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All right, so this is a good 
natural breaking point because it ends one of the sections. 
We'll start the next section when we gather together on the 
11th. But I'll read chapter 24 in its 
entirety, and then our focus is on the latter half, verses 
9 to 18. So 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. And Moses alone shall come near 
the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor shall the people 
go up with him. 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. 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 12 pillars 
according to the 12 tribes of Israel. Then he sent young men 
of the children of Israel who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed 
peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half the 
blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on 
the altar. 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. 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. 
Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy 
of the elders of Israel. 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. But on 
the nobles of the children of Israel he did not lay his hand. 
So they saw God, and they ate and drank. 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. So Moses arose 
with his assistant Joshua and went up to the mountain of God. 
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. Then Moses 
went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain. 
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. 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. So Moses went into the 
midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses 
was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. Amen. So we've been 
studying this book of the covenant. It begins in chapter 21, which 
is a detailed application of the 10 commandments in chapter 
20. We see the civil law or the judicial law of Moses to regulate 
life in the land amongst the people of God, the Israelites. And then that ratification comes 
here in chapter 24 in two parts. So verses 1 to 8 is the ratification 
proper, verses 9 to 11 conclude that, and then verses 12 to 18 
are another approach by Moses to the mountain. So you've got 
two ascents in chapter 24, verses 9 to 18. Two ascents up the mountain, 
verses 9 to 11, and then verses 12 to 18. So in the first one, 
it's the meeting with God for covenant ratification, verses 
9 to 11. And then the second is the meeting 
with God for laws concerning the tabernacle. And this serves 
as introduction to the next section in the book, beginning in chapter 
25, at verse 1, with the emphasis on legislation concerning the 
tabernacle. So we'll look first at this meeting 
with God for covenant ratification. But let me just explain a bit 
of the structure. It sounds a bit confusing along 
the way. So 9 to 11, as I said, concludes 
the ratification ceremony. They come back down the mountain 
at the end of verse 11. Moses receives additional instruction 
by God in verse 12 to come up to me on the mountain. We know 
that presently they are at the base of the mountain because 
in verse 14 we see that Moses says to the elders, wait here 
for us until we come back to you. So verses 12 to 18 are, 
as I said, introduction to the legislation concerning the tabernacle. It's Moses that goes to the top 
alone. Joshua attends him. Joshua is his assistant. Joshua 
probably goes up halfway, but he doesn't go to the very summit 
of the mountain. That is reserved for Moses alone. But let's look first at the meeting 
with God for covenant ratification in verses 9 to 11. So notice, 
the same men that were mentioned in verse 1 are repeated in verse 
9. Then Moses went up, also Aaron, 
Nadab, and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel. So the ratification 
ceremony in verses 3 to 8 concluded with the sprinkling of blood 
in verse 8. And now there is this covenantal 
meal that they are going to participate in. And as far as this meal is 
concerned, I just want to read a bit of an extended quote by 
Stuart, I think he summarizes it well. He says, 74 people ascended 
Mount Sinai to represent all Israel in the covenant meal. 
A special eating ceremony between parties to the covenant, without 
which the covenant would not have been understood to make 
them allies or friends or kin. In the ancient world, and many 
places in the modern world, people would not eat together if they 
were not somehow allies or family. Eating was understood to convey 
acceptance, to declare approval of those with whom one dined. 
Just as Jesus' dining with tax collectors, non-practicing Jews 
or sinners, and other such persons was regarded by many in his day 
as an act of approval of their behavior, so eating a formal 
meal with others was understood to demonstrate mutual agreement, 
cooperation, acceptance, and respect." So it wasn't just an 
addition. It wasn't something just simply 
tacked on. But it was foundational to this 
ratification ceremony. So the parties involved, the 
74 people representing the entirety of Israel on the one hand, and 
then God on the other hand. So they eat and drink together. 
Now, God doesn't eat and drink the way that we eat and drink. 
