Today's passage, for me, has always been one of the most confusing, mysterious, and wonderful passages in all of Exodus (although I feel like God totally opened it up to me this week; it's ridiculous how this just flowed out). It's the kind that leaves you with questions (and the kind that critical scholarship makes a mess of, trying to use the documentary hypothesis). But, at the same time, more importantly, it's the kind of passage that leaves you in worship. What it gives you, in a way that few other passages do, is give you a glimpse of heaven on earth.
Now, there's other things that the passage talks about, and all of those other things are important as well. Exodus 24 is a critical chapter within the book as a whole. So we'll find lots of things to think about. But above all else, I hope you leave having seen the glimpse of God, and of heaven. I hope you find yourself longing for the glimpse yourself.
Before we dive in, we need to remind ourselves, one last time, about the big picture of what we've been reading. What God has been doing, over the past 4 chapters, is setting up the framework for a new covenant relationship with his people. Israel, at this point, is already God's people. God has already made promises to them, that stand on the basis of the covenant with Abraham. One of the ways to think about what we are reading, is that God is offering a reworked covenant, with more specifics, more systematically laid out (I think this is Terence Fretheim's commentary).
Now, the word "covenant" is sometimes thrown around, without enough explanation.
A covenant is usually a mutually binding relationship, where both sides of the agreement make a commitment to live in a particular way toward one another. A marriage is a covenant-- you commit to loving the other, whether life is better or worse, in sickness and health, until death parts you.
What God is doing, is offering a renewed, or updated, covenant with his people. Before God did this, He proved to this generation of Israel what kind of God He is. The slaves in Egypt had old stories about Yahweh, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. But are those just stories? Is that who Yahweh USED to be?
And what Israel has learned, is that "Yahweh" "will be, who He will be." Yahweh "will be" the kind of God who frees his people from slavery to a superpower. Yahweh "will be" the kind of God who has mastery over creation. He "will be" the one who leaves the army of the world's superpower, washing up dead on shore. He "will be" the kind of God who leads you through a wilderness, where you otherwise die (Exodus 19:4). That's who Yahweh is, and will be: the God who saves, who provides, who leads.
Now, who does God want Israel to be? What his vision for them? Who will they be?
If Israel will commit to obeying God fully, and keeping his covenant, Israel will be God's treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation (Exodus 19:5-6).
That's God's offer.
The people, knowing who God is, and trusting him, respond to God's invitation by giving their initial agreement. God is setting out an attractive offer, and so they say "yes" (Exodus 19:7-8). They commit to being a people who obey God fully, and keep his covenant.
Then, God sets out in more detail what it looks to obey him in what is called the "Book of the Covenant" (Exodus 24:7). In this book, God makes no effort to explain what it looks like to obey him, in every possible situation. But God gives a broad overview, and He paints pictures that are designed to shape his people's moral and spiritual imagination. God provides a framework for what He wants.
All of this covered Exodus 19-23:19. And then, last week, in Exodus 23:20-33, we read about what God offers, in return. What does it look like, concretely, to be God's treasured possession? What does it look like to be God's consecrated people?
And what we saw, is that God's offer has two main components. The first, is that God will bless his people, and their stuff. God will bless their food, and water, and bodies, and wombs. God will give them victory over every enemy. The second component, is that God promises to partner with his people. God will work with them, and through them, and for them, to accomplish his purposes on earth.
So that's where we are at. We know what God offers. We know what He demands, in return. And at this point, the ball is back in Israel's court. Now that they are aware of what obedience to God looks like, and what God is really offering, they have to make a decision for or against entering into this covenant with God.
Exodus 24, verse 1-3:
(1) Now, to Moses He said,
"Come up to Yahweh-- you, and Aaron, Nadav, and Avihu, and the 70 elders of Israel,
and you shall worship from afar,
(2) and Moses alone shall draw near to Yahweh,
while they don't draw near,
while the people shall not come up with him,"
(3) and Moses went,
and he told the people all the words of Yahweh and all the statutes/rules,
and all the people answered with one voice,
and they said,
"All the words that Yahweh has spoken we shall do,"
The people, having heard everything, still make the same commitment to Yahweh. They've heard nothing that has changed their mind. And so they repeat their words from Exodus 19:8. Being in a covenant relationship with God, is still a good thing. They will obey.
