This principle applies to unbelievers and to believers as well. Paul tells us that one day we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Today every word in the New Testament is a word of blessing. But on the day we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, the words of the New Testament may become to us words of condemnation. This will be our situation if during our years as saved and regenerated people we harden our hearts and do not turn them to the Lord. Once again we see that the principle is the same both with the ministry of Moses in the Old Testament and the ministry in the New Testament. Whether the ministry is to us righteousness or condemnation, Spirit or death, depends on our heart.
We all need to be exhorted to have a proper heart whenever we listen to the word of the Lord. If our heart is right, we shall receive great blessing. But if our heart is hard, we shall not be blessed. If we are indifferent, we shall not be blessed through the ministry of God’s word. Actually, indifference causes hardness of heart. If you are indifferent toward the Lord’s speaking, eventually you will no longer care for His word. This indifference will become a veil between you and the Lord.
When Moses was speaking to the people, there probably were many who did not oppose him. They simply failed to receive his word with an open heart. They were indifferent to what Moses was saying. This attitude of indifference caused Moses to put a veil on his face as a sign that the people were not willing to receive the word of God. According to Exodus 34, when Moses, the servant of the Lord, spoke with the Lord, he took off the veil. Moses’ heart was neither hard nor indifferent. Instead of being turned away from the Lord, it was absolutely for the Lord. This was the reason Moses did not wear a veil in speaking with God. Exodus 34 emphasizes the fact that when Moses spoke to the people, he put on the veil, but when he spoke with God, he took it off. It is a very serious matter for any servant of the Lord to be unveiled in speaking to the Lord, but veiled in speaking to the people. This would be a sign that the condition of those who hear God’s word is not healthy.
I do not believe that Moses was happy when he found it necessary to put a veil on his face. But he certainly must have been happy when he could remove the veil in speaking with the Lord. At such times, he must have had a wonderful enjoyment of God. However, when he came out to speak with the people and had to put a veil on his face, his heart must have been heavy. On the one hand, he was burdened to speak to the people on behalf of the Lord; on the other hand, he could not speak with joy or happiness, but with heaviness.
This may also be the experience of faithful servants of the Lord today. When they speak to God’s people, they sometimes may speak without joy. But when they go to the Lord to have fellowship with Him, they are happy. Although there is a veil when they speak to the people, there is no veil when they talk with the Lord. The veil does not exist on the side of the Lord’s servants; it exists on the side of the people whose hearts are hard, indifferent, and turned away from the Lord.
We should not think that the law can be a ministry of condemnation and death and that the gospel of grace in the New Testament cannot be such a ministry. To unbelievers and even to believers who are indifferent in heart, the gospel of grace may become a ministry of condemnation and death. This should cause us to be serious about the Lord’s speaking. For God to speak to us is a very significant matter. How dreadful for our hearts to be indifferent when the Lord comes to us to have fellowship with us or to converse with us! Would you not be insulted if someone you were talking to did not care for what you were saying? We all would be deeply troubled by such an attitude. How much more serious it is for us to be indifferent toward God’s speaking to us in His grace! The gracious God is the speaking God. Because He cares so much for us, He speaks to us. If we are indifferent toward His speaking, it is a sign that our heart has become hard. This will cause God to be unhappy; it will also make His servants unhappy. Before the Lord’s servant came to speak with you, his face was shining. But after talking to you for a while, he became displeased because of your indifference. Immediately, you are veiled from seeing the glory of the New Testament ministry. This veil is a sign that there is some problem in your heart with the Lord. Your heart may be hard, cold, or indifferent. This is serious.