons. So, He says in verse 1 bring Nadab and Abihu and seventy elders of Israel. A little insight, and a little plot spoiler is that these two fellows named Nadab and Abihu are later killed as a result of the judgment of God. But at this point, they are in good standing, and they are to go with Moses and the seventy elders up to the mountain. Only they want to go all the way to the top, apparently. So, there’s Moses and seventy-three other people, the seventy elders, plus Aaron and his two sons. But the seventy-three do not go all the way to the top with him.
Someone has pointed out that this is sort of the nature of the law. We’ve just been given the law, the law, but the law immediately creates a distance between the people and the Lord. The law in a sense illustrates the distance between our sinful state and the perfect holiness of God. The New Testament makes an issue out of the fact that it is now because of Christ dying for us, we can now have boldness to enter into the holiest place but only by the blood of Christ.
That’s mentioned in Hebrews 10 verse 19. The law says, 'You shall not come near.' But the New Testament says, 'Let us draw near.' Hebrews 10:22. But in this case, it’s don’t get too close. Most the seventy-three are going to only come halfway up the mountain. The rest of the children of Israel will remain in the valley. Only Moses is going to go to the top of the mountain.
When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.
(Exodus 24: 3)
He probably read to them the Ten Commandments. As a matter of fact, if you recall back in the story, they heard them directly from the Lord. And now Moses is stating them again.
What Moses told them is the Ten Commandments and some say even the judgments we have just looked at these last few days. In other words, what he told them was recorded in our Bible in chapters 20 all the way through verse 23. What’s important is immediately they agreed with it and said, “we will do all that you have said”.
I started by saying when the Lord gives us His Word, what comes after that? And the answer is that we would be obedient to what He has told us to do. And this is a good illustration. They said they were willing to do it. We know they didn’t always do what they said here was they were going to obey and that’s the proper response, to do what the Lord told them. So then, he says in verse 4-5,
Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said.
He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.
(Exodus 24: 4-5)
Now, this is a momentous occasion. They have been given the law, which amounts to the covenant promise that God is making. The Mosaic covenant, as it’s called. And they’re responding, 'Yes, we’re going to do this.' This is a strategic and important part in Israel’s history. This altar they built memorialized the place where God revealed Himself to the people, and to the whole nation. There were twelve pillars built around this altar. Experts say the twelve pillars were there and they signified that this represents all of the nation of Israel.
Verse 5 then says,
“Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord.”
So, they’re called young men from among the people and acted as servants for a ceremony. Some of the people from among the nation were chosen to participate.
'Moses took half the blood that is of the sacrificed animals and put it in a basin, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 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."'
(Exodus 24: 6-7)
So, what is the Book of the Covenant? Well, there are differences of opinion. So here are some options. One is that this is the whole list of the laws that Moses was given on Mount Sinai. Others say it denotes a short general document. I think that the best guess, in all of these I guess, is that this is what I’ve been talking about. It’s the Ten Commandments and the judgments that came after that. Any rate, I think the fact that it says, ‘the law that He has given them is here called a covenant’. That's what's important because it came through Moses, it is called the Mosaic covenant.
Now, let me back up for a second. There are covenants in the Bible. There is the Abrahamic covenant, remember that when we went through Genesis. A covenant God was made with Abraham. God reaffirmed it with Isaac and again reaffirmed it with Jacob, that He would give the land to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And beyond that, that He would bless the whole world through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And that His seed would bless the world, which is a veiled reference to the Messiah."
Later he will also make a covenant with David. God tells David I'm going to give you a Kingdom that will last forever. So, that’s called the Davidic covenant.
There’s a third covenant that comes later, mentioned in Jeremiah chapter 31, and it is called the new covenant. The new covenant is made with Israel, and it is that 'I’m going to forgive your sins, be a God to you on a very personal level.'
Now, we Gentiles Christian who arrived on the scene after the beginning of the church at Pentecost, participate in that new covenant now. We partake in the ‘new covenant’, but the covenant that’s mentioned here is the Mosaic covenant. It’s the law that they are to live by the commandments that God has given, and that the promise they say they will live by. When the New Testament says we are not under the law, it means we are not under the Mosaic covenant.
What is happening here is the confirmation, the ratification of the original Mosaic covenant. And that is precisely what is going on here. It is between the Lord and Israel. Now, with that in mind, read verse 8:
'And Moses took the blood and 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.'
(Exodus 24: 8)
This is the ratification, the formal ratification of the Mosaic covenant with Israel. So, he is ratifying this covenant with this sacrifice and this blood offering. Someone suggest this is also the point at which God adopts Israel as his child. So, this institutes, inaugurates, and ratifies the Mosaic covenant. Now, I’ve said several times that we dealt with God giving the 10 commandments in chapter 20, and then we had the judgments in 21 through 23. If you look at that section as a unit, in chapter 20 verses 18 to 21, he elaborates the fact that there was fear of the people. They were afraid because the Lord had come down in a cloud on the mountain. Now, at the end of the giving of the law, there’s the ratification of this covenant that leads the people to say, “We will do what you said”, and this is the ratification of the Mosaic covenant.
So, the Lord had Moses go up to the top of Mount Sinai. He comes back and tells the people what they said, and they go through a ritual to ratify the covenant. But perhaps the spiritual key here is this: God has given his law, his word, his covenant to the people, and twice they responded, 'We will do all you ask.' I would like to simply point out that when the Lord gives us his word, his revelation, his covenant, and the proper response is to say, 'We will do what you say.' So far, so good.
Jesus said, 'If you love me, keep my commandments.' James says, 'Don’t just be a hearer of the word, but be a doer of the word.' In other words, go be obedient and do what I say. The Lord speaks, and the people should say, 'Yes, Lord, I will do what you say.'
