Reflections of Glory

So this morning, we enter into a final push.

And so over the last couple of years or so, we have been slowly working our way through the book of Exodus.

And we come now to the final three messages in this series.

And as we have walked through this book, we have seen not only the redemption plan unfold for the people of Israel, but we have also seen how this here in this world today shows us the redemption plan of God and that it was before all time planned by Him, ordained by Him and worked by Him.

As we saw how God was working in the lives of His chosen people, we saw ultimately

Him bringing them out of the bondage of Egypt and how that was for His good or for their good and His glory.

We have seen that as He did this work, He worked through 10 plagues that not only was a demonstration to His people, but also to the people of Egypt and ultimately to the people of the world that He alone is the one true

God. That demonstration, you may recall, systematically dismantled the

Egyptian pantheon of gods from the greatest of their gods all the way down to the self -proclaimed

God of Pharaoh. Throughout that entire process, we saw that not only was

God dealing with those specific gods of that specific place in that specific time, but also with all of the little g gods of all time, because ultimately all of these gods do the same thing.

They detract from the glory and honor that Yahweh alone is due.

And so as the people were finally set free from the bondage that they endured in Egypt, we saw

God's care and provision in bringing them across the wilderness to the

Red Sea. Ultimately, there on, He would deliver the final blow to the

Egyptians while allowing the Israelites to escape through the midst of the sea, but yet on dry ground.

We saw His provision continue through the wilderness as they moved from the Red Sea to the foot of Mount Sinai.

God continually providing for all of the needs of His people even in the midst of their groaning and even in the midst of their rebellion.

Then once they reached Sinai, we see God cut a covenant with His people and announced to them, declared to them that He desired to dwell in their midst only to have

His people rebel against Him even in the midst of giving

Moses all of the instruction and in the midst of God Himself carving out the

Ten Commandments. Moral law, we saw through the construction instructions of the tabernacle that God gave specific instructions that not only dealt with the needs of the people in their worship in that day and time, but also specifics that write down to the very fabric and fasteners that point forward through all the implements, all of the things that were to be used through all of the garments of the priesthood pointing us continually to the truth of the coming

Messiah. Truth that we find in its fulfillment in the

Lord Jesus Christ. And we saw that even after the people broke their covenant, that God still dealt graciously with them.

That He moved them from a place of separation because of their sin to a place of reconciliation where He Himself cut a new covenant.

A covenant that would ultimately see its partial fulfillment in the coming of the

Messiah and the full and complete fulfillment in the return as new

Jerusalem descends. As the bride of Christ is called to His side and that God dwells there with His people face to face for all of eternity.

So over the next three weeks, we take a look at the final chapters.

In the book of Exodus this morning, we will look at the descent of Moses from Sinai. Next week, we will actually do a survey of chapters 35 through 39.

If you've ever read through the book of Exodus, you studied the book of Exodus, you know that chapters 35 through 39 describe the obedience of the people of Israel as they construct the tabernacle.

And then finally, we will conclude with chapter 40 and the events that we find there.

But all of this begins with picking up where we left off last week. Exodus chapter 34, beginning in verse 29.

Actually, I wanna back up to verse 28. And so if you will take out your

Bible if you have not already done so, make your way to the book of Exodus to the 34th chapter down to the 28th verse.

And as you find your place, please stand in reverence for the reading of God's holy, inerrant, infallible, authoritative, sufficient, complete, and certain word.

As we begin in verse 28, we find these words. So he was there with Yahweh 40 days and 40 nights.

He did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the 10 commandments.

Now what happened when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses' hand as he was coming down from the mountain, that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with him.

Then Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses and behold, the skin of his face shone and they were afraid to come near him.

And Moses called to them. And Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him and Moses spoke to them.

And afterward, all the sons of Israel came near and he commanded them everything that Yahweh had spoken to him on Mount Sinai.

Then Moses finished speaking with them and put a veil over his face.

But whenever Moses went in before Yahweh to speak with him, he would take off the veil until he came out.

And then he would come out and speak to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded. And the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone.

So Moses would return the veil over his face until he went in again to speak with him.

Our prayer this morning is adapted from the Valley of Vision a prayer titled,

Simply Victory. Oh, great and merciful redeemer.

Great was your goodness in undertaking our redemption.

Great was your goodness in consenting to be made sin for us and in conquering all foes.

Lord, great was your strength as you endured the extremes of divine wrath poured out on Calvary's cross, taking away the load of our iniquities.

Great was your love as you laid down your life. Great was your love as you so beautifully took it up once again.

