SUMMARY
When MosesProphet who led Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land and received the law at Sinai. descends from Mt. Sinai with the new set of tablets, his face is shining, making the Israelites afraid. He begins to wear a veil while talking with the Israelites, but he takes it off to talk to God.
ANALYSIS
Readers may have noticed how often in the book of Exodus Moses goes up Mt. Sinai to talk to God, and then back down to communicate God’s words to the people: up and down, up and down, up and down. When the people first arrive at Sinai, God’s instructions to Moses indicate the holiness of God’s mountain and the power of God’s presence (Exodus 19:9-24). The people are terrified when God’s presence thunders and smokes on the mountain (Exodus 19:16-18). They are not even supposed to touch the mountain, lest they die (Exodus 19:12-13). As the only one who can safely approach God and listen to God’s voice, Moses fulfills his prophetic role as intermediary between God and the people.
Now, at the end of the Sinai event, Moses’ nearness to the power and glory of God has left him physically changed. His skin shines so brightly that the Israelites, once in fear of God’s holiness, are now also afraid of Moses, because God’s glory now seems to radiate off of him, too. Moses’ transformation underscores a key idea found throughout Exodus: that God’s desire to be in a relationship with Israel is never a matter of docile, cozy companionship. Instead, this holyHoly is a term that originally meant set apart for the worship or service of God. While the term may refer to people, objects, time, or places, holiness in Judaism and Christianity primarily denotes the realm of the divine, mighty, and powerful God chooses to showcase that might by working wonders on Israel’s behalf.
It should be noted that when the ApostleDerived from a Greek word meaning "one who is sent," an apostle is a person who embraces and advocates another person's idea or beliefs. At the beginning of his ministry Jesus called twelve apostles to follow and serve him. Paul became an apostle of Jesus... PaulThe Apostle Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus, was the author of several New Testament letters and the founder of many Christian communities. uses this scene from Exodus in his second letter to the church at Corinth (2 Corinthians 3:7-18), he does not offer a reading that is meant to teach us what happened at Sinai, or the definitive way the text should be read. Instead, Paul draws on a scene well-known to his ancient Jewish audience in order to make a polemical point about Christ in and for his particular context.
