The Terrible Glory and the Mediator Text: Exodus 24:12-18
Introduction: The Fear of God is the Beginning
We live in an age that has domesticated God. We have made Him manageable, comfortable, and, if we are honest, quite boring. Our modern sensibilities prefer a God who is a celestial therapist, a divine affirmation machine, whose chief end is to make us feel good about ourselves. But the God of the Bible, the God who reveals Himself at Sinai, is not safe. He is terrible in His holiness, awesome in His majesty, and utterly terrifying to sinful men. And this is a kindness. A god who does not frighten you is not a god who can save you.
The scene in our text today is the culmination of the covenant-making ceremony at Sinai. The people have sworn their allegiance, the blood of the covenant has been sprinkled, and now the mediator must go up to receive the terms of the covenant, written in stone by the finger of God Himself. What we witness here is the necessary separation between a holy God and a sinful people, the essential role of a mediator to bridge that gap, and the visible manifestation of a glory so pure that it appears as a consuming fire. This is not a distant, abstract theological point. This is the bedrock of our salvation. Without the terror of Sinai, the grace of Calvary is just a sentimental story. Without the consuming fire, the cross is a tragedy instead of a triumph. We must understand the fear of God before we can truly grasp the love of God.
This passage is a foundational lesson in how man is to approach God. We cannot waltz into His presence on our own terms. We must come through His appointed mediator, according to His appointed word, and with a proper sense of awe and reverence for His glorious holiness. The Israelites at the foot of the mountain saw a fire that made them tremble, and this was a sign of God's mercy. He was teaching them that He is not to be trifled with, that sin is a deadly serious business, and that their only hope was in the one man who could enter the fire on their behalf and live.
The Text
Now Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses arose with Joshua his attendant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. But to the elders he said, “Remain here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a legal matter, let him approach them.” Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. And the glory of Yahweh dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. And the appearance of the glory of Yahweh was like a consuming fire on the mountain top, in the eyes of the sons of Israel. Then Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
(Exodus 24:12-18 LSB)
The Divine Summons and the Written Word (v. 12)
We begin with the direct command from God to His chosen mediator.
"Now Yahweh said to Moses, 'Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.'" (Exodus 24:12)
Notice the initiative. God calls Moses. Man does not ascend to God by his own ingenuity or spiritual ambition. Access to God is always by divine invitation. "Come up to Me," God says. This is the essence of grace. God does not shout instructions from a distance; He invites His servant into His presence. But the invitation is exclusive. Only Moses is to come all the way up. This establishes the principle of mediation. The people cannot approach God directly; they need a representative.
And what is the purpose of this summons? To receive the written Word of God. God is going to give Moses "the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written." This is a profoundly important moment. God's law is not a vague set of spiritual impressions or a collection of human wisdom. It is objective, fixed, and permanent, so much so that it is engraved in stone by God Himself. This establishes the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. God writes His law down so that it cannot be forgotten, altered, or argued away. It is for "their instruction." The law is a gift of grace. It is God teaching His redeemed people how to live. It is not a ladder for sinners to climb to heaven, but rather the Father's household rules for His adopted children. He rescued them from bondage, and now He is teaching them how to live in freedom.
The fact that the law is written demolishes all attempts to separate the God of the Old Testament from the God of the New. This is the same God who would later send the Word made flesh. The God who writes on stone is the God who speaks through His Son. His character does not change, and His standard of righteousness is eternal.
The Mediator's Ascent and Delegated Authority (v. 13-14)
Moses obeys immediately, but not without first setting the community in order.
"So Moses arose with Joshua his attendant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. But to the elders he said, 'Remain here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a legal matter, let him approach them.'" (Exodus 24:13-14 LSB)
Moses does not go alone initially. He takes Joshua, his attendant. Joshua is being trained for future leadership. He is permitted to go further than the elders, but not as far as Moses. We see a hierarchy of access, a series of concentric circles of holiness with God at the center. This teaches us that while all believers are priests, God establishes order and roles within His covenant community. Joshua is the apprentice mediator, learning from the master.
Before he ascends into the cloud, Moses delegates his judicial authority. He tells the elders to wait, and he appoints Aaron and Hur to handle disputes. This is practical wisdom, but it is also a sober warning. Even with the glory of God blazing on the mountain, life goes on below. Disputes will arise. Sin will happen. The structures of governance and justice are necessary because the people are still sinners, even in the midst of this glorious revelation. Moses' absence will test the leadership of Aaron, a test which, as we know, he will spectacularly fail with the golden calf incident. This provision highlights the frailty of human mediators and points to our need for a perfect, unfailing Mediator who never needs to delegate His authority because He is always present with His people.
