Exodus 34:30, commentary and pictures

After forty days and nights of communion with God on the mount, Moses came down bearing the tables of the law with his face shining with reflected divine glory, a brightness he himself did not know was upon him. When Aaron and all Israel saw it they shrank back afraid to come near, unable to look steadfastly upon him or to endure the heavenly light because of conscious guilt and a sense of divine displeasure. Compassionating their terror, he urged them to come near with assurance of restored favor and put a veil upon his face whenever he spoke to them or returned from communion. The brightness was the light of the glory of the gospel of Christ and His righteousness embodied in the law, which without Christ can only condemn, but through the promised Saviour makes the law glorious. The same glory will rest upon God's faithful people at the end, when their faces shine as Moses' did as they hear God's voice announcing deliverance, and the wicked cannot look upon them but shrink away in fear.

Shining Face Described

After speaking and communing with God on Mount Sinai, Moses came down with his face shining with reflected divine glory, a dazzling brightness he himself did not know was upon him. He had spent forty days and nights in direct communion on the mount, elevated above the human, enshrouded and sustained by God without feeling the pangs of hunger. God covered him so he could see God and live and behold heavenly things, and strengthened him to endure the excellent glory enclosing him and to bring a reflection of it down.

He descended with the tables of the testimony amid the glory attending the giving of the law, bringing that reflection down to walk with Israel. The shining marked that he was ready to give directions for building the sanctuary exactly according to the heavenly pattern shown him in the mount, with no human invention in bell, pomegranate, tassel, fringe, curtain, or vessel.

When Aaron, the rulers, and all Israel saw the shining, they shrank away and were afraid to come near, unable to look steadfastly upon him or to stand before him to hear the word of the Lord from his mouth. Though ignorant of the cause, he urged them to come near, holding out the pledge of reconciliation and assurance of restored favor, with a voice holding nothing but love and entreaty until one ventured to approach. Compassionating their confusion and terror because he had much to communicate to them, he put a veil upon his face so as not to terrify them. He continued to do so thereafter whenever he spoke to them or returned to the camp from communion with God.

When the law was given, the faces of those who were with him shone also with the glory that rested on him.

Fear, Guilt and Harmony

To fall into the hands of the living God is fearful to the transgressor, yet Moses could stand alone in the presence of the Eternal One without fear because his soul was in harmony with his Maker's will. In conscious guilt and with a sense of still being under divine displeasure, the people could not endure the heavenly light shining from him. There is fear in guilt, while the soul free from sin would not wish to hide from the light of heaven, and had they been obedient that light would have filled them with joy.

Their sinfulness made the sight of his glorified face painful, so that they could not bear to look upon him but were afraid to approach and shrank away. They fled from him and asked that the glory be covered, fearing it would slay them if they came near. The shining displayed God's majesty, before which sinners tremble, and the revealing of God's presence was so glorious it could not be borne by mortal man, so Moses covered his face with a veil rather than requiring them to endure the light. If Israel could not bear to look at Moses' face, those who disregard God's commandments and reject His atonement will be unable to face the Son of God when He comes in the glory of His Father with all the heavenly host to judge and to execute judgment.

Had they discerned by faith the gospel light opened to Moses and looked steadfastly to the end of that which was abolished, they could have endured the light reflected from his countenance. The visible glory marked the light and privileges given to Moses, showing that people are judged according to the light and benefits they have received.

Final Deliverance Foretold

The same glory that rested on Moses will rest on the Israel of God at the end, when their faces are lighted up and shine as his did after he had been with God on Sinai. As his brightness was so great that the people were afraid to approach and could not bear to look upon him, so the glory in the faces of the glorified saints will cause the wicked to shrink away and be unable to look upon them. This shining comes when God speaks from heaven, from the Holy City and from His holy habitation, to announce the day and hour of Jesus' coming. At that speaking He pours out the Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost upon the living saints and gives them the everlasting covenant and the covenant of peace. That outpouring must come before the second advent to prepare the saints in mortal state to gaze on Jesus and to stand before Him with all the holy angels.

They stand with eyes fixed upward listening to each solemn sentence rolling through the earth like thunder and like loudest thunder in awful solemnity. At the end of every sentence they answer Glory, Alleluia, and Hallelujah, shouting Glory Hallelujah. As they listen their countenances are lighted up with His glory and shine with glory as Moses' did, with a glory so bright the wicked cannot look upon them for the glory. This glorifying attends the never-ending blessing pronounced on those who honored God by keeping His Sabbath holy and who kept His law. It ends in a mighty shout of victory over the beast and over his image.

It takes place in the time of trouble after the decree to disregard the Sabbath, when God utters His voice, their captivity is turned, and glory is conferred upon those who honored His holy law. Then their faces are lighted up reflecting the image of Jesus as Moses' face shone. The wicked who surrounded them and exulted to destroy them witness that glory and hear God's voice but understand it not, and they fear and tremble and cannot endure the glory resting upon the delivered ones but fall like dead men to the earth. Satan and his evil angels flee from the presence of the glorified saints, and their power to annoy them is gone forever. Strengthened by the latter rain and sharing Christ's Spirit as they grow up into Him and partake largely of His Spirit, God's faithful people are revived and strengthened to pass through the time of Jacob's trouble and through their final conflict. They partake of the great power and glory attending the closing work as the third message swells to a loud cry, and their faces shine with the light attending the third angel.

