The Covenant Sealed
The LORD summons Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders upward, but the approach is carefully limited. Worship is permitted, yet nearness remains ordered, with Moses set apart from the rest.
T1hen the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD — you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders — and you are to worship at a distance. 2Moses alone shall approach the LORD, but the others must not come near. And the people may not go up with him.”
Moses delivers the LORD's words and ordinances to the people, and they answer with one voice that they will obey. He then writes down the LORD's words, giving the covenant a fixed form.
3When Moses came and told the people all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all responded with one voice: “All the words that the LORD has spoken, we will do.” 4And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD.
Moses builds an altar and pillars, sacrifices are offered, and the blood is divided between altar and people. After the covenant book is read and the people again promise obedience, Moses declares the blood to be the covenant's seal.
5Early the next morning he got up and built an altar at the base of the mountain, along with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent out some young men of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD. 6Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splattered on the altar. 7Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people, who replied, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8So Moses took the blood, splattered it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
Moses and Israel's leaders go up and see the God of Israel, described only by what lies beneath His feet. God does not strike them, and they eat and drink in His presence.
9Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was a work like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. 11But God did not lay His hand on the nobles of Israel; they saw Him, and they ate and drank.