Bible Strands
Exodus 19:24
And the LORD replied, “Go down and bring Aaron with you. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the LORD, or He will break out against them.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks to Moses at Mount Sinai, responding to Moses’ report that the people cannot ascend due to the established boundary. Yahweh commands Moses to descend and take Aaron, while reiterating that neither the priests nor the people may breach the limit.
The words — The directive uses לֶךְ־רֵד (lekhe-red), literally “go down,” paired with וְעָלִיתָ (ve-alita), “and you will come up,” to mark the required descent and subsequent ascent with Aaron.
The thread — The verse explicitly forbids unauthorized ascent to Yahweh, a boundary theme carried into Hebrews 12:18, which describes an untouchable, burning mountain, and Hebrews 4:16, which contrasts that with a throne of grace. Hebrews 12:29 further applies the motif of divine holiness as a consuming fire that enforces separation.
Why it lands — The text states that approaching God requires adherence to His prescribed boundaries rather than human presumption. It requires the reader to accept restricted access as a necessary condition of divine holiness.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the Lord said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them.
Cross-references
- Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
- Hebrews 12:18 For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom, and storm;
- Hebrews 12:29 “For our God is a consuming fire.”
- Exodus 19:12 And you are to set up a boundary for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful not to go up on the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.
- Exodus 19:21 and the LORD said to him, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the LORD, lest many of them perish.
- Exodus 24:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.
- Exodus 24:9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,
- Matthew 11:12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subject to violence, and the violent lay claim to it.
- Luke 13:24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.
- Luke 16:16 The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the gospel of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.