Those who honored the law are thus glorified, their faces beaming glory upon those around them, even as the faces of those who were with Moses when the law was given shone also. This same shining will appear on the living saints, 144,000 in number, when God speaks the day and hour and pours the Holy Ghost upon them. When the signs are acted over again and the day and hour are made known and the sea boils like a pot, their faces will shine like Moses' did, just before Christ appears in the east with His sword girded on His thigh to bring perfect and entire deliverance and take His people up on the white cloud. At the appearing of Christ in splendor and glory they are translated to heaven without seeing death, rising with songs of triumph to enter through the gates into the city, into the land of Eden.

Christ, Law and Atonement

The brightness on the face was the light of the glory of the gospel of Christ, who is the foundation of the sacrificial system. Moses had just been shown the Coming One and His work and mission to earth to take humanity and become teacher and guide, to give Himself a ransom for sins, to make the perfect offering that would end the typical sacrificial offerings, and to open the new and living way of salvation through His blood, and he was captivated and entranced with praise to God. The shining reflected Christ's righteousness embodied in the law, for the law has no power to pardon or save and without Christ its condemnation leaves the sinner without hope, but the promised Saviour revealed through the ceremonial types and shadows makes the law glorious.

The Jewish economy was therefore not a Christless period without mercy or grace but a time of wonderful manifestations of divine power in the revealing of God's presence. That glorified coming down from communion brought no truth greater or more precious than the doctrine of the cross and the imputed righteousness of Christ now to be borne to the people, coming not in word only but in the power of God to everyone who believes. The brightness was painful, and because of transgression the people were unable to look upon the face and were afraid to come near, so that they fled and asked that the glory be covered, fearing it would slay them, for the shining displayed God's majesty before which sinners tremble. This fear connects with the law's sentence of death, but Christ's atoning blood purifies the sinner and, through repentance and faith, dispels doubt and fear. Had they discerned by faith the gospel light opened to Moses and looked steadfastly to the end of that which was abolished, they could have endured the light reflected from the countenance. Moses went without food forty days without feeling the pangs of hunger because he was elevated above the human, enshrouded in the glory of God and especially sustained and enclosed in excellent glory, matching the years Israel wandered, yet unlike Christ, whose forty days were spent in humbled humanity left alone to endure hunger and cope with a vile yet powerful foe, he was not harassed and tormented by Satan.

Other Witnesses Compared

Moses' face shone with holy light after he had been with God, and the same holy radiance appeared on Stephen's face as he stood before the council. That light was the manifestation of the shekinah, the divine glory and a sign of God's presence. Those who honored Moses could recognize, and could have recognized, in Stephen that the glory associated with Moses was present as a sign of God's presence. Some who saw it trembled and covered their faces, yet it did not overcome the judges, for stubborn unbelief and prejudice remained unmoved. The shekinah glory that had once been seen in the temple would not be seen there again, for its glory had departed.

The shining filled Israel with awe and fear so that they were afraid to approach Moses, and it illustrates how communion with God made Enoch's countenance radiant with holy light while he taught others. Enoch's face likewise became radiant through communion with God and reflected divine glory. Even the ungodly saw the mark of heaven upon him with awe. The shining face of Nathaniel as he prayed and praised God reflects the same visible expression of God's glory and blessing seen when Moses' face shone with divine glory and Israel was afraid to come near.

When a person is filled with the power and presence of God, the face is lighted with the glory of heaven and the countenance shines with heavenly light. This shining appears while praising the Lord and bearing testimony to the wonders He has wrought. At such a time the person is made helpless and prostrate under the Spirit in the solemn presence of the Most High. A face shining with heavenly light in this way marks the powerful presence and work of God, as in a brother's shining countenance manifesting the Spirit's power. It convinces opposers that the work is indeed of the Lord.

Communion, Leaders and Church

The brightness on the face was the impress of God left by close communion after beholding His glory, bearing the mark of His presence so plainly that the people drew back in fear from its intensity. It reveals what nearness to God does, that reflected glory rests on one who has been with Him.

Those who carry responsibility and devise and carry out plans for His institutions must first have power with God in order to have power with the people. They must connect with heaven to receive wisdom and foresight, discernment and keen perception, and the blessing on which everything depends. That personal experience of knowing God and His will was of more value to Moses as a leader than all his former training in Egyptian learning. No brilliance of intellect, earnest study, or highest eloquence can ever take the place of the wisdom and power of God and the grace of Christ in those joined to His cause. His changed and glorified appearance after communing on the holy mount illustrates how a messenger who has met with God comes to the people bearing God's truth. Revealings of that glory still make the faces of His people shine as his shone, belonging to those who put on Christ and are clothed with humility and a contrite spirit, and this shining breaks the cold formalism that binds souls.