Exodus 34 closes with Moses coming down Mount Sinai carrying the two tablets, unaware that the skin of his face is shining from having spoken with God. This sermon works through verses 29 to 35, setting the scene against the golden calf and the renewal of the covenant, and asking what that strange, borrowed brightness was meant to teach Israel.

The argument is that Moses only reflected a glory that came from outside him, and that the glory faded and had to be veiled. Matthew 17 shows Jesus on a mountain with a face shining like the sun, glory that belongs to him as the eternal Son, while John 1:14 says that glory took on flesh and came down to us. Paul's commentary in 2 Corinthians 3 then names the law as a ministry of death that nonetheless came with glory, and contrasts it with the greater and abiding glory of the ministry of the Spirit.

The application turns on one word: behold. Believers are not told to transform themselves but to look intently at Christ, and the Spirit does the transforming, from glory to glory. The sermon ends with the already and not yet, glorified in Christ now, waiting to see him face to face, and a plain warning against answering conviction with resolutions to try harder.

In this sermon

• God is glorious whether or not our eyes are opened to see it
• The renewed covenant comes to a people fresh from the golden calf
• Why the two tablets were likely two copies of the same covenant
• The Hebrew behind "his face shone" and Michelangelo's horned Moses
• Moses reflected a glory he did not possess and had to veil it
• The shining face marked Moses as the mediator with God's authority
• Matthew 17: Jesus radiates the glory that Moses only reflected
• The Father silences Peter's three tabernacles: listen to him alone
• John 1:14 and the gospel as God coming down, not man climbing up
• 2 Corinthians 3: the ministry of death and the surpassing ministry of the Spirit
• The veil is removed in Christ, not by works or information
• Beholding Christ, and the Spirit transforming us from glory to glory

Chapters
0:00 Created to behold the glory of God
3:59 Context: covenant renewed after the calf
5:35 Reading Exodus 34:29-35
8:12 The two tablets of the testimony
11:24 Why medieval art gave Moses horns
13:03 Moses reflects glory he does not possess
17:34 The veil and the fading brightness
22:30 Matthew 17 and the transfiguration
28:20 John 1:14, the Word became flesh
31:31 2 Corinthians 3 and the ministry of death
38:20 The veil removed in Christ
43:06 Beholding with unveiled face
48:45 Already glorified, not yet face to face
51:24 Behold Christ instead of trying harder
57:22 Closing prayer

Scripture: Exodus 34:29-35 · Matthew 17:1-8 · John 1:14 · 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 · 2 Corinthians 4:6 · Romans 8:30

About Mercy and Grace Church
Mercy and Grace is an expository preaching church in National City, California, committed to preaching Christ, and him crucified, by Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone. Each week Pastor Bobby Lugo and our teaching elders walk verse by verse through God's Word.

Join us in person — Sundays at 12:00 PM, 1200 E. 8th Street, National City, CA 91950.
Website: mercyandgracechurch.com
Email: ncmercyandgrace@gmail.com