Exodus 24:9 - Forerunner Commentary

Exodus 24:9

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Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain The Second Book of Moses Called Exodus 24:9:

Exodus 24:9-10
Excerpted from: God's Sea of Glass (Part 2)

Let us look at what is called "the sea of glass." On Mount Sinai, the elders of Israel saw a vision of the God of Israel, and there was something interesting under his feet: a clear pavement.

The description focuses on the fact that the men saw the God of Israel and remained unharmed.

The "seeing" in Exodus 24:10 was something different from that of Exodus 33:20 and 23, which may denote a partial, as opposed to a full and complete, vision of God. The description of the clear surface that they saw under his feet, in Exodus 24:10, may indicate that this is all they saw of God. It may be that all they saw was a reflection of the image of God, or it may be that this was just a vision in their minds only and not literal.

When Exodus 24:10 says that the four leaders and the seventy elders "saw God,"this does not mean that they beheld God in His essential being or the way that He is in His fullest, because this is not possible for humans. John 1:18 says, "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 knowledge of God that we have in Jesus Christ is real just as sight is real. It is not complete, but it is genuine and true knowledge. Therefore, in one sense, we see the Father by observing the way and teachings of Jesus Christ who represents and is one with the Father.

Clarity is translated from the Hebrew word tohar (to'-har) which signifies, literally, "brightness or purity." Thus, there is a sea of glass or a pavement of a blue color that has the appearance of glass. Moses probably saw God's reflection in the sea of glass. He would certainly have been in a position of bowing.

God came down to the mountain so that they could see a muted likeness, or reflection, of His glory but not look directly at Him. They saw the outline of Him, but they could not see Him clearly. Verse 17 tells us that the glory of the Lord seemed like a consuming fire in a cloud that covered the mountain. Then, they had a special ceremony and a meal, there commemorating the marriage of Israel to God.

Exodus 24:3-11
Excerpted from: The Appointed Weeks of Pentecost

If this is correct, then notice what took place on the next day—the feast day. The giving of the law comprises chapters 20—23. We will pick up the story in Exodus 24:

Verse 4 gives us a time marker. The giving of the law was on one day, and then Moses “rose early in the morning,” it says, built an altar, and ratified the covenant. Thus, the Feast of Weeks may not have been when the law was given, but when the covenant was made. It was made after 7 weeks of following God in the cloud, and of evaluation, which they didn’t exactly pass with flying colors.

But those 7 weeks were a perfect span of time that portended something momentous and, all things considered, incredibly merciful: A covenant with their Creator and Deliverer. And true to His word, Moses and the people worshipped God on the same mountain on which He originally met with Moses.

To top it off, the 70 elders saw God. It says that twice. They ate and drank in His presence. They had a feast—it was a feast day—and they saw the God of Israel. It was an incredible conclusion of the perfectly appointed weeks that came before. This was basically a wedding feast when Israel was married to God by making the covenant.

Exodus 24:9-10
Excerpted from: Standing on the Sea of Glass

Please turn over to Exodus 24. On Mount Sinai, the elders of Israel saw a vision of the God of Israel and there was something interesting under His feet, a clear pavement.

Clarity is translated from the Hebrew word tohar, which signifies brightness and purity. So there is a Sea of Glass or a pavement of a blue color that has the appearance of glass. And Moses probably saw God's reflection in that representation of the Sea of Glass. He would certainly have been in a position of bowing. God came down the mountain so he so they could see a muted likeness or a reflection of His glory, but not look directly at Him. And they saw the outline of Him, but they could not see Him clearly because death would come to a human who looked upon God directly. So God protected those Israelites from being destroyed by clouding it.

Exodus 24:9-10
Excerpted from: The Glory of God (Part 1): The Shekinah

And so here we have Moses and the other leaders of Israel—70 of them—going up to actually see the God of Israel.

They saw His feet. If He was not like a man why did He not have something else? If He was just a blob, why is Moses so confident here that they saw His feet?

We have here the visible presence of God, the Glory of God being shown with all the sapphire stone and like the very heavens in clarity and such, including His form, shaped like a man.

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