In the Thick Cloud So the People Will Trust You Forever

"And the LORD said to Moses, Behold, I come to you in the thickness of the cloud" (Exodus 19:9): "cloud" here means dense darkness, for the cloud in which the Torah was given resembled the cloud upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud upon Mount Sinai was a dense darkness, as it is said, "and a heavy cloud upon the mountain" (verse 16). Rabbi Yose the Galilean says: Moses was sanctified in the cloud for seven days, as it is said, "and the cloud covered him six days, and He called to Moses on the seventh day from the midst of the cloud" (Exodus 24:16); this was after the Ten Commandments and was the beginning of the forty days. Rabbi Akiva says: "and the cloud covered him six days"—for Moses, to purify him; "and He called to Moses on the seventh day"—this was after the Ten Commandments and was the beginning of the forty days. "So that the people may hear when I speak with you." Rabbi Yehudah says: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, Behold, I will speak a matter to you, and you will answer Me back, and I will return and concede to your words. Rabbi says: It was not for the honor of Moses that the Omnipresent conceded to his words, but He said to him thus: The commandments that I gave you at Marah, behold, I will go back and repeat them to you here. It does not say "that the LORD commanded" but "that the LORD had commanded him" (verse 7). This teaches that they listen to your mouth as they listen to the mouth of the Holy One, and not only your mouth but the mouths of the elders destined to come after you and the mouths of the prophets; therefore it is said, "and they will also trust in you forever." "And Moses told." And what did the Holy One, blessed be He, say to Moses that he should tell Israel, and what did Israel say to Moses that he should report before the Omnipresent? Behold it says, "And you shall set bounds for the people round about, saying" and so on (verse 12)—the words of Rabbi Yose son of Rabbi Yehudah. Rabbi says: Because he told them the reward if they obeyed. And from where do we know that he told them all the punishments if they did not obey? Scripture says, "And Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the LORD and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice" (Exodus 24:3): this teaches that the voice of the great and the voice of the small are equal before the Omnipresent.