Beginning of the End: How the “Old Covenant” was Made

 After coming down from the mountain, “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.’”

Then they ratified the covenant. An altar was built at the foot of the mountain, and beside it twelve pillars were set up, “according to the twelve tribes of Israel,” as a testimony that they accepted the covenant. Moses “took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people.” All were free to choose whether they would comply with the covenant’s conditions. They had heard God’s law proclaimed, and its principles had been applied to various situations, so that they could know how much this covenant involved. Again the people answered together,

“‘All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.’ When Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood ... and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you’” (Hebrews 9:19, 20).

Moses had received the command, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel.” The seventy elders were to assist Moses in governing Israel, and God put His Spirit on them. “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.” They did not see God Himself, but they saw the glory of His presence. They had been thinking about His glory, purity, and mercy, until they could come nearer to Him.

Moses and “his assistant Joshua” were now summoned to meet with God. The leader appointed Aaron and Hur, assisted by the elders, to act in his place. Moses waited to be called into the presence chamber of the Most High. His patience and obedience were tested, but he did not leave his post. Even this favored servant of God could not immediately approach into His presence and endure His glory. For six days he must devote himself to God by searching of heart, meditation, and prayer.

On the seventh day, which was the Sabbath, Moses was called up into the cloud. “So Moses went into the midst of the cloud. ... And Moses was in the mountain forty days and forty nights.” He fasted during the entire forty days.