The Giving of the Law (Continued)
8. The establishing of Moses as Israel’s mediator, needed to be repeated for Aaron who was soon to be inducted as the High Priest of the nation. So Moses again ascended the mountain – this time with Aaron. While Aaron stood afar off, Moses drew near to the Lord, and received a communication. “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make anything to be with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you. And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.” (Exod. 20:22-26) 9. This new message was to be transmitted to the nation. It included a re-emphasizing of that element of the Decalogue that forbade idolatry as well as forbidding images that were meant to represent the Lord. Israel were not only banned from making, owning or worshipping images of other gods but also banned from making, owning or worshipping images intended to be some form of representation of the God of Israel. As the Sh’ma begins, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” (Deut. 6:4). This is understood to mean that the Lord is the One absolute God, therefore worshipping other gods is not only forbidden but also foolish. Furthermore, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24) Again, seeking to represent in some physical and material form the One who is Spirit, is not only forbidden, but also foolish.
10. Along with these fresh instructions was the command to bring the elders, together with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, up the mountain. When Moses returned to relay this fresh intelligence to the nation, they again responded, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” (Exod. 24:3) This was enough for Moses to proceed to consolidate the agreement between the Lord and the nation. This Moses did the following morning.
11. With the latest guidance, regarding the building of an altar to the Lord, fresh in his mind, Moses rose early the next morning and set about the work formalizing the covenant that was to be cut between the nation and the Lord. He built an altar together with twelve pillars to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. In addition, he composed a book in which he wrote both the promises and the precepts that had initially been communicated to him.
12. Then in a formal ceremony in which many young men of Israel acted as priests, burnt offerings and peace offerings were presented to God. Half the blood from the animal sacrifices was used to consecrate the altar.
13. After reading to the assembled people the detailed covenant which had been offered and verbally accepted, he waited until they again declared, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” (Exod. 24:7) At this point, Moses took the remaining blood, and swinging it around sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.” (Exod. 24:8)
14. Now came the time to fulfill the command to bring Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and the elders up the mountain to meet with God. Having been consecrated by the blood of the covenant, the elders and those that would initialize the priesthood then drew near. The covenant between the Lord and those representing Israel was celebrated with a sacramental meal, during which there was a theophany. The mechanics of the vision are not divulged. The plain statement of Scripture is, “they saw the God of Israel”. (Exod.24.10) A little more is added, “And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity”. (Exod. 24:10) At the end of the covenantal meal, the representatives of Israel, along with Moses left the mountain.
15. But all was not yet complete. There was much more to communicate regarding this covenant, especially that which related to the priesthood, the offerings and the sanctuary. It would require the presence of Moses for a much longer time. “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.” (Exod.24:12) It seems Moses had an idea that this stay on the mountain would be an extended period because he appointed Aaron and Hur as judges in his absence, and took Joshua with him to serve him.
16. Joshua and Moses ascended the mountain whose summit was now covered by a cloud in which the glory of God resided. This glory tarried in the cloud for seven days and appeared to the Israelites in the camp below like devouring fire (cf. 19:16). On the seventh day the Lord called Moses into the cloud. Whether Joshua followed him we are not told; but it is evident from Ex. 32:17 that he was with him on the mountain, though, judging from v. 2 and Ex. 33:11, he did not go into the immediate presence of God.
17. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights, during which time he neither ate nor drank. There are some powerful associations that spring to mind in connection with the forty days and forty nights, not least of all because it was a period that Moses had to repeat. Elijah took forty days to journey to this very mountain on the strength of one meal only. Goliath’s challenge to Israel was over a period of forty days, as was the challenge of Satan during the fast of Jesus in the wilderness.
18. During this extended period on the mountain Moses received instructions regarding the building of the Tabernacle, the making of its furniture for which the Lord promised the provision of skilled workers, the consecration of a Priesthood and instructions regarding daily offerings. Though the Tabernacle would be necessary for the spiritual welfare of the whole nation, it was not designed for communal use. It is after some instructions regarding the daily offerings that the encounter is first summed up in Exod. 29.43-46: “… there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory. So I will consecrate the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. I will also consecrate both Aaron and his sons to minister to Me as priests. I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.” (Ex 29:43-46) The end of the encounter is given in Exod. 31.18. “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.”
8. The establishing of Moses as 
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