Message 65
Scripture Reading: Exo. 34:29-35; 2 Cor. 3:7, 9, 13-18
In this message we shall continue to consider the “night” side of the law. In 2 Corinthians 3:7 and 9 Paul used all the key words in the title of this message, “The Veil over the Glory of the Ministry of Condemnation and Death.” The words glory and ministry are positive; however, the words veil, condemnation, and death are negative. In 2 Corinthians 3 Paul speaks first of the ministry of death (v. 7) and then of the ministry of condemnation (v. 9). These certainly are extraordinary expressions. Although these terms are in the Bible, not all Christians are familiar with them.
According to Paul’s word in 2 Corinthians 3, the ministry of Moses was a ministry of condemnation and death. Paul’s ministry, however, was a ministry of righteousness and of the Spirit. I wonder if Moses would have been happy with the way Paul contrasted the ministry of righteousness and of the Spirit with the ministry of condemnation and death. In writing 2 Corinthians 3, Paul used “much boldness” (v. 12). He was bold to point out that his ministry was greater in glory than that of Moses. Paul says, “For if the ministry of condemnation came in glory, much rather the ministry of righteousness abounds in glory” (v 9). We know from Exodus 34:29-35 that the skin of Moses’ face shone. Although Paul’s face did not shine in this way, he experienced an inward shining, a shining from within his spirit. With Moses and Paul there were two different kinds of shining: the outward shining upon the face and the inward shining from the spirit. Today all who believe in Christ may have the inward shining. But one day, at the time of the Lord’s coming, we shall be transfigured and shall have the outward shining also. At that time, not only our face but also our whole body will shine.
Some systematic theologians do not appreciate the value of Moses’ ministry. Even though Paul speaks of the ministry of Moses as a ministry of condemnation and death, he acknowledges that there was glory with this ministry. More than three thousand years ago, there was a man on earth whose face shone with the glory of God. This is a very significant matter, and we should never despise it. Along with Paul, we need to recognize that the ministry of condemnation and death was truly glorious. We should not dispute the fact that this glory was wonderful and excellent. It is possible to say in a rather careless way that we, the New Testament believers, have the inward glory, whereas Moses had merely the outward glory. But some Christians actually have a glory only in doctrine, not in their experience. They may claim to be New Testament believers with the inward glory, but where is this glory actually? Experientially speaking, they may have very little glory. Yes, Moses’ glory was outward, but we should still appreciate it.
Paul’s word in 2 Corinthians 3 may be regarded as an exposition of Exodus 34:29-35. In Exodus 34 we are simply told that the skin of Moses’ face shone, not that glory was shining from the face of Moses. But in 2 Corinthians 3 Paul interprets Exodus 34 by saying that the shining on Moses’ face was the glory of the ministry of condemnation and death. Apart from the interpretation set forth by Paul, we would not have the wisdom to speak of the shining face of Moses as the glory of the ministry. Furthermore, we would not have the boldness to say that the ministry of condemnation and death was glorious. But because Paul had been enlightened of the Lord, he was bold to speak plainly of these things. The shining on Moses’ face was the glory of a ministry which had been given by God and established by Him. Moses had a ministry, and that ministry was glorious.
At this point we need to ask why Moses’ ministry of glory became a ministry of condemnation and death. In itself Moses’ ministry was not a ministry of condemnation and death. It became such a ministry because the people were in darkness and because their hearts were hardened. The book of Exodus says at least thirteen times that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, or that Pharaoh hardened his heart. When the children of Israel were at the foot of the mountain of God, their hearts were the same as the heart of Pharaoh. This means that the hearts of the people had become hard.
The kind of person you are is determined by the kind of heart you have. If you have an evil heart, you are an evil person. But if you have a good heart, you are a good person. Likewise, if your heart is full of hate, you will be a hateful person. But if your heart is full of love, you will be a loving person. When they were at Mount Sinai to receive the law, the children of Israel had a hardened heart. As a result, the ministry of glory became for them a ministry of condemnation and death. It definitely was not God’s intention to condemn the people or to bring them into death. But because the people were hard and blind in their heart, like Pharaoh in Egypt, the ministry of glory became a ministry of condemnation and even of death.
