Exo 24:1 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.
Exo 24:2 And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.

Sin separates us from the holiness of God. Since this is years before Jesus Christ came to bridge that gap between us and God, the people at this place were not without sin. They had to be careful not to take the presence of God lightly and go into His presence unclean or without reverence. In other words they could not come near to God's presence out of curiosity, like when one goes to a circus. They could only come in reverence and with a repentant heart seeking God for cleansing.

Even today one cannot come to God unless we are coming with an attitude of repentance. Once Jesus comes into our lives, the door is open the separation is repaired and we have access to God, but until then we cannot come to God without acknowledging Jesus as savior and repenting of sin.

At this point in time though only Moses was spiritually able to enter into the presence of God.

Before Jesus Christ, most people had to come to God through a person that dedicated his or her life so completely to the Lord that they were able to approach God's throne with supplication and prayer. This person was either a prophet, priest or someone totally given to seeking God.

Christ came to make the way to God available to anyone. Now we do not need a priest, prophet or intercessor other than Jesus Himself.
Jesus bridged the gap and made it possible for even a small child to have access to the throne of God.

Exo 24:3 And 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 hath said will we do.

People are quick to respond when there is a lot of emotion and the presence of God is real. It is when it seems God is far away and the trials come that true faith is tested.

Exo 24:4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
Exo 24:5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.
Exo 24:6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
Exo 24:7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.
Exo 24:8 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.

The is symbolic of the future blood of Jesus that would be the only way to cleanse from sin. This showed them that the true way of salvation was yet to come. Those that believed at that time was saved by the future shedding of blood of Jesus Christ.

Exo 24:9 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
Exo 24:10 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.
Exo 24:11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.
Exo 24:12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.
Exo 24:13 And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.
Exo 24:14 And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them.
Exo 24:15 And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount.
Exo 24:16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

Why this happened this way is not clear except one cannot enter the presence of God unprepared and perhaps Moses had to wait on God as a test of faith.

God never seems to be in a hurry. He has eternity. It is us that cannot wait for answers from God. Yet many times we hinder God's will by getting ahead of God and trying to work things out on our own. Remember the story of Abraham and Sarah concerning Ishmael and Isaac.

Exo 24:17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.
Exo 24:18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and got him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.

Since Moses stayed that long, those on the ground began to be tempted to find another god and stray. They soon forgot the words they spoke at the beginning of this chapter when they said they would obey God.

It is the times when we do not feel anything that will prove whether or not we have true faith. It is easy to have faith when we see the miracles and God's presence is strong among us. This is why many Christians stress salvation by faith instead of feelings. Feelings have a way of disappearing at times. Faith is believing without feeling anything in the flesh.

The actual written word will sustain our faith. The word of God needs to be studied in order to strengthen faith. Those that depend upon hearing preaching once in a while will not have faith if they do not study the word for themselves in quiet times.
We can't just depend on our local pastors. We need the word daily.

Exodus 25