I think there's some metaphor going on here, spoken in the 
manner of men, to communicate what is the significant aspect, 
that they ratify this covenant that Israel has sworn fidelity 
to. Now notice in verse 10, it tells 
us in verse 10a, they saw the God of Israel. This is a bit 
of a puzzling statement in light of, say, John 118. No one has 
seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is 
in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. The Bible emphasizes 
that God is spirit and does not have a body like men. In fact, 
turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 4, where you see the emphasis 
on the fact that Israel did not see a form when they saw the 
mount covered with the glory of God. Specifically in Deuteronomy 
chapter 4, at verse 12, the Lord spoke to you out of the midst 
of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form. 
You only heard a voice. Then verse 15, take careful heed 
to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you 
at Horeb, out of the midst of the fire. And then you can turn 
to the Gospel of John. John, I've already referred to 
John chapter 1. No one has seen God at any time, 
which underscores the invisibility of God. But then as well, John 
4, 24, Jesus with the woman at the well. He says, God is spirit 
and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. 
So as spirit, he is not manifest in the same way that a physical 
body or a temporal being is. And then over in John 6, specifically 
at verse 46, not that anyone has seen the father except he 
who is from God. He has seen the father. And then 
if you turn to 1 Timothy, there's two references in 1 Timothy to 
the reality that God is in fact invisible. So in 1 Timothy 1, 
verse 17, it's a doxology unto God. It says, now to the king 
eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be 
honor and glory forever and ever, amen. And then in a similar doxology 
in chapter six, specifically at verse 16, it says, who alone 
has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no 
man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power, 
amen. So when we go back to this particular 
passage, it finds affinity with other passages in the Old Testament 
that express that men in fact did see God. In Genesis chapter 
18 verse 1, Abraham saw the Lord. In Genesis chapters 26, 32, and 
35, Jacob saw the Lord. God appeared to Jacob. Moses saw God according to this 
particular passage, and then again in chapter 33 verse 11, 
chapter 33 verses 18 to 23, chapter 34 verses 5 to 7. So Moses saw 
God, Jacob saw God, Abraham saw God, and then the prophets, Micaiah 
1 Kings chapter 22 verse 19, Isaiah chapter 6 verse 1, and 
then Ezekiel in chapter 1. So how do we explain that person 
saw the invisible God? Well, the emphasis on the invisibility 
of God deals with the essence of God, who God is in his being, 
his essential glory. No man can see him and live. No man can view God in that regard. But in some sense, he makes himself 
known or reveals himself in a particular form. John Gill suggests that 
this is a theophany, which is a manifestation of deity of the 
second person of the Trinity. The reason he argues that way 
is the reference to his feet. Now, he says that this sort of 
typifies or prefigures or foreshadows the very incarnation of the Son 
of God. He says, this sight they had 
was not by a vision or prophecy, or with the eyes of their understanding, 
but corporally. They saw the Son of God, the 
God of Israel, in a human form. as a pledge and presage of his 
future incarnation, who is the angel that spoke to Moses on 
Mount Sinai, as Stephen says, and the Lord that was among the 
angels there, who afterwards became incarnate, and having 
done his work on earth, ascended on high." And he refers to Stephen's 
speech in Acts chapter 7, specifically at verse 38, this is he who is 
in the congregation or the church in the wilderness with the angel 
who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and with our fathers, the one 
who received the living oracles to give to us. So back to chapter 
24 in the book of Exodus, they didn't see the essence of God, 
they didn't see God as God is, because again, no man can see 
that. We are finite, we are limited, 
God is infinite, God is eternal, God is glorious. The theologian 
Van Maastricht said, such passages must be understood to concern 
either a symbolic vision, which perceives not his essence, but 
his operation under certain signs. It's like when God manifests 
himself in Exodus chapter 3 at the burning bush. That doesn't 
mean that God is a burning bush. Rather, it is the means by which 
he manifests his glory, or his being, with reference to Moses 
there. Later on in Exodus chapter 33, 
remember, Moses asks to see the glory of God. And God says, you 
can't see it. But he puts him in the cleft 
of the rock, and then he passes by him, and then Moses, as it 
were, sees his hind parts. And so this reference to their 
