John Calvin Commentary Exodus 24

Come up unto the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu. Before Moses erected the tabernacle and consecrated it by a solemn ceremony, it was necessary for him to retrieve the Tables of the Covenant, which were a pledge of God’s favor. Otherwise, if the ark had nothing in it, the sanctuary would have been, in a way, empty. For this reason, he is commanded to go up into the mount, but not without a splendid train of companions, so that an appropriate preparation might arouse their minds for a fitting reception of this special blessing.

He is, therefore, commanded to take with him Aaron his brother, and Nadab and Abihu, together with seventy of the elders of the people. This was the number of witnesses selected to behold the glory of God. Before they ascended the mount, however, a sacrifice was offered by the whole people, and the Book of the Law was read. Finally, Moses alone was received at the top of the mount to bring from there the Tables written by the hand of God.

Here, however, (see Numbers 11:16 below for further discussion of this subject) a question arises concerning the seventy elders. For we shall see elsewhere that the seventy were not chosen until the people had departed from Mount Sinai; yet, mention is made of them here before the promulgation of the Law, which seems not at all consistent.

But this difficulty is removed if we accept what we gather from this passage: that even before they came to Mount Sinai, each tribe had appointed its governors (who would make up this number, as there were six from every tribe), and that when Moses later desired to be relieved of his burdens, part of the government was transferred ³⁰⁵ to these seventy persons, since this number was already sanctioned by custom and use. Certainly, since it is plainly stated that there were ³⁰⁶ seventy from the very first, it is probable that this number of assistants was given to Moses to make as little change as possible. For we know that when a custom has become established, people are very unwilling to depart from it.

But it might also have been that the desire and intention of the Israelites was thus to celebrate the memory of their origin. For seventy persons had gone down into Egypt with Jacob, and in less than two hundred and twenty years after they arrived there, their descendants had increased to six hundred thousand, besides women and children. It is not, therefore, improbable that seventy persons were appointed to preside over the whole people, so that such a marvelous blessing of God might continue to be attested in all ages, as if tracing the beginning of their nation back to its very source.

And Moses alone shall come near the Lord. Three gradations are marked here. A station is prescribed for the people, from where they may worship afar off; the elders and the priests are appointed to be Moses' companions, to come closer, and thus to be witnesses to the people of all the things which we shall afterwards see to be shown them; while, as they were separated from the multitude, Moses alone was finally received into the higher glory, for he was caught up on high in the covering of the cloud.

This³⁰⁷ distinction is marked in the words, Moses alone shall come near...; but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up. Some translators render the verbs in the past tense, but this is improper, in my opinion. For Moses is not yet relating what was done, but only what God had commanded, as is plain from the next verse, in which the modesty and humility of the people are also commended, because they received with reverence a command which was not in itself very agreeable or likely to be approved.

For, such is the ambition of men, that it might have seemed insulting that they should be set afar off and prohibited from approaching the mountain, like strangers and heathens. It is, therefore, evidence of their pious reverence that they submitted to be placed at a distance and were content with a position apparently less honorable.

And Moses more clearly expresses their readiness to obey when he reports their words, that they would do all that he had declared to them from the mouth of God.

And Moses³⁰⁸ wrote all the words of the Lord. This parenthesis is opportunely inserted. For we will see a little further on that the book was read before the people. But, to awaken greater attention, before the reading, he built an altar and offered sacrifices in the sight of all the people.

Moreover, it must be observed that statues³⁰⁹ were erected near the altar according to the number of the tribes. This was so that they would know that they were not kept far away as a sign of rejection. Instead, conscious of their own unworthiness, they were to humble themselves before God in fear and trembling. For although they were removed to a considerable distance, they were still remembered before God. Thus, He embraced them all, as it were, through these statues.

What Moses, however, calls by this name were not images bearing the shape of a man, but heaps of stones. These could serve as monuments representing the twelve tribes, so that they would know they were by no means excluded from the sanctity of the altar.

