Exodus 24
Israel forms alliance with God
Then God told Moses,
“Get Aaron, Nadab (Aaron’s oldest son), Abihu (another of Aaron’s sons), and 70 of Israel’s elders then climb up to worship the Existing One. Moses is allowed to come closer to me, but everyone else should stay off at a distance. The rest of the Israelites shouldn’t climb up with him.”
So Moses went and told the Israelites everything that the Existing One had said, including all the rules. The Israelites unanimously responded,
“We’ll do everything the Existing One said.”
Moses wrote down everything the Existing One had said. Then he got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with 12 pillars for Israel’s 12 tribes. He had some of Israel’s young men kill young cows and present cooked offerings to the Existing One as a thankful gesture. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins and sprinkled the rest on the altar. Then he took the book of the alliance and read it out loud to the Israelites. They all responded,
“We’ll implement everything the Existing One has said.”
So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and he said,
“This is the blood of the alliance that the Existing One has outlined for you in this book.”
Israel’s leaders see God
Then Moses took Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 of the elders to see Israel’s God. There seemed to be a sapphire walkway under God’s feet that looked clear like the sky. They saw God and ate and drank there, yet God didn’t unleash his power against them.
Then the Existing One told Moses,
“Climb up the mountain to me, and wait there. I’ll give you slabs of rock with my rules and instructions for you to teach the people.”
So Moses and his servant Joshua climbed up God’s mountain. He told the elders,
“Wait here for us until we get back. Aaron and Hur will stay with you, and they’ll handle any legal matters that come up while I’m gone.”
Moses enters God’s cloud for 40 days
A cloud covered the mountain as Moses climbed up it and The Existing One’s richness settled on Mount Sinai. The cloud covered the mountain for six days, then the seventh day God called out to Moses from the middle of the cloud. To the Israelites down below, the Existing One’s splendor looked like a raging fire on the top of the mountain. Moses walked through the cloud as he climbed up, and he stayed on the mountain for forty days and nights.
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