And he said, go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord,.... Who would appear there as he had to Moses formerly, though not in the same manner:
and, behold, the Lord passed by; or was about to pass, for as yet he had not; his messengers first went before him:
and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; strong enough to do all this, and so it might:
but the Lord was not in the wind; as he sometimes is, Nahum 1:3, he spake to Job out of a whirlwind, Job 38:1,
and after the wind an earthquake; that shook the earth all around, and the mountain also, as it did when the law was given on it, Psalms 68:8
but the Lord was not in the earthquake; as he was when it trembled in the times of Moses, Exodus 19:18.