Third Day of Lent
Posted on March 8, 2019 by under
Scripture: Exodus 34:27-35 (NKJV)
34:27 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.
33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. 35 And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him.
Devotion
When Moses comes down Mt. Sinai from his forty days, his face shone with the radiance of the Lord. His countenance was so bright that the Israelites were afraid to look at him. So he wore a veil to cover the glory that radiated from him.
In 2 Corinthians 3 St. Paul writes about the Jews, “Their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (2 Cor. 3:14-16).
When people read the Old Testament without seeing Jesus Christ in those pages, it is as if they’re reading it with a veil covering their face. They read it, but understand nothing. Jesus says to the Jews in His day, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). The only thing that takes the veil away is true faith in Christ. Those who believe in Christ read the Old Testament and begin to see Christ’s person and work throughout its pages, sometimes in prophecy, sometimes in foreshadowing of individuals and institutions like the tabernacle.
When the Old Testament is read apart from faith in Christ its only ministry is condemnation, because it teaches us the Law which shows us our transgressions. But when read through faith in Christ, it becomes a ministry of life, showing us our gracious Lord.
We pray: O Lord, we beseech Thee, mercifully hear our prayers and, having set us free from the bonds of sin, defend us from all evil; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