having seen the God of Israel, again it's not in his essential 
glory, it was in some way that God manifested himself via or 
by what's called a theophany, a manifestation of deity. and it is intriguing when you 
look there at chapter 24 verse 10, 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. That 
language as it were And then this idea of likeness. It's interesting 
when you look, say, for instance, at Ezekiel chapter 1 and some 
of the theophanies or visions that John the apostle gets in 
the book of Revelation. The closer the creature gets 
to the creator in terms of actually seeing, we always find that language 
in the likeness of, in the likeness of. the creature has only the 
ability to think in creaturely ways and so the scripture refers 
to these things so that the creature who is getting this visible display 
of the glory of God and that is being recorded for us it gives 
us something as it were to sink our teeth into but the closer 
the creature gets to the glory of God the more the emphasis 
on likeness the more the emphasis on it was like, because you cannot 
see or gaze upon the essential glory of God Most High." So whether 
or not we accept that John Gill is right and this is a manifestation 
of the second person of the Trinity, it certainly was something that 
these men saw on the mount such that Moses is able to say under 
the inspiration of the Spirit they saw the God of Israel. But 
that is not to be taken in contradiction with those passages that emphasize 
the invisibility. The invisibility of God refers 
to his essential glory that the creature does not lay eyes upon. So this was some sort of a manifestation 
of his glory, a theophany, to demonstrate his presence among 
them in this covenant meal that they had together. So we see 
that declaration, we see a bit of amplification in that further 
description in verse 10. There was under his feet, as 
it were, a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very 
heavens in its clarity. And then verse 11a is intriguing. Verse 11a tells us something 
that I think is a bit confusing at the initial glance. But he 
did not, I'm sorry, but on the nobles of the children of Israel, 
he did not lay his hand. Does that mean that God did not 
lay his hand? Well, I think there's a hint 
in Genesis, specifically at chapter 32, you can turn there, and then 
we'll see another hint later in Exodus chapter 33. But in 
Genesis chapter 32, we see Jacob wrestling with God. And in chapter 
32, verse 22, we read, He arose that night and took his two wives, 
his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed 
over the fort of Jabbok. He took them, sent them over 
the brook, and sent over what he had. Then Jacob was left alone, 
and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when 
he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the socket 
of his hip, and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint 
as he wrestled with him. And he said, let me go for the 
day breaks. But he said, I will not let you 
go unless you bless me. So he said to him, what is your 
name? He said, Jacob. And he said, your name shall 
no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have struggled 
with God and with men and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked, 
saying, tell me your name, I pray. And he said, why is it that you 
ask about my name? And he blessed him there. So 
Jacob called the name of the place Peniel. For I have seen 
God face to face, and my life is preserved." So again, it's 
a manifestation of deity vis-a-vis this human form. Again, this 
is probably why Gill and others in the Reformed tradition suggest 
it's an instance of the pre-incarnate Christ. prefiguring the incarnation 
that would be to come. But notice, I have seen God face-to-face 
and my life is preserved. Notice the implication. I've 
seen God face-to-face and I've survived. What does Jacob seem 
to infer? You don't see God face-to-face 
and live to tell about it. So then, turn over to Exodus 
chapter 33. Exodus chapter 33, specifically 
at verse 18. Exodus 33 verse 18, and he said, 
Please show me your glory. Then he said, I will make all 
my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name 
of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I 
will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will 
have compassion. But he said, You cannot see my 
face, for no man shall see me and live. And the Lord said, 
Here is a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it 
shall be, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in the 
cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand while I pass 
by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, 
but my face shall not be seen. Again, verse 20, You cannot see 
my face, for no man shall see me and live. So going back to 
this theophany on Mount Sinai, verse 11a probably refers to 
the fact that God didn't kill them. They saw Him in His manifestation 
of His glory, but on the nobles of the children of Israel, He 
