Forty Days and Nights
Background and printed text: Exodus 24
Exodus 24:1 And He said unto Moshe, “Ascend unto Yehovah—thou and Aharon, Nadav and Avihu and seventy from elders of Israel. And ye shall worship from a distance. 2And Moshe to his alone shall come-close unto Yehovah. And they, they shall not come-close. And the people—they shall not ascend with him!”
3And Moshe came. And he scrolled to the people all the speeches of Yehovah and all the justices. And all the people answered, one voice. And they said, “We will do all the speeches that Yehovah spoke!”
4And Moshe wrote all the speeches of Yehovah. And he early-rose in the morning. And he built an altar under the mountain, and twelve pillars to twelve of the tribes of Israel. 5And he sent youths of the children of Israel. And they ‘ascended’ ascensions. And they sacrificed ‘peaces’ sacrifices to Yehovah: bulls. 6And Moshe took half the blood. And he put into basins. And he sprinkled half the blood upon the altar.
7And he took the scroll of the Covenant. And he called into ears of the people. And they said, “We will do all that Yehovah spoke! And we have hearkened!” 8And Moshe took the blood. And he sprinkled upon the people. And he said, “Behold blood of the Covenant that Yehovah cut with you concerning all these speeches!”
9And Moshe ascended, and Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, and seventy from elders of Israel. 10And they saw Gods of Israel! And under His feet is as the work of a brick of the sapphire and as a bone of the heavens to cleanness! 11And He didn’t send His hand unto the ‘proximitous’-[ones] of the children of Israel. And they envisioned the Elohim! And they ate, and they drank!
12And Yehovah said unto Moshe, “Ascend mountainward unto me. And be there! And I will give her to thee—blackboards of the stone—and the Teaching and the Commandment that I wrote to teach them.”
13And Moshe arose, and Yehoshua [Joshua] his minister. And Moshe ascended unto Mount The-Elohim. 14And he said unto the elders, “Sit-ye to us in this until-that we will return unto you. And behold, Aharon and Hur are with you. Who is a master of speeches will come-close unto them!”
15And Moshe ascended unto the mountain. And the cloud blanket-covered the mountain. 16And Glory Yehovah abode upon Mount Sinai. And the cloud blanket-covered him six of the days. And He called unto Moshe in day the seventh from the midst of the cloud. 17And the appearance of Glory Yehovah is as a fire eating in the head of the mountain to the eyes of the children of Israel. 18And Moshe came into the midst of the cloud. And he ascended unto the mountain. And Moshe was in the mountain forty day and forty night.
I. Ascending, Worshipping, Coming Close (verses 1-2)
Yehovah told Moshe, “Ascend unto Yehovah—thou and Aharon, Nadav and Avihu and seventy from elders of Israel.” He then told them what to do: “And ye shall worship from a distance.”
Yehovah continued to specify: “And Moshe to his alone shall come-close unto Yehovah. And they, they shall not come-close.”
He then stated regarding the Israelis: “And the people—they shall not ascend with him!”
Questions
1. Why did “He” say unto Moshe to ascend unto Yehovah if He is Yehovah?
2. Why did Yehovah desire 74 persons to ascend to Him (even if most of them had to keep a distance)?
3. What does worship mean?
4. Why did Yehovah tell them to worship? What was the purpose of their worshipping?
5. Who are Nadav and Avihu?
6. What does “Moshe to his alone” mean?
7. Why did Yehovah desire Moshe to come close to Him, while desiring the others to stay back?
8. Why was a command against the people ascending given?
9. Since Yehovah is everywhere, why wouldn’t there be just as much danger being anywhere and not being right before Yehovah?
II. Speeches and Justices (verse 3)
Moshe came. He then detailed in order to all the people of Israel all the speeches of Yehovah and all the justices of Yehovah.
The people of Israel answered with one voice! They said, ““We will do all the speeches that Yehovah spoke!”
