1 And He said to Moses, “Come up to the I Am, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from a distance.”
God now calls for all the leaders of Israel to come up the mountain to worship Him.
2 “And Moses alone shall come near the I AM, but the others will not come near, neither shall the people go up with him.”
Only Moses was to come close to God. The others were to stay a distance away.
3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of the I AM, and all the Laws, and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words which the I AM has said we will do.”
The people agree to do all Moses tells them God wants them to do.
4 And Moses wrote all the words of the I AM, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar at the base of the hill, and twelve pillars, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Moses prepared for everyone to worship God.
5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the I AM.
6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in bowls, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
This is symbolic of us being “covered in the blood of Christ.”
7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people, and they said, “All that the I AM has said we will do and obey.”
8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, the blood of the covenant, which the I AM has made with you about all these words.”
Israel has promised to serve God and keep His commandments. God promises to protect them.
9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, went up along with seventy of the elders of Israel.
10 And they saw the God of Israel, and there was under His feet what looked like paved work made of a sapphire stones that looked like the clear, blue sky.
11 And He did not lay His hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. Also, they saw God, and did eat and drink.
The leaders of Israel had a feast in the very presence of God.
12 And the I AM said to Moses, “Come up to Me onto the mountain, and be there, and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written, so that thou can teach them.”
Now God calls Moses up to give him the laws he needs to govern Israel.
13 And Moses rose up, and his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up onto the mountain of God.
It sounds like Joshua went up with Moses. We don’t talk about Joshua as much as we should. He is often in the presence of God, too.
14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us, until we come to you again. See, Aaron and Hur are with you. I any man have any problems, let him come to them.”
“Aaron’s in charge. We’ll be right back.”
15 And Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain.
16 And the glory of the I AM rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days, and the seventh day He called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud.
After waiting for God for a week, He speaks to them.
17 And the glory of the I AM looked like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.
From the valley it looked like the mountain was on fire.
18 And Moses went into the middle of the cloud, and climbed onto the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Moses now receives all the Laws he needs to govern Israel.
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Exodus 31:18 And He gave to Moses, when He had made an end of talking with him on Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
Deuteronomy 9: 9 When I was gone up onto the mountain to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the Covenant which the I AM made with you, then I stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights, I neither ate bread nor drank water:
10 And the I AM gave to me two tables of stone written with the finger of God, and on them was written all the words, which the I AM spake with you in the mountain out of the middle of the fire in the day of the assembly.
11 And it happened at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the I AM gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant
When God was done talking to Moses, He gave him the Ten Commandments written by the very hand of God.