Exodus 24:17, commentary and pictures

The glory of the Lord rested visibly on the top of Mount Sinai as devouring, consuming, flame-like fire, seen by all Israel from below while Moses waited, amid cloud, smoke, tempest and thick darkness. A cloud covered the mount six days, and on the seventh day God called Moses out of the midst of the cloud, after Moses had spent the time in humbling, meditation and prayer to be prepared to endure the presence and converse with his Maker. Moses then went with Joshua into the cloud and remained forty days and forty nights as Israel's representative to receive the ten commandments, the directions for the sanctuary, and further laws for service. It was only a veiled, local manifestation of the divine majesty, with Christ enshrouded in cloud so mortal man could endure it, given in the awe-inspiring scene in which God spoke His existing law aloud to impress its holiness and the greatness of its Author, so that the people stood afar off in terror and begged Moses to speak to them lest they die. That same Teacher was Christ Jesus Himself, whose principles on the mount are the same He and the apostles taught afterward, and when He comes again the same presence will go before Him as devouring fire to judge, melt the elements and burn up the works of earth. The abiding sight should have led Israel to humble searching of heart and corresponding obedience, but in impatient waiting many concluded Moses was consumed by the flame and turned to the golden calf, while Moses beholding the glory remains the pattern for God's workers now to come up into communion by faith to be kept calm, guided by the Word, and prepared for trial and service.

Sinai Setting and Sight

The glory of the Lord rested and abided visibly on the top of Mount Sinai, appearing in the eyes of all the children of Israel from below as devouring fire, as consuming, blazing, flame-like fire. It remained and hovered there in sight while Moses was away on the mount, still displayed before the people. The sight stood amid cloud and smoke and flame, amid tempest and thick darkness on the summit.

A cloud covered the mount six days, and on the seventh day God called Moses out of the midst of the cloud. That seventh day was the Sabbath, when the thick cloud opened in the sight of all Israel. At that moment the glory broke forth like devouring fire on the top of the mount.

Even Moses could not go up at once into the mount into the immediate presence and endure the exhibition of the glory. Six days were given him for preparation to meet with God. He spent them putting away common thoughts and feelings, devoting thought to God, and sanctifying himself by meditation and prayer, until he was prepared to converse with his Maker.

Then Moses, with his minister Joshua, went into the midst of the cloud and up into the mount. He was called up into communion to behold the glory as the representative of the people before receiving the law. He remained there forty days and forty nights. There he received the decalogue, the testimony of the ten commandments engraved on tables of stone, directions for building a sanctuary for the special manifestation of the divine presence, further instruction about the Sabbath, and other commandments and instructions for Israel's service.

The sight belongs to Israel's covenant setting, when the people pledged to obey and the covenant was solemnly ratified through sacrifices and blood. It was when Israel was taken into covenant as a peculiar treasure, a holy nation to be united with a holy God. The mountain had been sanctified by His presence and voice, with mysterious trumpet tones waxing louder and more terrible, peals of thunder reverberating from every mountainside, and lightning illuminating the heights. Amid that cloud God gave His laws to Israel, whose full meaning would become clearer as His plan continued to be studied.

Glory, Law, and Christ

The burning glory on the top of the mount was only a local manifestation of the sacred presence, majesty and power, not the fullness of God Himself. His great glory was concealed within the cloud so that mortal man could endure it. Moses was afterward brought within that cloud and, by partaking of the divine nature, was strengthened to behold all of God that he could bear. Christ was enshrouded in a veil of cloud so that His glory would not destroy Moses as the human instrument who was to speak His words to Israel.

That visible display was part of the awe-inspiring scene in which God spoke His existing law aloud. The words of God rolled from the glory with a loud voice, and above the warring elements the voice of Jehovah spoke the ten precepts of His law. Those precepts stood as a great mirror revealing Israel's true condition. The display made the mountain sacred and impressed the people with the holiness and exalted character of the law and the greatness of its Author. The sacred grandeur made hearts fail with fear so that the whole congregation stood afar off, and even Moses feared and quaked. Overwhelmed with terror at the awful power of God's utterances, with conviction of sin and guilt and realization of the offensive character of sin before a pure and holy God, the people begged Moses to hear God and speak to them, lest by hearing God's voice directly they die and not live.

The instruction in Exodus 19-24 was given by Christ Jesus Himself, the same Teacher who gave the directions on Mount Sinai and afterward spoke in human flesh. The directions given on the mount to be voiced to the people are the same principles He presented in His own teaching and the apostles presented afterward to counter the sophistries of Satan. They stand connected with His requirements for a tabernacle to be borne from place to place from which He could reveal Himself. They contain in detail what men should obey to end all contention, to love as brethren with softened and subdued hearts, and in laws written in a book to guard against doing injustice and to guide dealings with one another. Therefore they must be studied and presented now just as verily as Israel needed them, and their full meaning becomes clearer as God's plan is studied.

When Christ comes in glory with His holy angels the same presence will set the whole earth ablaze with the terrible light of His presence. Fire will devour before Him as He calls heaven and earth to judge His people. He will send forth a fiery stream that melts the elements with fervent heat and burns up the earth and the works in it, revealing the Lord Jesus from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who know not God and obey not the gospel.

From this visible revelation Israel could reason from cause to effect. They actually saw God's glory on the mount together with His wonderful power in delivering them from the bondage of Egypt, His judgments upon their oppressors, His opening a passage for them through the waters of the Red Sea notwithstanding their unbelief and murmuring, and the destruction of their enemies.

Warning and Pattern for Seekers

The blazing glory resting on the mount in Israel's sight should have led the people to search their hearts, humble themselves, and fear God in awe before Jehovah. Nearness to God and great spiritual privileges do not excuse later sin or cause Him to overlook wrongdoing, for greater light calls for corresponding virtue and holiness, with zeal and obedience expected from those who receive it. While Moses was in the mount God was testing whether the people left below could be trusted, and their murmuring, unbelief, and later failure revealed weakness and lack of loyalty to the covenant He had ordained.

Though overwhelmed by fear and guilt, they did not let the abiding sight keep them from returning to old habits and demanding a visible representation of God. Its memory should have warned them that God's presence was holy and powerful, yet in their idolatry they no longer feared that the consuming, flame-like fire had consumed Moses their leader. As day after day and week after week of eager waiting and suspense passed, many grew impatient and concluded from that devouring fire that Moses had been slain, had deserted them, or had been consumed by the flame. With the cloud that had led them resting on the mount instead of directing their journey, they wanted something they could look upon to resemble God, their minds turned to the gods of Egypt, and Satan used the delay to tempt them to imitate Egyptian idolatry by making an image to bear before them as their god and even to return to Egypt under it. That departure was pressed chiefly by the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt with Israel through intermarriage with Egyptians.

Moses being called up into the mount into communion to behold God's glory before receiving the law as Israel's representative is the pattern for God's workers and leaders before a great trial or important work. God bids them come up unto Him into the mount to seek His presence and guidance there before carrying out the work entrusted to them. Like Moses they are to consider the dignity of the heavenly beings appointed to His work and follow the pattern God gives on the mountain.

That coming into the mount with God in trust is available now to those who trust in God. There by faith they behold Him who is invisible. That communion keeps them by God's power calm and composed above boisterous accusations, shocks, and confusion that ruffle and discompose minds, so nothing sways them from right principles. They make the Word of God their guide by always asking what is written and what God has said, and by earnest prayer they are prepared to stand. That communion makes speech and pen pure, elevated, and sanctified, so words are no longer cheap and common.