Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank.
Now the Lord 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 servant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God.
— Exodus 24:9-13
In Exodus 24:9–13, Aaron, his sons, and the seventy elders of Israel ascended the mountain with Moses. There, they saw God and had a marvelous experience of eating and drinking in the presence of God. When we come to the point we only care for Christ, we are able to see God and eat and drink in His presence. These seventy elders may have been thinking, “Nothing could be better than this!” but God still needed something before He could be satisfied. He wanted to bring them into something more substantial.
Adapted from Joshua: A Life of Service, page 21.
Tomorrow: “Receiving the Tablets of Stone”