And he sent young men of the children of Israel. He either means that they were the sacrificial attendants (victimarios), by whose hands the victims were killed, or that some were chosen who might be active and strong to drag the oxen to the altar. The tribe of Levi was not yet consecrated; whereas the word used for “offering,”³¹⁰ is only applied to the priests, where a distinction is marked between the Levites and the rest of the people. The first meaning is therefore the most suitable.

We have stated elsewhere that the³¹¹ sacrifices of prosperities were designed as acts of thanksgiving; and yet they were not only expressions of gratitude, but prayers were also mixed with them in supplication for good success. This offering, however, included a ratification of the Covenant, as appears immediately afterwards. For, to increase the sanctity and security of covenants, they have in all ages, and even³¹² among heathen nations, been accompanied by sacrifices. To this end Moses, after the victims were slain, pours half the blood upon the altar and keeps half in basins to sprinkle the people, so that by this³¹³ symbol the Covenant might be ratified, of which he was the mediator and surety.

Paul, alluding to this custom, says that he would rejoice if he were offered upon the sacrifice and service of their faith whom he had gained for Christ (Philippians 2:17); and he uses the word σπένδεσθαι, which³¹⁴ is primarily applied to covenants. But the case of this sacrifice was peculiar, for God desired the Jews to be reminded of the one solid confirmation of the Covenant, which He made with them, as if He had openly shown that it would then only be ratified and effectual when it should be sealed with blood. And this the Apostle (Hebrews 9:19) carefully takes into consideration when he says that after the Law had been declared, Moses sprinkled both the book and all the people with blood. For, although there is no express mention here made of the book, the Apostle does not unreasonably include it under the word “altar.” He also alludes to another kind of sacrifice, treated of in Numbers 19:5, and therefore mentions the scarlet-wool and hyssop.

The sum is that the blood was, as it were, the medium by which the covenant was confirmed and established, since the altar, as the sacred seat of God, was bathed with half of it, and then the residue was sprinkled over the people. From this we gather that the covenant of gratuitous adoption was made with the ancient people to eternal salvation, since it was sealed with the blood of Christ in type and shadow.

Now, if this doctrine holds true under the Law, it must certainly hold a place with us now. Therefore, so that God’s promises may always maintain their power and certainty, let this sealing be constantly kept before us. Let us remember that the blood of Christ was therefore once shed that it might engrave upon our hearts the covenant by which we are called to the hope of the kingdom of heaven. For this reason, Christ in the Holy Supper commends His blood as the seal of the New Covenant. Indeed, whenever we take the sacred books into our hands, the blood of Christ ought to occur to our minds, as if the whole³¹⁵ of its sacred instruction were written with it; for it is obvious that Christ compares the figure with the truth which was manifested in Himself, to which also the admonition of the Apostle, which I have just quoted, refers.

We must now carefully observe the course of the proceeding. First, Moses states that he read the book before the people; then he adds that the people themselves embraced the covenant proposed to them. Finally, he relates that when the people had professed their obedience, he sprinkled the blood, not without adding his testimony, and that in a loud voice.

The context here shows us the true and genuine nature of the Sacraments, together with their correct and proper use. For unless doctrine precedes them to be a connecting link between God and man, they will be empty and delusive signs, however honorable may be the praises bestowed on them.

But since mutual consent is required in all agreements, so, when God invites His people to receive grace, He stipulates that they should give Him the obedience of faith, so as to answer, Amen. Thus, nothing can be more preposterous than the invention of silent sacraments, such as those childish charms which the Papists hawk about as sacraments, without the word of God. At the same time, it must be added that the word, which gives life to the Sacraments, is not an obscure whisper, like that magical incantation of the Papists when they blow on the bread and the cup (which they call the consecration). Rather, it is a clear and distinct voice which is addressed to men and is able to produce faith in them. Thus Moses here speaks aloud to the people and reminds them that God enters into covenant with them.

