Exodus 24:1-18

24 Then 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 Moses alone shall come near to the Lord, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”
3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. 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 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.”
15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord dwelt 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 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Chapter 24 is setting us up for what will follow.

· In chapter 19, the Lord tells the people that they will be His representatives to the nations; they only need to listen to the terms of the covenant and obey them;
· In chapter 20, the Lord gives the Ten Commandments, which are the first part of the covenant;
· In chapters 21-23, the rest of the terms of the covenant are given.

Setup #1 – the Golden Calf

Here, the people agree to the terms of the Lord’s covenant:

3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. 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 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” [Exodus 24:3-8]

Twice, Moses tells the people the terms of the covenant, and twice they agree. Then, Moses sprinkles the people with the blood of the sacrifice, essentially saying, “the stakes of this covenant are life and death.”

But, as we will see shortly, the people almost immediately break the covenant when they create and worship the golden calf (Exodus 32)! So, what will be the consequences?

Setup #2 – Aaron’s sons

Moses goes up the mountain, but he brings some of the leaders of Israel with him; Aaron’s sons Nadad and Abihu are specifically mentioned.

9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank. [Exodus 24:9-11]

It’s an amazing scene. The very ground itself is transformed by the presence of the Lord, and these leaders picnic in the presence of God and aren’t consumed by His glory!

It seems, however, that this experience will give Aaron’s sons a dangerous and irreverent sense of familiarity with the Lord. Later in Leviticus, immediately after their ordination to the priesthood, they fool around in the tabernacle, taking advantage of their position, and they are killed as a result:

1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron held his peace. [Leviticus 10:1-3]

This episode here in Exodus has set us up for what will follow.

Setup #3 – Joshua

Joshua has only been mentioned in one previous episode, the fight with the Amalekites in chapter 17. Here is our second reference to him:

12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. [Exodus 24:12-14]

The reason this matters is because while Moses is up on the mountain, the people below—under Aaron’s leadership—will create and worship the golden calf.

What we learn here is that when that happens, Joshua is not with them! Joshua, who will be Moses’s successor, has no part in the people’s idolatry.