The second part of the passage is what happens after you say, 'I will obey.' What takes place next? Well, let’s look at the second part of this passage. It starts in verse 9.
Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky.'
(Exodus 24: 9-10)
Wow! Lapis Lazula by the way is a deep-blue metamorphic rock.
Verse 11 continues,
But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.
Now, when it says He didn’t lay His hand on them, it means they didn’t die. That’s the point. But what’s interesting is that it says, 'Then they ate and drank.' This ratification ceremony concluded by them eating and drinking. This was a memorial meal. Eating in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, is one of those times when you just have fellowship. It's like when you go out and eat together and just talk and share. So here, they’ve had the ratification of the covenant, and now the second thing that happens is they have the revelation of God’s glory, and they simply sit down and have a meal as if to say, 'We now will have fellowship with each other and with God. (The template for the Lord’s Supper , by the way) I would suggest that this is not a light-hearted picnic, this is a solemn ceremony celebrating the covenant.
The passage goes on, and it says in verse 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 the commandments which I have written that you may teach them."'
God summons Moses again. By the way, Moses is trekking up and down this mountain, and I told you I’ve been there, and that’s quite a trip you don’t do that in 10 minutes. He has been up and down that mountain several times. This time, God says, 'I’m going to give you the law in tablets of stone.' The Book of the Covenant specified how the Israelites were to live with one another." "However, the Tabernacle will reveal how God wanted to be worshipped. What's happening now is that God is going to give Moses the instructions for the Tabernacle. He has already revealed His glory, and now He will provide Moses with the instructions for the Tabernacle, which is where He will dwell. We'll delve into that in a moment. After the giving of the directions regarding the Tabernacle, God is going to dwell among His people.
Exodus 24:12 through 31:18 will deal with the rules pertaining to the Tabernacle and the priestly ministry. Ceremonial laws will undergird this entire covenant. God gives them the law, and they say they will obey it. Then He reveals His glory, at least to some of them, and the people become more aware that something significant is going to happen. Next, God is going to give them the instructions for the Tabernacle.
Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.” When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it
(Exodus 24: 13-15)
Here's another figure that shows up. Moses went up to the mountain of God, and Joshua accompanied Moses for part of the distance but apparently didn't go all the way to the top. Moses instructed the elders to wait until their return from the mountain. If they encountered any difficulties, they were to consult with the leaders who would act as judges for the people. Once up there we see a cloud cover the mountain. What will happen next will not be discussed in this message. However, the point is that God is going to give Moses the instructions for the Tabernacle.
Let's read the last few verses.
16 Now the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.
(Exodus 24: 16-17)
As mentioned earlier, the cloud represents God's glory. God comes to Moses in a cloud for six days, and on the seventh day, He speaks to Moses. The children of Israel at the bottom of the mountain must be aware that something extraordinary was happening, with the Lord manifesting Himself up there with verse 17 stating that the glory of God appeared like a consuming fire. This is one of the rare manifestations of the full glory of God in the Old Testament.
One more verse:
Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.'
(Exodus 24:14)
He waited six days on the side of the mountain while the glory of God covered the mountain. Then, at God's invitation, he climbed to the top of the mountain and entered into the cloud, where he would remain for the next forty days and forty nights.
The instructions Moses received during that time are going to be recorded for us in Exodus chapter 31 onwards, which we will eventually get to. During those forty days, Moses apparently didn't eat or drink anything, it tells us that in Deuteronomy 9:9. Moses stays at the top of the mountain for forty days and nights while God gives him the stone tablets of the law and all the details of the Tabernacle and its services. During that time Moses was completely dependent on God. Israel has entered into a blood covenant with God and God proposes to dwell among His people.
Similarly, God now dwells among Christians by the Holy Spirit since Jesus Christ also ratified the new covenant by the shedding of blood, His blood. So that’s the text, that the message, God gave the law, his message, his promise Then, what happens next, the people said, we will obey, and next God gave his presence amongst his people. What do we need after we say, 'I will obey'? The answer is the presence of the Lord. This is truly incredible. God says to the nation of Israel, 'I'm going to make a covenant with you, and I will come down and live with you. I will be personally present in a tent called the Tabernacle.'
Today friends, I would like to submit to you that the lord has today given us a new promise, and after we say ‘Yes, to the Lord, we're going to obey it, what we really need next is the Lord Himself. Have you ever tried to hear the word and then go and do it on your own? It won't work. That's why we need the Lord, but then we need His grace, His power, and Holy Spirit. Someone said, 'The Mosaic covenant had been confirmed, and Israel was then a theocracy, a government or commonwealth under God, having been redeemed from Egypt by God Israel are now in a covenant with God under His law. God's people were then enlightened to the proper way of worshiping and relating to Him—a personal relationship. It's not just a matter of obeying the law, although it is that, it's more than that. It's doing it because of the relationship we have with Him.' When we respond to the revelation that God has given us, when He revealed Himself to us, we need to do the same. Maybe what we need after we hear the word of the Lord is to see and experience the glory of the Lord. As we truly see Him, not just the law, we become more motivated to do what He says.
I find it fascinating that when we think of the law in the Old Testament and all the commandments we need to obey, the very next thing God does after giving the law is reveal Himself. It's not just about obeying the law; it's about obeying the law because we have a relationship with Him. Even in the Old Testament, that personal relationship is there. And without it, just trying to obey becomes legalistic religion. A vital relationship is at the core of it all. The Bible is about relationships—loving the Lord your God with all your heart and loving your neighbour as yourself. It's all about relationships. That I believe is the message of this passage and, for that matter, the rest of the Book of Exodus.
We can be thankful that God gave us His word, but we can be even more, thankful he gave us Himself as His Spirit dwells within us.