Exodus 19:24

24 And the Lorde sayde vnto him: awaye, and get the doune: and come vp both thou ad Aaron with the. But let not the preastes and the people presume for to come vp vnto the Lorde: lest he smyte them.

Exodus 19:24 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 19:24

And the Lord said unto him, away, get thee down
And prevent the people and priests from breaking through the bounds and gazing, to which their curiosity would tempt them; as the Lord knew better than Moses, and it was high time for him to be gone, the matter required haste, the people were under great temptations of indulging their curiosity, to the peril of their lives:

and thou shall come up, thou, and Aaron with thee;
which is thought to be an answer to the question, who might come up? only himself and Aaron, who was his prophet and spokesman, and concerned with him in his miracles, and in conducting the people of Israel; and who was to be chief priest as Moses was to be, and was the leader and governor of the people:

but let not the priests and the people break through to come up
unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them;
it required the immediate presence of Moses below, and immediate care was to be taken by him, lest the priests and people, led by a vain curiosity, should attempt to ascend the mount, and come where God was, to see if they could observe any likeness of him; which would so provoke him, that in just retaliation, as they had broke through the bounds set, he would break forth on them by inflicting sudden death upon them.

Exodus 19:24 In-Context

22 And let the preastes also which come to the Lordes presence, sanctifie them selues: lest the Lorde smyte them,
23 Then Moses sayde vnto the Lorde: the people can not come vp in to mounte Sinai, for thou chargedest vs saynge: sett markes aboute the hyll and sanctifie it.
24 And the Lorde sayde vnto him: awaye, and get the doune: and come vp both thou ad Aaron with the. But let not the preastes and the people presume for to come vp vnto the Lorde: lest he smyte them.
25 And Moses wet doune vnto the people and tolde them.
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