#DailyDevotion The Glory Of The Torah Fades. The Glory Of The Gospel Remains Forever
Exodus 34:34-35 34But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to talk with Him, he took off the veil till he came out. And whenever he came out and told the Israelites what the LORD had ordered, 35the Israelites saw that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. Then Moses would put the veil back on till he went in to talk again with Him.
Now Moses talked to the LORD face to face as a man does his friend. So Moses would remove the veil when he went int before the LORD to talk with him. When he came out his face would be shining with the glory of the LORD and he would speak to the Israelites everything the LORD had told him. Then he would put the veil back on until he went back in to speak to the LORD.
Here now what St. Paul says about this in 2 Cor. 3, “7Now if that service, engraved in stone and bringing death, came with such glory the people of Israel couldn’t look at Moses’ face because it shone with the glory that was fading, Show much more certainly 8will the service of the Spirit have glory? 9If the service that condemns has glory, the service that gives righteousness much more certainly overflows with glory. 10That which had glory lost it because the other glory outshone it. 11If that which fades away had its glory, that which is permanent much more certainly has glory.” Paul had been telling the Corinthians the Law, the Torah, the LORD’s covenant with Israel brought death because the Law with it’s commands, precepts, statutes and the like the like had a condition, do this and you will live; break it and you will die. Yet despite the glory of the LORD which came with the commandments, it faded over time. Moses did not want the people too see this glory fade which is why he put a veil on. If they saw it fade then they would lose their fear from it.
But we have a new covenant made with the blood of Jesus. This is not the service of the Law, the Torah but of the Spirit, the Good News of Jesus Christ. So Paul continues, “12Because we expect this, we are very bold 13and not like Moses, who wore a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from seeing the last rays of the fading glory. 14But their minds have been closed. To this day the same veil is still there on the reading of the old covenant and isn’t taken away, because it is put away only in Christ…16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” The glory of the Gospel, the free gift of eternal life through faith in Christ Jesus never fades. We never need to put a veil on it because its glory never diminishes. We don’t have to worry about people losing their fear of it because it isn’t for fear but for faith, hope and love. As long as people look to Moses, that is the Law, as their standing before God, a veil lies over their hearts and they cannot see the glory of God. But when we turn to Jesus that veil is removed and we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus. It is God’s glory that he provides salvation and everything needed for our salvation in Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
That glory the LORD our God, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob gives to us freely through faith in Jesus who won for us this glory by his life, death and resurrection.
Heavenly Father, grant us faith in Jesus so the veil would be removed from our hearts and we participate in your glory now and forever. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.