When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.[d] 30 Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.
34 Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, 35 the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him. (Exodus 34:29-35)
40 Days and 40 Nights
We have before us a remarkable passage about the shining face of Moses that resulted from his time with the LORD on the mountain. The nature of Moses’ time on the mountain was itself remarkable. As verse 28 tells us, Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights without food or drink. As the human body cannot naturally go nearly that long without water, this tells us of the supernatural encounter which Moses experienced. This speaks to us of the fact that it was God who sustained Moses as he communed there with the LORD. And as Moses’ faith was in the Son of God, it was Christ who was His food and drink, as it were, sustained by the Almighty. Christ is indeed the bread of life and the living water.
You have heard it said, “You are what you eat.” And we know in normal cases, someone’s physical appearance will often reflect what they consume over a sustained period of time. And many times, we don’t often perceive the change happening to our own appearance, but those who haven’t seen us for some time, immediately recognize how different we may look after they see us for the first time in a while. In a similar fashion, this is what happened to Moses. He communed 40 days and nights with the LORD, as his only food, and He did not realize that he was changed, that he was transfigured, as it were. But the sight of his shining face was too much to bear for those down below when Moses came down from the mountain. The LORD was his food and drink, and his face shone with the glory of the LORD.
Some theologians have made connections with this event to the Lord’s Supper, for in the Supper we eat and drink spiritually of Christ – He is our food and substance, and over time, we are changed by it, and transformed having communed regularly with the LORD. The larger point also proves true, that when you daily walk with the LORD, and commune with Christ, and meditate on His Word, and have fellowship with Him, you are changed. Little by little, over time, you are transformed and become more like Him, and you may not always feel it in your life, but it is something others can observe as they witness maturity over time, growth in graces of love, kindness, courage, or all-around Christ-likeness.
Many times we may think compartmentally, where we just need to fix this thing about us or improve in such and such an area, and we miss the foundation of real change and spiritual transformation of life – that it comes from beholding, communing, and feeding upon Christ. Yes, there are good practical things we can do to change and grow in a certain area, but if it does not ultimately come from the foundation of communing with Christ, being His disciple, and being taught by the Spirit in the Word, then it will not be a real spiritual transformation. And if we want to be changed, if we want to grow, or conquer certain sins in our lives, we ought to do the practical things necessary, but we MUST ultimately be changed by Christ Himself, seeking His face, obeying Him, beholding Him, and so be transformed by Him.
So Moses fasted 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain communing with the LORD and was transformed to reflect the glory of the LORD. Do you know who else had a 40 day fast in the Bible? The prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 19, also fasted 40 days and nights, and went up to Mt. Horeb, which is this same location as Moses, and there the Lord passed before him. And Jesus also, when He went into the wilderness to be tempted, He fasted 40 days and nights. And this is amazing when you consider the fact that it was these three on the Mt. of Transfiguration, Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, and there it says in Matthew 17 that Jesus was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun. And here, so did Moses’ face.
Explanation of Moses’ Shining Face, Veil, and Israel’s Reaction
So after spending this time on the mountain with God, Moses comes down the mountain with a shining face of glory. Now, if you’ve ever seen them, there are some old depictions of Moses with horns, which comes from the Latin translation of this passage. This passage is translated in Latin as “horns” coming out of him, like beams or rays of light. Moses with horns is most famously depicted in Michaelangelo’s Renaissance sculpture of Moses. So if you see that, it comes from the Latin translation, but it comes from this event, of Moses’ shining skin after speaking with the LORD on the mountain.
So Moses’ face would shine after speaking with the LORD, He would come out and tell the people what God commanded, and put a veil over his face, veiling the glory that His face shone with because it could not be borne by the people, then when he would go in again to the tent of meeting he would remove the veil when speaking with the Lord, and put it over his face again after. So this was not a one time event, but happened whenever he would go in to speak with the LORD.
2 Cor. 3
So what do we make of all this? The apostle Paul makes use of this passage to speak of the differences between the Old and New Covenants in 2 Corinthians 3.
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our[a] hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.[b]
4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.
