Moses Covers His Face

Israel worshiped the golden calf, in part, because they were looking for an assurance that God was with them, tangible evidence that He was dwelling among them. That much is evident from Exodus 32:1–4, where Aaron presents the idol as the deity that had led them out of Egypt and brought them to Mount Sinai. Their sin involved their looking for a tangible expression of the Lord’s presence in the form of a graven image, which the second commandment forbids (see Ex. 20:4–6). Although the Israelites were disciplined for seeking evidence of God’s presence in the form of an idol (Ex. 32:5–35), this did not mean that the Lord disapproved of every sign that He was with His people. The tabernacle itself, as described in chapters 25–31, would be one such sign. Today’s passage tells us about another sign that the Israelites had while Moses was alive—namely, his shining face.

Exodus 34:29 explains that when Moses came down from Mount Sinai after the restoration of the covenant, “the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.” In other words, the glory of the Lord had such an effect on Moses while the prophet was in God’s presence that evidence of it remained once he left that presence. This glory could rest on Moses, indicating that those who are pleasing in the sight of God can have direct experience of His glory, and the fear of the Israelites in seeing it indicates that this glory must not be trifled with (Ex. 34:30). Indeed, to sin against the glory of God, as the first generation of the Israelites in the wilderness did, is to risk being cut off from the Lord’s blessing (Num. 13:1–14:23).

Moses’ reflection of God’s glory whenever he met with the Lord after Sinai was tangible proof to the Israelites that God remained with His people (Ex. 34:31–35). Yet Moses sometimes covered his face with a veil to keep the Israelites from seeing it. Second Corinthians 3:12–13 tells us that Moses did this for the sake of the people. The reflection of glory on his face faded over time, indicating that the glory of the old covenant was temporary. Moses did not want them to see the glory becoming dimmer because they could not yet understand the impermanence of the Sinai covenant. He veiled his face so that they would not see it move from shining brightly to shining dimly to not shining at all. In a similar way, Paul says, many Jews today are not able to believe that the old covenant was only temporary. This truth remains hidden to them until they trust in Jesus and come to understand that only His new covenant is everlasting (2 Cor. 3:14–18).