Below are some preliminary questions to assist in the study of this passage. For a comprehensive study of the passage, download the Study Guide (PDF download).
1. What invitation does the Lord give to Moses and the leaders of Israel in Exodus 24:1 (printed below) and what scene is described in verses 9-11 (printed below?)
Then he said to Moses, Come up to Jehovah—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel—and worship at a distance. (Exodus 24:1)
Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel went up the mountain, (10) and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement made of sapphire stones, as clear as the sky. (11) He did not lay his hand upon the leaders of the children of Israel; they saw God, and they ate and drank before him. (Exodus 24:9-11)
As Exodus 24 opens, we find the Lord extending an invitation to the people of Israel to come into His presence for worship and fellowship. Moses, Aaron and seventy elders of Israel (as the representatives of the whole nation) are invited to ascend the mountain of God to worship the Lord and be received by Him. At the conclusion of this passage (verses 9-11), we find Moses, Aaron and the seventy elders actually coming into the presence of the Lord. They saw the God of Israel in His glory: under His feet there was bright sapphire and the very clearness of heaven itself. God did not lay His hand upon them; on the contrary, they beheld God and fellowshiped with Him.
2. What occurs between the opening of this passage (the divine invitation to approach God) and the conclusion (where the leaders of Israel fellowship with God?) See Exodus 24:2-8 (printed below)
Moses alone shall approach Jehovah, but the others must not come near; neither may the people go up with him. (3) When Moses came and told the people all Jehovah’s words and all the decrees, all the people responded with one voice and said, We will do everything that Jehovah has spoken. (4) Moses then wrote down all the words of Jehovah. 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. (5) Then he sent young Israelite men who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as peace offerings to Jehovah. (6) Moses took half of the blood and put it into bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. (7) Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it for all the people to hear. They responded, We will do all that Jehovah has spoken; we will be obedient. (8) Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, This is the blood of the covenant that Jehovah has made with you in accordance with all these words. (Exodus 24:2-8)
Between the opening of this passage (with the divine invitation to approach God) and the conclusion (where they actually experience life in the very presence of God), there is described for us the great sacrifice that made this communion with God possible. “Moses came and told the people all Jehovah’s words and all the decrees” (verse 3a); “all the people responded with one voice and said, ‘We will do everything that Jehovah has spoken.’” (verse 3b) Following the peoples’ testimony expressing their willingness to accept God as their covenant Lord there is the description of the great sacrifice that established the covenant relationship.
3. Describe the preparations for the sacrifice that established the covenant as those preparations are recorded in Exodus 24:4-5 (printed below).
Moses then wrote down all the words of Jehovah. 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. (5) Then he sent young Israelite men who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as peace offerings to Jehovah. (Exodus 24:4-5)
Moses now proceeds to write all the word of the Lord—i.e.; he produces a written document of the covenant (verse 4a). Early in the morning he built an altar at the base of the mountain (i.e.; in God’s presence) and twelve pillars, representing the twelve tribes of Israel (verse 4b). Moses then instructed the young men who were chosen to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings to the Lord (verse 5).
4. What does Moses do with the blood of the sacrificed animals? See Exodus 24:6-8 (printed below). What do you think is the spiritual significance of this?
Moses took half of the blood and put it into bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. (7) Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it for all the people to hear. They responded, “We will do all that Jehovah has spoken; we will be obedient.” (8) Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that Jehovah has made with you in accordance with all these words.” (Exodus 24:6-8)
Moses took the blood of the sacrificed animals and sprinkled half of it on the altar (verse 6). After the people reaffirmed that they would do all that the Lord had spoken, Moses sprinkled the other half of the blood on them (verse 7-8). Then he declared, “This is the blood of the covenant that Jehovah has made with you in accordance with all these words.” The blood of the burnt offering sprinkled on both the altar and the people was symbolizing the Lord and the people pledging themselves in commitment to one another on penalty of death.
5. Did the people of Israel keep the covenant (see Exodus 32:7-8 printed below?) How were they spared from suffering the penalty for violating the covenant (see Exodus 32:30-32 printed below?) What lessons must we learn from Israel’s experience?
Jehovah said to Moses, Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. (8) They have been quick to depart from the way I commanded them. They have made for themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it and have said, “This represents your God, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 32:7-8)
The next day Moses said to the people, You have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to Jehovah, perhaps I will be able to make atonement for your sin. (31) So Moses returned to Jehovah and said, Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made for themselves a god of gold. (32) But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written. (Exodus 32:30-32)
The people of Israel made a pledge of themselves to God—it was the only way by which He would receive them into fellowship. But, tragically, they were not faithful to their pledge. Exodus 32 records their breaking of the covenant by the making of the golden calf and worshiping it as a substitute for the Lord Himself. The people were spared only because of the intercession made by Moses on their behalf, as recorded in Exodus 32:30-32. At the foot of Mt. Sinai the Lord made it emphatically clear to the people of Israel that the prerequisite for fellowship with Him is nothing less than the offering up of unreserved devotion to Him—the offering up of our life and soul to Him. But, as the people of Israel came to discover, it is impossible for us to make that necessary sacrifice by ourselves; it can only happen by virtue of the sacrifice of Christ. If you want to live in fellowship with God, you must recognize and accept the required sacrifice offered by Christ: ever depending on His sacrificial death, and once-for-all being joined with Him in His sacrificial death. We must look to Christ in true faith: trusting in His sacrificial death on our behalf for the forgiveness of our sins, and at the same time entrusting ourselves into His hands to become spiritually joined to Him in His death and resurrection.