did not lay His hand. He didn't destroy them. He didn't 
wipe them out. And then the text ends in verse 
11 on that point, so they saw God and they ate and drank. We're 
completely, we're supposed to understand that the covenant 
is ratified, the covenant is in place, it is secure, they've 
engaged in all the components that are necessary for that particular 
situation, they saw God, they didn't die as a result of that, 
and now they've enjoyed this meal together. And then that 
brings us to this next ascent by Moses alone in verses 12 to 
18. So we start with the command 
given by God. So we assume they're on the ground 
because as I said in verse 14, Moses instructs the elders to 
wait until we come back to you. So in verse 12, Moses gets this 
additional command after this previous ascent where they've 
ratified the covenant, 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. So the reason to return to Mount 
Sinai was to receive in this inscribed form the Decalogue. the Ten Commandments. Now Moses, 
according to verse four, Moses wrote all the words of the Lord 
and he rose early in the morning. I think we're supposed to understand 
that of the civil law of Moses that had been given by God. When 
it comes to this writing that is specifically by God himself, 
there are several instances in Exodus and Deuteronomy that make 
this reference to the Ten Commandments specifically. And so we have 
the giving of the tablets of stone to Moses relative to God's 
instruction here. The identification of those tablets, 
as I've argued, is the Decalogue. Exodus 31.18, if you're taking 
notes, Exodus 34.28, Deuteronomy 4.13, Deuteronomy 5.22, Deuteronomy 
9.10, and Deuteronomy 10.4. Whenever you see that reference 
to the finger of God, it's not that God's not responsible for 
the civil law, it's not that God's not responsible for the 
ceremonial law, but it does show something in terms of the binding 
character of God's moral law. The Decalogue is written by the 
finger of God himself. But then of course the breaking 
of those tablets of stone. So this section concludes with 
Moses on the top of Mount Sinai. If you look at verse 18. So Moses 
went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. 
Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. He's up there 
until chapter 32. If you go to chapter 32, remember 
this is when Israel sins before God. If you notice specifically 
in 32.17, Joshua is nearer the people than he is to the summit. So again, I think that when we 
go back to chapter 24, we're to understand that Joshua is 
Moses' assistant, but when it comes to the summit, only Moses 
himself goes up into the mountain. So Moses comes down according 
to Exodus chapter 32 at verse 19. Exodus 32 verse 15, Moses turned 
and went down from the mountain and the two tablets of the testimony 
were in his hand. The tablets were written on both 
sides, on the one side and on the other they were written. 
So when we go back to chapter 24, that's the purpose for which 
Moses goes, the giving of the formal sort of tablets of stone 
given to Moses, the identification of the commandments of God, and 
then the breaking of those tablets by the people, chapter 32, verses 
1 to 6, and then by Moses himself in 32.19. So the people broke 
the commandments before Moses threw the tablets down. In fact, 
it was because the people broke the commandments that Moses threw 
the tablets down. So when you get to chapter 32, 
it's not just that Moses throws the tablets and they break, it's 
that the people of God had already broken that law that the Lord 
had given to them and that they swore to be faithful to here 
in chapter 24. So back to Exodus 24, I hope 
this makes sense. I think there's a, you know, 
we've got this, seems like Moses is up and down the mountain several 
times. There's two ascents in verses 9 to 18. So Moses complies 
with this. So God gives him instruction 
in verse 12, and then in verse 13, Moses arose with his assistant 
Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. Now, before 
he goes up to the mountain of God, he gives instructions to 
the elders in verse 14. And I think this instruction 
to the elders is very significant. Notice what he says, 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. Now, Aaron and Hur are mentioned 
already in chapter 17 and verse 12. Aaron is going to be singled 
out as the priestly line in Exodus chapter 28. At this particular 
juncture, however, he's older than Moses and quite likely her 
is older than Moses as well. And so Moses wants it to be the 
case that in his absence these elders will adjudicate the problems 
that Israelites have. It's somewhat similar to Exodus 
chapter 18. Remember in Exodus chapter 18, 
Moses is about killing himself, hearing the various problems 
of the various Israelites that he has to deal with. And his 
father-in-law, Jethro, comes along and says, you're going 
to kill yourself if you don't delegate some of this authority. 