Questions
1. Verse 3 states, “And Moshe came.” Where did he come?
2. What does “he scrolled to the people” mean?
3. How many speeches did Yehovah give?
4. What are the justices of Yehovah?
5. What does “And all the people answered, one voice” mean?
6. The people of Israel agreed to do all the speeches that Yehovah spoke. Will they follow through and do all?
7. Why did they promise to do all the speeches of Yehovah, then?
III. Writing Speeches and Sacrificing ‘Peaces’ (verses 4-6)
Moshe wrote down all the speeches of Yehovah.
He rose up early in the morning. He built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and he built twelve pillars corresponding to twelve of the tribes of Israel.
He then sent youths of the children of Israel to cause ascension sacrifices to ascend (on the altar). They sacrificed ‘peaces’ sacrifices to Yehovah; those sacrifices were bulls.
Moshe then took half the blood and put it into basins. He then sprinkled half the blood upon the altar.
Questions
1. Where did Moshe write all the speeches of Yehovah?
2. Why did Moshe wait for a day when Yehovah told him to ascend to Yehovah?
3. Why did Moshe rise early in the morning?
4. The text states, “he built an altar under the mountain.” What does that mean?
5. Why did he build an altar?
6. Why did he build twelve pillars, and how did these pillars appear?
7. What was the purpose of these twelve pillars?
8. Why did Moshe send youths?
9. What does “they ‘ascended’ ascensions” mean?
10. What does “they sacrificed ‘peaces’ sacrifices to Yehovah: bulls” mean?
11. Why did Moshe take just half of the blood to put into basins?
12. How much blood was there?
13. What is the purpose of sprinkling blood upon the altar?
IV. Blood of the Covenant (verses 7-8)
Moshe took the scroll of the Covenant. He then called its contents into the ears of the people of Israel.
They responded, ““We will do all that Yehovah spoke! And we have hearkened!”
Moshe took the blood; he then sprinkled that blood upon the people. And he said, “Behold blood of the Covenant that Yehovah cut with you concerning all these speeches!”
Questions
1. What is this scroll of the Covenant?
2. What does “he called into ears of the people” mean?
3. The Israelis responded, “We will do all that Yehovah spoke!” Is that true?
4. The Israelis also said, “And we have hearkened!” Had they hearkened?
5. What does hearken mean?
6. Why did Moshe sprinkle the blood of the bulls upon the people? Wouldn’t that stain their clothing?
7. Moshe then stated, “Behold blood of the Covenant that Yehovah cut with you concerning all these speeches!” Is a covenant cut?
8. When did Yehovah cut this Covenant with the Israelis?
9. What does “Behold blood of the Covenant that Yehovah cut with you concerning all these speeches” mean?
V. Seeing and Envisioning the Gods of Israel (verses 9-11)
Moshe now ascended along with Aharon, Nadav, Avihu, and seventy from the elders of Israel. And they saw Gods of Israel! Under His feet is as the work of a brick of the sapphire, and as a ‘bone’ of the heavens for its cleanness! During this time, Yehovah didn’t send His hand unto those who had come close to Him from the children of Israel! Thus, they envisioned the Gods (the Elohim)! Yet, they still ate and drank!
Questions
1. What did Moshe, Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, and seventy from elders of Israel ascend?
2. Why did Yehovah desire seventy from the elders of Israel?
3. Did these men directly see Gods of Israel?
4. Why would Yehovah desire these men to see Him if He desires that they will live by faith, and not by sight?
5. What is a brick of the sapphire?
6. What is a bone of the heavens?
7. What does “as a bone of the heavens to cleanness” mean?
8. Was what was under His feet pretty?
9. What is a “proximitous” one (seeing that the word proximitous is made up)?
10. Who are these ‘proximitous’ ones?
11. Why does the text specify that He didn’t send His hand unto them, and what does this mean?
12. What does “they envisioned the Elohim” mean?
13. Why does the text add, “And they ate, and they drank”?
VI. The Teaching and the Commandment on Stone Blackboards (verse 12)
Yehovah now had more instructions for Moshe: “Ascend mountainward unto me. And be there! And I will give her to thee—blackboards of the stone—and the Teaching and the Commandment that I wrote to teach them.”
