25 Mar. God promises Moses two stone tablets containing the Law
“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Come up the mountain to me. Wait there, and I will give you two stone tablets. On these are the teachings and the commands I have written to teach the people.’”
“So Moses and his helper Joshua set out, and Moses went up to Sinai, the mountain of God.”
“Moses said to the elders. ‘Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone who has a disagreement with others can take it to them.’”
“When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it. The glory of the LORD came down on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from inside the cloud.”
“To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a fire burning on top of the mountain. Then Moses went into the cloud and went higher up the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights.”
(Exodus 24:12-18)
After God delivered the Ten Commandments and all the other laws and regulations for living in the Jewish community, he told Moses to climb to the summit of Mount Sinai, where the LORD would give him two tablets containing his laws ‘written in stone’.
Moses told the Hebrew elders to wait until he and Joshua came back down the mountain, and he left Aaron and Hur to dispense justice and wisdom to the waiting Israelites.
As Moses and Joshua, his assistant, climbed Mt Sinai, Moses experienced the ‘glory’ - the brilliant shining presence or ‘Shekinah’ - of the LORD in a cloud covering the top of the mountain (see also 1 Kings 8:10-11).
To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain, the 'glory' of the LORD “looked like a fire burning on the top of the mountain” (Exodus 24:17). The sight was awesome and they were afraid.
But they were not expecting Moses to stay on the mountain top for 40 days and nights, and their respect for God soon waned, as we will see shortly.
The photo (by McStafford) shows the Greek Orthodox chapel on the summit of Mt Sinai where Moses saw the 'glory' of God.
You can read more about Moses’ encounter with God on Mt Sinai @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney2/25-the-israelites-journey-from-egypt-to-mt-sinai/moses-receives-the-ten-commandments