That love that was displayed in your pierced hands and feet inside, displayed for us so that fear may vanish and doubt be removed.

Lord, great was your mercy in ascending to heaven, in being crowned and enthroned, interceding on behalf of your people, giving us strength to overcome temptations and opening the eternal book and ultimately receiving us unto yourself.

Great was your wisdom in your plan of salvation. Lord, we pray that you bathe our souls in the rich comforts of your resurrection life.

Great was your grace in commanding us to come hand in hand with you to the father, to be eternally bound to him, to discover rest in him, to find peace in him, to behold his glory and honor, for he alone is worthy.

Great was your grace and the gift of your spirit as our teacher, our guide, the power that sustains us that we may live repenting of our sins, defeating the enemy and finding victory in a life given and sustained by you and you alone.

Lord, when we feel that you are not near, we are filled with all sorrow, but when we are reminded that you are near, we are filled with joy and we know that all the blessings in life are ours, not because of who we are, but because of Christ in us.

We pray these things in the blessed name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

You may be seated. So in one of our previous discussions, we briefly mentioned verse 28.

We mentioned it at that point primarily for the purpose of pointing out that this particular verse contained some things that were a little bit difficult, that created some issues with people, giving them the idea that Moses and not

God had created the second set of tablets that he not only cut the rock that made the tablets, but that he also actually inscribed the words.

And the issue comes in in the original language, in the original Hebrew, and in the way that it can be translated, which ultimately results in this not clear picture of who the he is in the second part of that verse.

There's no definitive direct object tied to it to make it plainly clear.

And this has led some people to believe that maybe it was

Moses here instead of God who inscribed these words. However, I and many others,

I'm not alone, believe that the fact that there is no direct object tied here is because it should be unambiguous based on the context of Scripture.

In other words, if we actually study the words that are surrounding it, we would be very clear in exactly who this he was, because if you go all the way back up to verse one, we read, now

Yahweh said to Moses, carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablet the words that were on the former tablets, which you shattered.

For me, that settles the discussion. It handles the debate.

God doesn't typically say I'm gonna do something and then not do it. He does it. And so God is the he referred to in verse 28.

Now, this is not the reason that I backed up to it and included it this morning. I just kind of wanted to remind you of that truth, but there are a couple of things here that we need to look at, especially as we move forward into the final verses of chapter 34.

The first of these is to deal with something else that I do think that we previously mentioned before, and that being the parallel between the 40 days that we see here and the 40 days of Christ in the wilderness as he was then tempted after his baptism.

You may recall that during that time, Christ also went without food and water.

And this was the primary, the initial attacking point of the enemy.

And that was the physical sustenance that people need. But I think sometimes that the period of time and the fact that it was without food or drink gets overlooked and it shouldn't be.

It's something that we must acknowledge. It must understand because there's a very specific thing that's happening here.

You see, science is quick to tell you that you can live anywhere from three to seven days without the consumption of water. Possibly you can go a bit longer than that, depending on the ambient temperature and your age and your health and your yada, yada, yada.

You know what I mean? But at the end of the day, what they say is you're not gonna live much past seven days without the consumption of water.

Now, food's a little different. Food itself, we can do without for much longer.

We don't like to do without it for much longer. In fact, most of us would rebel very quickly if we had to do it without it for much longer stretches than a couple of hours at a time.

But we can survive. But to know that they went both without food and without water, then it sees that there is something deeper.

See, if we ask the general people, what are the necessities of life?

Most of us will give four responses to that question. Most people, if you just ask them in a random situation out on the street,

Christians and non -Christians, give me the four basic necessities of life, they tell you food, water, shelter, and clothing.

If you have those four things, you can survive. And I think we all know that we need water and we all know that we at least want food.

We do need some food. But the truth is that beyond all of these things, there is something that we need more.

And that is Almighty God. As we just got through talking about in our

Sunday school discussion this morning, you don't exist without Him. There is no existence apart from God.

All things exist, believers, non -believers, all exist because of God. Deuteronomy chapter eight, verse three, says, and He humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know.

So the purpose of the manna, the purpose of the provision of God, of the manna of the food in the wilderness that He gave to the

Israelites was so that they would know that man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds from the mouth of Yahweh.

Now that should sound familiar. Because if you'll recall, during the temptation of Christ, the very first thing again, as I said a minute ago, is that He was tempted by Satan with physical need.

Do you recall the words of Christ as He responded?

Matthew chapter four, verse four, but He, being Christ, answered and said, it is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

It's important that we note this specifically regarding Moses. It's important that we understand it with Christ.

