Why the Elders Fled Pharaoh and How God Repaid Them at Sinai

While they were going, they stole themselves away one by one and two by two. When they reached the palace of Pharaoh, not even one of them was found with them, as it is said, "And afterward Moses and Aaron came" (Exodus 5:1). And where were the elders? Rather, they had gone off for themselves. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: What do you suppose, that I will not requite you? By your lives, when Moses and Aaron go up to receive the Torah, you will go up with them, but I will turn you back, as it is said, "And to the elders he said, Tarry here for us…" (Exodus 24:14). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: In this world you did not see the glory of the Torah, but in the world to come you will be honored with the Torah, as it is said, "Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed, for the LORD of Hosts shall reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders shall be glory" (Isaiah 24:23).