Exodus 24: Israel Affirms the Covenant-- ALL the Words of Yahweh
1 Now He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2 And Moses alone shall come near Yahweh, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him.” 3 So Moses came and told the people all the words of Yahweh and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which Yahweh has said we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote all the words of Yahweh. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
This Covenant was initiated by the God of Israel. "The ceremony described in Exodus 24:3-11 is called 'the covenant which Jehovah made with Israel' (Exodus 24:8). It was opened by Moses, who recited to the people 'all the words of Jehovah' (i.e., not the decalogue, for the people had heard this directly from the mouth of God Himself, but the words in Exodus 20:22-26), and 'all the rights' (ch. 21-23); whereupon the people answered unanimously (אחד קול), 'All the words which Jehovah hath spoken will we do.' This constituted the preparation for the conclusion of the covenant. It was necessary that the people should not only know what the Lord imposed upon them in the covenant about to be made with them, and what He promised them, but that they should also declare their willingness to perform what was imposed upon them. The covenant itself was commenced by Moses writing all the words of Jehovah in 'the book of the covenant' (Exodus 24:4; 7), for the purpose of preserving them in an official record. The next day, early in the morning, he built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and erected twelve boundary-stones or pillars for the twelve tribes, most likely round about the altar and at some distance from it, so as to prepare the soil upon which Jehovah was about to enter into union with the twelve tribes. As the altar indicated the presence of Jehovah, being the place where the Lord would come to His people to bless them (Exodus 20:24), so the twelve pillars, or boundary-stones, did not serve as mere memorials of the conclusion of the covenant, but were to indicate the place of the twelve tribes, and represent their presence also.” (Keil & Delitzsch)
ALL of the Words- The teachings of God to Moses was a law to govern the children of Israel in violations of the Ten Commandments. These teachings in their entirety were the contents of the Covenant. Not only were they promising to keep the Commandments, but they were also promising to punish the transgressors in the way described therein.
5 Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to Yahweh. 6 And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that Yahweh has said we will do, and be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which Yahweh has made with you according to all these words.
9 Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. 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. 11 But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank.
Young men. "The Levitical priesthood not being as yet instituted, either all the people were regarded as holy, and so any one might offer sacrifice, or the 'young men' selected may have been of the number of the first-born, who were priests in their respective families until the appointment of Aaron and his sons to be priests of the nation.” (Pulpit Commentary)
"Burnt offerings were at once expiatory and signs of self-dedication. Peace offerings were indications of man’s gratitude for mercies received. Both were now offered together, to mark (1) Israel’s thankfulness for being taken into covenant, and (2) Israel’s determination to consecrate itself wholly to the service of God.” (Elliott’s Commetary)
"Half of the blood had been sprinkled upon the altar, which symbolised Jehovah; the other half was now sprinkled upon the people, or rather upon their representatives—the elders and others who stood nearest to Moses. Thus the two parties to the covenant, sprinkled with the blood of the same sacrifices, were brought into sacramental union.” (Ellicott) "In all such ceremonies the oath of obedience [Exodus 24:7] implied the participants' willingness to suffer the fate of the sacrificed animals if the covenant stipulations were violated by those who took the oath.” (Youngblood) "The wage of sin is death" supported by both Old and New Testaments.
"They saw the God of Israel.—Probably, in human form, as Isaiah saw Him (Isaiah 6:1-5), and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:26), and even Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3:25). It is not of this appearance that Moses says: 'Ye saw no similitude’ (Deuteronomy 4:12). The appearance which they saw had ‘feet.’ (24:10)” (Ellicott)... and they ate and drank with Him. His name is Yah-shua.
"This is the covenant meal, the peace offering, that they are eating there on the mountain. To eat from the sacrifice meant that they were at peace with God, in covenant with him. Likewise, in the new covenant believers draw near to God on the basis of sacrifice, and eat of the sacrifice because they are at peace with him, and in Christ they see the Godhead revealed." (NET Bible) "The parallel with the inauguration of the New Covenant is striking (cf. Matthew 26:28; 1 Corinthians 11:25).”(Constable)
"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new [NU-Text omits new] covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.’ And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” (Matthew 26:26-30) "Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." (1 Cor 11:27)
Exodus 24: The Giving of he Tablets of Stone and the Torah Regulating Worship
12 Then Yahweh 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.”
"The ten commandments, which had already been spoken [by Yahweh], were to be given in a permanent form. Inscribed on stone, for greater durability, by the hand of God Himself, they were thus authenticated and honored above the judicial or ceremonial parts of the law.” (Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible) BUT MORE— Yahweh was to give Moses a pattern of the True Tabernacle which already existed in Heaven. (Hebrews 8:5) "Having given directions clarifying Israel's obedience in the Book of the Covenant (Exodus 20:22 to Exodus 23:33), God now summoned Moses up into the mountain again to receive His directions regarding Israel's worship. The Book of the Covenant specified how the Israelites were to live with one another, but the tabernacle showed them how God wanted them to worship Him. [Note: Cf. Davis, p. 192.]” (Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable)
"If man sets himself to devise these things of his own head, he may very easily go wrong, and find his elaborate inventions 'an offense' to God. To avoid this - to secure the result that all should be pleasing and acceptable to 'the High and Holy One which inhabiteth eternity,' it was thought fitting that ‘patterns' should be shown to Moses of all that was to be made for the worship (Hebrews 8:5), and exact details given him with respect to the material, size, shape, and construction of each. The results are put before us in seven chapters (chs. 25-31) (Pulpit Commentary)
"'The establishment of a covenant relationship necessitated a means whereby the vassal party could regularly appear before the Great King to render his accountability. In normal historical relationships of this kind between mere men, some sort of intercession was frequently mandatory and, in any case, a strict protocol had to be adhered to.' [Note: For Hittite practice, see O. R. Gurney, The Hittites, pp. 74-75.] How much more must this be required in the case of a sinful people such as Israel, who must, notwithstanding, communicate with and give account to an infinitely transcendent and holy God." [Note: Merrill, "A Theology . . .," pp. 48-49.]
13 So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed, Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them.” 15 Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain.
16 Now the glory of Yahweh rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 The sight of the glory of Yahweh was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
"And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
'And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights,' including the six days of waiting, - the whole time without eating and drinking (Deuteronomy 9:9). The number forty was certainly significant, since it was not only repeated on the occasion of his second protracted stay upon Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:18), but occurred again in the forty days of Elijah's journey to Horeb the mount of God in the strength of the food received from the angel (1 Kings 19:8), and in the fasting of Jesus at the time of His temptation (Matthew 4:2; Luke 4:2), and even appears to have been significant in the forty years of Israel's wandering in the desert (Deuteronomy 8:2). In all these cases the number refers to a period of temptation, of the trial of faith, as well as to a period of the strengthening of faith through the miraculous support bestowed by God.” (Keil and Delitzsch)