It was done for a reason. It's very specific. We'll explain it a little bit more as we go, but we need to recall this specifically as it relates to Moses.

And the reason is, is that in order for Moses to serve his purpose, you may recall

Moses was identified as the one mediator. So in order for him to serve this purpose, he needed something.

And so we need to consider why Moses was on top of Sinai. Here's the deal.

God could have given Moses the law anywhere. He didn't need him to be on top of the mountain. So if you hear somebody say, well, he needed to go up to the mountain so he could be close to God, bull.

I'm gonna call it bull. He went up to the mountain because God told him to go up to the mountain.

God called him up there to be close with Him, but God could have been close to Moses anywhere, but why? Why? Why take him to that place?

First of all, to set him apart. Secondly, he was there to re -receive the covenant, the 10 commandments.

And there in that place, he was in deep communion with the

Almighty God. It was a preparation for Moses.

But listen to me, Christian. It is also a preparation for you.

You see, we need that time of deep communion with God. We need that time where we are face to face with the

Almighty in His word and in prayer and in song, magnifying our voices, glorifying

His name and seeking Him with all of our strength.

In that place of deep communion, this serious reality, not just of Moses' life, but also of our lives.

In Moses' life, he ultimately playing the mediator, performing the mediator between God and man, but before he could fulfill that, he needed to be filled with the word of God.

You say, well, wait a minute. Moses was the one that received it initially. Moses is the one that wrote down the book of the covenant.

Moses is the one that gave us the first five books of the Old Testament. How can you say that Moses needed to be filled with God?

Because apart from all of that, if you remove the filling of God in the life of Moses, there is no book of the covenant.

There is no first five of the New Testament, of the Old Testament, sorry. There is no one mediator between the people of Israel and God.

This is the man that God chose. This is the man that would take the word to the people.

And before he could take the word, he needed to know the word. And to do that, to know the word, he had to be filled with the word.

As he would take the word of God to the people of God, as he would make the grace of God known, he needed to first understand the grace itself.

The understanding of grace and the understanding of the word of God is something that cannot happen apart from the work of the

Holy Spirit. It cannot happen unless it is in someone who has been transformed, who has been regenerated, who has been redeemed, who have been molded by the very hand of God himself.

And we could sit here today and go, well, God didn't mold me. Pastor so -and -so molded me. This guy on the internet molded me.

That guy on the internet molded me. The word of God molded me. Yeah, apart from God moving and working in your life, none of those things happen.

We are, as Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians chapter two, his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that he prepared beforehand.

So that we would walk in those good works. That's who we are.

Moses was being prepared. Moses was being crafted.

And so as Moses stood on the mountain, as Moses prepared to be a mediator, so too we look forward and we see that Christ was prepared.

He was filled. He was literally the word incarnate.

Scripture talks about him growing in that knowledge as his human heart, as his human nature grew and developed.

The difference is that he is a greater mediator.

He is the incarnate word. And so as Moses is filled, as Moses is prepared,

Moses is sent. He leaves the top of Mount Sinai. He goes down to the people, but notice how differently this time is than the last time he descended.

Just in case you forgot, he descended that time because God sent him to his people who he brought out of Egypt, speaking to Moses, who had broken the commandments.

And as he reached the ground, he was so angered by what he saw that he dashed the two tablets that he carried to the ground, destroying them.

Here we see him descending again.

And notice it says that the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses' hand as he was coming down the mountain.

See, he didn't come empty -handed. He didn't come empty -hearted.

He didn't come empty -minded. He came with the very word of God.

Then we see this interesting note that as he descends, he is unaware.

He is unaware of the fact that his skin is glowing as it reflects the glory of God, that it was literally shining.

Multiple scholars have made different comments about this being one of the great qualities that becomes part of people who have been truly transformed by the power and glory of God.

But we can experience transformation without it necessarily being reflected, right?

God didn't really need to make Moses' face shine, did he?

What exactly was the purpose? Fortunately, if you properly seek to understand

Scripture and you go by the first rule of biblical interpretation, which by the way, if you don't know it, you should write it down.

That is, Scripture interprets Scripture. That's the first rule. We don't have to look very far to find out exactly why.

In fact, Paul gives us the reason in his second recorded letter to the church at Corinth.

In that letter, we see Paul responding back again, once again to the people of Corinth, to the church at Corinth.

And in that letter, he deals with several things. One of those is the fact that he has been unable to make it back even though he originally told them that was his first plan.

And there's some other things. But after the introduction of that letter, as we begin to move into chapter two, what we identify as chapter two, as we get into around verse four or five, one of the things that we read is that he writes this statement, that you might know the love for which

I have abundantly for you. And he writes that in such a way so that it becomes clear that this is the purpose that he has written to them, both in the past and now, for the purpose of making his love known to them and that his love is abundant for them.