And so at this point, God, and the people are going to officially enter into this covenant relationship. This is what we are reading, in verses 4-8. Understand that this is a solemn, serious commitment:
(4) and Moses wrote all the words of Yahweh,
and he rose early in the morning,
and he built an altar under the mountain,
with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel,
(5) and he sent young men from the sons of Israel,
and they offered burnt offerings,
and they sacrificed peace/fellowship offerings to Yahweh-- bulls--
(6) and Moses took half the blood,
and he put it in basins,
while half of the blood he sprinkled/scattered upon the altar,
(7) and he took the Book of the Covenant,
and he read it aloud in the ears of the people,
and they said,
"All that Yahweh has spoken, we shall do,
and we shall listen/heed,"
(8) and Moses took the blood,
and he sprinkled/scattered [it] upon the people,
and he said,
"LOOK! The blood of the covenant that Yahweh cut with you in accordance with all these words,"
Now, just like with weddings, the covenant-making process usually includes a meal. And these are the verses that kind of blow me away. Verses 9-11:
(9) and Moses went up, and/with Aaron, Nadav, and Avihu, and the 70 elders of Israel,
(10) and they saw the God/Elohim of Israel,
and under his feet [it was] like the work of the tile/paving stone of sapphire, like the substance of the heavens in clarity [not exactly sure on the Hebrew here],
(11) while/and to the leaders of the sons of Israel He didn't stretch out his hand,
and they saw the God/Elohim/Deity,
and they ate,
and they drank,
What we are seeing here, is God bringing heaven to earth. It's like the heavenly dining room, gets revealed, and opened up to human beings (I think it's like 2 Kings 6:17-20, but with the table revealed, and not God's army). And the most remarkable part of this-- if there is a most remarkable part-- is that God himself is there. 74 people, all at once, see God. And what they see, looks a lot like what people see in other throne room visions in the OT. When people see God, we don't really ever get a description of what God looks like (Revelation 4:3 I think is about as much as we get). That's not the kind of thing you can usually talk about. What we get, instead, is a picture of everything around God. We read about the floor (Revelation 4:5), or the throne, or the people and angels around the throne (Revelation 4:4). We read about the train of his robe (Isaiah 6:1). All we really see here, in Exodus 24, is the floor. And the floor, is magnificent. It was like sapphire, of perfect clarity. Not sapphire, exactly-- but like it. There's really no way to describe it adequately, because it's too perfect, and too much better than anything we have. All you can say, is that it's a bit like the most perfect earthly jewel.
So we see this magnificent floor. But the 74, also see God. And they eat, and drink, in God's presence. Does God eat and drink with them? It doesn't say. But they eat, and drink, seeing God, and God doesn't stretch out his hand to kill them.
And perhaps that's the most remarkable part of this story. That's the part that Exodus makes sure that you stop, and notice, and think about. They see God, and God doesn't kill them.
Now, there is a little puzzle here. Let's turn to John 1:18 (NLT for a reason-- it's brilliant here, with its translation of "unique"):
18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God,[g] is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
And now let's turn to 1 John 4:12:
12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
Twice John tells us that no one has ever seen God. But Exodus 24 tells us, very clearly, and repeatedly, that 74 people saw God, and ate and drank in his presence. They had a sustained vision of God.
You could argue that the Bible is simply inconsistent here. But I think this is the kind of passage that leads us back to Michael Heiser's explanation of the angel of Yahweh, that we talked about last week. The OT assumes that there are two Yahwehs. There is the invisible Yahweh of heaven. And there is the visible Yahweh, who is revealed to people on earth. To see the angel of Yahweh, is to see Yahweh. At the same time, there is only one Yahweh.
So I think the Yahweh who the people see here, is Jesus. Jesus here is called "the God of Israel." And I think Jesus is eating and drinking with the people. I could be wrong. But I think Jesus is eating the covenant meal, that celebrates the making of this new covenant (Luke 22:20).
And so perhaps we can say that the picture we see here, in Exodus 24, is what Jesus looked like before he came to earth in the flesh, as a human. It's not a clear picture, at all. All we see is the floor. But the 74, see Jesus.
Now, when we keep reading, we get the sense that we are on the right track. Jesus is eating a meal with the 74, probably. He's there, at any rate. And then, meal apparently completed, we read this, in verse 12:
(12) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Come up to me, toward the mountain,
and be/wait there,
and I shall/will give to you the tablets of stone and the instruction and the commandments
which I have written to instruct them,"
Moses has been eating a meal with the God of Israel in this revealed, heavenly dining room. Right? And out of that, Yahweh calls to Moses, and tells him "come up to him," to wait there. Yahweh is up on the mountain, and Moses is supposed to meet him up there. How can Yahweh be up on the mountain, while He is at the same time at the table with Moses?
