“Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. (Joshua 1:2-3 2)
It just makes perfect sense that Moses had to die before God's people could enter the promised land. Moses was the vessel through whom God gave His Law. The purpose of that Law was neither to bring saving righteousness nor to bring the blessings of that righteousness.
Rather, it was to do quite the opposite. It was to show man the absolute holiness of the Triune God. It was always God's intention that, in seeing the Law, man would be forced to see his own nature. Confronted with his nature, and his own inability to fulfill the law and thus be acceptable to God, man will then turn to God's mercy offered by grace for another solution.
Further God knew and told Moses, and through Moses, the people of God that they would never live up to his wall. The apostle John, in the introduction to his Gospel, told us that this was true. In verse 16 and 17 of chapter 1, he said that
"... of his fullness we have all received and grace for grace. For the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
There is a contrast there. Moses gave the Law, but grace and truth, the only means by which anyone can actually GET INTO God's presence and emerge, comes by another means.
That means, John says specifically, and the Old Testament tells us in type, was the person and actions of Jesus Christ, God's Only Begotten Son. What the Law could not do, what the Law, in fact, was not ever designed to do, and what men had no desire to do because of their fallen nature, Christ came and did for them. He walked perfectly and acceptably before His Father, and then He laid down His life a sacrifice for sins.
Both His active and passive obedience qualified Him as the perfect Lamb of God which then served to satisfy God's wrath against the sins of a depraved people. It is that gift that we celebrated Christmas. That just would not have been possible if Moses had not died. No one would have been able to enter the promised land if Moses had not died (and I speak metaphorically here) because the Law could not get anyone there. At least not the law with Joshua at the helm. Only the Law as fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Deuteronomy 30:8-10 8 And you shall again obey the voice of the Lord and keep all his commandments that I command you today. 9 The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
"you will again obey the voice of the Lord." We need to remember that all of this comes after the coming of Israel's Messiah. With a new heart under the New Covenant, Israel would obey all the commandments of the Lord. This would result in the Lord’s blessing, which would bring greater prosperity than Israel had ever previously experienced. Here is a renewed enforcement of the indispensable fruit of salvation and another echo of the constant theme of this book.
Remember that the intention of the law is not to bring righteousness, but to show the sinfulness of man and to direct man to their need for Christ (Israel's Messiah). The only kind of righteousness the wall was never intended to bring was a practical righteousness that brought practical blessing. The kind of righteousness that brings redemption was never the capacity of the Law. It was always God's intent that the Law simply bring man to his knees and direct them to Himself.
At this point, we must note that the fact that this was not accomplished in the Old Testament is not a failing of the Law, but rather a failing of Old Testament Israel as a nation. It is certainly true that there were indeed individuals, many of them, who were redeemed throughout Israel's Old Testament history. However, as a nation , Israel turned to the Law for their redemption and did not learn the lesson from the Law that God intended.
Their obedience was short-lived, it came in spurts, and God was constantly having to send "judges" to both chasten, and call them back to that obedience. This was not a surprise to God, and should not have been a surprise to Israel! He made it clear to them from the very beginning that this was to be their experience, after all righteousness was not the purpose of the Law. After all, we know that the Scriptures say: ...the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17).
Let us remember this principle, for it applies, not only to the issue of how a man becomes a believer, accomplishing his redemption, but also to how one pleases his God in all things as a believer! This is a matter that deserves far more consideration in the long run!
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. Exodus 34:29–35 (NKJV)
Verse 31 - “and Moses…talked with them…” - Language and grammar are highly flexible and eloquent things. particularly the "idiomatic" ones. An "idiom" is "a speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements, as in 'keep tabs on'." It draws on pictures and graphic ideas that are particular and unique to the culture that the language is taken from. Such is the case here. The grammar of this phrase draws a picture for us. Moses calls the rulers of the congregation to him, and he "talks with them. The tense and force of the verbs is such that we are meant to see this as an ongoing conversation, one that is active, ongoing, in the midst of happening, incomplete if you will. The picture drawn for us is meant to create in our minds the picture of Moses actually speaking with the Elders of Israel. It is not simply a matter of his telling them what happened on the mountain. He "talked" with them - he explained, communicated, announced, preached, told, whatever was needed to be sure was necessary to see that they understood what God desired for Israel.
That is the task of the leader of God! It is the task of anyone who has been given by God to see that God's message is communicated to another. He is:
Call them to himself
Talk to them and tell, in whatever way is needful, what God desires for them to know in order that they might act as God desires them to act.
Now, we understand that, as those not under Law but under Grace, we communicate a different set of facts. But, at the root, we are still talking about salvation by grace through faith alone for that has always been the way that God has brought men to Himself.
