And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.
At God's command to come up and be there, Moses rose up with his minister Joshua and went up into the mount of God, also called Mount Sinai. He went up to receive what God had written to teach Israel, the tables of stone with the law and commandments including the decalogue, together with the pattern for his work in the sanctuary for the divine presence and further instruction for Israel's service. He could not enter God's immediate presence at once, but waited six days under the covering cloud in self-examination, meditation and prayer until called on the seventh day, then remained in the mount forty days and forty nights conversing with God. Joshua as his minister and chief assistant shared that ascent and long close service, seeing God's works by Moses and learning the disposition of the people, which with his faithfulness as a spy qualified him to succeed Moses as leader of Israel into Canaan. The going up was appointed communion as Israel's representative before receiving the law, showing that God calls His workers apart to behold His glory and receive their pattern before fitting them for a great work, while the people left below revealed distrust and impatience that led to idolatry.
Ascent and Revelation on Sinai
At God's command to come up to Him and be there, Moses rose up with his minister Joshua and went up into the mount of God, which is Mount Sinai. He went up to receive what God had written that he might teach Israel: tables of stone with a law and commandments, the decalogue inscribed on two tables of stone, the Ten Commandments with God's judgments and laws and the details of Israel's service and obligations. There God also gave him the pattern for his work, directions for building a sanctuary for the special manifestation of the divine presence with the pattern of the ark, and further instruction concerning the Sabbath.
The Teacher who gave these directions on Sinai is Christ Jesus, enshrouded in a veil of cloud so that His glory would not extinguish Moses, the human instrument to voice His words to the people. The principles given there are the same principles He presented in His own teaching. Though a cloud covered the mountain as a sign of God's special presence, for six days there was no revelation or communication of His will. Even Moses could not go at once into God's immediate presence and endure the exhibition of His glory.
He waited patiently for God's summons, putting away common thoughts and feelings, searching his heart, devoting himself and his thoughts to God and sanctifying himself by meditation and prayer. When called from the cloud on the seventh day he entered the cloud to converse with God and with his Maker. He then remained in the mount forty days and forty nights.
Because the absence would be long, Moses told the elders to tarry and wait until he and Joshua returned, and directed anyone having matters to go to Aaron and Hur. Aaron and Hur, assisted by the elders who had been granted a revelation of God's glory, were appointed to act in his place with the charge of the people. Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu with seventy of the most influential elders of Israel were taken up where they might behold the majesty of the divine presence while the people worshiped below at the foot of the mount.
They did not behold the person of God but only the inexpressible glory surrounding Him, with a paved work of sapphire under His feet, and they saw God and ate and drank without God laying His hand upon them. They could live through the sight because exhibitions of God's power had filled them with fear that wrought repentance for past transgressions, because they loved and reverenced God and had purified themselves while contemplating His glory, purity, and mercy until they could approach nearer, and because God enshrouded His glory with a thick cloud so the people could not behold it. They were thus honored to give them a clear sense of His greatness, majesty, and power and to prepare them with wisdom for their great work of aiding Moses in leading Israel to the promised land. The laws given to Israel in the cloud belong to the Jewish economy, whose meaning is not yet fully understood and will be unfolded in the future life.
Joshua, Moses' Minister
Joshua was Moses' minister, serving as his prime minister and chief assistant during the greater part of Israel's wandering in the wilderness. In that long close service he saw the wonderful works that God wrought by Moses and came to well understand the disposition of the people.
That long experience with God and with Israel qualified him to become the acknowledged leader to succeed Moses after his death and lead Israel into Canaan. To him came the promise of God's presence as it had been with Moses, and of the conquest of Canaan made easy on condition of faithfully observing all the divine requirements and keeping all His commandments. His anxiety over the magnitude of the trust was removed by the assurance of divine guidance and support. Together with that service, his faithfulness as one of the twelve spies who gave a true report of the richness of the promised land and urged Israel to go up in God's strength and possess it qualified him for that leadership.
Communion, Pattern, and Warning
The going up was appointed communion with God before receiving the law as Israel's representative, in which Moses beheld His glory. God deals thus with His workers, calling them apart into solitary communion before fitting them as His instruments for a great work. God still calls people to come apart and speak with Him, and going up the mountain to meet Him is the example of seeking that communion. By faith beholding the invisible God shapes speech so that it is not cheap or commonplace.