So they function or form, basically, you've got lower courts and higher 
courts. Moses functions as the Supreme Court. Now the thing 
that intrigues me here, quit smiling at me about delegation, 
the thing that intrigues me here is that Moses understood the 
sinfulness of man. He doesn't conclude or he doesn't 
have this pie in the sky idea that while I'm away on the top 
of the mountain receiving these tablets from Yahweh, everybody's 
going to just toe the line and do exactly what they're told. 
All throughout this giving of the law, you see the necessity 
of the law that is given. You would think that in this 
wilderness generation being led by God via Moses to the promised 
land, they'd all be so happy, so in love with their God, and 
so in love with one another, they wouldn't steal from each 
other. they wouldn't, you know, have each other's wives, they 
wouldn't engage in the sorts of things that are condemned 
by God. But such is the depravity of 
man, such is the sinfulness of man, such is the heart of man, 
that Moses himself can't go to the summit of God, or summit 
of the mountain, and commune with God without putting in place 
instructions to hear the various cases that will no doubt arise 
among Israelites. They're not going to just do 
exactly what they're supposed to do while dad is away. They're 
going to fight, they're going to argue, they're going to engage 
in lawlessness. It's going to culminate in chapter 
32 where they're actually dancing around the golden calf. And so 
Moses puts in place a particular element for redress for the various 
needs of the Israelites in his absence. He said to the elders, 
wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed, Aaron and 
Hur are with you. This shows us how important legal 
structure is. It shows us how important jurisprudence 
is. It makes the case for the very 
book of Exodus. It makes the case for the very 
giving of the law. God gives the law because he 
wants to restrain the evil tendencies and the proclivities of his preachers. It's a gift given by God. It's 
a good thing. that is to hedge man in, it is 
to restrain man, and as well, it's to function to protect the 
innocent with reference to man's dealings. Now, there's nobody 
truly innocent except Jesus. The only one that was ever, you 
know, wholly harmless and undefiled is Jesus. But in criminal matters, 
in civil matters, there is innocent parties. There are horrible people 
out there that victimize and take advantage of other people. 
And so the innocent parties deserve redress in the law of God, and 
that is precisely what is provided in that law of God. And so Moses 
understands the necessity of that, and he gives charge specifically 
to Aaron and Hur that they be the men that hear these cases 
so that Persons who have a difficulty can go to Aaron and Hur. It's 
not the case that they're just, you know, maybe in 40 days, if 
Moses comes back, we can give you some justice. Maybe in 40 
days, well, you know, they don't know it's going to be 40 days. 
In fact, we see by the time of chapter 32, they don't know when 
Moses is coming back. And that's ultimately what, you 
know, incites them to engage in the act of idolatry that they 
do engage in. But Moses is thinking ahead, 
and Moses says, I want in place something that can help the people 
that have a difficulty. So it wasn't the case, well, 
you know, just wait till Moses gets back, and then we'll deal 
with your criminal affairs, or your criminal matter, or your 
civil matter. That kind of undoes the giving of the law. The giving 
of the law was to regulate the conduct. And it cannot be only 
Moses' responsibility to adjudicate those affairs. So Moses, thinking 
ahead, as he goes up to that mountain, out make sure that 
there's a court in place to heal or hear the various issues and 
challenges that the children of Israel face. Now in verse 
15 we have the ascent by Moses up to the mountain. Then Moses 
went up into the mountain and a cloud covered the mountain. 
