Exodus 24:1-11

Note: This seems to be a good chiasm but the centre is puzzling . Interestingly the blood of the covenant came from burnt and peace offerings, not sin offerings, and these were offered by “young men”. 

A.(1) And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off. (2) And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.

B.(3) And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments:

C. and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.

D.(4) And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD,  

E. and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

F. (5) And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.

E’. (6) And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

D’.(7) And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people:

C’. and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.

B’. (8) And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.

A’.(9) Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: (10) And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. (11) And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.

One thought on “Exodus 24:1-11”

  1. I found this same centre today too and wondered about it.
    Is the centre signifying the full commitment Israel have made to the covenant (“ALL the words”) and the fellowship and potential justification they now experience with God as a result (peace conference Romans 5)? God says he wishes they always had a heart like this (Deut 5:27-29), the heart being the place where faith grows as a result of hearing the Word (cp “in the audience of the people”). Could Israel be said to be showing faith, therefore being jusithfied through faith and having peace with God?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.