Perhaps you’ve heard of how Moses covered his shining face with a veil so people couldn’t see the blazing glory emanating from it. And perhaps you’ve also heard of the veil that now lies over people’s hearts that prevents them from being able to see Jesus in the Old Testament Scripture. These well-intentioned lessons might feel personal and impactful, but they have little to do with what the text of Scripture says.
Context matters. If we learn to read the Bible for what it is—and not as a collection of independently assembled inspirational stories—we’ll discover that some of our most familiar passages don’t actually mean what we’ve always assumed.
Yu-cheng Hsiao (2009), Creative Commons
Exodus 34
To set us straight with Exodus 34, we don’t need the context; we just need to observe more carefully:
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. 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. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.
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, 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. (Ex 34:29-35)
Perhaps my experience is atypical, but I have often heard people talk about how Moses used the veil to protect people from seeing the glory radiating from his face. But this is not what Exodus says. It says that he allowed them to see the glory when he spoke the words of Yahweh to them. And then he put the veil over his face until the next time he got a recharge from speaking with the Lord within the tent.
2 Corinthians 3
But some will argue that 2 Cor 3 says that Moses used the veil to hide the glory. And that that’s where we get the idea that the veil is a metaphor for people who can’t see Jesus in the Old Testament. A few verses seem to imply these things:
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… (2 Cor 3:7)
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. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. (2 Cor 3:14-16)
Here is where we need help from the context.
First, notice the next clause in verse 7: “the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end.” Now this could mean that they could not gaze at the glory, and the glory was coming to an end—two separate thoughts. But look at where he goes next.
Second, notice the nature of the old/new contrasts. Old = condemnation; new = righteousness (2 Cor 3:9). Old = glory that became no glory; new = surpassing glory (2 Cor 3:10). Old = glory of what was being brought to an end; new = glory for what is permanent (2 Cor 3:11). These contrasts are getting at the superior glory of the new covenant. But that glory is superior primarily because it has no end. It is permanent. It will not fade.
Third, notice Paul’s clarification of what the Israelites saw. His point is not that they saw only a veil and not the glorious face of Moses. His point is that they “might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end” (2 Cor 3:13). In other words, Moses’ veil was never about hiding the glory from the people. It was all about hiding the fact that the glory was fading.
And by contrast, what we have in the new covenant is something permanent. Something unsurpassed. Something that will never fade, but will instead transform its subjects “from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor 3:18).
The Argument
I covered this in my Bible study of Exodus 34:29-35, but the train of thought is worth repeating here.
Paul uses this episode from Exodus to make a profound point about the glory of the New Covenant in Christ (2 Cor 3:1-4:18). If we assume that Moses’ veil was covering the glory itself (when it was actually concealing the fact that the glory was fading), we miss Paul’s point. Paul’s argument:
- The people he ministers to are themselves the proof of Paul’s recommendation from Christ (2 Cor 3:1-3).
- His sufficiency as a minister of the new covenant comes from Christ who makes him sufficient (2 Cor 3:4-6).
- While Moses’ ministry had a blazing, terrifying glory, it was always a fading glory (“the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end” – 2 Cor 3:7-11).
- Therefore, Paul is not like Moses, who tried to conceal the fact that his glory was fading (“Moses…put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end” – 2 Cor 3:12-13).
- Even today, the Jews fail to see the temporary, fading nature of the Old Covenant when it’s read to them (2 Cor 3:14-15).
- But when they turn to Christ, they finally see the Old Covenant for the fading and temporary thing it is. They behold the Lord’s face and become perpetually and increasingly glorious (2 Cor 3:16-18).
- This is why the people, whose reflection of Christ’s glory never fades but always brightens, are themselves the proof of Paul’s qualification for ministering this superior covenant (2 Cor 3:1-3, 4:1-15).
- This gives Paul tremendous courage to persevere when ministry is hard (2 Cor 4:16-18).
Conclusion
The veil conceals the fact that the glory of the old covenant is, and always has been, fading. Only by gazing on the unfading—no, the ever-increasing—glory of Jesus Christ through his Spirit, can the veil be lifted and people finally see the old covenant for what it is (fading).
Context matters.
For more examples of why context matters, click here.
