How to Lift the Veil

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

This week, let's look at 2 Corinthians 3:16. This is a beautiful verse!

¹⁶but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

2 Corinthians 3:16 (HCSB)

In this passage, Paul is illustrating the access that we now have to the Lord by contrasting it with Moses's encounter with God when he received the Ten Commandments, along with plans for the Tabernacle and other laws. Here is the description of this from Exodus:

¹⁸Then Moses said, “Please, let me see Your glory.”

¹⁹He said, “I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name Yahweh before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” ²⁰But He answered, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.” ²¹The Lord said, “Here is a place near Me. You are to stand on the rock, ²²and when My glory passes by, I will put you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. ²³Then I will take My hand away, and you will see My back, but My face will not be seen.”

Exodus 33:18-23 (HCSB)

²⁹As Moses descended from Mount Sinai - with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands as he descended the mountain - he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the Lord. ³⁰When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone! They were afraid to come near him. ³¹But Moses called out to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. ³²Afterwards all the Israelites came near, and he commanded them everything the Lord had told him on Mount Sinai. ³³When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. ³⁴But whenever Moses went before the Lord to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. After he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, ³⁵and the Israelites would see that Moses' face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went to speak with the Lord.

Exodus 34:29-35 (HCSB)

This is a very interesting story. In the first part, Moses has been taking down laws from God for quite some time (in the Scripture, since the bottom of chapter 20), and he asks to see Him. God tells him that he can't look on His face and live, but he can see His back. In the second part, every time Moses spoke with God, he had to wear a veil on his face afterwards, because the people could not look on him due to how radiant his face was! In some sense, one's closeness to God determined how much of His glory one could see. Only when Moses had entered into the inner part of the Tabernacle could he remove this veil.

Now, we come to the time after Jesus has come and given His life for us. Let's look at today's verse in its context.

¹²Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness - ¹³not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel could not look at the end of what was fading away. ¹⁴But their minds were closed. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside [only] in Christ. ¹⁵However, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, ¹⁶but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸We all, with unveiled faces, are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:12-18 (HCSB)

Let's skip verse 12 for now, as verses 13-15 describe the way it “was” instead of the way it “is.” Moses put a veil over his face due to the closed-mindedness of the Israelites. In verse 15, “reading Moses” refers to the reading of the first five books of our Bible, what we call the Pentateuch, but Hebrews call the Torah - to this day, the Torah is read as part of traditional orthodox Judaism. It does not recognize Christ as having fulfilled the law, so the focus is continually on following the law given in these Scriptures. Paul says that when this happens, the veil remains.

Verse 12 and verses 16-18 describe the way it “is” now. We can use boldness because the veil has been removed. Verse 17 describes this as “freedom,” translated in the King James Version as “liberty.” We don't have to go through a “closer-to-holy” intermediate person like Moses in order to get to God, and it's not a one-way God-to-us communication either. We can go directly to Him, and He can speak directly to us, either in our hearts or through His Word. When Jesus was crucified, God even gave a symbol of this.

⁵⁰Jesus shouted again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit. ⁵¹Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was split in two from top to bottom….

Matthew 27:50-51 (HCSB)

This curtain was the entrance to the Holy of Holies, the inner part of the temple that was restricted to priests once a year to offer the sacrifices for the people. Jesus's payment for our sins was complete - we are no longer restricted when coming before Him!

Finally, in verse 18, we see the reason for this. We come before God with no veil, and can view His glory directly. We benefit from this, as we are transformed and become closer to the image of God. However, this also benefits others - we, like Moses, should reflect this glory! Others should be able to look at us and see Him. This is my prayer this week - that we will become so close to God that we will reflect His glory to the world around us.

How to Change from Useless to Useful

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

This week's book, Philemon, does not have three chapters; additionally, verse 16 of the only chapter is in the middle of the sentence. So, let's start out by looking at the entire context - Philemon 8-16.

⁸For this reason, although I have great boldness in Christ to command you to do what is right, ⁹I appeal, instead, on the basis of love. I, Paul, as an elderly man and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus, ¹⁰appeal to you for my child, whom I fathered while in chains - Onesimus. ¹¹Once he was useless to you, but now he is useful to both you and me. ¹²I am sending him - a part of myself - back to you. ¹³I wanted to keep him with me, so that in my imprisonment for the gospel he might serve me in your place. ¹⁴But I didn't want to do anything without your consent, so that your good deed might not be out of obligation, but of your own free will. ¹⁵For perhaps this is why he was separated [from you] for a brief time, so that you might get him back permanently, ¹⁶no longer as a slave, but more than a slave - as a dearly loved brother. This is especially so to me, but even more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

Philemon 8-16 (HCSB)

Onesimus had been a slave of Philemon, and had run away after stealing from him. Philemon had several reasons to have Onesimus killed on sight; accepting him as a brother was likely the last thing on his mind. But Paul had witnessed a change in Onesimus that Philemon could have never imagined! In verse 10, Paul says that he has “fathered” Onesimus; while together, Paul shared the gospel with him, converted him, and trained him in the things of the Lord.

In verse 12, Paul goes on to say that Onesimus is a part of himself; and, in verses 13-14, although Paul would rather keep Onesimus there with him, that would be stealing from Philemon - taking Onesimus without Philemon's consent. Paul also tells Philemon that Onesimus is now much more than a slave - he is a brother in Christ, and especially valuable.

This is the context of this short epistle - it is an object lesson illustrating 2 Corinthians 5:17.

¹⁷Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (HCSB)

Have you experienced this life-changing power? If not, take a look at God's Simple Plan of Salvation; Christ died for you, and all that He requires is that you believe in Him to cleanse your sins and make you into that new creation about which Paul wrote - it really is that simple. If you have, are you living in that power? The new creation is not just about saving grace, but a living, day-to-day grace, and the power to continually triumph over sin. Don't waste the gift you have received.