Exodus 24:1-25:9: "24:1 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 the LORD, 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 the LORD and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, 'All the words which the LORD has said we will do.' 4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD. 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. 5 Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. 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 the LORD 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 the LORD 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. 12 Then the LORD 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.' 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 the LORD 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 the LORD 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."25:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 'Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering. 3 And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; 4 blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats' hair; 5 ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; 6 oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; 7 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. 8 And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. 9 According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.'"
We have in this pericope what happens after our Lord God gave the Ten Commandments and other ceremonial laws that our Lord God had given to the people of Israel. What is their response? They say, "All the Words which the LORD has said we will do." They say this twice. This shows us that they received the Word of God gladly. The Law and the rights attached to the Law, that is, the requirements, did not seem to be that great of a burden to them. It was good news for them.
How often today, when somebody states the rules, are they met with joy? Furthermore, how often today when people are presented the rules do they even agree to do them? We hear it all the time in sayings like, "Rules were meant to be broken." Or, "Nobody's going to tell me what to do." Or, "You're just trying to force your moral will on me." This is not so with the Israelites, they hear the Law, that is, the rules, and gladly receive it, wishing happily to fulfill it. Now, I suppose someone could argue that the Israelites were not going to say no to God, while He was in their very presence, even if His true presence was veiled in a cloud. But the repetition of the phrase by the Israelites negates this theory, for it shows their willingness to obey God.
What is truly amazing about this pericope, is that after the people ascent to God's will, what happens? Moses and Aaron, and Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel sat down to a meal with our Lord God. Here we go again! Another meal that our Lord God has with His people. A meal in which they ate and drank. It is another allusion or prefigurement of the meal that we eat and drink with our Lord, and the whole host of Heaven, every Sunday and feast day. The meal in which He gives us His very own Body and Blood to eat and drink.
On Mount Sinai, this meal signified the unity that the people of Israel enjoyed with the Lord God. In Holy Communion, the same unity that exists between God and all those who eat is also signified. This is why the Church has always practiced closed communion, for those who are outside of the people of God, cannot eat this meal, without damning themselves. We can see this in this pericope, for even though God is claiming the Israelites as His people, and they have ascented to Him being their God, we are told that the Lord did not touch the seventy elders and the rest of the men gathered for the meal, for if He touched them, they would die.
The same thing happens in Holy Communion, for as we learn in Holy Scripture, through the Blessed Apostle, St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church at Corinth, those who eat and drink unworthily, are eating damnation unto themselves. To eat and drink unworthily means two things, first, to not believe that our Lord's Body and Blood are truly present in themselves in the bread and wine. The second thing, is to not be in unity and fellowship with those who one is eating and drinking with. This unity and fellowship includes agreement on doctrine and practice on what the Church teaches.
This is another rule of our Lord God, that when revealed to people, it draws ire and reproach from those that hear it. But those that show their disdain for the rules, show their disdain both for the fellowship that is enjoyed by those who eat and drink, and disdain for the Lord God, who gave the rule. How grand it would be if we all were like the Israelites, who when presented with the rules, gladly said, "All the words which the LORD has said we will do." For then there would exist true unity between us, and we could all join together in unity and eat and drink our Lord's meal.
God be with you!
Deacon Dulas
How often today, when somebody states the rules, are they met with joy? Furthermore, how often today when people are presented the rules do they even agree to do them? We hear it all the time in sayings like, "Rules were meant to be broken." Or, "Nobody's going to tell me what to do." Or, "You're just trying to force your moral will on me." This is not so with the Israelites, they hear the Law, that is, the rules, and gladly receive it, wishing happily to fulfill it. Now, I suppose someone could argue that the Israelites were not going to say no to God, while He was in their very presence, even if His true presence was veiled in a cloud. But the repetition of the phrase by the Israelites negates this theory, for it shows their willingness to obey God.
What is truly amazing about this pericope, is that after the people ascent to God's will, what happens? Moses and Aaron, and Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel sat down to a meal with our Lord God. Here we go again! Another meal that our Lord God has with His people. A meal in which they ate and drank. It is another allusion or prefigurement of the meal that we eat and drink with our Lord, and the whole host of Heaven, every Sunday and feast day. The meal in which He gives us His very own Body and Blood to eat and drink.
On Mount Sinai, this meal signified the unity that the people of Israel enjoyed with the Lord God. In Holy Communion, the same unity that exists between God and all those who eat is also signified. This is why the Church has always practiced closed communion, for those who are outside of the people of God, cannot eat this meal, without damning themselves. We can see this in this pericope, for even though God is claiming the Israelites as His people, and they have ascented to Him being their God, we are told that the Lord did not touch the seventy elders and the rest of the men gathered for the meal, for if He touched them, they would die.
The same thing happens in Holy Communion, for as we learn in Holy Scripture, through the Blessed Apostle, St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church at Corinth, those who eat and drink unworthily, are eating damnation unto themselves. To eat and drink unworthily means two things, first, to not believe that our Lord's Body and Blood are truly present in themselves in the bread and wine. The second thing, is to not be in unity and fellowship with those who one is eating and drinking with. This unity and fellowship includes agreement on doctrine and practice on what the Church teaches.
This is another rule of our Lord God, that when revealed to people, it draws ire and reproach from those that hear it. But those that show their disdain for the rules, show their disdain both for the fellowship that is enjoyed by those who eat and drink, and disdain for the Lord God, who gave the rule. How grand it would be if we all were like the Israelites, who when presented with the rules, gladly said, "All the words which the LORD has said we will do." For then there would exist true unity between us, and we could all join together in unity and eat and drink our Lord's meal.
God be with you!
Deacon Dulas
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