_A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491._
Moses, as mediator between God and Israel, having received divers laws
and ordinances from God in the foregoing Chapter s, in this chapter,
(1,) Comes down to the people, acquaints them with the laws he had
received, and takes their consent to those laws, Exodus 24:3; writes... [ Continue Reading ]
_Come up unto the Lord_ Moses being already on the mount, the meaning
is, “After thou hast gone down and acquainted the people with my
will, and received their answer, then come up again.” He was to
bring with him Aaron and his two eldest sons, Nadab and Abihu, who, by
this special favour, were to b... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Moses alone shall come near_ Being therein a type of Christ, who,
as the high-priest, _entered alone_ into the most holy place. In the
following verse we have the solemn covenant made between God and
Israel, and the exchanging of the ratifications: typifying the
covenant of grace between God an... [ Continue Reading ]
_Moses told the people all the words of the Lord_ He laid before them
all the precepts, in the foregoing Chapter s, and put it to them,
whether they were willing to submit to these laws or not? _And all the
people answered, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do_
They had before consented... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Moses wrote the words of the Lord_ That there might be no
mistake; as God dictated them on the mount, where, it has been thought
by many, God taught him the use of letters; these Moses taught the
Israelites, from whom they afterward travelled to Greece and other
nations. As soon as God had sepa... [ Continue Reading ]
_He sent young men_ So also the Septuagint, τους
νεανισκους : but the Chaldee renders it, _the firstborn._
The firstborn were priests in every family; but, among the Israelites,
they were afterward redeemed, and the tribe of Levi given to God in
their stead, for his service. But the Hebrew word נערי... [ Continue Reading ]
1st, _The blood of the sacrifice_ which the people _offered_, was
(part of it) _sprinkled upon the altar_ Which signified the people's
dedicating themselves to God, and his honour. In the blood of the
sacrifices, all the Israelites were presented unto God as _living
sacrifices, Romans 12:1_. 2d, The... [ Continue Reading ]
_They saw the God of Israel_ That is, they had some glimpse of his
glory, in light and fire, though they saw _no manner of similitude._
They saw _the place where the God of Israel stood_, so the Septuagint;
whatever they saw, it was certainly something of which no image or
picture could be made, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Upon the nobles_ Or elders; _of Israel he laid not his hand_ Though
they were _men_, the splendour of his glory did not overwhelm them,
but _it_ was so _moderated_, (Job 36:9,) and _they_ were so
_strengthened_, (Daniel 10:19,) that they were able to bear it: nay,
though they were _sinful men_, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord said unto Moses, Come up_ There were different stations on
the mountain. The glory of the Lord occupied the highest place, _the
top of the mountain:_ to this place Moses is now called up, leaving
the elders below to wait for him, and commissioning Aaron and Hur to
transact any business in... [ Continue Reading ]
_Joshua_ was his _minister or servant_, and it would be a satisfaction
to him to have him as a companion during the six days that he tarried
in the mount before God called to him. Joshua was to be his successor,
and therefore thus he was honoured before the people, and thus he was
prepared by being... [ Continue Reading ]
_A cloud covered the mount six days_ A visible token of God's special
presence there, for he so _shows himself_ to us, as at the same time
to _conceal himself from us;_ he lets us know so much as to assure us
of his power and grace, but intimates to us that we cannot _find him
out to perfection._ Du... [ Continue Reading ]
_Moses went into the midst of the cloud_ It was an extraordinary
presence of mind which the grace of God furnished him with, else he
durst not have ventured into the cloud, especially when it broke out
in _devouring fire. And Moses was in the mount forty days and forty
nights_ It should seem the six... [ Continue Reading ]