Again this is the beginning of the journey And then we see more 
detail given in verses 16 to 18. But clouds and darkness surround 
him, according to Psalm 97, too. Righteousness and justice are 
the foundation of his throne. Whenever you see this cloud that 
is over Mount Sinai, or the cloud that accompanies the march of 
the people of God, that is a theophany as well, similar to the burning 
bush. It is a manifestation of deity. Stuart again says, the cloud 
that covered the top of Mount Sinai and represented God's glory, 
was similar to that which appeared during the daytime to be a pillar 
of dark cloud, and during the night to be a pillar of fire, 
as described in chapter 13 verses 21 and 22, chapter 14 verses 
19 and 20, and then 24. The cloud had already served 
as a protection and guide for the Israelites in their flight 
from the Egyptians. It was the same cloud previously 
indicated in 1918. In Exodus, as elsewhere in the 
Bible, it represented God's glorious presence, awesome, multifaceted, 
partly mysterious, but also protective and encompassing. That's a good 
description of the glory cloud that rests over Sinai and that's 
what verses 16 and following indicates. Now the glory of the 
Lord rested on Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it six days. 
Most of the commentators include the six days with the 40 days 
and 40 nights of verse 18. But in verse 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. The sight of the glory of the 
Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain. See 
that? It was like that. Again, that's what it appeared 
to be. But when you talk about the glory of the Lord, created 
fire does not exhaust, or does not contain, or does not fully 
express that. God uses the convention of creaturely 
things in order to manifest his glory to said creatures. So 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. 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. So, in conclusion, 
we have this particular end of a block of narrative. So we have 
deliverance, chapters 1 to 18, demand, chapters 19 to 24, and 
now the emphasis in the rest of the book is on dwelling in 
chapters 25 to 40. And essentially you'll see the 
instructions to build the tabernacle, and then the actual construction 
of the tabernacle, and it ends on that high note where the tabernacle 
is built, and God's Shekinah glory comes down, and He's manifest 
among them. So with reference to this section, 
we see the ratification of that old covenant. Both parties are 
in hardy agreement. We see that expressed ultimately 
in that covenant meal that the parties have together, as well 
the emphasis on criminal and civil law. Moses doesn't say, 
hey, whatever problems you have, I'll deal with it when I get 
back. No, he charges Aaron and her to hear the difficult matters 
so that people can get their needs met. And then in terms 
of the manifestation of the glory of God, this scene is in fact 
glorious. And again, it's not the essential 
glory of God, but it is in terms of some creaturely manner that 
God reveals himself in a theophany to these elders, to these people, 
and God doesn't kill them according to verse 11. And then with reference 
to the rest of the book, I just want to read a quote by Ralph 
Davis. Probably read it when we come 
back in a few weeks. But I've always found this to 
be quite encouraging, because he deals with that three sort 
of D motif. You've got deliverance, demand, 
and dwelling. He says, the God of 3-5, so that's 
the God who manifests himself in the burning bush. Remember 
Moses saw that burning bush, that was a theophany. The God 
of 3-5 and 19-21. 19-21 is God manifesting himself 
at Sinai. The Lord said to Moses, go down 
and warn the people lest they break through to gaze at the 
Lord and many of them perish. So the God of 3-5 and 19-21 is 
also the God of 25-8. If you look at 25-8, that's central 
to the next section. And let them make me a sanctuary 
that I may dwell among them. So the God of 3-5, the God of 
19-21 is the God of 25-8. So Davis continues. That is, the God of the bush, 
who will rescue his people from slavery, and the God of the hill, 
who declares to his people his law, is also the God of the tent, 
who dwells in the midst of his people, with his tent among their 
tents. We saw that on Sunday night. Remember David wanted to build 
a house for the Lord? And God says essentially that. 