This voice that calls to Moses, I think, is the voice of the Father-- of the Yahweh in heaven, who never fully reveals himself (until through Jesus; Exodus 33:18).
So the invisible Yahweh calls to Moses, and tells him to come up.
Why? What does the invisible Yahweh want from Moses?
At this point, Moses has told the people everything God has told him. The people have heard everything they needed to hear, to make an informed decision. But at this point, everything is only in spoken form. Everything is only oral. And if God's expectations stay that way, there is a chance that parts of what God wants will be forgotten, or remembered wrong. God's expectations shouldn't be messed up, as they pass from one generation to the next. It can't be like a game of telephone. And so God wrote them down, and God is going to give them to Moses up on the mountain.
Verse 13:
(13) and Moses rose, and/with Joshua his minister/servant,
and Moses went up to the mountain of the God/Deity/Elohim,
Where did Moses rise from? From the table he's been eating at, in the presence of the God of Israel. And now he's going to climb the mountain, and wait for Yahweh. Two distinct divine beings.
Verse 14:
(14) while to the elders he said,
"Wait for us in this [place] (h/t van der Merwe) until we return to you,
and LOOK! Aaron and Hur [are] with you.
Whoever has a dispute may draw near to them,"
So Moses is going to disappear for a while, and he's not going to be around to lead Israel. But before he goes, he makes sure that Israel is in good hands. The elders can run things while Moses is gone. And if there's some dispute, or controversy, that rises up, that's too complicated for them, Aaron and Hur can handle it.
The people here are in good hands, right? They are being led by people who have just heard all of God's expectations, and who have just committed to obeying God. All of them have just celebrated the covenant meal with God, in God's presence. It's hard to imagine anything bad happening, while Moses is gone.
Verse 15-18:
(15) and Moses went up to the mountain,
and the cloud covered the mountain,
(16) and the glory of Yahweh settled upon the mountain of Sinai,
and the cloud covered it six days,
and He called to Moses on the seventh day from the midst of the cloud,
(17) while/and/now, the appearance of the glory of Yahweh [was] like consuming fire on the top of the mountain before the eyes of the sons of Israel,
(18) and Moses went into the midst of the cloud,
and he went up to the mountain,
and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights,
This, to me, is the other really remarkable part of the chapter. These verses should give you pause. It's the kind of thing you read during devotions, and you put your Bible down, done, so you can think about it. A cloud completely covers the mountain. God's glory is like a consuming fire. And Moses goes on in. Moses draws near to God, when God reveals his glory.
Is that not what we want? You see God for who He really is. You see his glory. Some of it, at least. And you press in. You're not scared. Or maybe you are, just a little. But this is what you want-- to draw near to God.
With this, we come to Exodus 25. I want you to hear these verses, as the high point of our passage today.
(25:1) and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
"Speak to the sons of Israel,
that/and they will take to me an offering.
From with every man whose heart/mind impels/stirs (Ex. 35:29) him, you (plural) shall take an offering for
me,
(3) and this [is] the offering that you take from them: gold, and silver, and bronze, (4) and blue and purple
and scarlet and fine linen and goats' hair, and the skins of rams died red and the skins of sea cows and
acacia tree wood; (6) oil for the lamp, balsam oils for the oil of anointing, and for fragrant incense; (7) onyx
stones and stones to be set in mounts for the ephod and for the breastplate,
(8) and they shall make for me a sanctuary,
and I shall/will dwell among them.
In the end, the most important blessing that God gives his people, is his presence. There won't always be a fiery mountain, and dense clouds, and thunder and lightning. There won't always be a glimpse of the heavenly throne. Most of the time, what we have is based more on faith, and a conscious awareness of the Spirit, and less on sight.
But this-- Exodus 25-- is really what God is after. God is creating an obedient, faithful, committed people who He can dwell among. He's creating a place, where his people can draw near to him, in prayer, and service, and worship. This the high point.
Now, in the OT, God's plan didn't really work out the way He wanted. His people promise a lot, but they don't follow through consistently. They don't live up to God's vision.
So what does God do?
Luke 22:7-20 (NLT no reason-- biblegateway is still open to that):
7 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, “Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together.”
9 “Where do you want us to prepare it?” they asked him.
10 He replied, “As soon as you enter Jerusalem, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, 11 say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ 12 He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” 13 They went off to the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.
