Commentary - Exodus 34:29-35

Bird's-eye view

Here we have one of the most remarkable scenes in the Old Testament. Moses descends from Sinai after forty days of intense communion with God, and the experience has left a physical mark. His face shines with a reflected glory, a glory so potent that it terrifies the Israelites. This is not some private mystical experience; it is a public demonstration of the holiness of God and the nature of the Old Covenant. The entire episode, the shining, the fear, and the veil, is a living parable. It teaches us about the terror of God's glory for sinners, the role of a mediator, and, as the apostle Paul will later explain, the fundamental differences between the glory of the Old Covenant and the surpassing glory of the New.

This event comes right after the golden calf apostasy and the renewal of the covenant. The people have just shown how fickle their hearts are, and God has reestablished His law. The shining face of Moses is God's exclamation point on the proceedings. It is a sign that Moses is indeed God's man, speaking God's words. But the fear of the people and the subsequent use of the veil reveal the chasm that still exists between a holy God and a sinful people. This glory is real, but it is a mediated, veiled, and ultimately fading glory, pointing forward to the day when a greater Mediator would come and remove the veil for good.

Outline

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 29 Now it 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.

Moses comes down from the mountain, the law of God physically in his hands. This is the second set of tablets, a sign of the covenant's renewal after Israel's gross idolatry. He is the mediator, bringing God's word to the people. But something has happened to him in the presence of God. The key phrase here is that "Moses did not know." True glory, the kind that comes from God, is not self-conscious. Moses wasn't trying to get a shiny face. He wasn't pursuing a spiritual experience for the sake of the experience. He was pursuing God, and the shining was a byproduct. This is a profound lesson for us. The man who is most aware of God will be the least aware of himself. The Christian who spends his time trying to manufacture a spiritual glow will fail. But the one who is preoccupied with the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ will begin to reflect that glory without even noticing. It is a derived glory, coming entirely "because of his speaking with Him." Communion with God changes a man.

v. 30 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.

The reaction of the people is immediate and visceral: fear. This is not simple surprise at a strange phenomenon. This is the terror of sinful men in the presence of holiness. Even a secondhand, reflected glory is too much for them to bear. Just a short time before, they were dancing around a golden calf, perfectly comfortable with a god of their own making. Now, confronted with a sliver of the true God's glory on their leader's face, they recoil. This fear is a right and proper response. It testifies to the immense gap between God's perfect holiness and their own sin. We live in an age that has tried to domesticate God, to make Him a comfortable friend and nothing more. But the God of the Bible is a consuming fire, and His glory is a terrifying thing for those who are not covered by the blood of a greater Mediator.

v. 31-32 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in 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.

Here we see the mediatorial function in action. The people are afraid to approach, so Moses must call them. He bridges the gap created by their fear and God's glory. First the leaders, Aaron and the rulers, come near. Then, once the precedent is set, all the people follow. Moses then does what he came down to do: he delivers the law. He speaks to them everything Yahweh had commanded. The glory on his face was not for his own sake; it was the credential for his words. It was God's authentication of His prophet. The people needed to know that these were not the words of Moses, but the words of the God whose reflected glory was too bright for them to look at.

v. 33 Then Moses finished speaking with them and put a veil over his face.

This is the central action that the New Testament, particularly in 2 Corinthians 3, will seize upon. Why the veil? The immediate reason is practical: to allow the people to interact with him without being terrified. But Paul tells us there is a deeper, typological meaning. The glory of the Old Covenant was real, but it was a glory that was destined to be "done away" (2 Cor. 3:7, 11). It was a fading glory. The veil was put in place so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly to the end of what was being abolished (2 Cor. 3:13). It was a ministry of condemnation, glorious but temporary. The veil, then, represents the temporary nature of the Mosaic economy and the spiritual blindness that kept Israel from seeing its fulfillment in Christ.

v. 34-35 But whenever Moses went in before Yahweh to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out... So Moses would return the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him.

A pattern is established. Before God, the veil is removed. In the presence of Yahweh, there is open-faced communion. Moses did not need a mediator for himself in this way. But before the people, the veil is put back on. This cycle demonstrates the two sides of Moses' work. He goes in to receive from God, and he comes out to give to the people. He is the go-between. But it also highlights the limitations of his ministry. The people only get the glory secondhand, and through a veil. This is the essence of the Old Covenant. It pointed to a reality that it could not fully reveal. It prepared the way for the one who would tear the veil from top to bottom. For the Christian, because of Christ, the veil is taken away. We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor. 3:18). Moses had to go into the tent to have his face recharged, so to speak. We have the Spirit of God dwelling within us, constantly transforming us into the image of the Son.

Key Issues

Application

First, we must recognize that true spiritual vitality is a byproduct of communion with God, not the goal itself. Moses wasn't trying to shine; he was trying to know God. If you want your life to have the luster of heaven on it, stop staring at yourself in the mirror and start beholding the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Read His Word. Pray. Worship Him with the saints. The shining will take care of itself.

Second, we must understand the immense privilege we have under the New Covenant. We have a better mediator, a better glory, and better promises. The veil has been torn. We have direct access to the throne of grace. We are not kept at a distance by a terrifying, fading glory. Rather, we are invited to draw near with unveiled faces and be transformed. We are not just seeing a reflection; we are being changed into the very image of Christ by the Holy Spirit. This is a glory that does not fade but increases.

Finally, this passage should cultivate in us a profound sense of awe and reverence for God. If the reflection of God's glory on a man's face was enough to make an entire nation tremble, how much more should we approach the living God with reverence and godly fear? This fear is not the cowering of a slave but the respectful awe of a child before a great and holy Father. It is this holy fear that banishes all lesser fears. When we fear God rightly, we will fear nothing and no one else.