Ben Williams
One of the most vivid scenes in the Bible is Mount Sinai when Moses first received the Ten Commandments. God’s presence was announced by a thick cloud with thunder and lightning and shown by fire descending on the mountain, with smoke billowing into the sky (Exodus 19). Something similar likely occurred when Moses went up to Sinai the second time, but the emphasis was not placed on this scene. Moses returned from Sinai this time with his face shining from the glory of God. The Israelites were afraid of this demonstration of God’s glory, just as with God’s appearance with lightning, thunder, and fire (Exodus 34). Though this event seems very specific to the old covenant at first glance, Paul uses it to demonstrate the foundations of the new covenant. In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul uses this event to make three points: (1) the new covenant is personal, (2) the new covenant is superior, and (3) the new covenant reflects God’s glory.
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he delivered the Ten Commandments on two stone tablets to the Israelites. These commandments formed the foundation of the old law. However, with the onset of the new covenant, Jesus didn’t deliver a rulebook. Instead, He delivered the Spirit carried forth by men. In 2 Corinthians 3:2-3, Paul reveals the continuation of this delivery. Speaking of the Corinthian Christians, he says, “You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all people, revealing yourselves, that you are a letter of 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.” God chose to use people instead of stone to deliver His message. However, we are not given this task because we are prepared or suited for it. How can we possibly live up to being a “letter of Christ”? Paul subdues these fears in verses 5 and 6, saying, “Not that we are adequate in ourselves so as to consider anything as having come from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” In this way, God has personally given each of us a role in His service and the means to fulfill it.
As Moses spoke with the Israelites at Sinai, they could not look upon his face because he shone with the glory of God. Though the Israelites feared this glory, Moses’ shining face left no doubt that the word of God was coming through him. Perhaps the first century Christians were looking for the glory of God to be clearly manifested in a similar way. Maybe they even debated if the previous covenant was more glorious. Paul absolutely disagrees. In verses 7 through 11, he writes, “But if the ministry of death, engraved in letters on stones, came with glory so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness excel in glory. For indeed what had glory in this case has no glory, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.” Paul mentions glory ten times in those five verses, emphatically stating that the ministry of the new covenant (OUR ministry) has even more glory than Moses when his face was shining. In verse 12, Paul encourages us to use “great boldness in our speech” as a result of our glorious ministry. But what makes our ministry so glorious?
Moses veiled his face as it shone to accommodate the Israelites. The Israelites were unable to look upon a reflection of the glory of God. Paul makes reference to this in verses 14 through 16, writing, “But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts; but whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” Jesus, our Lord, has taken the veil away because he has shown us God in the flesh. He told us directly, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Paul continues, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). Our ministry is so glorious because none of the glory comes from ourselves or any other man. Instead, its glory comes from Jesus and our reflection of Him, who has shown the nature of God in the flesh. By God revealing Himself to us through His Son, we are able to look upon our God and be molded after Him. May we all let our faces shine brightly by reflecting Jesus in our glorious ministry.
