The Lord also appeared unto Jacob in dreams and visions, and sent angels unto him, and to his son Joseph also, but we pass by these and come to the prophet Moses.
The first revelation the Lord gave to Moses, that we have any account of, was at the burning bush, in Mount Horeb. There the Lord said to him: "I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God."[E] Then and there the Lord commissioned him to go and deliver Israel, in the performance of which labor he received many manifestations that God was with him.
[Footnote E: Exodus iii: 6.]
In Exodus[F] we have an account of God's glorious descent upon Sinai in the presence of all Israel, and the revelations that he gave to them by his own voice: "And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other Gods before me."[G] Then follow nine other commandments: "And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: And when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us lest we die. * * * And the Lord said unto Moses, thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven."[H]
[Footnote F: Exodus xix, xx.]
[Footnote G: Exodus xx: 1-3.]
[Footnote H: Exodus xx: 18, 19-22.]
Subsequently to this there was another grand revelation which the Lord gave to a number of the leading Elders of Israel. Moses thus records it: "Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the Elders of Israel: 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 its clearness, and upon the nobles of the children of Israel, he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink."[I]
[Footnote I: Exodus xxiv: 9-11.]
Moses after this left the other Elders and went into the mount, where he received the law of the Lord written by the hand of God on tables of stone, and also was instructed how to build a tabernacle and the ark of the covenant. Indeed, throughout the lifetime of Moses the manifestations of God's power, and the revelations of his existence were frequent, and came in so direct a manner that there is left no room for doubt; for the Lord knew Moses face to face, so also knew Moses the Lord, and left his testimony on record.