I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the Lord, for you were afraid because of the fire and would not go up to the mountain. He said:
He removed the high places, broke down the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and crushed the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the Israelites had made offerings to it. They called it Nehushtan.
Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses, His chosen one, stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath from destroying them.
So on the third day, in the morning, there was thunder and lightning, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet. All the people who were in the camp trembled.
Their leader shall be one of them, and their ruler shall proceed from their midst; and I will cause him to draw near and he will approach Me; for who is this that dares to approach Me? says the Lord.
What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, until the Seed should come to whom the promise was made. And it was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator.
For Christ did not enter holy places made with hands, which are patterned after the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.