by Rose Murdock

God had established a covenant with the Israelites through Abraham and they were His people.  He promised to send the Messiah through this line of people who would become the Savior of all who would believe in Him, no matter what their nationality.

Once Jesus the Messiah came, He established a New Covenant, which is the covenant still in effect between God and man today.  Jesus brought in the New through fulfilling the Old.  He was the only one who ever perfectly kept the law of God.

Even though the New Covenant is a better covenant established upon better promises (Hebrews8:6), the Old Covenant was glorious when it was given.

Exodus 24:12:

12. And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.

The Lord called Moses up into the mount where He could speak with him and gave him this law that the Israelites, God’s people, were to live by. God’s desire was to have a relationship with them but He had to deal with the sin in their lives in order for Him to have any fellowship with them at all.  The law was His standard for righteousness.

Exodus 24:15-18:

15. And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount.

16. And the glory of the Lord abode upon mount Sinai and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

17. And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.

18. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.

During the forty days that Moses was up there he received the law and the 10 commandments from the Lord.  God wrote the 10 commandments on the two tablets of stone.

Exodus 31:18:

18. And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

We’ve all heard how while Moses was up in the mount the Israelites thought that something had happened to him because he took so long so they built a golden calf and started worshipping it as their new god.  When Moses came down from the mount he was so angry to see them worshipping the golden calf that he broke the tablets of stone the Lord had written on (Exodus 32:19).  God wasn’t too happy either and was going to destroy them but Moses interceded on their behalf and the nation was spared.

The Lord told Moses to make two new tables of stone and that He would write on them again (Exodus 34:1).  Moses was with the Lord again for forty days and nights.

Now when he came down the second time Moses’ face was shining with the glory of the Lord.

Exodus 34:29-35:

29. And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.

30. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.

31. and Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them.

32. And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in mount Sinai.

33. And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.

34. But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out.  And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded.

35. And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

After being in the presence of the Lord Moses’ face was shining so much that the people were afraid to come near him.  We read of this again in 2 Corinthians 3:7:

7. …the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance;…

So we see that the glory of the Lord had surrounded Moses in such a way during the time that the law and commandments were given that they couldn’t stand to look on his face.  The law of God is glorious!  That which brings right standing or righteousness with God is glorious!

But notice here that Paul calls the Old Covenant the "ministration of death."  Why does he call it that?  Because the law and 10 commandments do not give us life.  They give us death because of sin in our lives.  Nobody could keep the law, except Jesus.  Galatians 3:21 says that "righteousness should have been by the law" but righteousness does not come by the law because nobody can keep the law!  The law reveals that we are all born with a sinful nature and cannot keep the commands of God.

Look again at 2 Corinthians 3:7-9

7. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:

8. How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

9. For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.:

He’s saying that if the law which couldn’t even give us life but only gave us death and condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministration of the spirit or the ministration of righteousness.  He calls the New Covenant or the New Testament that Jesus established the ministration of the spirit and righteousness.  And he’s saying it exceeds in glory over and above the Old Covenant.

None of us can become righteous by obeying the law or the 10 commandments.  We can only receive righteousness by receiving God’s grace and mercy through what Jesus Christ did by keeping the law for us. He provided righteousness for us.

Look at verse 14:

14. But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

15. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

If one is still trying to live under the law of the Old Testament today, the veil is still there, upon their heart.  Sin is still there keeping the glory of God away.  If we try and earn a place of right standing with God by keeping the law or the 10 commandments then our sin will keep us from it.

But under the New Testament, when our heart turns to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance of that sin that separates us from God, then the veil is taken away.  And the glory of this ministration of the Spirit is much more glorious then the ministration of the law and commandments!

16. Nevertheless when it, (the heart), shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

17. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

18. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

The New is much more glorious than the Old because we can receive by the Spirit of God a new sinless nature.  We can receive the promise of the Holy Spirit.  We can receive righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ.  And as we do we are changed so that the glory of the Lord shines from us.

Just as when you look into a mirror and you see an image of yourself, we are changed into His image as we continue to look with an unveiled face (without sin), at the Word of God which reveals the glory of God.  That’s why we can say as Paul did in Colossians 1:27, Christ in you (me), the hope of glory!

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