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Answer
Moses actually went up on Mount Sinai several times to meet God as recorded in Exodus 19 through the end of the book. Depending on the reckoning, Moses climbed Mt. Sinai about eight times to meet with the Lord.
The first ascent. After the exodus from Egypt, on the first day of the third month, the Israelites arrived at Mt. Sinai. Moses’ first trip up Mt. Sinai is described in Exodus 19:2–7. He ascends the mountain in verse 3 and comes back down in verse 7. On the mountain, God tells Moses that He is offering a covenant to the people of Israel: if they will keep the covenant, God will make them His own “treasured possession” and “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (verses 5–6). Moses reports this message to the people, and the people respond by saying, “We will do everything the Lord has said” «And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD. », (Exodus 19:8).
The second ascent. Moses returns to the top of Mt. Sinai in Exodus 19:8 in order to relay the people’s response to the offer of a covenant. God then tells Moses that He will speak audibly to Moses in a thick cloud so that all the people will put their trust in Moses as God’s chosen leader. Moses descends the mountain in verse 9 to relay this information to the children of Israel.
The third ascent. In Exodus 19:10, God is speaking to Moses again, which implies that Moses may have again climbed Mt. Sinai. (Some scholars believe God’s words in verse 10 were part of the discourse in verse 9.) In any case, Moses is said to descend the mountain again in verse 14. Moses consecrates the people in preparation for the Lord’s appearance on the mountain on the third day (verses 10–11).
On the third day, “there was thunDuring the third day in the morning, there were thunders and lightnings, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. This event is described in Exodus 19:16. The people of Israel were understandably frightened. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke as the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. The sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder (verses 18–19).
Moses’ fourth trip up Mt. Sinai is detailed in Exodus 19:20–25. God summons Moses to the mountaintop to warn the people not to approach while His presence is there. He instructs Moses to bring his brother, Aaron, with him. Moses descends the mountain in verse 25. God then audibly delivers the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1–17. In fear, the Israelites beg Moses not to let God speak directly to them. Instead, they ask Moses to be their intercessor, and they agree to listen to him (verses 18–19). Moses reassures them not to be afraid but explains that God is testing them so they would fear Him and avoid sin (verse 20).
On the fifth ascent, Moses returns to Mt. Sinai in Exodus 20:21 as he approaches the thick darkness where God was. At this point, God gives Moses various laws, documented in chapters 21–23, along with a promise to give the land of Canaan to the children of Israel (Exodus 23:20-33).
In Exodus 24:1, Moses is summoned once again to climb Mt. Sinai. This time, he is to bring Aaron, Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel with him. The next morning.
, Moses “built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel” (verse 4). He offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings and read the Book of the Covenant to the people, who responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey” (verse 7). To ratify the covenant, Moses sprinkled the people with the blood of the sacrifice (verse 8).
After the ceremony, Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the elders ascend the mountain, and there they “saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky” «and they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. », (Exodus 24:10). Amazingly, God allows these men to live, even though they had seen God; in fact, they “ate and drank” on the mountain (verse 11).
God then commands Moses to continue up Sinai to receive the stone tablets that God had prepared «And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. », (Exodus 24:12). Moses takes Joshua with him and sends the others down to the foot of Sinai. While Joshua waits, Moses continues the ascent. For six days, a cloud covers the top of the mountain. On the seventh day, God calls Moses to enter the cloud and approach the top of the mountain. Moses stays there for 40 days and 40 nights (verse 18).
During this meeting on the mountain, God gives Moses much information. This included the Ten Commandments written on tablets of stone by God Himself. Moses also receives complete instructions on how to build the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, and the altar.At the foot of the mountain, the Israelites had Aaron build the golden calf and were committing idolatry, despite the earlier instructions and specifications for the priestly garments in Exodus 24–31. When Moses and Joshua descended the mountain in Exodus 32:19 and witnessed the people’s actions, Moses, in anger, broke the stone tablets. Subsequently, he destroyed the golden calf and disciplined the people.
During the seventh ascent, Moses returned to the Lord in Exodus 32:32 to intercede for the children of Israel, indicating another ascent of Sinai. In a display of great love and mercy foreshadowing Jesus Christ’s love and mercy, Moses offered his own life in exchange for Israel’s life (verse 32).
In the eighth ascent, as detailed in Exodus 34:1–2, the Lord instructed Moses to carve out two stone tablets like the first ones that were broken, promising to write on them the same words. Moses was to be prepared in the morning to ascend Mount Sinai alone. At the mountain’s summit, the Lord revealed Himself to Moses, describing Himself as “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (verse 6). Moses worshipped the Lord and received a reaffirmation of the covenant. He remained on Sinai for another 40 days and 40 nights, miraculously sustaining himself “without eating bread or drinking water” (verse 28). Upon descending to the people, Moses unknowingly had a radiant face from his encounter with the Lord. Witnessing this, Aaron and all the Israelites were afraid to approach him (verses 29–30).
The events at Mount Sinai were pivotal in world history as God established a new nation with new laws and a new way of life. The Lord revealed Himself as a God seeking to communicate and establish a relationship with His people. Through the giving of the Law, God showcased His holiness and clearly outlined sin.«What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. », (Romans 7:7), and provided a guardian to eventually bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:24-25). The mediation of Moses on Sinai is a wonderful picture of the intercession of Christ on behalf of sinners «Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. », (Romans 8:34).