12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one[c] turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord[d] is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,[e] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.[f] For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Lesser Glory to Greater Glory; Ministration of Death to Ministration of Life; Old Covenant to New Covenant
The first thing to note here, is that Paul affirms what happened with Moses’ face was indeed a glorious thing. The glory of the LORD passed before him, and Moses’ face shone with it, and it was glorious. But, it was lesser glory or temporary glory. It was a glory that was coming to an end. He is not saying that the glory of God was being brought to end, but the glory of the specific ministry of Moses, the glory of the ministry of the old covenant – that was the lesser glory, the temporary glory.
It might be tempting for us to read about the miraculous and glorious events in the Old Testament and the beauty of the tabernacle or temple, and think, “Why don’t we have any of those things today?” The answer is because it was temporary, it was being brought to end, with the incarnation and ministry of Christ. And what we have in Christ is in fact so much better and glorious.
In fact, Paul’s argument here is an argument from the lesser to the greater. If what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. If Moses’ face shone with glory that was being brought to an end, the ministry of the Spirit will have even more glory.
The fact that Christ put an end to all the sacrifices, types, shadows, the priestly mediators and system, the building and location instructions, the ritual cleansings and purification laws – the fact that Christ put an end to them is so much greater, because in the New Covenant, we have living temples, the Spirit of God dwelling in us, we have one mediator, Jesus Christ the Righteous, who rose from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of God where He ever lives to intercede for us, and has sent His spirit to us to help us, and the gospel is spread through all the nations, so that the worship of God may be done right anywhere in the world is a much more glorious thing!
And the other part of Paul’s argument here is that the ministry of the Old Covenant was a ministry of condemnation and ministry of death. The covenant could not be kept. The law could not give life and change the hearts of those under it. But, it prepared the way for the one who would fulfill all righteousness, who would save His people from their sins, and bring peace between God and man, Jesus Christ. So we don’t go back and put ourselves or others under the Old Covenant with it’s laws and regulations, we don’t look to Moses as a savior to fix all ills, but we look through Moses, to Jesus Christ, and the New Covenant that is applied by the ministry of the Spirit, which is a ministry not of the letter, but of the Spirit, who gives life – the greater ministry of righteousness.
Jesus Removes the Veil
Paul makes the point in verse 13 and following that the veil that Moses had to put over his face was essentially a sign of the veil that was over the hearts and minds of unbelieving Israel. He says about them that their minds were hardened. And even to this day when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted over their hearts. So they are reading it and not seeing it, not believing it, not really understanding it. Why is this? Because only through Christ is the veil taken away. Moses met with Christ, and knew Christ, and wrote about Christ. But the people were afraid and stood back. In order to believe, in order to understand, in order to see, in order to be changed, this tells us that Christ is the key. None of those things can happen without him. As Jesus said in John 5, since Moses wrote about Christ, you don’t really believe Moses, if you don’t believe Christ. This is why the Old Covenant, which has passed away, is still relevant for us today, because through reading it like a Christian, it leads us to Christ, our redeemer.
So, if and when we ever have opportunity to witness to Jewish people today, 2 Corinthians 3 has to inform our approach. First, we must recognize that we are in fact witnessing to them. They are lost in their sins and unbelief. And though they may claim to know the Torah, they really don’t, because they read it with a veil over their hearts. Now, some Christians can overreact to the hardness of Jewish hearts, and leave them in their condemnation. But 2 Cor. 3 tells us that the veil CAN be removed. It can be removed when one turns to the LORD – to Christ! So there’s two ditches Christians can fall into that we want to stay out of. One is not to evangelize because of their hardness of heart, the other is not to evangelize because you think they are all going to be saved. No, we want to recognize that there is a veil, but the veil is lifted when one turns to Christ, by the power of the Spirit, who is the LORD.
Beholding Christ and Being Transformed
And what happens when the veil is lifted? “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” When we behold the glory of Christ, we are transformed, we are changed, from glory to glory. The light of Christ begins to shine out of us. We grow in grace. We become more grateful, more content, more kind, more bold, more gentle, more mature, more grounded in the truth. We exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. It will be noticeable. He writes on our hearts, and we become living letters. The Spirit indwells and works in us. You can’t commune with the Lord and not be changed. It is what He does to us. People will notice, and some will stand far off like some of the Israelites. Those with hardened unbelieving minds don’t like the glory that you are radiating. Maybe family members or old friends will alienate themselves from you, they don’t like it. They are yet of the flesh. Others will come near.