The principle is the same in reading the Bible. Do not think that it is impossible for the Bible to condemn you or kill you. If your heart is hard as you read the Bible, the Bible will become to you a book of condemnation and death. Do not hold the superstitious concept that people always receive blessing in reading the Bible. This simply is not true. Whether the Bible is a ministry of life or of death, of righteousness or of condemnation, depends on our heart. If our heart is soft, the Bible will be a blessing. But if our heart is hard, the Bible will be a book of condemnation and death, even as the ministry of Moses became a ministry of condemnation and death to the children of Israel.
In the foregoing message we pointed out the aspect of the law as killing letters. In this message we are concerned with the matter of the veil over the glory of the ministry of condemnation and death. Concerning the “night” aspect of the law, the two main things are the killing and the veiling. The letters kill, and the veil covers. The law was given, but there was a veil over it. In like manner, in our experience there may also be a veil over the Bible.
When Moses came down from the mountain, he did not know that the skin of his face shone. It was the people who saw that “the skin of Moses’ face shone.” Eventually, Moses himself came to realize this. We are told that he later put a veil on his face. However, the strange thing is that Moses did not put this veil on until after he had finished speaking with the people (v. 33, lit.). Before he came down from the mountain to speak with the people, Moses did not have a veil on. He did not even know that his face shone. Only after he had spoken to the people did he put a veil on his face. Verse 34 says, “But when Moses went in before Jehovah to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out” (lit.). Then we read that when Moses spoke to the children of Israel, he “put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him” (v. 35). Thus, when Moses spoke with the people, he put on the veil. But when he spoke with God, he removed it.
Moses’ face shone because of God’s speaking with him (v. 29, lit.). The more God talked to Moses, the more his face shone. Moses did not wear a veil when he spoke to the Lord, but he did wear one when he spoke to the people. The people might have been displeased and even insulted by this. They might have said to Moses, “When you speak with God, you don’t wear a veil. Why must you put on a veil when you talk to us?” The answer to this question is that Moses covered his face with a veil because after speaking to the people, he realized that their hearts were hard. In Paul’s interpretation and exposition of Exodus 34 in 2 Corinthians 3, we realize that the veil was simply the hardened heart of the children of Israel. This is the reason Paul says that when the heart turns to the Lord, the veil will be taken away (v. 16). This is also the reason Exodus 34 says the veil was on Moses’ face, whereas 2 Corinthians 3:15 says that the veil is on the heart of the people. The veil was not actually the fabric used to cover Moses’ face. It was the hardened heart of the people, a heart which had been turned away from the Lord.
When our heart is turned toward the Lord, there is no veil. But if our heart is turned away from Him, such a heart becomes a veil which keeps us from beholding the face of the Lord. Hence, the heart turned away from the Lord is the veil.
Moses put a veil on his face as a sign to the people. After talking with them, Moses realized that they were stiff-necked and that their hearts were hardened. They could not understand God’s desire. This was the reason Moses put a veil on his face. Because the hearts of the children of Israel had become hardened, Moses’ ministry of glory became a ministry of condemnation and death. However, if the hearts of the people had been soft and had been turned to the Lord, Moses’ ministry would not have been a ministry of condemnation and death. But because the people were hard of heart, they were condemned and even killed by the ministry of Moses. This condemnation and death was passed to their descendants, including the Pharisees and the Judaizers. All were condemned and slain by Moses’ ministry, even though it was a ministry of glory.
The principle is the same in the New Testament. We have pointed out that the ministry in the New Testament, a ministry of righteousness and of the Spirit, is more glorious than the ministry of Moses. But if our heart is hard and turned away from the Lord, in our experience even the glorious ministry of the New Testament will become a ministry of condemnation and death to us.
According to John 12:48, the Lord Jesus told the religionists, “He who rejects Me and does not receive My words has one who judges him: the word which I spoke, that will judge him in the last day.” This indicates that those who do not believe in Christ will be judged and condemned by His words. Those who perish in the future will be condemned not by the law, but by the gospel. Today the gospel is a word of righteousness, Spirit, and life. But those who harden their hearts will be condemned and sentenced to death by this very gospel. For them, the glorious ministry of the New Testament will become a ministry of condemnation and death.
