October 24 Click on verses for Full Scripture

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Today's Pathway: II Corinthians 3:12-15 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

Paul has spent the last several verses showing the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old Covenant. He concluded that section by showing that the New Covenant is even more glorious than the Old because it offers forgiveness and eternal life through faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In verse 12 he uses that fact as the basis for what he is about to say. Because he has the great assurance contained in the New Covenant he is able to speak plainly and boldly concerning Biblical truth. At this point it would be good to remember that there were those in the church at Corinth who questioned his authority and contradicted his doctrine. The fact that he has spent the previous verses showing that the Gospel was more glorious than the Law indicates that there were probably some in the church who wanted to go back under the Mosaic legal system and were trying to add works to grace. Paul, having the hope of the Gospel, is not afraid to speak the truth in spite of opposition. This is a good lesson for each of us. We know the Truth, and we know that it is the Truth, so we should have no qualms about declaring it to be the Truth.

The next few verses have a variety of interpretations. Paul Brown wrote,

"If we agree that 2 Corinthians is probably the epistle which presents most problems to the interpreter, we might also add that chapter three is probably the most difficult to interpret, with verses 12-18 presenting the greatest problems."

At the end of verse 13 Paul writes that Israel could not see "the end of that which is abolished". That which is abolished was the Old Covenant, and its end was found in Jesus Christ (verse 14). The Jews saw the Law as being the goal, yet it was never intended for that purpose. Galatians 3:24-26 states,

"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster."

"Moses came down the mountain, attempted to show them the glory of God representative in the old covenant by the glory on his face, and he was rejected. Instead of recognizing the glory, they were willfully dull and unbelieving. And it was still so in Paul's time. Every Sabbath they went into the synagogue and the old covenant would be read. The same veil remains unlifted. The old covenant is still obscure. They still don't understand the purpose of it. They think it's supposed to save them and it's not. They don't know that it was designed to drive them to despair about their sin and to portray through the symbols and the pictures the redemptive plan of God that points directly to none other than Jesus Christ, but since they don't understand the old covenant, they can't understand the new covenant. The veil of ignorance obscures the meaning of the old covenant to the hardened heart. It was meant to lead them to Christ, they just didn't see it."

We will continue looking at this topic tomorrow.