Exodus 34:31

34:28-35 Near and spiritual communion with God improves the graces of a renewed and holy character. Serious godliness puts a lustre upon a man's countenance, such as commands esteem and affection. The vail which Moses put on, marked the obscurity of that dispensation, compared with the gospel dispensation of the New Testament. It was also an emblem of the natural vail on the hearts of men respecting spiritual things. Also the vail that was and is upon the nation of Israel, which can only be taken away by the Spirit of the Lord showing to them Christ, as the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Fear and unbelief would put the vail before us, they would hinder our free approach to the mercy-seat above. We should spread our wants, temporal and spiritual, fully before our heavenly Father; we should tell him our hinderances, struggles, trails, and temptations; we should acknowledge our offences.

And Moses called unto them,.... Who, as it appears by what follows, on sight of him were so terrified, that they did not proceed on to meet him, but went back, and therefore he called unto them to return and come forward: and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him; knowing him by his voice, and encouraged by his call of them, who before might take him to be something more than human, some glorious form, one of the heavenly angels appearing in this manner: and Moses talked with them; after he had put a vail on his face, of which there is an account in the following verses. He talked with them friendly, and told them all that had happened to him in the mount; what a glorious sight he had been indulged with; what a proclamation of the grace and goodness of God had been made to him; and what laws and ordinances God had enjoined him and them the observance of.

The two tables of testimony - Compare Exodus 31:18 . The skin of his face shone - Compare Matthew 17:2. The brightness of the Eternal Glory, though Moses had witnessed it only in a modified manner Exodus 33:22-23, was so reflected in his face, that Aaron and the people were stricken with awe, and feared to approach him until he gave them words of encouragement. The word translated "shine" is closely connected with a word translated "horn"; and hence, the Latin version and others have rendered the verb "to be horned." From this rendering of the word has arisen the popular representation of Moses with horns on his forehead; e. g. in Michaelangelo's statue at Rome.

Verse 31. - Moses called unto them . Moses bade them approach - no doubt assured them that there was no cause for fear (cf. Luke 24:38, 39 ) - and by his manner and familiar voice dispelled their fears and re-assured them. Aaron and all the rulers... returned unto him . Apparently, in their alarm they had drawn back. Being re-assured, they "returned." Exodus 34:31

CHAPTER 34 Ex 34:1-35. The Tables Are Renewed. 1. the like unto the first—God having been reconciled to repentant Israel, through the earnest intercession, the successful mediation of Moses, means were to be taken for the restoration of the broken covenant. Intimation was given, however, in a most intelligible and expressive manner, that the favor was to be restored with some memento of the rupture; for at the former time God Himself had provided the materials, as well as written upon them. Now, Moses was to prepare the stone tables, and God was only to retrace the characters originally inscribed for the use and guidance of the people.God commands Moses to hew two tables of stone like the former, wherein he promises to write, Exodus 34:1. Moses goes with these tables up to the mount, Exodus 34:4. God descends in a cloud, Exodus 24:5. He proclaims his name, Exodus 34:6,7. Moses worships, Exodus 34:8,9. God making a covenant with the people, commands them not to make a covenant with their enemies, Exodus 34:10-12; bids them beware of molten gods, Exodus 34:13-17. The feast of unleavened bread, Exodus 34:18. To rest on the sabbath day, Exodus 34:21. Other laws, Exodus 34:22-26. Moses wrote these words, Exodus 34:27. The time of Moses’s abode on the mount. Exodus 34:28. Moses’s face shining, Exodus 34:29, is covered, Exodus 34:33-35. He acquaints the people with what the Lord told him, Exodus 34:31,32.

The sight of the glory of Jehovah, though only of the back or reflection of it, produced such an effect upon Moses' face, that the skin of it shone, though without Moses observing it. When he came down from the mountain with the tables of the law in his hand, and the skin of his face shone אתּו בּדבּרו, i.e., on account of his talking with God, Aaron and the people were afraid to go near him when they saw the brightness of his face. But Moses called them to him, - Viz. first of all Aaron and the princes of the congregation to speak to them, and then all the people to give them the commandments of Jehovah; but on doing this ( Exodus 34:33 ), he put a veil upon (before) his face, and only took it away when he went in before Jehovah to speak with Him, and then, when he came out (from the Lord out of the tabernacle, of course after the erection of the tabernacle), he made known His commands to the people. But while doing this, he put the veil upon his face again, and always wore it in his ordinary intercourse with the people ( Exodus 34:34 , Exodus 34:35 ). 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 Corinthians 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.

[Reformed Biblical] ft its print upon his face. 2. Now it was more necessary than before, to procure the greater honour to Moses, and to the law, 2Co_3:7,8,11, because of the late horrid Violation and contempt of them, which the Israelites had fallen into. Exodus 34:30 Exodus 34:31 ## Unto him , to the tabernacle, which was still at a distance from the camp, though afterwards, God being reconciled, it was set up in the camp, Exo_40:34. Exodus 34:32 Exodus 34:33 In condescension to their weakness Exodus 34:34 Exodus 34:35 ## Exodus 35:1 EXODUS CHAPTER 35 The comman d to observe the sabbath, Exo_35:1-3; and to bring a free-will offering to the Lord, Exo_35:4,5. The furniture of the tabernacle, Exo_35:6-19. Men and women bring their jewels for the same, Exo_35:20-24. Understanding women spin, Exo_35:25,26. The chief of the people bring in precious stones and spices, Exo_35:27-29. God endues Bezaleel and Aho liab with a spirit of wisdom for this work, Exo_35:30-35. Exodus 35:2 This command of the sabbath is repeated here, as also Exo_31:13, together with the instructions for the building of the tabernacle, and its utensils, to show that they were made for no other use than the service of God, which was to be performed, as every day, so in an eminent and peculiar manner upon the sabbath day, and to teach them