The Veil

[TOG]

This was originally supposed to be a post in another thread, but by the time I had finished writing it, I realized it was too long and off topic for that thread, so I decided to start a new one.

In 2 Corintians, Paul talks about the law and says that a veil covers it's reading, calls it the “ministry of death” and refers to “that it is fading away” (“coming to an end” in some translations). These verses are often used to show that the law has “faded away” and that it could never bring life, but only death. Let's take a closer look.

Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:7-18 ESV)​

To understand this properly, we have to know what veil Paul is talking about.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him. (Ex. 34:29-35 ESV)​

Moses talked to God “face to face” (Ex. 33:11), and the close communion he had with God caused a glory to shine from him that the people could not stand to look upon. Moses put a veil over his face to hide that glory so he could talk to the people. But Moses didn't live forever. He died around 1500 years before Paul wrote to the Corinthians, and the glory on his face died with him. It was this glory, not the law, which Paul said was “fading away” or being “brought to an end”.

One thing to note is that the veil didn't take the glory away from Moses' face, but only hid it. Paul says “that same veil” remains over the reading of the Torah. If it's the same veil, it's logical to assume that it has the same effect – it hides the glory. The veil isn't there because there is no glory in the Torah or because there is less glory than in the New Testament. It's there because there is much glory in the Torah, so much that the people couldn't stand to see it. But when we come to Christ, the veil is lifted and we are able to see and accept the glory that is found in the Torah, as in all of God's Word. But Paul calls the Torah the “mistry of death”. How can there be so much glory in something that can only bring death, and not life? To answer this, we must understand what “ministry of death” means and why and how the Torah brings death.

First of all, we must realize that obeying the commandments in the Torah doesn't bring death, but life.

See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. (Deu. 30:15-16 ESV)​

“If you obey the commandments... then you shall live”. That doesn't sound like they bring death. So what does “the ministry of death” mean? The phrase “ministry of death” is not used anywhere else in the Bible and is not explained. All we have to help us understand it is the words themselves and the context they are in. That context is a comparison between the glory of the Torah and the glory on Moses' face. The glory on Moses' face was temporary, fading away and died with Moses. The glory of the Torah is permanent and does not fade away or die. There was a veil over Moses' face, but if we are in Christ, then there is no veil over the Torah. It is possible that the “ministry of death” refers to the ministry of Moses, who died, which is contrasted with the “ministry of the Spirit”, which will never die.

Another possible explanation of what “the ministry of death” means is that it refers to the effect the law had. As I pointed out earlier, following the law doesn't bring death, but life. The law is not evil. But nobody has followed the law the way God wants us to, and it is our disobedience to the law that brings death. That disobedience brought death to the entire human race, as well as to animals that were sacrificed every single day to atone for our disobedience. Finally, it brought death to God's own Son. But the “ministry of the Spirit” brought us life, by the grace of God through our faith in His Son.

The TOG​

 

[ezrider]

The veil that I see in 2 Corinthians 3:14-16 is best described by the words of Jesus.

Matthew 13:11-17
He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance:but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables:because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see:and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

 

[reba]

Joh 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
Joh 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Joh 17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Joh 17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Joh 17:7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
Joh 17:8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
Joh 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Joh 17:10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Joh 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
Joh 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Joh 17:13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Joh 17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Joh 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Joh 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Joh 17:25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

 

[ezrider]

First of all, we must realize that obeying the commandments in the Torah doesn't bring death, but life.

See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. (Deu. 30:15-16 ESV)​

“If you obey the commandments... then you shall live”. That doesn't sound like they bring death.

I have another thread called The Man of Sin. In that discussion, I said the Bible can only lead you to the death of Christ, but it will never reveal to you the risen Christ. In response to a comment I posted the following:

Yes, the scripture testifies of the risen Christ, But search the scriptures all you want, the scriptures will never make evident to you the risen Christ. That only comes by Faith.
But the Bible reveals to you the death of Christ. Re-read Romans 1 again.

Romans 1:18-19 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all man, for by the knowledge of sin, sin and death is revealed to us in our own flesh. The Bible testifies of this and we see its evidence in our own bodies. The Bible may testify of the risen Christ, but the Bible will never reveal to you the evidence of the risen Christ.

 

[JCitoL]

the expression "ministry of death" is indicative enough i.e. speaks for itself clearly enough, because the old testament was one of the "rudiments of the world" i.e. one of the imperfect creeds, albeit the best of them, for such creeds more or less brings "death"(vitiation) which means more or less non-salvation/perdition, that is why they called it "ministry of death", not that it did not bring more freedom for abundant and long life, but it was not able to save all humans perfectly

Blessings

 

[agua.]

Another possible explanation of what “the ministry of death” means is that it refers to the effect the law had. As I pointed out earlier, following the law doesn't bring death, but life. The law is not evil. But nobody has followed the law the way God wants us to, and it is our disobedience to the law that brings death. That disobedience brought death to the entire human race, as well as to animals that were sacrificed every single day to atone for our disobedience. Finally, it brought death to God's own Son. But the “ministry of the Spirit” brought us life, by the grace of God through our faith in His Son.

The TOG​

Nice summation TOG. I think the highlighted is the reason for the law being called the ministry of death.

Jas 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.