And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.
And he said unto Moses. When and where were these words spoken? It was after the delivery of the Ten commandments, when the people, overwhelmed with awe at the appalling display of the Divine Majesty, besought Moses to act as mediator between God and them. Although paralyzed at first, in common with the people, by the awfulness of the scene, yet, having been reassured by the Divine Voice (Exodus 19:19), he drew near into "the thick darkness" (Exodus 20:21), where he remained in mysterious communion with God, and was instructed in the application of the great principles of the Decalogue to various cases bearing on matters of interest and importance in the social economy, and which, from their frequent occurrence, required an immediate and authoritative settlement in accordance with the national constitution.
The results of that solemn conference are related in Exodus 20:22-26; Exodus 21:1-36; Exodus 22:1-31; Exodus 23:1-33; and the close of it is described in the commencement of this chapter. It is manifestly implied in the terms of this order that Moses had been sent down to communicate to the people those counsels and explanatory details of the law, and that he had been commanded, after performing that duty, to re-ascend the mountain, in order to receive a divinely-authenticated and permanent record of the Decalogue-the basis of the national covenant-and to be furnished with a "pattern" according to which he was to fashion the whole political and religious course of Israelite life. On this subsequent occasion he was to be accompanied by a select body of attendants, consisting of the principal and most respected chiefs of the people, whose presence and testimony would tend to inspire general confidence, and pave the way for a readier acceptation of the divine will. (See further the notes at Exodus 24:13-14.)