Old Testament - Exodus 24 - April 25, 2022

 4/25/2022 – Exodus 24

It is in this chapter that Moses works to help his people in entering into a covenant with God.

He has given them the 10 commandments which give the people progressive steps to come unto Him. D&C 84:23-27 tells us that these 10 commandments were a “preparatory gospel” that included the principles of repentance, baptism and remission of sins. Mosiah 13:29-30 tells us that it was a “very strict law” of “performances and ordinances” designed to keep the Israelites “in remembrance of God and their duty towards him.”  The law of Moses was highly symbolic. It was filled with types and shadows, all of which pointed toward Christ and His future Atonement. Galatians chapter 3 tells us that the law of Moses was given as a schoolmaster or tutor to bring Israel to Christ. And the JST of that chapter tells us that the law of Moses was added to the gospel, not given as a substitute for it.

Moses, once again, goes to the top of the mountain and is instructed by the Lord. When he came down from the mountain he shared “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.” (v 3). In v 4 we learn that Moses also wrote all the words of the Lord, and in v 7 we learn that he reads that book to the people, and again they said “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.”

Moses went on the mount again and this time the seventy and a few others went with him “and they saw the God of Israel”. (v 10)

Next, in v 12 the Lord commands Moses to come up to the mount again, and this time the Lord will give him the “tables of stone” on which He has written His law and His commandments.

In v 15-16 Moses goes up on the mount once again, “and a cloud covered the mount. 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”. Moses had gone to the top of the mount once again as he had been commanded, and when he got to the top it was covered with clouds. Moses stayed right there for 6 days before the Lord spoke to him. We shouldn’t be surprised when it takes us longer than we had hoped to learn more of the Lord, or to hear more from Him. Moses had patience, faith and endurance. He stayed in the midst of that cloud on top of the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights, and he learned much.

Moses learned of the Atonement which Christ was yet to perform, and its importance to every one of us. Elder Bednar spoke about the amazing blessings that are available to us through Christ’s atonement: “Most of us clearly understand that the Atonement is for sinners. I am not so sure, however, that we know and understand that the Atonement is also for saints—for good men and women who are obedient, worthy, and conscientious and who are striving to become better and serve more faithfully. We may mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves. . . . The gospel of the Savior is not simply about avoiding bad in our lives; it also is essentially about doing and becoming good. And the Atonement provides help for us to overcome and avoid bad and to do and become good. . . . “The enabling power of the Atonement of Christ strengthens us to do things we could never do on our own” 


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