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.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh said to him, “Go down! You shall bring Aaron up with you, but don’t let the priests and the people break through to come up to Yahweh, lest he break out against them.”
- KJV 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.
- NKJV Then the Lord said to him, “Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them.”
- NASB Then the Lord said to him, “Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, or He will break out against them.”
- NLT But the Lord said, “Go down and bring Aaron back up with you. In the meantime, do not let the priests or the people break through to approach the Lord, or he will break out and destroy them.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God sent Moses down, allowing Aaron to come up but warning priests and people not to break through. Access to God is strictly on His terms.
Overview
God grants Aaron limited access alongside Moses but maintains the boundary for all others. Divinely appointed, ordered approach replaces human presumption. This restricted access anticipates the once-for-all opening of the way to God through Christ, who tears the veil and welcomes His people in (Matt. 27:51; Heb. 10:20).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Heb 4:16Let 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.
- Heb 12:29“For our God is a consuming fire.”
- Heb 12:18–25For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom, and storm;
- Exod 24:1Then 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.
- Exod 24:9Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,
- Gal 3:22But the Scripture pronounces all things confined by sin, so that by faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe.
- Luke 16:16The 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.
- Gal 3:10–11All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
- Exod 19:21–22and the LORD said to him, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the LORD, lest many of them perish.
- 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.
- Gal 3:19Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the seed to whom the promise referred. It was administered through angels by a mediator.
- Matt 11:12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subject to violence, and the violent lay claim to it.
- Rom 4:15because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.
- Heb 10:19–22Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
- 2 Cor 3:7–9Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory,
- Exod 19:12And 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.
- John 1:17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 19:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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