I pitched my tent right alongside of your tents. As long as you're 
a pilgrim people, a wandering people, I will be a pilgrim God 
and a wandering God. Once the children of Israel are 
secured in their land, once their enemies have been vanquished, 
once their king is in a position of peace to be able to build 
that temple, then God will take up residence there. He goes on 
to say, indeed the climax of the book of Exodus is not at 
the sea, chapter 14, nor on the mountain, chapter 19, but in 
the tent, chapters 25 and following. The pinnacle of Exodus is 25.8. 
It is God dwelling in the midst of his people and that is a most 
blessed and encouraging thing that this book provides to us. questions we can deal with that. 
Our Father in heaven, we thank you so much for these emphases 
in this book of Exodus. We thank you, God, for your deliverance 
of us out of the bondage of sin through the power of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. We thank you as well for your law. We know it's 
not so that we might be saved, but it's because we have been 
saved. We get the privilege and the power of the Holy Spirit 
to comply with that law. And we thank you for your dwelling 
among us in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we've seen 
recently in our studies in Ephesians the reality that we come to the 
Father through the Son in the Spirit as we gather for corporate 
worship. What blessed things that you've 
revealed to us in Scripture, both in the Old Covenant and 
in the New Covenant. May these things encourage us, 
and may you strengthen us, and may you cause us to reflect on 
the many blessings that we enjoy in this New Covenant era. And we pray these things through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Any questions or comments? Again, some of that's a bit tricky 
in terms of their goings and comings from the mountain. of the father and son, or is 
that kind of off topic for today? It's not off topic. It's just 
hard. I read a book recently on the Trinity. And the author, 
and I didn't think he was out to lunch, I think he made a pretty 
compelling point that it's not necessarily a good thing to see 
all of the Old Testament manifestations of deity as the pre-incarnate 
Christ. I think that's pretty commonplace 
in the foreign tradition. So the older guys that I use 
regularly are John Gill and Matthew Poole. For just about any, at 
least up to this point, any manifestation of deity, the angel of the Lord, 
they'll always say that's the pre-incarnate Christ. But again, 
this author, his name's Fred Sanders, that wrote a recent 
book on the Trinity. He argues that that's not necessarily 
always the best way to treat it. And I thought he had some 
pretty compelling arguments. But I don't think there's any 
problem with seeing it as the pre-incarnate Christ. But just 
some other things, because he seemed to indicate that the incarnation 
was glorious in and of itself. He seemed to suggest that these 
sort of pre-incarnate things might have taken away from that. 
I don't want to miss but I just know it gave me some things to 
think about in terms of that view. But yeah, Gill and Poole 
and that tradition, I have no problem with that. Especially 
in the man appearances and things like that. Yes, sir? Is there anything about the 40 
days, 40 nights? That's repeated in multiple places. Is there a reason for that? Yeah. to look at it as a figure of 
speech for a long time. I don't have any problem with 
saying it's 40 days and 40 nights, wherever it's plugged in. I'm 
a bit hesitant to just say, well, it's a figure of speech. It could very well be. But to me, that can be a danger 
when we start sort of identifying bunches of things as figures 
of speech. We want to be careful with some 
of the neurology, because I think there's an opposite extreme. So a liberal might write off 
as figure of speech, but there's other people that I think make 
mountains out of molehills quite visually with stuff like this. 
Yeah. I think in an instance like that, 
it's pretty easy to see 40 days and 40 nights. Now, of course, 
people would say, well, what did he eat? And did he have access 
to food? And people deal with this in 
their commentaries and whatnot. But yeah, Stuart, for instance, 
would say this is a figure of speech. But he doesn't go far 
to the point of denying you know, numbers and history and that 
sort of thing. But I think there is a tendency 
in some modern scholarship to do that. Then conversely, like 
Isaac says, it can create some difficulties when you only ever 
read numbers literally. So I guess my answer is, I don't 
know, in a roundabout way. But yeah, I've thought about 
that phrase before, and it does certainly arise a lot in scripture. All right, so January 11, I'll 
probably send out five emails.