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.
