Exodus 24:18

And Moses went into the midst of the cloud,.... Where the glory of God was, and he must at this time be endowed with more than ordinary courage to enter into it, when the glory of the Lord flashed

And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights. Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount.

Into the midst of the cloud, the God that called him enabling him to enter and abide there; whereas, when he was left to himself, he could not enter into the tabernacle, . Forty days and forty nights; in which he did neither eat nor drink, ,18; whereby it seems most probable the six days mentioned were a part of these forty days, because Moses being in perpetual expectation of God’ s call, seems not to have had leisure for eating and drinking, nor provision neither. Besides, he is not said to be in the midst of the cloud so long, but only in the mount, where he was those six days, ,16.

Exodus 24:18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.Ver. 18. Forty days.] All which time he never ate nor drank, and so better merited the surname of Nesteutes, the faster, than that proud prelate John, Bishop of Constantinople.

(18) Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.—During the whole of this time he took no food (Deuteronomy 9:9). Comp. The fast of Elijah (1 Kings 19:8), and that of our blessed Lord (Matthew 3:2). Modern imitations are in all probability impostures.

Verse 18. Forty days and forty nights.] During the whole of this time he neither ate bread nor drank water; see Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:9. Both his body and soul were so sustained by the invigorating presence of God, that he needed no earthly support, and this may be the simple reason why he took none. Elijah fasted forty days and forty nights, sustained by the same influence, 1Kg 19:8; as did likewise our blessed Lord, when he was about to commence the public ministry of his own Gospel, Matthew 4:2. 1. MOSES, who was the mediator of the Old Covenant, is alone permitted to draw nigh to God; none of the people are suffered to come up to the Divine glory, not even Aaron, nor his sons, nor the nobles of Israel. Moses was a type of Christ, who is the mediator of the New Covenant; and he alone has access to God in behalf of the human race, as Moses had in behalf of Israel. 2. The law can inspire nothing but terror, when viewed unconnected with its sacrifices, and those sacrifices are nothing but as they refer to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who alone by the sacrifice of himself, bears away the sin of the world. 3. The blood of the victims was sprinkled both on the altar and on the people, to show that the death of Christ gave to Divine justice what it demanded, and to men what they needed. The people were sanctified by it unto God, and God was propitiated by it unto the people. By this sacrifice the law was magnified and made honourable, so Divine justice received its due; and those who believe are justified from all guilt, and sanctified from all sin, so they receive all that they need. Thus God is well pleased, and believers eternally saved. This is a glorious economy, highly worthy of God its author.

15b–18a (P). Moses is summoned up into the cloud on the top of the mount. The verses are P’s parallel to the narrative of JE in ch. 19. 15b. The sequel in P to Exodus 19:1-2 a. the cloud] the one which in P regularly enshrouds the ‘glory’ of Jehovah (cf. on the tabernacle, Exodus 40:34 f.; and the note on Exodus 13:21-22, at the end). Here it covers the mount, immediately upon Israel’s arrival at Sinai: contrast Exodus 19:16. 16. the glory of Jehovah] see on Exodus 16:10. abode] or dwelt: a word often used in P of Jehovah, the cloud, or the glory. Cf. Exodus 25:8, Exodus 29:45-46, Exodus 40:35; Numbers 5:3; Numbers 9:17-18; Numbers 9:22; Numbers 10:12; Numbers 35:34; and on Exodus 25:8-9. 17. The brilliance of the ‘glory’ broke through the cloud in which it was enveloped, and became visible to the people. devouring fire] i.e. blazing fire. Cf. Isaiah 29:6; Isaiah 30:27; Isaiah 30:30. 18b (E). The sequel (with the original connecting words omitted) follows in Exodus 31:18 b. That Moses, according to E, was some time to the mount, is evident from the terms of Exo 32:1 : the ‘forty days’ are alluded to in Deuteronomy 9:9; Deuteronomy 9:11.

During this period of forty days, and the second period when the tables were renewed, Moses neither ate bread nor drank water. Compare marginal references.

18. Forty days and forty nights — We naturally compare with this Exodus 34:28, and Deuteronomy 9:18.