In other words, so that they would know him and then know that he was truly for them.

And so as we move into chapter three, we receive the answer to this question.

So as Paul begins to unpack this truth of them knowing him, them seeing him and understanding that his love for them is abundant, seeing that he is living the way he has told them that they need to live, has shown them, we see beginning in chapter three, we see this response that he gives regarding something that's going on.

And ultimately it comes down to this verse in verse seven.

And verse seven is one of the things I wanna talk about for just a moment. We'll actually come back to part of it. We're gonna focus in on one part now and we'll come back to the rest.

In 2 Corinthians chapter three, verse seven, we read these words, but if the ministry of death and letters having been engraved 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, which was being brought to an end.

I want you to notice what Paul says about Moses' reflection of God's glory.

What he says is that the word of God came with glory.

The glory of the word of God is being reflected in the face of Moses and it's being done so, so that there is evidence of a real transformation that the presence of God and the word of God has caused something in Moses to shift.

One of the effects of the word of God on the people of God is captured beautifully by A .W.

Pink as he writes these words. The second consequence of real communion with God is that we shall be less occupied with our wretched selves.

Though the face of Moses shone with a light not seen on land or sea, he wished it not, or he knew it not.

This illustrates a vital difference between self -righteous Phariseeism and true godliness.

The former produces complacency and pride. The latter leads to self -abnegation and humility.

The Pharisee, and there are many of his tribes still on earth, boast of his attainments, advertises his imaginary spirituality, and thanks

God that he is not as other men are. But the one who by grace enjoys much fellowship with the

Lord learns of him who was meek and lowly in heart and says, not unto us,

O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name, give glory. Being engaged with the beauty of the

Lord, he is delivered from self -occupation, and therefore is unconscious of the very fruit of the

Spirit which is being brought forth in him. But though he is not aware of his increasing conformity to Christ, others are.

What he's talking about is the transformation that occurs in the life of a believer. And that just as Moses couldn't perceive that his skin gone, often we can't perceive growth in our life.

We can't perceive this movement. Why? Not because we're not aware that we're growing, but because our focus is not on us, our focus is on God.

And as you take your focus off of yourself and place it onto God, you become less aware of the person, and you become more like Christ.

Matthew Henry also wrote, first, it is the infelicity of some that though their faces shine in true grace, yet they do not know it to take comfort in it.

Their friends see much of God in them, but they themselves are ready to think they have no grace.

The effect so profound that others see it, and yet we find our own person lacking because we don't think it's there.

Because our focus again is on God and not on our self. Secondly, it is the humility of others that though their faces shine in eminent gifts and usefulness, yet they do not know it to be puffed up with it.

Whatever beauty God puts upon us, we should still be filled with a humble sense of our own unworthiness and manifold infirmities.

As we'll make us even overlook and forget that which makes our faces shine.

Even in the midst of the transformation, we must work to be clear of who we were.

Have you ever thought about how many times we're reminded in scripture of who we once were?

You see, we get taught that we're just supposed to forget. That's what the world wants you to think.

Forget who you were, because when you forget who you were, you forget the miraculous, magnificent work of the

Holy Spirit, and it becomes something that you attain,

I achieved my growth. Versus recognizing that it is not of yourself.

And so this reflected glory of Moses also points us forward to Christ.

But no matter how radiant the glory that was being shown on Moses's face, it faded because it was a reflection.

It was easily covered because it was not his own.

Even though it is a reflected glory, that fades and it can still be hidden, it should still remind us of another mount, that mount on which the

New Testament testifies in the Gospels and in the writings of both Peter and John as firsthand witnesses to the transfiguration of Christ.

John writes, we beheld his glory. His glory. His glory, not another glory reflected, but a glory that could not be contained.

A glory that could not be hidden by a veil or by clothing. Matthew records in Matthew 17, verse two, and he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as light.

Moses put a veil over his face, and it hid the glory. Christ's glory burst through even his garments.

Because again, it was his glory. Where Moses's work as a mediator is temporary,

Christ is eternal. Where Moses's glory was a reflection, Christ is his own.

Where Moses was unaware of the glory shining in his face, Christ is fully aware of his.

He tells the disciples as they come down the mountain in Matthew chapter 17, verse nine, Jesus commanded them saying, tell the vision to no one until the

Son of Man has risen from the dead. Although Moses could not see it.

It is very clear. It is very evident that the people could, and their reaction, their reaction tells us that they were afraid.

Now, there are different, differing opinions on why this fear exists.

Some point to the previous descent of Moses and his reaction as he reached the bottom, as he reacted in anger and through their tablets as a response to their sin, and certainly, that could be part of it.

The simple part of people thinking, oh, he's gonna come back and beat on us again some more and be angry with us again.

But there's something deeper here. It's got much more to do with what was exposed in them.

You see, multiple times we have talked about how in Scripture, as people come into contact with God and his glory, they have very visceral reactions.

Rottenness creeps up into their bone. They see who they are and they cry out, woe is me, for I am undone.

They fall like dead men as they come into contact with the glory of God and the holiness of God.

I think the fact that Moses' face was reflecting that same glory and yet the people still had the response, first and foremost, speaks to us of the true power of the glory of God.

It speaks to us of the fact that even reflected, even transformed lives affect people.

As God moves in us, as God transforms us, as we are changed, as we'll read later in 2

Corinthians 3, 18, where it says that we're being transformed from glory into glory, from one glory to another, that we are also reflecting the glory of God and as we come into contact with the world, as we come into contact with people with sinful natures, there is a response.

The mere reflection in the face of Moses created a visceral response. They were afraid.

They didn't even want to come near to Moses. This is not a new response.

The response comes from the sin nature present in us. You say, well, how do you know it's a sin nature?

Real simple. Scripture interprets Scripture. So you go back to the garden, right?

You see, Adam and Eve, Adam and Eve had previously enjoyed

God's companionship in the garden. But that all changed. The moment that they sinned.

You may recall the words, Genesis chapter three, verses eight through nine, then they heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God in the midst of the trees of the garden.

Yahweh called to the man and said to him, where are you? Number one, he didn't really have to ask.

He knew where they were. Number two, he knew what they were doing. Number three, he knew why. But you know, we still try to hide.

We still try to keep that sin a secret. We still think we pull one over.

I thought I was Houdini when I was a kid. Man, Christmas time would come.

I knew what every present under the tree was. Not because I was good at shaking them, because I was an expert at cutting right down the tape line, opening it up, looking at it, putting it back and taping over it.

And I thought I was slick, till I found out

I wasn't. Till I found out my mom and dad knew all along.

We still try to hide the sin in our life. We hide from the glory and the holiness of God because of that sin nature.

This is why people have such violent reactions and responses to the truth of God, because we so desperately wanna hide what is laid bare before Him.

You enter into His presence, boom, sin is revealed.

No matter what you do, no matter how much effort you put into it, it's revealed.

Back in 2 Corinthians in verse nine, Paul talks about this ministry of condemnation.

Now this ministry of condemnation in this passage and ministry of death in the earlier passage in verse seven, give us a little bit of trouble.

And part of the reason they give us trouble is because of the word ministry, the word that we use to translate into the

English language. It has been translated ministrations, it's translated some other ways. Well, what's interesting is, is the word, the actual root, the actual

Greek word there, root is the same word that we translate minister or deacon or servant.

And so this word carries with it those connotations. Let me maybe give you a little bit different translation, maybe that helps it solidify in your mind.

What we're talking about is the service or the function of condemnation.

The service or function of death.

So the point that Paul is making is that the reason that the condemnation contains glory, for he says that the ministry of condemnation has glory.

The reason that it does is because it is in those whom

God has worked. It is in those whom

God has moved that this condemnation leads to righteousness.

This condemnation takes us because it calls to our mind the sin in our life, because it brings to us the truth that we need to repent.

Back up in chapter two of that same letter, as we got much closer to chapter three, verses 15 and 16,

Paul wrote these words, for we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

In other words, both within the church and without. In those who were saved and those who were lost, you're a fragrance of Christ.

Everywhere you go, you're a fragrance of Christ. The difference is the perception on the other side, because you see for those who have received life, those who have been regenerated, those who have professed faith in Christ, who have been saved to the uttermost, to them, you are an aroma of life.

But for those who are perishing, an aroma of death.

Why? Because as you proclaim the truth of God's word, it reveals truth about them.

Truth that they do not, cannot, and ultimately refuse to see.

And so the people were terrified. People were afraid.

They stood at a distance. But then look at what Moses did. He called to them.

It says in verse 31, then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him.

And then he spoke the word. And after he speaks, he puts on the veil.

Now I don't know about you. I grew up in church. Some of you grew up in church. Some of you may not have. If you grew up in church and you went through Sunday school, you probably talked about the veil that covered

Moses' face. And I remember, and of course my memory is anywhere, not anywhere close to being perfect.

But when I think back over that time, what I recall from the lessons about the veil over Moses' face was that every time he went into the public, he covered his face.

But that's not true. That's not what happened. If you'll notice in verses 30 down through 35, the only time

Moses covers his face is after he reveals the word of God. That while he is giving them the word of God, they see the reflected glory of God in his face.

And then he veils it. The veil veils the glory.

It does not veil the revelation. The veil on Moses veiled the glory.

It did not veil the revelation. In 2

Corinthians, back up in 2 Corinthians chapter three, we see

Paul talking about the veil and he links it to the limits of the old covenant as a covenant of law.

In fact, he says that it is a glory that is ending, that is fading, that it is something that is being brought to an end.

And we can look at that and we go, okay, well, he's just talking about the fact that the reflection of God's glory diminishes over time.

And then he has to, Moses has to go back into the presence of God, get recharged and go back.

By the way, that's how it's taught sometimes. But he says in 2

Corinthians chapter three, verse 13, and are not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the consequence of what was being brought to an end.

In other words, it was not for the purpose of hiding the revelation of God.

It was so that they would see the grace of God, that they would begin to understand that it was something different that was happening.

It was not protecting them. It was this manifestation of the law.

It was this ministry of death. You recall those words from a few moments ago in 2

Corinthians chapter three, verse seven. The ministry of death, that service of death, the function of death and what it accomplishes.

It's something that is passing away, but as it passes away, it gives way to a more excellent glory.

You see, what they're being shown is that this reflection of Moses, this way of everything, this is moving out of existence.

And there's a coming Messiah. There's coming one who is greater than Moses.

There's coming one who will fully and finally be the mediator.

There's coming one who will perfect all of these things. When Moses comes down with the shining face and the tablets of stone in his hands, the people had every reason to be afraid.

The glory on his face tied to the law in his hand, law that demands something that they could not deliver.

The law that they had previously broken, God didn't modify the law to allow for their excesses.

The law didn't change. The requirements didn't change. The demands didn't change.

It's a law that reveals a holiness that we cannot attain.

We cannot get there. It's not a ladder that we are able to climb.

It is a verdict that we are unable to escape. And so the veil became an accommodation because the people could not bear the weight of the glory.

They could not bear the way that it connected to the demands of the law, the searching, the exposing, the condemning.

Listen, I don't know about you, but I get tickled when

I hear people tell me that they don't like to read the Bible. And the reason

I get tickled is not because I think it's funny that they don't like to read the Bible. It's because of the reasons that they typically give.

Oh, it's boring, not exciting enough. I can't understand it.

The reason that people don't like to read the Bible is because it turns a floodlight on all your sin.

It confronts you with things that you would rather stay hidden.

And that the nearer that we come to that light, standing in our own righteousness, the more we recoil.

The more we wanna go away from it because it demands something.

The veil here is a symbol of both their and our spiritual inability to live before a holy

God in our own strength. It's a type that points us forward to Christ.

Here in Exodus, he's still in the shadow, but he's not yet in the full light.

But it points us forward to the time when he will be. Reminding us of the temporary nature of this particular ministry, but a temporary nature that is preparing the way for something new, something greater.

So when you see Moses veiling his face, it's not just the action of a humble man, but also the actions of a gracious God who would not utterly crush his people even as he shows them their true condition before his law.

But as we look at verse 34, notice verse 33, it says, and then when

Moses would finish speaking, he would put the veil on his face. But in verse 34, it says that when

Moses approached Yahweh, when he came before Almighty God, he removed the veil.

Now we could jump to a quick conclusion here and say, well, yeah, of course he removed the veil. God's not scared of his own reflected glory, but that's not quite it.

You see, something that was hidden, everything that is hidden, the thing that you're hiding now is laid bare before an omniscient

God. He knows all things. There's no need for a veil before him.

He literally exposes all of these things.

There's no hiding. There's no managing appearance. Moses must come to God as Moses truly is.

Unveiled, unhiding, nothing obscured.

Why? Because as a mediator, he could bear the burden. As a mediator, he could stand in the presence of Almighty God.

As mediator, he could stand the glory, not because of his strength, but because of what

God had done in him. But even then, he could not bear the full weight.

Notice that when the congregation stood at a distance, mediator draws near. Moses standing in the place of the people, but standing apart as one who can enter where they cannot yet go.

Paul picks this up in 2 Corinthians 3, verses 16 down through 18.

But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the spirit, and where the spirit is of the

Lord is, there's freedom. I bet you everybody in here has heard that verse a thousand times. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom.

