Exodus 24:1-12 - Homilies By J. Orr

A vision of God.

Prior to the ratification of the covenant, God had given Moses instructions that, immediately on the conclusion of the ceremonies, he, together with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu (representatives of the future priesthood), and seventy of the elders of Israel (representatives of the body of the people), should again ascend the mountain ( Exodus 24:1 , Exodus 24:2 ). The design was to partake of a sacrificial feast, perhaps held on the flesh of the peace-offerings of Exodus 24:5 , by way of solemn conclusion to the proceedings of the day. Another part of the design was that the eiders might receive a new revelation of Jehovah, setting forth the milder glories of his character as a God reconciled with Israel, in contradistinction to the manifestations on Sinai, which revealed him solely as the God of law and terror. The later revelation was the counterbalance of the earlier. It does that justice to the character of God, as standing in friendly relations to his people, which was not possible in harmony with the special design, and within the special limits, of the revelation from the summit of the mount. It showed him as the God of grace. It taught Israel to think of him, to love him, to trust him, and to worship him as such. It kept them from being overwhelmed by the remembrance of the former terrors. It forestalled that view of the graciousness of God which was afterwards peculiarly associated with the mercy-seat and with Mount Zion, and is now the aspect of his character predominant in the Gospel (see on Sinai and Zion, Exodus 19:16-19 ). We are told, accordingly, that when the company ascended the mount, "they saw the God of Israel" ( Exodus 24:10 ). What they did see is not further described than that "there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness" ( Exodus 24:10 ). The vision, however, was plainly one addressed to the outer or inner sense, an "appearance" of God in some recognisable way. So mild and beneficent was the spectacle, nevertheless, that it seems to have disarmed all terror; and Aaron and his sons, with the "nobles," ate and drank while still witnessing it. We may regard the vision, in its relation to the situation of Israel, as—

1 . Declarative . It gave a view of the character of God.

2 . Symbolic of privilege .

3 . Prefigurative of future blessedness . The goal of the kingdom of God is the feast of perfected bliss in glory, where the saints shall eat and drink and see God with no intervening veils, and in the full beauty of his love and holiness.

4 . A warning . These seventy elders ate and drank in God's presence, yet at last perished in the desert. Nadab and Abihu were consumed by fire. Cf. the warning ( Luke 13:26 , Luke 13:27 ).

Lessons—

1 . The vision of God in Christ disarms fear.

2 . Let us try to see God, even in our eating and drinking ( 1 Corinthians 10:31 ).

3 . Those sheltered by Christ's blood are safe. Note the following—"