14 When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table.[a] 15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”
17 Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”
19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.[b]
Jesus sets up a new covenant with his people. He eats and drinks with them. And he promises that the day will come, when his disciples will eat this meal with him again. Someday all of us will get to sit at Jesus' table, and eat and drink with him.
So that's our hope. We live today, under the new covenant initiated through Jesus' blood. He was the sacrifice, who died in our place. His blood, was the blood that was sprinkled on us (Exodus 24:8).
In many ways, our calling is the same calling Israel had. God's vision hasn't changed. We live as a people consecrated-- dedicated-- to God. We are God's prized possession. We are a kingdom of priests, who live in service and worship to God.
And we know, today, under this covenant, that God doesn't just live among his people. He is still "among" us. He is present, where two or three are gathered. But God also lives IN his people. We, as individuals, and as the church, are the temple for God's Holy Spirit.
So we live today under the new covenant, started through Jesus' blood. We live under God's blessings as conquerors. We live, in partnership with Him, accomplishing his mission for the world. And we live in anticipation of the day when Jesus returns. Someday, we will eat that same meal, and drink that same wine, with Jesus. And I imagine that on that day, the floor will look a lot more like what we read in Exodus, than what we read in Luke.
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A picture of life with God. An impossible picture, that combines fellowship, and partnership, and worship.
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Translation:
(1) Now, to Moses He said,
"Come up to Yahweh-- you, and Aaron, Nadav, and Avihu, and the 70 elders of Israel,
and you shall worship from afar,
(2) and Moses alone shall draw near to Yahweh,
while they don't draw near,
while the people shall not come up with him,"
(3) and Moses went,
and he told the people all the words of Yahweh and all the statutes/rules,
and all the people answered with one voice,
and they said,
"All the words that Yahweh has spoken we shall do,"
(4) and Moses wrote all the words of Yahweh,
and he rose early in the morning,
and he built an altar under the mountain,
with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel,
(5) and he sent young men from the sons of Israel,
and they offered burnt offerings,
and they sacrificed peace/fellowship offerings to Yahweh-- bulls--
(6) and Moses took half the blood,
and he put it in basins,
while half of the blood he sprinkled/scattered upon the altar,
(7) and he took the Book of the Covenant,
and he read it aloud in the ears of the people,
and they said,
"All that Yahweh has spoken, we shall do,
and we shall listen/heed,"
(8) and Moses took the blood,
and he sprinkled/scattered [it] upon the people,
and he said,
"LOOK! The blood of the covenant that Yahweh cut with you in accordance with all these words,"
(9) and Moses went up, and/with Aaron, Nadav, and Avihu, and the 70 elders of Israel,
(10) and they saw the God/Elohim of Israel,
and under his feet [it was] like the work of the tile/paving stone of sapphire, like the substance of the heavens in clarity [not exactly sure on the Hebrew here],
(11) while/and to the leaders of the sons of Israel He didn't stretch out his hand,
and they saw the God/Elohim/Deity,
and they ate,
and they drank,
(12) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Come up to me, toward the mountain,
and be/wait there,
and I shall/will give to you the tablets of stone and the instruction and the commandments
which I have written to instruct them,"
(13) and Moses rose, and/with Joshua his minister/servant,
and Moses went up to the mountain of the God/Deity/Elohim,
(14) while to the elders he said,
"Wait for us in this [place] (h/t van der Merwe) until we return to you,
and LOOK! Aaron and Hur [are] with you.
Whoever has a dispute may draw near to them,"
(15) and Moses went up to the mountain,
and the cloud covered the mountain,
(16) and the glory of Yahweh settled upon the mountain of Sinai,
and the cloud covered it six days,
and He called to Moses on the seventh day from the midst of the cloud,
(17) while/and/now, the appearance of the glory of Yahweh [was] like consuming fire on the top of the mountain before the eyes of the sons of Israel,
(18) and Moses went into the midst of the cloud,
and he went up to the mountain,
and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights,
(25:1) and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
"Speak to the sons of Israel,
that/and they will take to me an offering.
From with every man whose heart/mind impels/stirs (Ex. 35:29) him, you (plural) shall take an offering for me,
(3) and this [is] the offering that you take from them: gold, and silver, and bronze, (4) and blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen and goats' hair, and the skins of rams died red and the skins of sea cows and acacia tree wood; (6) oil for the lamp, balsam oils for the oil of anointing, and for fragrant incense; (7) onyx stones and stones to be set in mounts for the ephod and for the breastplate,
(8) and they shall make for me a sanctuary,
and I shall/will dwell among them.