The ascent is an example for responsible leaders to draw near to God to behold His glory and receive the pattern for their work. They are to pray and seek God's glory and wisdom, and to follow the pattern He gives them in carrying out their work. That pattern is to be followed in carrying out sacred work.
Like Moses going up into the mount to be with God, those who trust in God rather than men and make His Word their guide are kept by God calm and composed amid accusations and turmoil. Coming into the mount with God keeps a person calm and composed by the power of God above boisterous accusations and shocks that ruffle and discompose other minds. Nothing sways such a person from right principles, because he keeps ever before him what is written in the law and what God has said, refuses to set his feet in questionable paths at the word of any man or minister, and in earnest prayer has his feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
While Moses remained on the mount, the people below were left to reveal whether they could be trusted, and they revealed unbelief in a marked manner when he did not come down. They became discontented at his delay and lost faith that he would return, failing to remain faithful when they should have reflected on the commandments and kept their covenant with God. Their memory of the covenant and their fear at God's presence faded, and they grew impatient waiting for his return and demanded a visible representation of God. Though they had received the covenant on condition of faithfulness and perfect obedience, they proved weak and unstable, becoming self-important and prone to vanity, emulation, and strife. Their time without Moses exposed their failure to make God alone their trust.
Aaron and Hur, assisted by the elders who had been granted a revelation of God's glory, had been given charge of the people in Moses' absence after Moses told the elders to tarry until he and Joshua returned and directed any man with matters to go to Aaron and Hur. Those in charge should have carefully guarded the church in the wilderness while Moses was in the mount with God. Aaron, left in charge, failed to resist the people's wrongdoing, which began with revelry and led to idolatry. The privilege of communion with God and the light of His glory granted to Israel's leaders does not excuse later sin or carelessness but calls for virtue, holiness, zeal, and faithful obedience corresponding to the light received.
The teachings given in Exodus 19-24, received when Moses with his minister Joshua went up into the mount of God, contain instruction men should obey and must be studied and presented before the people in full detail. They are needed now just as verily as by the children of Israel in the days of Moses. They require all contention to cease, love as brethren, and softened and subdued hearts. The laws written in a book guard against doing injustice and guide dealing one with another.
At God's command to come up and be there, Moses rose up with his minister Joshua and went up into the mount of God, also called Mount Sinai. He went up to receive what God had written to teach Israel, the tables of stone with the law and commandments including the decalogue, together with the pattern for his work in the sanctuary for the divine presence and further instruction for Israel's service. He could not enter God's immediate presence at once, but waited six days under the covering cloud in self-examination, meditation and prayer until called on the seventh day, then remained in the mount forty days and forty nights conversing with God. Joshua as his minister and chief assistant shared that ascent and long close service, seeing God's works by Moses and learning the disposition of the people, which with his faithfulness as a spy qualified him to succeed Moses as leader of Israel into Canaan. The going up was appointed communion as Israel's representative before receiving the law, showing that God calls His workers apart to behold His glory and receive their pattern before fitting them for a great work, while the people left below revealed distrust and impatience that led to idolatry.
Ascent and Revelation on Sinai
At God's command to come up to Him and be there, Moses rose up with his minister Joshua and went up into the mount of God, which is Mount Sinai. He went up to receive what God had written that he might teach Israel: tables of stone with a law and commandments, the decalogue inscribed on two tables of stone, the Ten Commandments with God's judgments and laws and the details of Israel's service and obligations. There God also gave him the pattern for his work, directions for building a sanctuary for the special manifestation of the divine presence with the pattern of the ark, and further instruction concerning the Sabbath.
The Teacher who gave these directions on Sinai is Christ Jesus, enshrouded in a veil of cloud so that His glory would not extinguish Moses, the human instrument to voice His words to the people. The principles given there are the same principles He presented in His own teaching. Though a cloud covered the mountain as a sign of God's special presence, for six days there was no revelation or communication of His will. Even Moses could not go at once into God's immediate presence and endure the exhibition of His glory.
He waited patiently for God's summons, putting away common thoughts and feelings, searching his heart, devoting himself and his thoughts to God and sanctifying himself by meditation and prayer. When called from the cloud on the seventh day he entered the cloud to converse with God and with his Maker. He then remained in the mount forty days and forty nights.
