And Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up;
Moses has just sprinkled the blood that confirmed the covenant. Now a named group climbs the mountain, which raises two questions: why these men and not the whole nation, and how could sinful men go up at all?
This climb gave Israel a group of independent witnesses.
In obedience to verses 1–2 Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, together with 70 of the elders of Israel went up into the mountain (v. 9). This large group of witnesses took away any suspicion of the people that Moses might be in any way deceiving them.
The law kept its worshippers at a distance. Two short phrases mark the gap between law and gospel.
We may search from end to end of the legal ritual, and not find those two precious words, "draw near." No one could hear such words from the top of Sinai, or among the shadows of the law. They could only be spoken at heaven's side of the empty tomb of Jesus. There the blood of the cross has opened a cloudless view to the sight of faith. The words "afar off" are as characteristic of the law as "draw near" are of the gospel. Under the law, the work was never done that could entitle a sinner to draw near.
God told Moses that no one can see His face and live. So what made this climb safe?
God declared in Exodus 33:20, "You cannot see My face; for man shall not see Me and live." Yet here Moses and his companions went up as representatives of the people. They ate and drank in the presence of the God of Israel. This was through special grace, granted on the ground of the blood sprinkling that had just taken place.
Under His feet lay a pavement of sapphire stone. Its colour carries a message.
God had been revealing Himself at Sinai, as far as He could do so, for "No one has ever seen God" (John 1:18). But He shows something of His character, and does so in the symbolic way suited to the time of types and shadows. The elders of Israel go up the mountain. Beneath the feet of the God of Israel they see the pavement of sapphire stone, "like the very heaven for clearness." So the intense blue of the sapphire speaks of heaven.
Splendour, however, is not intimacy.
This was the showing of "the God of Israel" in light and purity, majesty and holiness. It was not the opening of the affections of a Father's heart. It was not the sweet tones of a Father's voice, breathing peace and putting confidence into the heart. No. The pavement of sapphire stone showed a purity and light no one could approach. It could only tell a sinner to keep away. Still, "they saw God and ate and drank." A moving proof of divine forbearance and mercy, and of the power of the blood!
Ordinary human life carried straight on in the presence of God.
This covenant, made on condition of the obedience of the people, was confirmed by blood (Ex. 24). The blood was shed, and death had in this way come in as God's judgment. Then the elders go up to enter into relationship with God. They see His glory, and continue their human and earthly life; they eat and drink.
Some writers draw a direct line from that meal to the believer's table today.
We can surely link this with the Lord's supper. It is our privilege then to draw near to God and to eat and drink in His presence. Just as the elders of Israel did, we should draw near with reverence and holy fear.
Nadab and Abihu stand in this honoured list. Their later story carries a warning.
Abihu and Nadab, sons of Aaron, with seventy of the elders of Israel, were invited to go up with Moses, where they saw God and ate and drank. They were set apart to serve the Lord as priests. Yet the first time they acted as priests for Israel, they offered strange fire that the Lord had not commanded. Fire from God struck them down. The case of Nadab and Abihu should teach us that not every kind of worship is acceptable to God.
- Blood first. The climb follows the sprinkling. The sight of God rests on sacrifice, not on the worth of the men who went up.
- Blood permits. God had said that seeing Him would kill a man. Here special grace, resting on the blood, let these men see Him and live.
- Blood still limits. They worshipped "afar off." Distance marks the law, and "draw near" waits for the empty tomb.
- Blood feeds. They saw God and then ate and drank, human life continuing in His presence. Some read this as a picture of the Lord's supper.
- Blood does not excuse. Two men in this list later offered fire God never commanded, and they died. Nearness is no licence for worship we invent ourselves.
and they saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it were work of transparent sapphire, and as it were the form of heaven for clearness.
Blood had just sealed the covenant. Now Israel's leaders climb the mountain, and the text says they saw the God of Israel — yet the Bible also says no one has ever seen God. What did they see? Why did they live through it? And what was the blue pavement under His feet saying?
Commentators answer the puzzle by drawing a line. God's own being stayed hidden, but He showed Himself in a form men could bear.
They "saw the God of Israel," and this is not contradicted by 1 Timothy 6:16, which refers to God in His essential being and glory. Ezekiel saw "the likeness of the glory of the Lord" (Ezekiel 1:28). John on the island of Patmos saw One seated on the throne with "the appearance of jasper and carnelian" (Revelation 4:3). In the same way, these men saw God make Himself visible. We note that Scripture does not try to describe Him. It tells us only that what lay beneath His feet had the appearance of "paved," or "transparent" sapphire and the "clearness" of heaven.
Scripture says nothing about how God looked. Every detail falls on what lay under His feet.
They see the God of Israel — not as Moses did, "face to face" — and we must not guess at the vision. What Scripture dwells on for us is what lies "under His feet": the sapphire work, like the clear transparent depths of the heavens themselves... those endless depths hint at the infinite to our finite minds, yet God rises above them with His whole Being — they are only the footstool for His feet. This wonderfully reveals the One we still do not see; for there is no likeness of Him, and they saw none (Deuteronomy 4:12). Yet we have seen Him, amazing to say, in the likeness of the Son of Man! (Revelation 1:13)
This stone turns up at other key moments in Scripture.
When Moses and the elders went up into the mountain to God, "there was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone" (Exodus 24:10). In Ezekiel's vision, above the expanse, he saw "the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire" (Ezekiel 1:26). It was one of the stones in the breastplate, and one that adorned the foundation of the holy Jerusalem. It is symbolic of heavenly glory... Probably an azure or sky-blue stone.
So how much of God did they see?
The elders saw God on His throne. In fact, they did not see much more than the foundation of the throne.
This sight revealed one side of God and held back another.
This was the manifestation of "the God of Israel," in light and purity, majesty and holiness. It was not a Father opening His heart, or the gentle tones of a Father's voice, breathing peace and giving confidence to the heart. No — the "pavement of sapphire stone" declared a purity and light no one could approach, and that could only tell a sinner to keep off.
They stood in that light and lived. The blood was the reason.
They saw the God of Israel. God displayed Himself in the majesty of His holiness to their gaze. The pavement of sapphire stone... and the added description, "like the very heaven for clearness," speak of heavenly splendour and purity... The blood was what let them in to this remarkable privilege. And it was a privilege to see the God of Israel and enter into relationship with Him — even though the whole character of what He revealed to them spoke of distance, not nearness.
That distance did not stay fixed.
The people were far off, the leaders were not to come near, and had to worship from a distance. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, however, makes near, and we can draw near. The legal covenant always puts man at a solemn and guilty distance from God; the covenant of grace brings man near to God.
The same stone appears again in the foundations of the heavenly city.
The names of the apostles are engraved on the foundations of the Church, but Christ Himself is the true foundation... Then comes the stone on which the elders of Israel had seen God Himself standing.
- Blood first. They climbed only after blood had sealed the covenant. Their place before God rested on sacrifice, not on rank.
- Sight, but veiled. They saw God shown in a form they could bear, not His own being. They saw no likeness of Him then — we see Him now in the likeness of the Son of Man.
- Blue means heaven. The clear sapphire under His feet spoke of heavenly splendour and purity. They saw the foundation of a throne, not the One on it.
- Purity at a distance. That light told a sinner to keep off; it was majesty and holiness, not a Father's voice inviting confidence.
- Distance answered. The law kept people far off. The blood of Christ brings them near — and the same sapphire shines in the foundations of the heavenly city.