- Book: [[Exodus]] - Previous chapter: [[Exodus 23]] - Next chapter: [[Exodus 25]] > [!summary] Summary > - The covenant is formally ratified: [[Moses]] reads the law, the people agree, and blood is sprinkled on the altar and on the people > - [[Moses]], [[Aaron]], [[Nadab]], [[Abihu]], and seventy elders ascend and see God — and eat and drink before him > - [[Moses]] enters the cloud alone and stays forty days and forty nights to receive the stone tablets > [!info] Why is this here? > - This is the covenant-sealing ceremony — the formal act that makes [[Sinai]] binding > - The blood of the covenant binds both parties: the same blood that was on the altar (God's side) is sprinkled on the people ([[Israel]]'s side) > - The elders' meal in God's presence previews the fellowship goal of the covenant — the [[Tabernacle]] and eventually the new creation # Overview ## v. 1-2: The invitation up the mountain - God invites [[Moses]], [[Aaron]], [[Nadab]], [[Abihu]], and the seventy elders to come up and worship from a distance - [[Moses]] alone may approach the Lord ## v. 3-8: The blood of the covenant - [[Moses]] tells the people all of God's words and laws; they respond unanimously: "We will do everything" - [[Moses]] writes down everything; rises early to build an altar and twelve pillars - Young men offer burnt and fellowship offerings - [[Moses]] takes half the blood for the altar, reads the [[Book of the Covenant]] again, people respond again - "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you" > [!note] Blood as covenant bond > Sprinkling the same blood on both the altar (representing [[Yahweh]]) and the people creates a covenant bond in blood. The people are bound to the law they have heard; [[Yahweh]] is bound to be their God. ## v. 9-11: The elders see God - The seventy-four go up; they see the God of [[Israel]] — under his feet something like lapis lazuli, bright blue as sky - "God did not raise his hand against these leaders" — they see him and do not die - They eat and drink in his presence — covenant meal, peace, fellowship ## v. 12-18: [[Moses]] ascends into the cloud - God calls [[Moses]] higher to receive the stone tablets - The cloud covers the mountain for six days; on the seventh God calls [[Moses]] into the cloud - From [[Israel]]'s perspective the glory looks like consuming fire on the mountaintop - [[Moses]] is in the cloud forty days and forty nights