Exodus 24:11 says, And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink  These noble men, or elders of Israel, saw God and were not destroyed.  Though they may have been seen as noble men by those around them, they were still but sinners standing before God.  It was due to His mercy that they were not destroyed.  When we first come before God we are but sinful people, but through Christ we can look upon God and not be destroyed because of God's mercy to us.  Verse twelve states, 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.  God told Moses to come on up the mountain and God would give him tablets of stone and His law and commandments which He had written.  Moses was told that he was to be prepared to stay there for awhile.  When we come to God through our faith in Christ, we do not write the laws that we are to live by, but God does.  As a matter of fact, God has already written them, and we just have to accept them.  Moses was to teach God's laws to the people of Israel, and we today are to teach people God's laws once we become a follower of Christ.  Verse thirteen declares, And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.  Moses rose up and Joshua, his minister, rose up with him.  Though Moses was probably comforted by having Joshua with him, this was not what God had instructed him to do.  We might be comforted by having someone else come with us when we come to Christ, but we much each come alone.   Verse fourteen adds, And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them.  Moses told the rest of those with him to remain there, and that Aaron and Hur would settle any matters that they were concerned about.  We are never alone in our service to God, but there are others who are serving in their own way.  Verse fifteen declares, And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount.  As Moses went up the mountain, a cloud covered the mountain.  Those below were blocked from seeing what was going on up on the mountain.  Until we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord, there is always going to be a cloud separating us from God.  Verse sixteen states, And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.  Moses was in the cloud for six days, and on the seventh day, God called him out of the cloud.  Matthew Henry says this was to test Moses' patience or faith.  Had Moses decided before the six days were up that he had waited ling enough, He never would have received God's law.  When we know that we are where God wants us to be, we cannot become impatient for results and give up.  When the time is right, just as God did with Moses, He will call us out of the cloud that seems to surround us.  Verse seventeen proclaims, And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.  When Moses was called out of the clouds, the people below saw a devouring fire on the top of the mountain.  When we look to God, we must acknowledge His power and His mercy.  If we do not accept God's mercy to us by accepting Christ as our Savior and Lord, then we will see His devouring fire forever after His judgment comes.  Verse eighteen adds, And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.  Moses went back into the cloud alone, without Joshua, and was there for forty days.  This did not count the seven days that Moses was in the cloud with Joshua.  Until we accept Christ individually, we will never see God, no matter  who we are with.  We know from the rest of the story that Joshua was a man of faith, but he was not called to receive the law of God.  There are many great men of faith around us today, but they cannot fulfill our purpose in God's kingdom as well as we can if we have been called to a particular task.  This does not mean that God's work won't get done, but that if God had chosen to allow us to do fill a particular purpose in His kingdom, then we sre the best person to fill it.