THE “MORE EXCELLENT” GLORY;
For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth
(2 Corinthians 3:9-10).
Exodus 34 tells us how Moses had been in the presence of God for forty days and forty nights, receiving the “Ten Commandments.” The commandments were few sentences that ordinarily, shouldn’t require a whole day to pen down. So, why did Moses stay forty days and forty nights to receive them? It was because, to Moses, they weren’t mere “Commandments”; they were life.
Afterwards, as Moses stepped down from mount Sinai, Aaron and all the people looked at him and saw that his face shone with the glory of God, and they were afraid to go near him (Exodus 34:30).
There was such radiance of glory, emanating from the face of Moses that he had to use a veil to cover his face, because the people couldn’t stand the glory of God. How did the glory rub off on him that much? It was from meditating on what God said. Moses contemplated God’s Word so much that he didn’t know his face was radiating with the glory (Greek: doxa) of God. The Word of God is where the glory is. The Word made such impression on Moses that it impacted his physical body. From then on, when Moses went to pray, he took off the veil. But when he came out to the people, he covered his face. The glory we have today far exceeds the glory that Moses enjoyed. We don’t need a veil on our faces; the glory is in our spirits: “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18). As we behold the glory of God in the Word of God, we are metamorphosed from glory to glory.
Further Study:
Psalms 82:5-7;
Matthew 13:15