EXPOSITION
MOSES' ENTRY INTO THE CLOUD, AND FORTY DAYS' COMMUNE WITH GOD. It was necessary now that Moses should receive full directions for the external worship of God, the sanctuary, and the priesthood. Every religion has something tangible and material about it—holy places, holy things, rites, ceremonies, rules, forms, regulations. If man sets himself to devise these things of his own head, he may very easily go wrong, and find his elaborate inventions "an offence" 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.). For the purpose of allowing ample time for the communications which had to be made and of securing that undivided attention which was requisite in order that all should remain fixed in the memory, God summoned his servant to a long and solitary colloquy, on the mountain summit whereon the cloud rested (Exodus 19:18), apart from all his people. Moses, of course, obeyed; but before ascending, arranged with the elders that in his absence Aaron and Hur should have the direction of affairs, and decide all doubtful questions (Exodus 24:14). He then went up the mountain, accompanied for part of the way by Joshua, who is now spoken of as his "minister," or "attendant" (verse 13). Joshua probably remained with him for six days, while Moses waited for a summons to enter the cloud. On the seventh day the summons came: and Moses, leaving Joshua, entered the cloud, and was hid from the sight of all men.
Come up to me. Moses, apparently, had descended again into the plain, with Aaron and the seventy elders, after the festival was over. (See Exodus 24:14, and compare Exodus 32:1.) He is now commanded to reascend, and be there—i.e; "And continue there"—foreshadowing the length of the stay. Tables of stone, and a law, and commandments, etc. Literally, "Tables of stone, and the law and the commandments which I have written." The three expressions alike refer to the Decalogue, which alone God wrote. That thou mayest teach them. Rather," to teach them." God wrote the commandments on stone, in order to inculcate them with the greater force upon his people.
Moses went up. Prompt to obey, Moses, though he had only just descended from the mount, immediately made ready to set forth and again ascend it. This time he was attended by his minister, Joshua, whose arm he had employed on a former occasion against the Amalekites (Exodus 17:9-2). The name, Joshua, is, however, still given him by anticipation, since he did not receive it until he was sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:8, Numbers 13:16).
And he said unto the elders. Before taking his departure for the long sojourn implied in God's address to him, "Come up to me into the mount, and be there" (Exodus 24:12), Moses thought it necessary to give certain directions to the elders as to what they should do in his absence—
1. They were to remain where they were—i.e; in the plain at the foot of Sinai, until his return, however long it should be delayed.
2. They were to regard Aaron and Hur as their leaders, and his (Moses') representatives. In case of any difficulty arising, they were to refer the matter to them. On Hur see the comment upon Exodus 17:12.
Moses went up into the mount. Having made the necessary arrangements for the government of the people during his absence, Moses ascended, in company with Joshua, to the upper part of the mountain, and there waited for some further summons. A cloud, or, rather, the cloud previously mentioned (Exodus 19:16), stood gathered upon the highest eminence, and marked the special presence of God there. Moses, though called up into the mount, would not intrude into this inner sanctuary, until specially bidden to enter it.
Now occurred a remarkable pause. The summons had been given to Moses, and he had obeyed it. He was there on the platform a little below the summit, ready, but waiting for a further call. The call was not made for six days. A holy calm reigned upon Sinai—the cloud rested upon the summit, and in the cloud was the glory of the Lord. Moses and Joshua waited near—but for six days there was no sign. God thus taught Moses, and through him the world, that near approach to him requires long and careful preparation. Moses, no doubt, was occupied during the six days in continual prayer. At last, on the seventh day, the call, which Moses had expected, came. God called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. God summoned him to a closer approach—bade him enter the cloud—and draw as nigh to him as possible.
Meanwhile, to those below in the plain, "the glory of the Lord" on the summit above them, was like devouring fire on the top of the mount. They had but to lift their eyes thither, and they saw his wonderful glory—showing like a huge fire—on the spot from which he had spoken to them (Exodus 20:18). This manifestation continued certainly for the first six days; whether it lasted longer or not is open to question.
And Moses went into the midst of the cloud. Quitting Joshua, Moses at last, in obedience to the call out of the midst of the cloud, entered within its shadow and disappeared from human vision In this abnormal condition, alone with God, he continued for thirty-four days, making, together with the six days before he entered the cloud, the forty days and forty nights of the text before us. It is noted in Deuteronomy 9:9, that during the whole of this time he was without food. Compare Elijah's fast (1 Kings 19:8), and our blessed Lord's (Matthew 3:2).
HOMILETICS
Prolonged commune with God.
Prolonged commune with God is the soul's truest strengthening, and sweetest refreshment. Without it our spirits languish—we grow weary and faint—worldliness creeps upon us—our thoughts and discourse become "of the earth, earthy"—we have no life or liveliness in ourselves, and can impart none to others. Moses' commune was abnormal, extraordinary, inimitable by us in its main features—its duration, locality, nearness of access, and completeness of isolation. But it may serve as a pattern to us in many respects, nevertheless.
I. IN THE PREPARATION FOR IT. Here we note
(1) a ready heart. "Moses rose up"—did not delay, did not offer objections, did not say, "Suffer me first" to do this or that, but responded to the call of God at once.
(2) A thoughtful regard for others. Moses instructed the ciders how to act while he was away. "Tarry ye here"—"Seek ye to Aaron and Hur, if ye have matters to do."
(3) A willingness to help others towards the higher life, to carry them on with him, as far as he might. "Moses rose up, and his minister, Joshua.