Because the absence would be long, Moses told the elders to tarry and wait until he and Joshua returned, and directed anyone having matters to go to Aaron and Hur. Aaron and Hur, assisted by the elders who had been granted a revelation of God's glory, were appointed to act in his place with the charge of the people. Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu with seventy of the most influential elders of Israel were taken up where they might behold the majesty of the divine presence while the people worshiped below at the foot of the mount.
They did not behold the person of God but only the inexpressible glory surrounding Him, with a paved work of sapphire under His feet, and they saw God and ate and drank without God laying His hand upon them. They could live through the sight because exhibitions of God's power had filled them with fear that wrought repentance for past transgressions, because they loved and reverenced God and had purified themselves while contemplating His glory, purity, and mercy until they could approach nearer, and because God enshrouded His glory with a thick cloud so the people could not behold it. They were thus honored to give them a clear sense of His greatness, majesty, and power and to prepare them with wisdom for their great work of aiding Moses in leading Israel to the promised land. The laws given to Israel in the cloud belong to the Jewish economy, whose meaning is not yet fully understood and will be unfolded in the future life.
Joshua, Moses' Minister
Joshua was Moses' minister, serving as his prime minister and chief assistant during the greater part of Israel's wandering in the wilderness. In that long close service he saw the wonderful works that God wrought by Moses and came to well understand the disposition of the people.
That long experience with God and with Israel qualified him to become the acknowledged leader to succeed Moses after his death and lead Israel into Canaan. To him came the promise of God's presence as it had been with Moses, and of the conquest of Canaan made easy on condition of faithfully observing all the divine requirements and keeping all His commandments. His anxiety over the magnitude of the trust was removed by the assurance of divine guidance and support. Together with that service, his faithfulness as one of the twelve spies who gave a true report of the richness of the promised land and urged Israel to go up in God's strength and possess it qualified him for that leadership.
Communion, Pattern, and Warning
The going up was appointed communion with God before receiving the law as Israel's representative, in which Moses beheld His glory. God deals thus with His workers, calling them apart into solitary communion before fitting them as His instruments for a great work. God still calls people to come apart and speak with Him, and going up the mountain to meet Him is the example of seeking that communion. By faith beholding the invisible God shapes speech so that it is not cheap or commonplace.
The ascent is an example for responsible leaders to draw near to God to behold His glory and receive the pattern for their work. They are to pray and seek God's glory and wisdom, and to follow the pattern He gives them in carrying out their work. That pattern is to be followed in carrying out sacred work.
Like Moses going up into the mount to be with God, those who trust in God rather than men and make His Word their guide are kept by God calm and composed amid accusations and turmoil. Coming into the mount with God keeps a person calm and composed by the power of God above boisterous accusations and shocks that ruffle and discompose other minds. Nothing sways such a person from right principles, because he keeps ever before him what is written in the law and what God has said, refuses to set his feet in questionable paths at the word of any man or minister, and in earnest prayer has his feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
While Moses remained on the mount, the people below were left to reveal whether they could be trusted, and they revealed unbelief in a marked manner when he did not come down. They became discontented at his delay and lost faith that he would return, failing to remain faithful when they should have reflected on the commandments and kept their covenant with God. Their memory of the covenant and their fear at God's presence faded, and they grew impatient waiting for his return and demanded a visible representation of God. Though they had received the covenant on condition of faithfulness and perfect obedience, they proved weak and unstable, becoming self-important and prone to vanity, emulation, and strife. Their time without Moses exposed their failure to make God alone their trust.
Aaron and Hur, assisted by the elders who had been granted a revelation of God's glory, had been given charge of the people in Moses' absence after Moses told the elders to tarry until he and Joshua returned and directed any man with matters to go to Aaron and Hur. Those in charge should have carefully guarded the church in the wilderness while Moses was in the mount with God. Aaron, left in charge, failed to resist the people's wrongdoing, which began with revelry and led to idolatry. The privilege of communion with God and the light of His glory granted to Israel's leaders does not excuse later sin or carelessness but calls for virtue, holiness, zeal, and faithful obedience corresponding to the light received.
The teachings given in Exodus 19-24, received when Moses with his minister Joshua went up into the mount of God, contain instruction men should obey and must be studied and presented before the people in full detail. They are needed now just as verily as by the children of Israel in the days of Moses. They require all contention to cease, love as brethren, and softened and subdued hearts. The laws written in a book guard against doing injustice and guide dealing one with another.