NOTES for Exo 24:1-18
It appears that, in speaking of what is happening, the writer deliberately restrains himself so as not to give way to emotion. No lists are used. Only the simplest descriptions are given, capable of awakening a response in every person's soul. Fire, blood, an oath, a pillar of smoke and a mountain, the people remaining at the foot, and Moses going away for forty days to speak with God. The deliberate lack of emotion in this most powerful experience works more strongly than any cries, groans, and sighs. The picture is clear. Before us stands the majesty of fire that consumes sin and of the Eternal Covenant between God and His chosen people.