“Afterward" - There is an translated conjunction here, "and" or "then", that joins the prior verse to verse 32. The English translators thought it unnecessary to include it. It is another indicator of temporal sequence.
There is also a little adverbial "appendage" attached to the end of the word "afterward" proper that is not rendered in most English translations. It is the Hebrew word "ken" and is yet another indicator of sequence, but implies a similarity of fashion or comparison, likewise, in this case. The context makes it obvious that the people approached Moses just like the Elders did, and so the English translators did not include it.
"Afterward" itself is an adverb (it modifies the act of the people coming to Moses - when did they come?) It is another direct time reference, with regard to the event directly before what it is attached to and means "then, afterward, later, some time later, i.e., pertaining to a time subsequent to another time, depending on the context of the verse. It is fairly common, for instance Genesis 18:5 uses it:
5 And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.”
Note that in some contexts it can have a spacial reference as well, "behind" (Genesis 19:6); or even directional "to the west" (opposite the rising sun - Judges 18:12); and, as a metaphor, it can speak of following someone in a linear motion (1 Sam 12:14).
Verse 32 - "...he gave them as commandments..." is all one word in the Hebrew. As we have said the original languages in which the Bible is wirtten are very expressive and can give a lot of information that require more than one word in English to express. The first portion of the verb is what is called a "wav consecutive" that acts as a conjunction at the beginning of the verb. Tagged on the end of the verb is the particle "em" that functions as an English pronoun, "them" in a sort of a Dative case - "to them". Further, as a third aspect to the verb, we see once again the form that suggests that we see the verb as "imperfect" or in progress and Moses actually speaking with the people themselves. The verb itself means "to command, to order, or to instruct, that is to state with force/authority what others must do. Moses is here functioning in the role of a Prophet once again and performing that role by communicating authoritatively to the people what God had communicated to him on the mountain.
Note that he tells them "all that the Lord had spoken with him". He left nothing out and he soft-pedaled nothing that God had said to him. There was no holding back, no qualification of the matter, he gave it to them straight, just as God had communicated it to him.
Once again we must note that this is the task of the man of God. We are to communicate to the congregation that which God has said. It is our responsibility to repeat to them what the Word of God has said to us.
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. Exodus 34:29–35 (NKJV)
Verse 33 - "he put a veil on his face" - Most miss an obvious truth here. The purpose of the veil was not to calm the anxiety of the people. We know this because Moses put on the veil only after the people had come near and after he had finished declaring the law to the people (vv. 31, 32). Rather, as Paul in 2 Cor. 3:13 makes clear, the veil was to keep the Israelites from seeing that the glory was fading away.
According to Paul, this fading glory shows the temporary and inadequate character of the old Mosaic covenant and points to the need for a greater covenant Mediator—Jesus Christ.
When not speaking to the Lord or authoritatively on His behalf to the people, Moses veiled his face. The Apostle Paul advised that the veil prevented the people from seeing a fading glory and related it to the inadequacy of the Old Covenant and the blindness of the Jews in his day.
This physical action pictured the fact that Moses did not have the confidence or boldness of Paul because the Old Covenant was veiled, that is, it was was only an unclear foreshadowing of the coming work of God's Messiah. It was shadowy. It was made up of types, pictures, symbols, and mystery. Moses communicated the glory of the Old Covenant, but with a certain obscurity.
The “veil” here can be seen as representing unbelief. Those Israelites did not grasp the glory of the Old Covenant because of their unbelief. As a result, the meaning of the Old Covenant was obscure to them (cf. Heb. 3:8, 15; 4:7). Paul’s point was that just as the Old Covenant was obscure to the people of Moses’ day, it was still obscure to those who trusted in it as a means of salvation in Paul’s day. The veil of ignorance obscures the meaning of the Old Covenant to the hardened heart (cf. John 5:38).
Without Christ the OT is unintelligible. But when a person comes to Christ, the veil is lifted and his spiritual perception is no longer impaired (Is. 25:6–8). With the veil removed, believers are able to see the glory of God revealed in Christ (John 1:14). They understand that the law was never given to save them, but to lead them to the One who would.
This underscores for us the truth that the NC, the NT is not a replacement for the OC/OT; rather it is the fulfillment of it. It is the ultimate demonstration of all that God had "merely" foreshadowed in type and picture in the Law.