The Cloud, the Glory, and the Seventh Day (v. 15-16)
Now the scene shifts to the visible manifestation of God's presence on the mountain.
"Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. And the glory of Yahweh dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud." (Genesis 24:15-16 LSB)
The cloud is a consistent biblical symbol of the divine presence. It is the shekinah glory. It simultaneously reveals and conceals God. It reveals that He is there, but it conceals His full, unveiled essence, which no sinful man can see and live. The cloud is a mercy. It veils a glory that would otherwise incinerate the observer. This is the holy mystery of God; He is present, yet transcendent.
We are told that the glory of Yahweh "dwelt" on the mountain. The Hebrew word is shakan, from which we get shekinah. It means to tabernacle, to pitch a tent. God is making His dwelling place with men, but on His own terms. This is a prefigurement of the Tabernacle that Moses will be instructed to build, and ultimately, a prefigurement of the incarnation, when the Word "became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). Jesus is the ultimate Tabernacle, the place where God's glory dwells perfectly.
For six days, Moses waits. The cloud covers the mountain, and nothing happens. This is a period of testing and preparation. Moses must wait on God's timing. He cannot rush into the presence of the Almighty. Then, "on the seventh day He called to Moses." This is profoundly significant. The call comes on the Sabbath. God is consecrating this encounter by framing it within the pattern of creation: six days of waiting, and a call on the seventh. This connects the giving of the law with the work of creation. The law is not an arbitrary set of rules; it is the blueprint for a rightly ordered creation, a guide to entering God's rest.
The Consuming Fire and the Courageous Mediator (v. 17-18)
The view from the bottom of the mountain is described in terrifying terms.
"And the appearance of the glory of Yahweh was like a consuming fire on the mountain top, in the eyes of the sons of Israel. Then Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights." (Exodus 24:17-18 LSB)
To the people below, the glory of God looked like a "consuming fire." This is not a cozy campfire. This is a raging, all-devouring inferno. Fire in Scripture represents God's holiness, His purity, and His judgment against sin. "For our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). This image was meant to instill a holy fear in the people. It was a visual sermon on the consequences of breaking the covenant they had just sworn to uphold. The same God who is a refuge to His people is a fire to His enemies, and to sin within the camp.
And what is Moses' response to this terrifying sight? "Then Moses entered the midst of the cloud." This is an act of incredible faith and courage. While the people trembled at a distance, their mediator walked into the fire on their behalf. He did not go because he was sinless, but because he was called. He was covered by the grace of God's invitation. This is a stunning picture of Christ, our great Mediator. Jesus willingly entered the consuming fire of God's wrath against our sin at the cross. He absorbed the full heat of that holy judgment so that we would not have to. Moses goes into the cloud for forty days and forty nights, a period associated with testing and judgment (the flood, Jesus' temptation). He is there, alone with God, receiving the law for the people, sustained supernaturally, just as Christ would later fast for forty days in the wilderness, preparing to fulfill that same law perfectly on our behalf.
Conclusion: From the Fire of Sinai to the Grace of Zion
This scene at Sinai is absolutely essential for our understanding of the gospel. The writer to the Hebrews draws the contrast for us explicitly. He says we have not come to a mountain that can be touched, that is burning with fire, to darkness, gloom, and a tempest (Hebrews 12:18). That is the old covenant. That is the ministry of condemnation that reveals our sin and God's holy wrath against it. And praise God for it, because without that knowledge, we would never flee for refuge.
But we have come to something far greater. We have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant (Hebrews 12:22-24). The terror of Sinai drives us to the grace of Zion. The fire on the mountain prepares us to receive the blood of the cross.
Moses, the human mediator, could enter the fire because God called him. But he was still a sinner. He would eventually come down the mountain only to find idolatry and rebellion. His mediation was temporary and imperfect. But our Mediator, the Lord Jesus, not only entered the fire of God's presence, He is the fire of God's presence. He passed through the judgment we deserved, and He came out the other side, resurrected and victorious. Because of His finished work, the call of God is no longer "Moses, come up." The call is now, "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace" (Hebrews 4:16).
The fire that the Israelites saw from a distance is the same fire of God's holiness. But for those who are in Christ, that fire no longer consumes us in judgment. Rather, through the work of the Holy Spirit, it refines us, purifies us, and sets us ablaze for the glory of God. We are called to be a fiery people, because our God is a consuming fire, and we are in Him. The fear we have is not the cowering terror of a slave before a tyrant, but the reverent, loving, awesome respect of a child before his holy and glorious Father.