We can do anything we want to do. That's not what this is talking about. When you take the context and when you understand what's happening here, the freedom now is to enter into the presence of Almighty God, because Christ has once for all removed the veil.

The veil has been removed because a person has turned to the Lord. And where the Lord is, the

Lord is the spirit. And where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Because where the spirit of the

Lord is, is indwelling the believers. Because he indwells the believers, because the veil has been removed, you can now enter into the presence of Almighty God.

There is freedom to do that. Not freedom to go live how you want. Freedom to enjoy

God. Freedom to worship God.

Freedom to praise Him. Freedom to be obedient to Him. Freedom from the bondage of sin that holds you down.

Look at the next verse. But we all, no, just so we're clear, because we use the word all here, we gotta be clear about that word.

Some people mistake the word all that it means all, all of all. That's not what it means.

It's all of a subset. But we all, all believers, all of those to whom

I'm writing, all of those who are reading this letter as believers, we all with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the

Lord. And we are being transformed. Into the same image.

From glory to glory. You're being changed.

Under the old covenant, the transition, Moses stood alone, unveiled in the presence of God.

Now under the new covenant, under Christ, because of Christ, every believer stands unveiled before God because of Christ, according to His grace.

What Moses had to experience alone on Sinai, the church now experiences together in Christ by the

Spirit. Think about that for just a minute. You and I are now invited to enter into the presence of Almighty God.

To live our life unveiled before Him. No mask of religiosity.

No self -righteous facade.

No carefully managed and quaffed image. Simply coming before Him as who we are.

A broken people. A sinner in need of a

Savior. And thanks be to God that He provided one in Christ Jesus. This is the difference between the ministry of the letter, the ministry of the law, the ministry of death, the ministry of condemnation, and the ministry of the

Spirit. You see the law exposes, the Spirit transforms. The law condemns, the

Spirit conforms. Under the law, you stand trembling at a distance.

Under the gospel, you draw near. Face unveiled, beholding the glory of the

Lord. And then you will notice finally that there is this rhythm here.

This rhythm that we see as Moses goes in, unveiled to meet Yahweh.

He comes out reflecting the glory. The people see the glory, respond with fear.

Hear the word spoken. And then Moses veils his face again. Once again, he goes back to the

Lord, unveiled. Receives the word, goes to the people, delivers the word, then veils the face.

He comes back in and this rhythm, this cycle of Moses' life of communion and commission.

Constantly going to hear from God and going out to speak for God. God, visible sign that he has been with God.

His face shines. Picture of true ministry.

Listen, if you and I or anyone attempts to speak for God without first having been with God, we have nothing to say but ourselves.

We have nothing to say but ourselves. We have nothing to promote but ourselves. We have nothing to give but ourselves.

If we try to minister in our own wisdom, our own strength, our own cleverness, there's no effect, no transformation.

Why? Because we cannot change anyone. It is only the word of God, by the spirit of God, according to the grace of God that you and I are transformed.

But those who go into the Lord, who draw near to him, who are transformed through his word, who behold the life, behold his glory in the face of Christ, come out changed.

So what does this mean? This is not just a curious

Old Testament story about a glowing prophet. That's not what this is.

That's not what this passage is for. You cannot, what it shows you is that you cannot live in habitual communion with God and not have it show.

If you're truly communing with God, if you're truly studying his word, if you're truly seeking him, you will be transformed.

Not no, you might be, you shall be. And he who began a good work in you is fateful to bring it to completion.

You notice that the impetus and the closing behind all of that, right?

I didn't begin the good work, he began it. I'm not gonna bring it to completion.

He is. In the middle of those two things, my responsibility is to come to him in communion, to study his word, to fellowship with other believers, to study with other believers, to not forsake the gathering together, to grow in knowledge and what will happen will be the transformed life.

Life truly touched by God's glory is humble. It's not self -advertising.

Moses did not walk down off of Mount Sinai with a horn in one hand, a two tablets in the other, tooting his horn and say, hey, hey, look at me,

I'm glowing. That's something that the world does.

You're like, well, yeah, but that's a, okay, let's put it in some real terms. How about that person in church who is very quick to let you know all of their accomplishments?

I led this Sunday school, I led that Sunday school, I served on this board and I served on that board and I fed 500 people with two pork chops and a slice of bread.

That I did all of these things. I, I, I, you see the problem?

There's no humility. Moses didn't run out and start the

Glowface Ministry of Sinai. He didn't open an office at the bottom of the mountain, charge people to come look at it.

He, he, he simply walked in obedience. That's true communion with God, walking in obedience.

One step after the other, day after day.

