113: The Ministry of Death

But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones,… (2 Corinthians 3:7)¹

Paul was talking about the Ten Commandments here. It was the only part of the law hand-written by God Himself and engraved on stones.² The instructions for animal sacrifice, ceremonial feasts, dietary restrictions, and all the detailed moral and civil laws were given by God to Moses who wrote them down on scrolls.³ God told Moses to put the stones which contained the Ten Commandments in the Ark of the Covenant, but the rest of the law, God commanded Moses to place it beside the Ark of the Covenant.⁴

But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? (2 Corinthians 3:7-8)

Paul said that the Ten Commandments had glory. It was perfect, but its perfection was a glory that caused the people to run away from God instead of coming near Him.

When Paul refers to the “ministry of death” and the glory of Moses’ countenance being so brilliant that the people couldn’t look at him, he was referring to the second time when Moses came down the mountain with the second set of stones.⁵ Why was his face shining? Why was this time different than the first time?

After the first giving of the Ten Commandments and the worship of the golden calf, God threatened to send the people to the Promised Land without Him lest His anger consume them along the way. Although the people were commanded not to come near the Lord, He spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to a friend. Moses pleaded with God not to leave them. Moses begged God on the basis of His grace. The proof that Moses found grace in the sight of God would be that God would personally stick with them and not leave them.⁶ Isn’t that still the proof of God’s grace today? Yet today His presence doesn’t just abide WITH us, but is also INSIDE of us.

Out of His heart of grace, God agreed to go with Moses. Then God told Moses to prepare another set of stones on which He would etch the Ten Commandments again. Next, God stood before Moses in the cloud and declared His name:

And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth…” (Exodus 34:6)

In this second giving of the Ten Commandments, God revealed Himself as the God of mercy and grace. As Moses spoke with the Lord, his face shone with the glory of the Lord as he found grace in the sight of the Lord.⁷ With a shining face reflecting God’s mercy and grace, Moses came down the mountain holding in his hands the stones declaring the standards of God’s holiness. So here we have the mixture of grace and law. Moses, a mere man, could only deliver God’s holy commandments as a servant. He could not provide the righteousness to fulfill them. Only Jesus would be able to fulfill the law and give us the righteousness that God requires. However, righteousness and peace would not kiss until many centuries later when mercy and truth met at the cross.⁸

Because he had been in the presence of the God of grace, Moses’ face was shining, but because of the law, that glory was passing away. This was the mixture that Paul called the “ministry of death” that demanded righteousness from people who didn’t have any to offer.

Moses had to put a veil over his face so he could speak to them because God will not allow the glory of His grace to be seen in a mixture. It would only be after the cross that we could look at God’s glory in the face of Jesus. It’s only through His grace that we can see the shining light of His glory and run towards it instead of away from it. Why? Because the “ministry of the Spirit” inside of us declares that we are righteous. The light of His glory only reveals that His blood has cleansed us. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ!

(from pages 188-190 of Unveiling Jesus)

Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.

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¹All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®.  Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.  Used by permission.
²Exodus 34:28
³Exodus 24:4
⁴Deuteronomy 31:24-26
⁵Exodus 34:1
⁶Exodus 33:1-3; Exodus 33:11; Exodus 33:15-17
⁷Exodus 34:9, 29-35
⁸Psalm 85:10