This principle applies to unbelievers and to believers as well. Paul tells us that one day we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Today every word in the New Testament is a word of blessing. But on the day we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, the words of the New Testament may become to us words of condemnation. This will be our situation if during our years as saved and regenerated people we harden our hearts and do not turn them to the Lord. Once again we see that the principle is the same both with the ministry of Moses in the Old Testament and the ministry in the New Testament. Whether the ministry is to us righteousness or condemnation, Spirit or death, depends on our heart.
We all need to be exhorted to have a proper heart whenever we listen to the word of the Lord. If our heart is right, we shall receive great blessing. But if our heart is hard, we shall not be blessed. If we are indifferent, we shall not be blessed through the ministry of God’s word. Actually, indifference causes hardness of heart. If you are indifferent toward the Lord’s speaking, eventually you will no longer care for His word. This indifference will become a veil between you and the Lord.
When Moses was speaking to the people, there probably were many who did not oppose him. They simply failed to receive his word with an open heart. They were indifferent to what Moses was saying. This attitude of indifference caused Moses to put a veil on his face as a sign that the people were not willing to receive the word of God. According to Exodus 34, when Moses, the servant of the Lord, spoke with the Lord, he took off the veil. Moses’ heart was neither hard nor indifferent. Instead of being turned away from the Lord, it was absolutely for the Lord. This was the reason Moses did not wear a veil in speaking with God. Exodus 34 emphasizes the fact that when Moses spoke to the people, he put on the veil, but when he spoke with God, he took it off. It is a very serious matter for any servant of the Lord to be unveiled in speaking to the Lord, but veiled in speaking to the people. This would be a sign that the condition of those who hear God’s word is not healthy.
I do not believe that Moses was happy when he found it necessary to put a veil on his face. But he certainly must have been happy when he could remove the veil in speaking with the Lord. At such times, he must have had a wonderful enjoyment of God. However, when he came out to speak with the people and had to put a veil on his face, his heart must have been heavy. On the one hand, he was burdened to speak to the people on behalf of the Lord; on the other hand, he could not speak with joy or happiness, but with heaviness.
This may also be the experience of faithful servants of the Lord today. When they speak to God’s people, they sometimes may speak without joy. But when they go to the Lord to have fellowship with Him, they are happy. Although there is a veil when they speak to the people, there is no veil when they talk with the Lord. The veil does not exist on the side of the Lord’s servants; it exists on the side of the people whose hearts are hard, indifferent, and turned away from the Lord.
We should not think that the law can be a ministry of condemnation and death and that the gospel of grace in the New Testament cannot be such a ministry. To unbelievers and even to believers who are indifferent in heart, the gospel of grace may become a ministry of condemnation and death. This should cause us to be serious about the Lord’s speaking. For God to speak to us is a very significant matter. How dreadful for our hearts to be indifferent when the Lord comes to us to have fellowship with us or to converse with us! Would you not be insulted if someone you were talking to did not care for what you were saying? We all would be deeply troubled by such an attitude. How much more serious it is for us to be indifferent toward God’s speaking to us in His grace! The gracious God is the speaking God. Because He cares so much for us, He speaks to us. If we are indifferent toward His speaking, it is a sign that our heart has become hard. This will cause God to be unhappy; it will also make His servants unhappy. Before the Lord’s servant came to speak with you, his face was shining. But after talking to you for a while, he became displeased because of your indifference. Immediately, you are veiled from seeing the glory of the New Testament ministry. This veil is a sign that there is some problem in your heart with the Lord. Your heart may be hard, cold, or indifferent. This is serious.
In 2 Corinthians 3 Paul expounded Exodus 34 not for the sake of the children of Israel, but for our sake. In verse 18 he eventually speaks of an open face, an unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord. An open face is actually a heart that has been turned to the Lord. Verse 16 indicates that when the heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Whenever the veil is removed, the face will be open. From the context of 2 Corinthians 3, we see that the heart turned to the Lord causes us to have an unveiled face. To have an unveiled face means that there is no indifference in our heart toward the Lord or His word. As long as there is indifference in our heart, there will be a veil on our face. But if our heart is turned to the Lord, the veil will be taken away. Then with an unveiled face we shall behold and reflect as a mirror the glory of the Lord.
