And Moses ended speaking with them; and he had put on his face a veil.
Moses came down the mountain a second time with the law rewritten, and his face shone from being with God. He covered that shine before the people — so why did the glory have to hide, and what did the veil keep Israel from seeing?
The first descent from Sinai produced no radiance. The difference lies in what the covenant carried the second time.
When Moses first went up the mountain to receive the first tablets of stone, no glory shone on his face. That was because the covenant was altogether legal, and not a ray of glory can come from that. The second time, the covenant carried grace and mercy with it, and so glory shines from the mediator's face. But the people could not look at that glory. He had to cover his face with a veil. So the law covers grace and glory. But in Christ the veil is taken away. In Him, grace and glory shine out in perfect splendor — and it is a glory that does not fade, but grows.
The problem was not the brightness alone. It was what Moses carried in his hands while his face shone.
Moses could not stand in the presence of even the back parts of the Lord's glory without carrying away a reflection of it. So when he came down from the mountain, the skin of his face shone… The people could not bear even that faint reflection of a partial showing of the glory. The reason is not far to seek: what was that in his hands? The two tablets of stone, rewritten by the finger of God — the "ministry of condemnation." The light of the glory was still tied to God's righteous claim on them. The nearer it came, the more unbearable it was.
The veil went on and off by a rule. Which way Moses was facing decided it.
Why did Moses cover his face? He didn't cover it when he came into the presence of God, but when he came into the presence of the people. The people found the glory too overwhelming. But Paul turns it round. He says we do not cover our faces when we come into God's presence, because we can look on the glory of God with unveiled face. The people did not want to see the glory of God reflected in the face of Moses, and that refusal judged them.
Commentators dwell on one word, which older translations render "end." Does it mark where the law stops, or what the law was for?
Moses had to put a veil on his face when he had come down from the mountain, to hide the glory from the children of Israel. What God has set aside had an "end" they did not see. "End" means not the finish of the law, but God's purpose in the law — and that purpose was Christ… The glory that shone in the face of Moses was a faint reflection of Christ. But Israel could not see it. If they had seen it, they would have condemned themselves. They would have waited eagerly for the coming of Christ, the Deliverer.
Translations differ over the timing. Did Moses speak to the people with the veil on, or put it on only after he finished?
The older English version is in substance right, and the newer revision wrong… The meaning is that Moses finished speaking with them, and — or when — he had put a veil over his face. While he was passing on the Lord's words to Israel, he kept the veil on until he went in to speak with the Lord.
Some read the veil going on and off as the whole story of Israel with God in miniature.
These chapters close with the mystery of Moses' veil. It is the summary of the whole matter, showing, as in a dim mirror, the whole path between the Lord and His Israel. Moses veiled pictures Israel as they now are (as we learn from 2 Corinthians 3): in the flesh, under law, and blind of heart. Moses unveiled pictures Israel as they will be later: in the Spirit under Christ, in the light and liberty of the new covenant. On the mountain Moses turned to the Lord, and then took his veil off. Israel will turn to the Lord in the same way one day, and walk unveiled in the light and joy of the same face.
- Veil begins. The first trip down the mountain left no shine. Glory rested on Moses only when the renewed covenant carried mercy with it.
- Veil needed. The tablets in his hands made the light unbearable. Glory tied to God's righteous claim can only condemn those who cannot meet it.
- Veil hides. The covering kept Israel from God's purpose in the law, and that purpose was Christ.
- Veil moves. On before the people, off before the Lord. Paul reverses it: believers face God with nothing covering them.
- Veil lifts. As Moses uncovered his face when he turned to the Lord, so Israel's covering goes when their heart turns to Him.
And when Moses went in before Jehovah to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out; and he came out, and spoke to the children of Israel what he was commanded.
Exodus 34 closes with Moses moving between two worlds: unveiled in God's presence, veiled before the people. The New Testament picks up that rhythm to explain Israel's blindness and the freedom believers have now.
Moses took the veil off to go in, and put it on again to come out. That order matters.
He unveils his face to speak to the Lord, while he covers his face to speak to the people. In this respect he becomes a type of the present position of the believer. God brought Moses into His very presence without a veil, and God sets the believer in the light as He is in the light. There is still one difference. However close the access Moses enjoyed, God spoke with him as Jehovah. The believer stands before God according to all that God is — according to the full and perfect revelation of Himself which He has made in Christ as our God and Father.
The veil stayed in place for the whole time he spoke to the people:
While Moses passed Jehovah's words on to Israel, he kept the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Jehovah.
The problem was not the brightness itself, but what it exposed in the people who saw it.
The very glory that shone on his face searched their hearts and consciences. They were sinners, unable in themselves to meet even the smallest requirement of the covenant that had just been set up. So it had to be a ministry of condemnation and death, because it demanded from them a righteousness they could not produce.
What the veil covered was grace, and the good news now leaves it uncovered.
As long as the veil stayed on the face of Moses, grace had to be hidden. But now, says the apostle Paul, no darkness is left. This ministry is the good news of the grace of God. It is the good news of the "glory of Christ, who is the image of God." It is the good news of the blessed God. It reveals in full the glory of this grace whose rays lit up the face of Moses, and the tablets of the law in his hand could not dim it.
The scene is a picture of Israel's whole story, past and future.
