2 Corinthians 3:7, commentary and pictures

The ministration of death written and engraved in stones is the moral law of God given in awful grandeur from Sinai, glorious in its proclamation and in the brightness reflected on Moses' face when he came down from meeting with God. To all who break it the law brings condemnation and death, for it has no power in itself to pardon or save, leaving the transgressor under its curse with no hope apart from Christ. That glory was temporary and was to be done away, so Moses veiled his shining face because guilty Israel could not steadfastly behold it. The passing away does not mean the Ten Commandments were abolished, for the enduring moral law remains to govern heaven and earth; what was abolished at Christ's death was the glorious ceremonial system of types and sacrifices that pointed to Him. If the ministration through types that were to pass away was glorious because Christ the sin-pardoning Saviour was revealed in them, much more glorious is the remaining ministration of the Spirit and of righteousness, giving liberty and transformation to all who with open face behold the unfading glory of God in Christ.

Ministration of Death Explained

The ministration of death written and engraven in stones is the moral law, the law of God and the precepts of Jehovah given in awful grandeur from Sinai. To all who transgress it, it is condemnation and death, because it utters condemnation yet has in itself no power to pardon, redeem, save, or shield from penalty. The transgressor died without mercy, is arraigned and convicted before the heavenly council and condemned, is left under its curse in bondage and death with no hope of pardon without Christ and nothing in himself to save him, and not one statement of its precepts may be evaded, forgotten, or regarded indifferently. The full penalty of the law will be executed upon the transgressor if he does not receive Christ. The law was ordained to life, so that those walking in harmony with its precepts receive the reward of obedience.

The verse belongs to Paul's writing to the church at Corinth to settle their minds about the gospel of Christ against Judaizing teachers who caused trouble and dissensions. Those teachers continually presented the virtues of the law and ceremonies, exalting these above the gospel, and condemned Paul because he did not urge the ceremonies that typified Christ and were of no value since Christ's death. The ministration was glorious, and its proclamation and repetition on the holy mount was sacred and glorious. The glory was reflected on the face of Moses when he came down with the tables engraved by the finger of God after meeting with God, so brightly that because of their transgressions the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold it without pain, so that Moses covered his face with a veil.

That glory was temporary and was to be done away, marking the Jewish age as a dimmer, preparatory age surpassed by the clearer glory of the Christian age when the Saviour prefigured in the offerings was revealed. It served as a lesser sign of the greater gospel glory revealed through Christ, giving way when its reality came to the far more glorious ministration of the Spirit and of righteousness which remains, with liberty and transformation for those who behold the glory of the Lord with open face. The face was covered so the transient glory would not shine forth to transgressors whose thoughts and affections were under Satan's control.

What Was Abolished

The passing of glory spoken of does not mean the moral law was abolished. The glory that was to pass away was not the enduring moral law given to govern the family in heaven and on earth. To apply the doing away to the Ten Commandments is blindness worked by Satan in order to make the moral law take the place of the law that was abolished. What was to be abolished at the death of Christ as a sin offering was the ceremonial law and the sacrificial system with its rites and ceremonies. Though glorious because it came from Christ and had a sacred, prophetic part pointing to Christ as the offering for sin, it was no longer to be observed after its purpose was fulfilled and was to lose force when its reality came.

The ceremonial law was connected with the moral law and shared glory with the ten moral precepts. The proclamation of the Ten Commandments displayed divine majesty and holiness and made the people afraid. Both laws bore the stamp of divinity, holiness, justice, and righteousness, so neither is a thunder-and-lightning law to be denounced and despised. Even after it was no longer to be observed, the ceremonial law was set forth in its true position and value, showing its place in the plan of redemption and its relation to the work of Christ.

Its glory lies in the solemn service of the sanctuary typifying grand truths to be revealed through successive generations. The cloud of incense represented the righteousness of Christ that alone makes the sinner's prayer acceptable, the bleeding victim on the altar testified of a Redeemer to come, and the visible token of the divine presence shone from the holy of holies. By these means faith was kept alive through ages of darkness and apostasy until the advent of the promised Messiah. This change did not cancel God's law, for Christ did not destroy its claims, and the Father's commandments remain to be kept.

Christ's Greater Remaining Glory

The law in itself is lusterless, with no glory of its own and no saving quality to pardon, redeem, save, or shield the transgressor from its penalty. All its glory and significance come from Christ embodied in it as full of righteousness and truth, and from the promised Saviour revealed in the types and shadows connected with it, reflecting the holiness, justice, and righteousness of God and giving significance to the entire Jewish economy.

The radiance on Moses’ face came from seeing Christ as revealed in the law and seeing to the end of that which was to be abolished, when at Christ’s death type would meet antitype. While in the mount he was given both the tables of the law and the plan of salvation, beholding Christ’s sacrifice prefigured in all the types and symbols, with the slain lamb and the typical sacrifices pointing to the Lamb of God to take away sin. There Christ was revealed as the propitiation for sin, who took the curse of disobedience and the penalty of the law upon Himself and proffered His perfection of character in place of man’s sinfulness, so that obedient man through His merits can keep the moral law and be accepted. That seeing of the plan of salvation illuminated his face with heavenly light streaming from Calvary no less than from the glory of the law, shedding a halo upon the law that reveals its changeless and exalted character.

If the ministration of death through types that were to be done away was glorious because Christ was revealed by them as the sin-pardoning Saviour, much more does the ministration of the Spirit and of righteousness which remains exceed in glory, as a lesser sign giving way to the greater gospel glory. Christ, the appointed mediator and sin-pardoning sacrifice, gives the life-giving, sanctifying Spirit through Himself to all who believe. Those who behold the glory of the Lord with open face receive liberty and transformation, and in contrast to Moses’ transient glory the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ does not pass away but ever remains, so that all who look may live and have that glory reflected upon them. The sacrificial system pointed to Christ the offering for sin, and when its reality came its anticipatory glory gave way to the greater glory of the ministry of the Spirit.

The brightness on Moses was meant to impress Israel with the sacred, exalted character of God’s law and the glory of the gospel revealed through Christ. It symbolized the glory of the dispensation in which Moses was the visible mediator, representing the one true Intercessor. It illustrates the blessings that God’s commandment-keeping people receive through Christ’s mediation, testifying that the closer the communion with God and the clearer the knowledge of His requirements, the more fully people are conformed to the divine image and become partakers of the divine nature.

Moses was a type of Christ in veiling, for as Israel’s intercessor veiled his countenance because the people could not endure its glory, so Christ the divine Mediator veiled His divinity with humanity, humbling Himself and being made in the likeness of sinful flesh so He could gain access to men in their sinful state and lift up the fallen race. As the glory reflected on Moses’ face from the law was veiled, likewise the glory of Christ’s ascension was hidden from human sight. The heavenly escort and the gates of heaven were veiled because witnessing their overwhelming glory would have made the disciples less able to return to earthly trials and carry out their mission faithfully.

Christ our Righteousness sheds light and brightness and glory and joy into the law of God, so that every precept obeyed is an expressed promise. Yet the full penalty of the law will be executed upon the transgressor if he does not receive Christ as his atoning sacrifice and his personal Saviour.