When you look at yourself in a mirror, the mirror reflects you. But if the mirror is covered by something, there will be a separation between you and the mirror. This would make it impossible for the mirror to reflect your image. But as soon as the covering is removed from the mirror, the mirror will reflect you once again. We need to be unveiled mirrors beholding the Lord and reflecting Him. If this is our experience, we shall truly be transformed into the same image from glory to glory.
To be transformed is to have the image of the Lord impressed into us and then reflected out from within us. Just as a mirror may be filled with a person’s image and become the reflection of that image, so we need to be transformed from one degree of glory to another until we become the reflection of the Lord. According to Paul’s word in 2 Corinthians 3:18, this comes from the Lord Spirit.
We have pointed out that both the ministry of Moses and the ministry in the New Testament can become in our experience ministries of death and condemnation. The crucial matter here is the veil. If we are covered by a veil, the result of both the Old Testament ministry and the New Testament ministry will be condemnation and death. For those whose hearts are hard and turned away from the Lord, even the gospel of grace will become such a ministry of condemnation and death. Whenever our heart is turned away from the Lord, our heart becomes a veil separating us from Him.
Regarding this, I am concerned not mainly for Christians in general, but particularly for us in the Lord’s recovery. I am concerned for those who come to the meetings of the church, but who have a veil separating them from the Lord. Although they sit in the church meetings, they, like the children of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai, are covered by a veil. What matters here is not the distance, but the covering. The children of Israel were not in Egypt; they were at the foot of the mountain of God. Nevertheless, because they were veiled, they were separated from the Lord. We also may be close to the Lord and may attend at least some of the meetings. But the crucial question is, Where is our heart? If our heart is indifferent and turned away from the Lord, our indifferent heart will be a veil separating us from Him. Although we may be close to the Lord, our heart is indifferent and not turned to Him. Oh, may we all take this matter seriously before the Lord!
Seeing this light concerning the veil over the glory of the ministry of condemnation and death, I am deeply concerned first for myself, then for those in the Lord’s recovery, and then for Christians everywhere. The Lord is still speaking, but what is the condition of our heart, and where is our heart? Is our heart turned toward the Lord or away from Him? Do we have a heart for the Lord, or is our heart cold and indifferent? Both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, the crucial factor is our heart.
We should not pay so much attention to objective, doctrinal teachings which say that the ministry of the law in the Old Testament was a ministry of condemnation, but the ministry in the New Testament is a ministry of grace. To be sure, we are living in the dispensation of grace. But it is still possible to be like the Pharisees and not receive grace. To many believers the Lord will say at His coming, “I never knew you; depart from Me, workers of lawlessness” (Matt. 7:23). We need to emphasize again and again the fact that the principle is the same in both the Old Testament and in the New. Whether God’s speaking is life or death to us depends on our heart. It is an extremely serious matter to hear the word of God. God is gracious, and in His graciousness He comes to speak to us. But if we are impolite to Him and insult Him with our indifference, His speaking will immediately become condemnation and death to us. The same holds true in our reading of the Scripture. Whenever God speaks to us, we need to turn our heart to Him and respond to Him in a proper way. Otherwise, even the New Testament ministry, the ministry of righteousness and of the Spirit, will become a ministry of condemnation and death. Then instead of enjoying the blessing, we shall suffer loss.
Such a warning is sounded throughout the New Testament, in the Gospels, in the Epistles, and in the book of Revelation. Toward the end of Revelation the Lord Jesus says, “Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me to render to each one according to his work” (Rev. 22:12). The reward we receive on that day has much to do with our attitude today. Whether the Lord’s ministry brings justification or condemnation, life or death, depends on our heart. We all need to learn this very important lesson.
Both the Old Testament and the New stress the importance of our heart. The Old Testament commands us to love the Lord our God with all our heart. In the book of Revelation we see that the decline of the church began with the loss of the first love for the Lord. This is related to the heart. As we have indicated, in 2 Corinthians 3 Paul says that the veil is not upon Moses’ face, but upon the heart of the people. “But unto this day,” Paul says, “whenever Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart” (v. 15). The veil on the face of Moses was actually a sign of the veil that was on the heart of the people.
