Exodus 24

Exodus 24 follows the Ten Commandments (chapter 20) and the various ordinances (chapters 21–23) given at Mount Sinai. In this chapter Israel accepts those words and formally enters into the Sinai Covenant. Beginning in chapter 25, God gives instructions for building the Tabernacle.

Outline

• Verses 1–2 God summons Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, but only Moses is to come near.
• Verses 3–8 Moses relays God's words, and the people answer with one voice that they will do them. Moses writes down the words and, at the foot of the mountain, builds an altar and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes. He sends young men to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings, and he sprinkles half of the blood on the altar. He reads the book of the covenant aloud, receives the people's pledge a second time, and then sprinkles the rest of the blood on the people.
• Verses 9–11 Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders go up, see the God of Israel, and eat and drink.
• Verses 12–14 God calls Moses up, promising to give him tablets of stone. Moses ascends with Joshua and leaves the elders in the charge of Aaron and Hur.
• Verses 15–18 A cloud covers the mountain for six days. On the seventh day Moses is called, enters the cloud, and remains there forty days and forty nights.

Key Verses

• Exodus 24:7 "All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient" — the people's response assenting to the covenant.
• Exodus 24:8 "Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you" — the covenant is confirmed with blood, a scene linked to the "blood of the covenant" in the New Testament.
• Exodus 24:18 "And Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights" — during this period the instructions of chapters 25–31 are given, and it provides the background to the golden calf incident in chapter 32.

People and Places

• Moses — mediates the covenant between God and the people.
• Aaron — Moses' brother, who together with Hur is placed in charge of the elders while Moses is away.
• Nadab and Abihu — sons of Aaron. In Leviticus 10 they die after offering strange fire.
• The seventy elders of Israel — the group that goes up the mountain as representatives of the people.
• Joshua — Moses' minister (attendant), who goes up the mountain with him.
• Hur — the man who, with Aaron, held up Moses' hands in chapter 17.
• Mount Sinai — the mountain where the covenant was made, which the text also calls "the mount of God."

Points for Reflection

• The statement that the elders "saw" God (verses 10–11) stands in tension with Exodus 33:20, "for there shall no man see me, and live." Some interpreters understand this as seeing God's glory or a vision, while others note that the text describes only what was under his feet.
• Hebrews 9:18–20 cites this scene and states that water, scarlet wool, and hyssop were used and that the book of the covenant was also sprinkled with blood; these details do not appear in the text of Exodus 24.
• At the Last Supper, Jesus spoke of the cup as his "blood of the covenant" (Mark 14:24; Matthew 26:28; the KJV reads "my blood of the new testament"). Many churches read this chapter as background to the Lord's Supper and the New Covenant, though denominations differ in their understanding of the meaning of the Lord's Supper itself (see Eucharistic controversies).
• Some interpreters regard the eating and drinking after the covenant is made (verse 11) as a meal confirming the covenant.