It produces this self -forgetful holiness where self -righteous religion is constantly trying to look in a mirror or compare itself to other people or constantly trying to be seen.

Secondly, the glory of God will always expose sin and provoke a response. The people were afraid.

They had been exposed to the glory of God and the same glory that delights you and I as believers terrifies the unbeliever.

As I mentioned earlier, Isaiah was affected.

Woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips amongst a people of unclean lips.

Other translations dumb it down. I just like the old one on that one. Undone is literally he's exploded into pieces, completely unmade.

All of self is gone. Peter glimpsed

Christ's power and cried out, depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Paul tells us in 2

Corinthians 2, we are fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

One of the hardest truths to deal with is the same gospel that softens some, hardens others.

The same glory that draws some near drives others away. Listen, the question is not, will the glory of God produce a response?

That's not the question. The glory of God will always produce a response. The question is, what response will it produce?

Repentance, faith or fear and retreat.

The ministry of condemnation is necessary. It's not final. The law has a function.

It serves to strip away our excuses. It silences our mouth. It declares every one of us guilty and without strength.

And once you and I see ourselves as condemned under the law of God, once we understand that God has done this by grace, once we have been transformed, we can then flee to him.

Under the new covenant, every believer is invited to live unveiled before God.

And become increasingly radiant before men.

Listen, this people that is mentioned in verses 16 through 18 of second

Corinthians chapter three, it's not a special class of believers. We do not have saints with a capital

S. We have the saints, which is all believers.

You don't get some special promotion.

We all stand before him as sinners justified. We all is everyone, all who have turned to the

Lord, all who have the spirit, all who belong to Christ. As you behold this glory in the word by the spirit, you are transformed.

Maybe that transformation is not seen by you, but it will be seen by others. Maybe it's not applauded.

Maybe not admired. Maybe in many cases, even resisted or drives away people that you love.

But regardless of all of those things, it is absolutely unmistakable. And all of those things bring us to where Exodus 34 has been pointing us the entire time.

In fact, all of Exodus, as it points us forward straight to Christ, straight to Christ.

Moses is heralded as the hero by many, but Moses is not the hero.

Moses is a signpost to the hero. He's a direction marker pointing you to God, pointing you to Christ.

His glory, glory that's shown in the face of Moses was reflected.

Christ radiated that glory. It came from him. Moses' glory was held in his face.

Christ's glory shines from his very being. Moses' glory fade and must be veiled.

Christ's glory remains. And the veil, that veil has been ripped and torn asunder.

Peter, James, and John witnessed the event that Moses could only foreshadow the son of the living

God standing before them like the sun with garments blazing with light.

Moses stands beside him, not as an equal, not as a rival, but merely as a witness, the law giver standing next to the law fulfiller, the true mediator.

And the father leaves no room for confusion as he cries out, and this is my beloved son.

Listen to him. So here's the question, question that gets pressed on every heart as you encounter this text, as you study this text, is are you hiding from the glory of God or are you being transformed by it?

If you evaluate yourself and you answer this question and you find that you are clinging to your self -righteousness and the glory of God only condemns, that the glory reflected in Moses becomes a terror, not a comfort.

But if you bow to God's verdict, if you understand that you are ungodly, that you are without strength, that you are in need of mercy, and you turn to the great mediator,

Christ Jesus, then the veil is removed. You no longer stand trembling before a fading glory.

You are welcomed into a greater glory that will never pass away. And so when

God's holiness shines, do you run and hide or do you run to Christ?

When his word exposes your sin, do you harden your heart or do you repent?

When others look at your life, do they see one living under condemnation or one who has been with Jesus?

May we all be a people who live unveiled before God and whose very lives testify, it is not that I shine, it is that I have been with Jesus.

Let us pray. Most gracious God, our

Father, Lord, we bless you that you are the

God who comes down, the God who spoke on Sinai in thunder and fire, the

God who has now spoken to us in your Son. Through your word, we confess that left to ourselves, we cannot stand in the light of your holiness for your law exposes us, it condemns us, and it shows that we are without strength.

Yet we praise you that in Jesus Christ, our great mediator, the veil is torn and the way into your presence has been opened.

Lord, teach us to stop hiding behind our self -righteousness, behind our excuses, behind our masks.

Lord, give us grace to turn to Christ, to have that veil removed, to live before you with unveiled faces, known, forgiven, and being transformed.

Lord, make us a people marked by humble holiness so that those around us see not our greatness, but that we have been with Christ.

Fix our hope now on the day in which we will stand in your glory fully and freely, face to face with you, conformed to the image of your

Son. We ask all of these things in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.