In 2 Corinthians 3 Paul does say that this veil is done away in Christ. Nevertheless, it is still necessary for us to turn our hearts to the Lord. When the heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. On the one hand, the veil has been removed by the redemption of Christ. Yet, on the other hand, the veil is removed when we turn our hearts to the Lord. All genuine Christians are in Christ, and in Christ the veil has been taken away. But many of today’s Christians still have a veil on their hearts. In principle, they are the same as the children of Israel, who had been redeemed, delivered out of Egypt, and brought to Mount Sinai. Because the people had a problem in the heart, their heart became a veil separating them from the Lord. The same may be true of believers today. We have been saved, brought out of Egypt, the world, and we are now in Christ. Although the veil is done away in Christ, in our experience the veil may still exist because of problems in our heart.
Again and again in the Old Testament, the prophets spoke concerning the heart of the people, telling them that they had to deal with their heart or that their heart needed to be circumcised (Joel 2:13, Jer. 4:4). Eventually, through Ezekiel, the Lord promised to give the people a new heart (Ezek. 36:26). Quoting the word of Isaiah, the Lord Jesus said to the religious people, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me” (Matt. 15:8). Even as they were worshipping God, their heart was far from Him.
This also is the situation today. Even Sunday morning, millions go into certain buildings to worship God. But what is the condition of their heart? What is the condition of your own heart when you come to the meetings of the church? Yes, we may come to today’s mountain of God, but our heart may not be with the Lord. According to the seven epistles in Revelation 2 and 3, we may have lost our first love, or we may be lukewarm. The loss of the first love and the condition of lukewarmness are both problems of the heart.
Paul says that when the Jewish people read the law, the veil remains on their heart. For this reason, they read the Old Testament, but they do not receive any light. Hence, not only are the heathen in darkness, but the Jews are in darkness also. They have the Bible, but because a veil is on their heart, they are not enlightened. The same is true of many Christians. Although they may read the Scriptures, they do not have light. Although Moses was under the Old Testament dispensation, he was under the glory. Today Christians are under the New Testament dispensation, but many of them are under a veil. In their experience they are not under the glory.
Do you know what it means experientially to be under the Old Testament? It is to receive God’s word while in a condition of being veiled. From the standpoint of experience, virtually all Christians are still under the Old Testament. Yes, they receive the word of God, but they are veiled. To be under the New Testament is to receive God’s word without any covering, without any veil. Then the word of God will shine not only upon the heart, but also from within the heart. In brief, to be veiled is to be in the Old Testament, but to be unveiled and under God’s glory is to be in the New Testament. According to Paul’s interpretation of Exodus 34 presented in 2 Corinthians 3, we are under the Old Testament as long as we have the veil covering us.
Although today’s Jews live chronologically in the age of the New Testament, they are still in the Old Testament according to their spiritual condition. The principle is the same with many Christians. Just as the Jews are veiled, these Christians are veiled also. If we are honest, we shall admit that this may be our situation too. What determines whether we are in the Old Testament or in the New Testament is our heart. Although Moses was chronologically in the Old Testament age, he was in the New Testament according to his spiritual condition. The reason for this was that Moses’ heart was wholly for the Lord. Whereas many of today’s Christians are veiled and do not reflect God’s glory, Moses could shine with the glory of God. Because he was not under the veil, he actually was not under the Old Testament.
Furthermore, Moses was on the mountain, above the cloud. The children of Israel, however, were under the cloud. This cloud is the equivalent of the veil Moses put on his face. Between God on the mountaintop and the children of Israel at the foot of the mountain, there was a cloud. The veil on Moses’ face was a sign of this cloud and also of the cloudy relationship between the children of Israel and God. They did not have a clear sky. But for Moses on the mountaintop, the sky was clear. In like manner, many Christians today are under the cloud; few are above the cloud enjoying a clear sky with the Lord. According to their spiritual condition, therefore, many Christians are actually under the Old Testament. Realizing this, Paul wrote 2 Corinthians to help the believers leave the Old Testament stage and enter experientially into the New Testament stage. This is the reason Paul speaks of beholding and reflecting the Lord with an unveiled face. Many Christians today are under the cloud and under the veil. Very few are truly in the New Testament, with an unveiled face beholding and reflecting the Lord. But if we have an unveiled face to behold and reflect the Lord, we shall be under the New Testament in our spiritual experience.