Now, although the profession here recorded might seem to be derived from too great confidence when the people declare that they will do whatever God commands, still it contains nothing amiss or reprehensible, since the faithful among them promised nothing except in reliance on the help of God; and gratuitous reconciliation, if they should sin, was included in it. This was not indeed the proper office of the Law, to incline men’s hearts to the obedience of righteousness; similarly, under the Law there was no true and real expiation to wash away the guilt of sins. Instead, the office of the Law was to lead men step by step to Christ, that they might seek from Him pardon and the Spirit of regeneration. It is, therefore, unquestionable that the elect of God embraced by faith the substance and truth of the shadows when they voluntarily offered themselves to keep the covenant of God.

Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu. This is how I connect the history: Moses, having finished reading the Law and having sprinkled the blood, took with him the companions pointed out to him by God, and having left the people, went with these men some distance up the mountain. I have thought it well to touch briefly on this, because some translators render the verb improperly in the pluperfect tense, as if he and the elders had already³¹⁶ been separated from the people; but this is very absurd, for it was necessary for him to remain in the plain to address the people.

There the glory of God was seen more closely by the elders, so that they might later relate to the people what they had seen, and so that the matter, being proved by competent witnesses, might gain unquestionable credibility. For this reason he says that they saw the God of Israel, not in all His reality and greatness, but in accordance with the dispensation which He thought best, and which He accommodated to human capacity.

The form of God is indeed nowhere described, but the pediment (basis) on which He stood was like a work of sapphire.³¹⁷ The word לבנת, libnath, some translate as stone, others as whiteness, others as brick. Whichever sense one prefers to take it in, it has little effect on the main point of the matter.

For the color of a sapphire was presented to them to elevate their minds by its brightness above the world; and therefore it is immediately added that its appearance was like that of the clear and serene sky. By this symbol they were reminded that the glory of God is above all heavens. Since in His very footstool there is such exquisite and surpassing beauty, something still more sublime must be thought of Himself, and such as would overwhelm all our senses with admiration. Thus the throne of God was shown to Ezekiel as the appearance of a sapphire-stone (Ezekiel 1:26; Ezekiel 10:1).

Finally, on the footstool Infinite Majesty appeared, striking the elders with astonishment, so that they humbled themselves with greater reverence before the incomprehensible glory of God.

And upon the nobles of the children of Israel. These words, it seems to me, are severely distorted by those³¹⁸ who interpret them to mean that the elders were not made participants in the prophetic gift, or that the power of God did not extend to them. For these clauses are to be taken connectedly as follows: although they saw God, His hand was not laid upon them, but they ate and drank.

From this we can gather that God’s paternal favor towards them is indicated by the fact that He spared them. For we must bear in mind what is said elsewhere: There shall no man see my face and live (Exodus 33:20). Thus, among the ancients, this was a kind of proverbial expression: “We shall die, because we have seen God.” So Jacob, in commendation of God’s grace, says, I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved (Genesis 32:30).

For if the mountains melt at the sight of Him, what must necessarily happen to a mortal man, than whom nothing is more frail or feeble? In this, then, God’s incomparable leniency reveals itself when, in manifesting Himself to His elect, He does not altogether absorb and reduce them to nothing, especially when some special vision is presented to them. In sum, therefore, Moses shows us that it was a miracle that the rulers of Israel remained safe and sound, although the terrible majesty of God had appeared to them.

Now, this was the case because they had not rashly thrust themselves forward but had come near at the call of God. From this we learn that our boldness never exceeds its due bounds, nor can be condemned as presumption, when it is founded on the command of God. While worse than any pride or self-confidence is timidity, which, under pretense of modesty, leads us to distrust the word of God. If anyone of the people had attempted to do the same as the rulers, he would have experienced in his destruction what it is to advance beyond bounds. But the reason their free and bold access was successful for the elders was because they obeyed the command of God.

What follows, regarding their eating, I interpret to mean a solemn banquet, which was a part or accompaniment of a sacrifice, as we have seen in connection with Exodus 18³¹⁹ and in many other places.