Verse 34 - “…he would take the veil off…” - Given that the above is so, we can readily understand why Moses took the veil off when in the presence of God. That picture of the Law, the OC, is not needful for the redeemed when he stands before the Lord. Between the genuinely saved believer and his God there are no "veils". There is only reality. There are no shadows or types. There is only the real. And so Moses, when in the presence of his God, removed the veil, for there was no need for it. There was no unbelief in Moses heart, nothing to keep him from God's presence as there was in the hearts of the people of the congregation. He was safe in the presence of His God and thus, off with the veil.
“…he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded…” - The grammar here is very similar to what we saw earlier. What we want to note is that he continued to do this in what appears to be an ongoing basis. He went into the presence of God and immediately emerged and communicated what God told him to the people of God.
We want to note also that nowhere, here or elsewhere, are these people called "his people". They are God's people, the children of Israel, not Moses' people. Moses understood that, and our leaders today ought to understand that. My congregation is not "my people", even innocently. They are God's people. I must remain constantly, painfully aware that this always the case!
Further, we note that there is also a limitation on Moses here – he spoke all that God had told him, but he also spoke NO MORE! We see through the rest of the OT Law that the prophet was strictly limited as to what he could say. False prophesies we dealt with very, very harshly! It was important that the man of God speak for God and speak accurately, both positively by what he said, and negatively by what he did NOT say. Would that this were true today!
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. Exodus 34:29–35 (NKJV)
“The skin of his face shone” - "Shone" in verse 30 is to be radiant, to emit light rays, i.e., a shining appearance due to glow of a face that supernaturally beams light. The basic form of the word can literally mean "with horns"! We are talking shooting out spikes of light here! There was a blinding brilliance to Moses face man had never seen since the Garden (and Adam had nothing to compare that with!).
"They", here, includes Aaron, Moses brother and by the time of Exodus 34, High Priest of Israel. And they were afraid with good reason!
"Afraid" is a common Hebrew word meaning to be in a state of feeling great distress, and deep concern of pain or unfavorable circumstance. It is the word used to describe the state of emotion in Adam and Eve when they hid themselves in the garden after thier din in Genesis 3:10 and Adam gave explanation for their hiding to God:
10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
Adam knew that God had commanded that he obey and there would be consequences for disobedience and was "afraid" as a result.
The reaction of fear in this passage suggests previous events leading up to the current experience. It was only when they drew near and conversed without harm were they reassured.
"Then" is another marker of co-ordinate relationship. Here indicating another time relationship. One phrase or action following immediately after the prior to keep the narrative moving.
"Called to them..." is a verb that is used of leader to subordinates or of one who has something to offer to the "offeree". It means to summon, i.e., call a person(here, a group) to come into one’s presence. God "called" Moses and Aaron in Exodus 12:31 and told them lead Israel out of Egypt:
31 Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have said.
Moses acts as Israel's leader, their Prophet and calls them back to speak to them all that God has said to Him. Let's not make the mistake of thinking that this is harsh. It surely is not. It is reasonable to see Israel as reluctant to come in to the presence of Moses, and by implication God, once again. The experience, thus far, has been an awesome one, but it has not been a real positive one (their fault not God's of course.) If not excused, we can surely see why they might hang back and need to be called to Moses' feet.
Just as a note, "...rulers of the congregation..." seems to refer to the leaders of the tribes of Israel. That particular English phrase only appears 5 times, twice in Exodus and three times in Joshua. The phrase "rulers of Israel" appears in Judges 5:9 and seems to refer to the same concept. 2 Kings 10:1 makes reference to the "rulers of Jezreel". 2 Chronicles 29:20 speaks of "rulers of the city" speaking of Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 35:8 speaks of "...Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God..." Isaiah 1:10 refers to the "rulers of Sodom" and Micah 3:1 refers to the "rulers of the House of Israel". Matthew 2:6 refers to the "rulers of Judah" and Matthew 20:25 speaks of the "rulers of the Gentiles". Mark 5:22, speaking of Jairus, calls him a "ruler of the synagogue". Luke 14:1 speaks of the Rulers of the Pharasees. In Acts 4:8 peter address the "rulers of the people and Elders of Israel...". In Acts 13:15, when preaching at Pisian Anticoh, Paul address the "rulers of the Synagogue". In Acts 17:6-8, preaching at Thessalonica, Paul was dragged from Jason's house by the Jews before the "rulers of the city", but was eventually let go. 1 Corinthians 2:6-8 speaks twice of the spiritual "rulers of this age. Likewise Paul, in Ephesians 6:12 famously speaks of the "rulers of the darkeness of this age".
There are many "rulers" in the Scriptures. These seem to the ones Moses selected and put in place in Exodus 18:21–26:
21 Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.”
24 So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26 So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.
It is this group that Moses called, summoned to him so that they, in turn could lead their charges to him in what follows.
