1960 Bible Studies - page 194

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BIBLE STUDIES

letters having been engraven on stones, with (En, in) glory. This glory which radiated from the face of Moses was such that the sons of Israel could not look steadfastly upon it, though it was a transient glory, a glory which was being annulled. How much rather shall the ministry of the Spirit (this also refers to the Holy Spirit) in the New Covenant subsist or abide in glory, a glory which shall not pass away, so also shall the Covenant abide, for it is an eternal Covenant (Hebrews 13. 20).

Verses 9, 10, 1 1 :  For if the ministration of condemnation

is glory, much

rather doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

For verily that

which hath been made glorious hath not been made, glorious in

this respect, by

reason of the glory that surpasseth.

For if that which passeth

away was with

glory, much more that which remaineth is in glory.

The Old Covenant is both the ministry of death and condemnation; the New Covenant is the ministry of righteousness; the one condemns and the other justifies the believing sinner.  These form the complement of each other, the one reveals man to himself and shows him his sin and deep depravity, the other reveals Christ who is the glorious and full answer to man’s deep need. The glory of the Old Covenant disappeared, and, as Paul said, that Covenant was passing away (Hebrews 8. 13), but the New Covenant abides and its glory is permanent and exceeds the Old Covenant in glory. The Old Covenant was made glorious or glorified by reason of the glory in Moses’ face, not by reason of the glory that surpasseth, that is, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (4. 6). The Old Covenant was to reach its end in Christ: " for Christ is the end of the law unto righteous-ness to every one that believeth " (Romans 10. 4).

Verses 12, 1 3 : Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech, and are not as Moses, who put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel

should not look stedfastly on the end of that which was passing away:

Nothing is veiled or secret in the New Covenant, all is open, bold and free, because our hope is in Another, not in ourselves.  It is not in " This do and thou shalt live, " but in " I t is finished, " the triumphant cry of victory which the Redeemer spoke with a loud voice on the cross when He had finished the work of salvation for men.  Paul, the announcer of the dispensational change from the Old to the New Covenant, was not like Moses, who, when he came with the tables of the Old Covenant, put a veil upon his face that the sons of Israel should not see the end of the glory with which his face shone. The introduction of the law was like the glory of a sunset when the sun goes down behind a bank of clouds. The end of its glory cannot be seen.  When God gave to Moses the law He said, " Thou shalt see My back: but My face shall not be seen" (Exodus 33. 23).

God had passed by as Moses was in the cleft of the rock in Sinai, and the glory which lit up Moses’ face was a receding glory, a glory which was passing away. As the glory of the Old Covenant was as the glory of the sunset, the glory of the New is as the sunrise; the one is the glory of the back, the other the glory of the face.

J. M.

Issued by the Churches of God.

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