Psalm 34:5 says, “Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.” Are you looking to Jesus Christ? Do you spend time meditating on God’s Word? Do you spend time in prayer? Do you love Him? Are you being changed?
You see, you become like what you behold. If you spend time communing with Christ, you will become like Him. Do you prioritize the spiritual disciplines? Do you prioritize that special communion we have with Christ in gathered public worship with God’s people? That will change you. Or are you beholding other things? Overindulging on entertainment? Meditating more on your own thoughts and desires of your flesh? Thinking of unlovely things? Harboring bitterness in your heart? Entertaining discontentment in your mind? If you behold things such as these, you will become like them too. And you may not notice it. It may be a slow drift. But others will see it. Your family will feel the effects. Others will notice it. And before you know it, you’ll become bitter, angry, unhappy, discontent, full of strife, and sad.
This is what sin does – it turns you into a Gollum. If you know the Lord of the Rings story, the Hobbit Smeagol comes into possession of the One Ring of power, and it becomes his all consuming desire. He spent hundreds of years alone, beholding this ring, thinking about it, meditating upon it, loving it, and he turned into a most rotten corrupted creature. He became Gollum. It changed his appearance to grotesque, and his spirit to evil. He became repulsive.
What are you setting before your eyes and your ears? What are you letting into your mind and heart? Is it things that are good, true, and beautiful, or not? My prayer for you all is that I want you all to know and love the Lord Jesus more than any other. To love spending time in His Word, and Prayer, and in fellowship with His people. And like Moses, to radiate with the glory of Christ. More than anything, throughout Exodus, I’ve wanted to lead you to our Savior, and for you all to see the glory of Christ therein and be changed by meditating on how good He is, how powerful He is, how merciful He is, how righteous are His ways, and to be like Him. Don’t you want that?
We live in a time of instant gratification. Everything is quick, everything is instant. And so we are tempted to want microwaved time with the Lord. Quick and easy. Efficient, so we can get to the things we really need to get to, right? But to be like Christ, takes time with Christ, waiting on Him, meditating on His Word, beholding His glory, enduring through trials, bearing one another’s burdens. If you don’t want that, then do you really want Christ, or do you just want the benefits of having a good life, and you see that living sort of like a Christian brings the most benefit? Martin Luther famously said once, “I have so much to do today, that I must spend the first three hours in prayer.”
“Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.” Proverbs 15:13 says, “A glad heart makes a cheerful face.” There is an aesthetic to the Christian life. Christ in our heart changes us. God made man with body and soul. The world wants us to believe that you can’t judge a book by its cover. And that is true to a certain extent, but it is also true to a certain extent that you CAN look at person and discern things about them. We know this. There are those in rebellion against God who declare it with their appearance – things they do to their bodies and hair, how they talk, dress, or act. What’s on the outside reflects what’s on the inside.
I know that when I am down or frustrated and trying to hide it, my wife knows, she can tell what I’m radiating. It can’t be faked. People can tell what you’re radiating. You can’t sustain putting window-dressing over your soul. Is the glory of Christ the meditation of your heart? Is He the desire of your heart? Is He your life? It will be noticed.
Now, I don’t want you to start looking around at others and start analyzing their facial expressions. That is the wrong response to hearing the Word. You might have a log in your eye that’s blocking your vision, or a veil that you can’t see clearly. Instead, look to Jesus, who removes the veil. See His glory. Behold His works, the mighty things He did. His compassion on the crowds. Hear His authoritative teaching. His wisdom from above. See His mercy on the weak and sinners. His rebuke of devils. His patience with His disciples. Consider His cries to the Father. His care for His mother. Rejoice in His resurrecting power. Look to heaven, and behold Him there, seated at the right hand, praying for you, upholding your spirit. And so walk in His ways. “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!”
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