Moses Did Not Know That the Skin of His Face Shone While He Talked to Him: Exodus 34:27-35

Exodus 34:27-35: "27 Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.' 28 So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. 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."

Because Moses was in communion with God, and spoke with Him for forty days and nights, his face shone, reflecting back onto his face the glory of the Lord. When the people of Israel, saw this glory reflected upon Moses face, they were afraid.

Now consider this: This was only the reflection of God's glory. But in their sinful state, the people of Israel, seeing only a glimmer and a glimpse of the glory of God, drew back in fear. Even Aaron, Moses own brother, cowered at the veil presence of God that was reflected onto Moses face.

St. Paul talks about this glory of God on Moses' face in his Epistle to the Church at Corinth. But there he remarks about how it faded, when he was no longer in the presence of God. Nowhere in the Old Testament is this revealed, but the Blessed Apostle, speaking through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, fills in the blanks for us, showing us that the glory of Moses' face, was only a precursor, a glimmer of the true glory that comes from the Gospel.

Hear what Keil and Delitzsch have to say on this subject:

"This reflection of the splendour thrown back by the glory of God was henceforth to serve as the most striking proof of the confidential relation in which Moses stood to Jehovah, and to set forth the glory of the office which Moses filled. The Apostle Paul embraces this view in 2 Co 3:7., and lays stress upon the fact that the glory was to be done away, which he was quite justified in doing, although nothing is said in the Old Testament about the glory being transient, from the simple fact that Moses died. The apostle refers to it for the purpose of contrasting the perishable glory of the law with the far higher and imperishable glory of the Gospel. At the same time he regards the veil which covered Moses' face as a symbol of the obscuring of the truth revealed in the Old Testament. But this does not exhaust the significance of this splendour. The office could only confer such glory upon the possessor by virtue of the glory of the blessings which it contained, and conveyed to those for whom it was established. Consequently, the brilliant light on Moses' face also set forth the glory of the Old Covenant, and was intended both for Moses and the people as a foresight and pledge of the glory to which Jehovah had called, and would eventually exalt, the people of His possession."

Thus far Keil and Delitzsch.

This narrative again brings us to the Mount of Transfiguration, where our Lord Jesus was transfigured before the Apostles, St. Peter, St. James the Elder, and St. John, and standing there in His transfigured glory with Him were Elijah and Moses.

This glory of God which Moses reflects, is a picture and image of the glory of our Lord Jesus. For when He reveals on the Mount of Transfiguration His full glory, we can see the picture of the Israelites in the Apostles who fell to their faces in fear.

Of course, all those who sin, when they come into the perfection of our Lord's revealed glory, shudder in fear, for they realize that they are unworthy to behold such an image. This is shown throughout the Holy Scriptures, from Adam, to Isaiah, to Moses at the burning bush, to Aaron and the people of Israel. And the list could go on.

But this is the very reason that our Lord Jesus is born into our flesh, so that he might remove that barrier of sin, which prevents us from beholding the true glory of God. And He accomplished this on the tree of the cross.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

For Nothing Is Secret That Will Not Be Revealed: St. Luke 8:16-56

St. Luke 8:16-56: "'1 No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. 18 Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.' 19 Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd. 20 And it was told Him by some, who said, 'Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.' 21 But He answered and said to them, 'My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.' 22 Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, 'Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.' And they launched out. 23 But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. 24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, 'Master, Master, we are perishing!' Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 But He said to them, 'Where is your faith?' And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, 'Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!' 26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, 'What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!' 29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. 30 Jesus asked him, saying, 'What is your name?' And he said, 'Legion,' because many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss. 32 Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. 33 Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned. 34 When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36 They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed. 37 Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned. 38 Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 'Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.' And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. 40 So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him. 41 And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged Him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him. 43 Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, 44 came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. 45 And Jesus said, 'Who touched Me?' When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, 'Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, "Who touched Me?"' 46 But Jesus said, 'Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.' 47 Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. 48 And He said to her, 'Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.' 49 While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, 'Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.' 50 But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, 'Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.' 51 When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl. 52 Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, 'Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.' 53 And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, 'Little girl, arise.' 55 Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat. 56 And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened."

Nothing is secret that will not be revealed. These words of our Lord speak of Himself, for we see in the following verses our Lord revealing to several people, and in several instances Who He is. There is the calming of the wind and waves, where He reveals His authority over creation. Being the creator, He has authority to order the creation as He sees fit.

He reveals Himself to the people of the Gadarenes, by casting out of a man, the demons Legion, revealing that He has authority over Satan and his angels, along with all the powers of darkness. This man who was healed of the demons, then went on to proclaim what our Lord Jesus did for him, revealing to the cities and surrounding country, our Lord Jesus.

He reveals Himself to the woman with the flow of blood for twelve years, and along with her the crowds that were following Him. Also in this crowd is the synagogue ruler Jairus. All these get to see not only the woman's great faith, but they are shown that our Lord Jesus has the power to heal, that is, He has authority over all that plague us physically.

Therefore, we can see in these three events that our Lord, Who is creator of all, and has authority over all creation, both can heal us spiritually and physically. But our Lord is not done, and the Evangelist St. Luke continues on to the home of Jairus, where we meet a dead girl, who from the Evangelist St. Mark, we learn that she was only twelve years old.

Our Lord tells the people outside mourning to not weep for she is only sleeping. And for this He is mocked, because in their minds, there is no coming back from the dead, and by extension, there is no resurrection. But our Lord reveals Himself one more time in this pericope, as the Lord of Life, for just by speaking the Word, the little girl is raised from the dead.

Therefore, we learn from this reading, that our Lord who can heal us spiritually and physically, can also, after we have died, raise us from the dead. Therefore, like the little girl, who was not dead, but only sleeping, all those who die in our Lord Christ Jesus, are also not dead, they are alive in Heaven, and to us they only appear to be sleeping, for they are asleep in our Lord. We too, someday, will join these saints, those who have gone before us in the grave, and we will be in Heaven with our Lord, too. And on the Last Day, all our bodies which have been hidden in the ground, will be revealed and raised again into new glorious bodies.

May the Lord keep you in the one true faith unto life everlasting, so that you may enter safe into the Holy of Holies, to live with our Lord forever.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas