The Lord gives lasting glory but not the fading glory: (3:7-11):
The Old covenant or the old letter which Paul was speaking brought death. In the 10-commandments there are set of rules and regulations. Moses brought the Old covenant from Mount Sinai (Ex. 34:29-35). He was in God’s presence and the glory reflected on his face. This was the 7th time Moses went up to Mount Sinai to meet the Lord. This seventh time Moses was carrying the second set of the Ten Commandments. The first set of stone tablets God Himself carved out of stone and wrote on (Ex.31:18; 32:15, 16). After Moses broke them, God told Moses to chisel out two new tablets and He would write on them (Ex.34:1, 29). (Ex.34:29) tells us that Moses’ face was radiant. The Hebrew text says that Moses’ face shined. Moses’ face was reflecting the brilliant light of God, and it was shining so brightly that the Israelites, including Aaron the High Priest, were afraid of him (Ex.34:30), and so Moses had to cover his face with a veil (Ex. 34:33, 35). What Exodus does not specifically say, but just assumes, and Corinthians tells us explicitly, is that the radiance of Moses’ face was fading away. God never meant for the glory of the Old Covenant to remain but it was to fade away before the abounding glory of the Gospel. If the ministry of condemnation (the Law) was glorious, then the ministry of righteousness (the Gospel) is even more glorious! Paul needed no veil, he has nothing to hide. The glory of the Gospel is there!
Let’s look at some of the differences of OT and NT.
| OT covenant | NT Covenant |
| The glory was fading | Unfading and abounding glory. |
| It brought condemnation to human beings | Christ brought righteousness to all men and women. |
| The glory was reflected on Moses’ face which brought fear among the people. | Christ’s glory reflects through all believers which invites all people to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| Even the Mt. Sinai was filled with God’s glory, surrounded with smoke, there were earthquakes, thunder, lightning, trumpet blast from heaven and the voice of God Himself (Ex.19:16-20:1) | The Gospel did not come with thunder or earthquakes or smoke. The Gospel was communicated to men by angels of the birth of Christ by the great sign of virgin conceiving and bringing forth a son. A voice from heaven proclaiming Christ the Father’s only begotten Son in whom He was well pleased. |
| The law was glorious for a short time. | The gospel is glorious eternally. |
| The OT covenant glory was finite or a stop gap arrangement. | The glory of New Covenant is infinite and is incomparable to the fading glory. |
| The OT glory was a copy and shadow of the new glory. | The glory brought through Christ is permanent and everlasting. |
| The Old is abolished. | The new glory remains until Christ’ second return. |
We can take an example from OT: “David was the voice of the law awarding death to sin (his own sin unknowingly), “He shall surely die.” But Nathan was the voice of the gospel awarding life to repentance for sin, “Thou shalt not die.”
The Gospel is not veiled but open to all: (3:12-16):
Since we have such a great hope in the Gospel, we can be bold and courageous to speak to the people. In the past, Moses put a veil on his face, so the people of Israel could not look at him. When we read (Ex.34:29-35), we get the impression that Moses wore a veil after his meetings with God so the people wouldn’t be afraid to come near him and it was to protect them from seeing the shining face of Moses. But here Paul explains the real purpose of the veil. It was not just the shining face of Moses would be hidden, but also to hide the diminishing glory of his face as the glory was fading. A veil is not a bold thing to wear, but it is a barrier and a place of hiding. Moses lacked boldness compared to Paul because the covenant that he ministered under was fading in glory. If the veil were lifted, they would have seen the glory of Moses fading. The same veil that hid Moses’ face now lies on the hearts of Jews and Gentiles who did not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Even for the Gentiles of today that spiritual veil separating them. Because of this veil, their minds are darkened and they cannot see the real glory of the Lord. But when a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away from his heart. Even though the scriptures were read systematically in the synagogues of Jews, their spiritual eyes were blinded and even today also. But there is a great hope for both Jews and Gentiles. When we turn to the Lord, trusting Jesus Christ, the veil will be taken away (3:16). The dullness of our mind is taken away and we have direct access to God.