Unveiled Face

Last night I was reading in Exodus 34 about how Moses communed with God on Mt. Sinai as God wrote the 10 Commandments for a second time upon tablets of stone.  After 40 days, Moses descended from the mount, carrying the two tablets inscribed with the finger of God.  Unbeknown to Moses, his face literally shone from the time he spent in the presence of God.  This frightened the people, even Aaron his brother, to the point that he needed to cover his face with a veil when addressing the people.  Otherwise no one would come near him!  Exodus 34:33-35 explains, "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."  Moses veiled his face to speak with the people, and removed the veil when speaking with God.

When Moses veiled his face, it was practical.  As we look at this veiling in light of scripture, we see it is also symbolic and highly significant.  In the tabernacle, there was a thick veil which separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies, the most holy place where the Spirit of God dwelt above the mercy seat.  No man but the high priest on the Day of Atonement could enter the most holy place without dooming himself to certain death.  When Jesus atoned for the sins of the world through His shed blood, crying out "It is finished!", this same veil was torn top to bottom, exposing the most holy place to all.  From God to man, an invitation to divine communion through the shed blood of Jesus Christ by grace to faith had been offered to all.

Paul relates in 2 Corinthians 3:12-18, "Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech-- ¹³ unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. ¹⁴ But 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. ¹⁵ But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. ¹⁶ Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ¹⁸ But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

Isn't this a wonderful truth?  Because of Christ, we no longer need to read scripture with hearts obscured, even as Moses covered his face when he spoke to the people.  Because the Holy Spirit has indwelt and filled Christians, we can approach God with unveiled face in prayer, read the scriptures with understanding and clarity as the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth, and speak with unveiled face to our fellow men, sinners who are heading to their eternal destruction - even as we once were.  When we turn to the LORD, the veil is taken away!  If we turn to religion, the opinions of men, legalism, or walk in disobedience without repentance, our veil remains.

Sometimes we can drift far from God, though we have long been Christians.  We try to retrace our steps to where we went off the track, even like Pilgrim in Bunyan's allegory.  The trouble is Satan's lies, our limited understanding, and our own sins blind us to the right path.  When we try to retrace our steps, we sink deeper in the slough of sin, strangled by our own theology, and lose all hope we will ever find our way back to Jesus Christ.  Forget retracing your steps:  turn to the LORD!  Come to Jesus today as you came to him in simplicity in faith at the beginning.  Come to Jesus as if you have never known Him truly until now.  Confess your sins, repent, and trust Jesus Christ and God's Word.  Allow Him to remove the veil from your face and heart and set your feet once again on the narrow path which leads to victory and eternal glory.

Jeremiah 6:16 says, "Thus says the LORD: "Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.' "  Jesus revealed Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  The way to eternal life is not through failed attempts to keep the Law of Moses or beating yourself up for your faults, but to repent and trust in Jesus Christ as Saviour.  Victory does not come from theological wranglings, but atonement and redemption spring only through the shed blood of the Messiah.  Jesus affirmed this truth in Matthew 11:29 when He said, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."  A groom does not kiss his bride through the veil, but lifts it to reveal her face.  He does this to demonstrate affection through a kiss without any obstruction.  Allow Christ to remove the veil so you might commune with Him with unveiled face and realize, like never before, how much He loves you.