Questions
1. Yehovah said unto Moshe, “Ascend mountainward unto me.” Wasn’t Moshe already ‘mountainward’—that is, hadn’t he already gone toward and up the mountain?
2. What is her in, “And I will give her to thee—blackboards of the stone—and the Teaching and the Commandment that I wrote to teach them”?
3. What are blackboards of the stone?
4. Why did Yehovah specify that these blackboards will be made of stone (instead of wood, for example)?
5. Both words Teaching and Commandment are singular. Yet, there appears to be quite a few teachings and quite a few commandments. Why did Yehovah make those singular?
6. When did Yehovah write the blackboards to teach ‘them,’ and who are ‘them’?
VII. Moshe, Joshua, Aharon and Hur (verses 13-14)
Moshe arose to do as he was told. Yehoshua his minister also arose.
Moshe ascended unto Mount The-Elohim.
Moshe commanded the elders, “Sit-ye to us in this until-that we will return unto you.”
Moshe then told them how to handle things: “And behold, Aharon and Hur are with you. Who is a master of speeches will come-close unto them!”
Questions
1. Why does the text record that Yehoshua also rose with Moshe?
2. What is a minister as it is used in this text, and as it is used in modern Christianity?
3. What is Mount The-Elohim?
4. Moshe said unto the elders, “Sit-ye to us in this until-that we will return unto you.” Identify us and we:
5. What is this in, “Sit-ye to us in this until-that we will return unto you,” and what does “Sit-ye to us” mean?
6. Why did Moshe mention that Aharon and Hur are with them?
7. Moshe next stated, “Who is a master of speeches will come-close unto them!” What does this mean?
8. How could anyone who is a ‘master of speeches’ come close unto Aharon and Hur if Yehovah explicitly commanded the Israelis to not even touch the mountain, and Aharon and Hur are part way up the mountain and in sight of Yehovah?
VIII. Glory, Cloud and Mountain (verses 15-18)
Moshe now ascended unto the mountain.
The cloud blanket-covered the mountain.
Glory Yehovah abode upon Mount Sinai. The cloud blanket-covered him six of the days!
Yehovah called unto Moshe in the seventh day from the midst of the cloud.
Glory Yehovah’s appearance is as a fire ‘eating’ at the top of the mountain; this was visible to the children of Israel.
Moshe came into the midst of the cloud. He ascended unto the mountain.
Moshe was in the mountain forty days and forty nights!
Questions
1. The text states, “And Moshe ascended unto the mountain.” Wasn’t he already there?
2. What cloud blanket-covered the mountain, and what does blanket-covered mean?
3. Why did Yehovah make sure to entirely blanket-cover the mountain?
4. The next statement is, “And Glory Yehovah abode upon Mount Sinai.” What is Glory, and what is Glory Yehovah?
5. What does abode mean?
6. Who is him in, “And the cloud blanket-covered him six of the days”?
7. What was occurring during that six-day period?
8. Why did Yehovah wait six days before calling to Moshe?
9. Where was Moshe when Yehovah called unto him from the midst of the cloud?
10. Did the rest of the Israelis hear Yehovah call Moshe?
11. The text describes the appearance of Glory Yehovah being like a fire eating. What does this mean?
12. What was the fire eating?
13. What is the head of the mountain?
14. What does “to the eyes of the children of Israel” mean?
15. Why did Yehovah desire the Israelis to see these things?
16. What does “And Moshe was in the mountain forty day and forty night” mean, and why aren’t day and night plural?
17. Didn’t Moshe get hungry and thirsty?