(4) A patient and reverential waiting. Summoned, called up, bidden to draw near, he yet rested for six days outside the cloud, longing to enter in, but withheld by a sense of unworthiness and a fear of intrusion, fasting all the while, and seeking to prepare himself for the nearer approach by supplication and meditation.
II. IN THE PLACE OF IT. A holy place—"the mount of God"—a place sacred from common uses—into which worldly thoughts could scarcely penetrate. We, who have no Sinai, have at any rate our churches, and other sacred buildings—some of them always open, not merely for public worship, but for private prayer and meditation—inviting us to enter in and draw nigh to God. In our houses we have, or may easily have, our oratories—spots reserved for prayer and praise, and sacred thought—sanctuaries in the desert of life—places in which all that we see will remind us of heavenly things.
III. IN THE SECLUSION OF IT. The world was shut out. Relations, elders, people, left below in the plain—left with strict injunctions to remain—"Tarry ye here." Even the faithful Joshua parted from—and "the cloud" entered. The cloud—the awful cloud—"thick darkness" (Exodus 20:21); yet within the darkness a marvellous light. Such seclusion we cannot obtain—but we may obtain an approach to it. We may "enter our closet, and shut to the door" (Matthew 6:6), and let it be known that we would be undisturbed; or we may seek the solitude of a church at an hour when there is no public service, and no one present who will meddle with us; or we may, even at the present day, find solitudes in nature, deep woods, or lone mountain tops, or unfrequented glens, where we may feel ourselves secure from intrusion, and stand face to face with God, and know him near, and pour out our hearts before him. A modern poet, in one of his better moments, says—
"My altars are the mountains, and the ocean,
Earth, air, sea—all that springs from the Great Whole,
Who hath produced, and will receive the soul"—
and truly on any lone spot an altar may be raised, and worship offered, as acceptable to God as any that is addressed to him "in pillared fanes, 'neath fretted roofs, 'mid storied glass or sculptured monuments." Even in the whirl and bustle of a great city, solitude is not very far from us. Half an hour's journey by steamer or rail, and ten minutes' walk, may take us into still woods, or shady lanes, or on to open heaths, where we shall not see a fellow creature or hear a sound reminding us of man.
IV. IN THE CONTINUANCE OF IT. "Forty days and forty nights!" As we cannot have the complete seclusion which Moses enjoyed, so neither can we look for such sustained commune as his. We must eat and drink—we can rarely leave our worldly work to others—family claims, correspondence, business imperatively require our attention—six weeks' interruption of communication between ourselves and the outer world would, in most cases, break or tangle all the threads of which our life is composed. But still some prolonged periods of religious contemplation and commune between the soul and God are needed, if the soul is to retain the vigour of its life, or its ability to be of service to others. With this view religious "retreats" have been devised, lasting sometimes a week or ten days. Where men's duties allow of it, they may be well worth a trial. The weary spirit may derive more refreshment from them than from the ordinary "holiday." The heart may be purified, the aspirations raised, the insight into doctrinal truth augmented, above all, the love of God so intensified in the soul, by the suspension of all secular thought and the devotion of the whole mind to religion and worship, during the three, or five, or seven, or ten days of a "retreat," as would scarcely be possible, under the present conditions of our life, in any other way.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
Moses ascends the mount.
Observe,
1. He alone ascends (Exodus 24:12). Aaron and his sons, with the seventy elders, were left behind. Their privilege was great as compared with that of the body of the people. Yet even they are not permitted to enter the cloud—to draw nigh into God's immediate presence. The limitations and imperfections of the legal economy are stamped on these arrangements. How superior the standing of Christians, who are all permitted to draw nigh; who have now the privilege, formerly possessed only by Moses, of beholding with unveiled flee the Divine glory in the ecstasy of immediate vision (2 Corinthians 3:18).
2. The design of this ascending was primarily to receive the stone tables (Exodus 24:12). These were to be written by God's own finger. God took every pains to impress upon the minds of the people that the law they had to deal with was his law. Its perpetuity was symbolised by the rock tablets.
3. Moses made arrangements for the conduct of business in his absence (Exodus 24:14). His absence would be a trial of the faith and disposition of all parties.
4. The fire still burned on the summit of the mount (Exodus 24:16, Exodus 24:17). This, notwithstanding the vision of Exodus 24:10. The economy was outwardly and characteristically one of law; interiorly, one of grace. Even Moses had to wait seven days for the summons (Exodus 24:16).—J.O.
HOMILIES BY J. URQUHART
Moses' sojourn with God the type of Christ's.
I. THE MEDIATOR: MOSES THE TYPE OF JESUS. He must needs pass up into God's presence: "Come up to me … and be there." It is there, in communion with God, that gifts are received for men. The power and blessing we now receive there, are prophecies of the power and glory with which Jesus will come again.
2. He must pass up to receive the law and commandments which God had written. Jesus will return with the perfected will of the Father.
3. The days of seclusion are numbered. Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights. We know not how many or few they be; but each hour the coming of the Lord draws nearer.
II. THE ATTITUDE OF GOD'S PEOPLE MEANWHILE.
1. They tarry for the Mediator: "tarry ye here for us until we come again unto you." The attitude of the Churches to-day should be confident, joyous expectation: "this same Jesus will in like manner come again."
2. They are ministered unto by those who tarry with them (Exodus 24:14).
(1) The blessing bestowed in these temporary leaders.
(2) Their responsibility: let them not be leaders or helpers to the people in their idolatry, as Aaron.
III. THE VISION GRANTED THEM. The mountain is covered with clouds; but from the mountain top flames out the glory of the Lord. The eye cannot follow him who has entered within the veil; but we can behold the glory of the Lord, and know that every word of God will be fulfilled.—U.