Moses veiled pictures Israel as they are now: in the flesh, under law, and blind in heart as a result. Moses unveiled pictures Israel as they will be later: in the Spirit under Christ, in the light and liberty of the new covenant. On the mountain Moses turned to the Lord, and then took his veil off. In the same way Israel will one day turn to the Lord and walk unveiled in the light and joy of the same face.
The veil did not disappear. It moved — and what lifts it is the same for Israel and for us.
The veil that was on the face of Moses is now on the hearts of Israel. When at last Israel turns to the Lord, the veil will come off. So with ourselves: only as we turn to the Lord will the blindness and darkness of our hearts pass away.
This change has one source, and it is not our own effort.
There is a transforming power in beholding the Lord in glory. This power is available for all believers — the youngest as well as the oldest. This change does not come by our own efforts, or by wearing ourselves out in the attempt to be like the Lord. Nor does it come by trying to imitate some devoted saint. It comes by beholding the glory of the Lord. There is no veil on His face. As we behold Him, every veil of darkness will pass from our hearts, and morally we shall become increasingly like Him, changing from glory to glory.
Moses did not know his face was lit up. That, too, was the fruit of his time with God.
Forty days of close fellowship with God had a wonderful effect on Moses. In his own heart he learned the blessing of the grace he had communed with. Yet he had no idea of the visible result of it. Blessed are we if we know the secret of communion with divine grace. It refreshes the heart, and it keeps the believer in a humble path, wondering that anyone should look at him. When God makes our face to shine for others we ought to be the very last to know it.
- In — Moses went in unveiled. The believer's settled place is before God with no covering, knowing Him in Christ as Father.
- Veiled — the glory of the law condemned. It demanded a righteousness Israel could not produce, so the veil hid grace itself.
- Turned — the veil now lies on the heart. Only turning to the Lord takes it off — for Israel in a coming day, for us now.
- Changed — beholding the glory of the Lord transforms us. Not effort, not imitation — looking.
- Unaware — the shining face is the one face that cannot see itself. A person full of God is not busy with his own reflection.
And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone; and Moses put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
The people look at Moses and see the light still on his face, and then the veil goes back on. Why cover a glory that God Himself gave?
The shine was real, but it was not his own. One writer sets Moses' face beside the face of the Lord Jesus.
Only the skin of Moses' face shone, for this was a reflection outside of Moses himself. But the face of the Lord Jesus shines with a brightness that comes from within, not a reflection (2 Cor. 4:6), for He is God.
He brought two things down at once, and they do not usually sit together.
When he came down this time among the people, he carried the law in his arms and the grace in his face. (Compare 2 Cor. 4:6.) But that grace was a flash of glory they were not ready for, because men in the flesh are more at ease under law than under grace.
Fear is a strange response to glory. Look at what Moses was holding.
They could not bear even the faint reflection of the partial display of it. The reason is not far to seek: what was that in his hands? The two tablets of stone, rewritten by the finger of God — the "ministry of condemnation." That light still came with God's righteous claim on them attached. The nearer it came, the more unbearable it was.
There are only two ways to escape when God reveals Himself alongside law. Israel took the second.
No one can stand a revelation of God, however partial, if it comes with the law. In such a case, as it has been said, "You will either seek to hide from God, as Adam did in the garden of Eden. Or you will seek to hide God from you, as Israel did when they asked Moses to put a veil on his face" (J. N. D.).
A shine that fades says something about the system it belongs to.
There was a glory connected with the law. But that glory was going to pass away, for before long it faded from the face of Moses... The glory of the law began, but soon it was quenched in the ministry of death to all who came under it. When the ministry of the life-giving Spirit comes in, it stays in glory.
The veil met God's purpose as well as Israel's weakness.
The veil was necessary not only on their side, since they could not bear the glory of the mediator, but on God's side too, so that they would not fix their eyes on the end of what is set aside in Christ.
Not everyone reads verse 33 the same way. Some translations have Moses veiling himself only after he finished speaking. One writer rejects that reading.
Following the Septuagint here contradicts the plain force of the context, and especially verse 35. No one should ever have questioned the meaning: while Moses talked to the people outside, he covered his face, but he removed the veil when he went in to speak with the Lord. Verse 30 is clear that the people were afraid to come near because his face shone. So he put on the veil, and he took it off when he went in before the Lord, until he came out. The Vulgate, like the Septuagint, sacrifices the sense to the letter, and the two have misled many.
Moses veiled his face outside and unveiled it inside. That order matters for believers today.
He unveils his face to speak to the Lord, while he covers his face to speak to the people. In this way he becomes a picture of the present position of the believer... God brought Moses into His very presence without a veil, just as He sets the believer in the light as He is in the light.
The veil in this scene points beyond Moses.
A moment is coming when the veil will be removed. This is a kind of picture of what will happen with Israel. When at last they turn to the Lord in sincerity and repentance, the veil will be lifted from their minds. Then the glory of the Christ they once crucified will burst upon them.
- Reflected — Moses' face only caught light from outside. Christ's face shines from within, because He is God.
- Mixed — he carried the law in his arms and grace in his face, and people at ease under law could not take the grace.
- Hidden — glory tied to God's righteous claim is unbearable. So Israel chose to hide God from themselves.
- Fading — the veil covered a brightness already going. The ministry of the Spirit, by contrast, stays in glory.
- Lifted — off before the Lord, on before the people; and one day lifted from Israel's mind when they turn to Him.