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Selected Messages Book 1
Moses to be their mediator. They did not understand that Christ was
their appointed mediator, and that, deprived of His mediation, they
would certainly have been consumed.
“Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove
you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And
the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness
where God was” (
Exodus 20:20, 21
).
The pardon of sin, justification by faith in Jesus Christ, access
to God only through a mediator because of their lost condition, their
guilt and sin—of these truths the people had little conception. In a
great measure they had lost a knowledge of God and of the only way
to approach Him. They had lost nearly all sense of what constitutes
sin and of what constitutes righteousness. The pardon of sin through
Christ, the promised Messiah, whom their offerings typified, was but
dimly understood.
Paul declared, “Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great
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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. Nevertheless when
it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away” (
2 Corinthians
3:12-16
).
The Jews refused to accept Christ as the Messiah, and they cannot
see that their ceremonies are meaningless, that the sacrifices and of-
ferings have lost their significance. The veil drawn by themselves in
stubborn unbelief is still before their minds. It would be removed if
they would accept Christ, the righteousness of the law.
Many in the Christian world also have a veil before their eyes and
heart. They do not see to the end of that which was done away. They
do not see that it was only the ceremonial law which was abrogated
at the death of Christ. They claim that the moral law was nailed to
the cross. Heavy is the veil that darkens their understanding. The
hearts of many are at war with God. They are not subject to His law.
Only as they shall come into harmony with the rule of His government,
can Christ be of any avail to them. They may talk of Christ as their
Saviour; but He will finally say to them, I know you not. You have