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Portion 56

Golden Text: Ex 24
Readings for the week:

Day 1: Ex 24

Day 2: Ps 24

Day 3: Is 63-64

Day 4: Ezk 1-3

Day 5: Mt 5:1-12

Day 6: Rev 1

Most people believe that Moses only climbed Mount Sinai once, received the stone tablets, and came down. But nothing could be further from the truth, he went up five times and different things happened each time. In this portion we will be detailing each of them.

  1. The first ascent to the mountain is found in Exodus 19:3 and we study of it in Portion 42. When Moses came down, he gathered with the elders and told them what God had said to him, and they answered, “Whatever the Lord has said, we will do.”[1].
  2. The second ascent to the mountain is found in Ex 19:8, when it is explained to him what he is going to do to be recognized as a prophet by the people. Then Moses returns to them, tells them everything, performs purification rituals and points out the limits of what they could do so as not to die in the presence of the Lord. The agreed meeting with God would be three days later.
  3. The third ascent is found in Ex. 19:16, which was the expected day on which God spoke the Ten Words to Moses amid lightning thunder and the sound of the shofar, which caused the people to turn away out of fear and ask Moses to speak to God alone, since they already recognized him as an intermediary and prophet (v. 20). Then God begins to call Moses the mishpatim. When he finishes, God tells him to go back and tell the people not to cross the boundaries. Interestingly, Moses responds that He had already told him, but he didn’t know that God was going to tell him now to bring a group with him, but the people might not understand and so they all went up (vv.21-24). The group included Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders, but he specifies that they should stand bent down from afar and only Moses would approach (Ex 24:1-2). When Moses descends (Ex 19:25; 24:3), he will show the people in writing the Ten Words and the mishpatim (vv.3,4,7). Why did he write them, then, to seal a covenant with them; therefore, he built an altar for sacrifice and set up the twelve pillars. Notice that what he wrote has nothing to do with the stone tablets, because that time has not come. This book was called: Sefer Habrit (‘Covenant Scroll’). To which the people replied, “We will do all that the Lord has said, and we will obey.“.[2]
  4. The fourth ascent is found in Exodus 24:9, but the elders disobeyed by not bowing down completely but looked to God. Despite this, God did not punish them, they returned in peace and ate that night (v.11).
  5. The fifth ascent is found in Ex 24:12-18, and he does it together with Joshua, remaining up for forty days and nights. It is here that he is going to give him the laws concerning the tabernacle, the priesthood, service, and the Ten Words.

After this Moses is going to be in and out of the mountain for several more occasions. That is why he wore a veil, for the brightness of God’s glory was marked on his face and the people could not look at him.

Questions:

1.- Why do you think God made Moses climb the mountain several times?

2.- If the people heard everything that happened on the mountain, why do you think God com-manded Moses to write these commandments for them?

3.- What harmony do you find between what happened at Sinai and Jesus’ teaching on the Mount of Olives?

 

[1] Ex 19:8.

[2] Ex 24:7.

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