As the brightness of Moses' face was supernatural, so the effect of it on the people was peculiar to that occasion. But there is an awe inspired by the presence of every good man, in proportion to the weight of his character and the eminence of his piety. Herod, though a king, " feared John, because he knew that he was a just and holy man." And Job tells us, that at his presence " the aged rose, and the young men hid themselves."]
To facilitate their access to him, he adopted the expedient mentioned in the text —
[He was not conscious of the splendour with which his countenance was irradiated, till their inability to behold him convinced him of it. Nor is it ever found that those who bear much of the divine image are conscious of their own supe- riority: their minds are fixed on their own defects rather than on their excellencies, and, from their deep views of their re- maining corruptions, they are ready to count themselves " less than the least of all saints." When he perceived the effect which the sight of him produced, instead of being elated with the honour conferred upon him, or desiring to employ it for the maintenance of his own authority, he put a veil upon his face to conceal its brightness, and called them to him that he might impart unto them the instructions he had received from God. As often as he returned to commune with his God, he took off the veil, as not either necessary or befitting in the divine pre- sence : but in all his intercourse with the people, he covered his face. On this point many useful thoughts occur ; but we shall reserve them for the close of our subject, where they will be more advantageously suggested in a way of practical im- provement.]
We pass on to notice this act of Moses, II. As an instructive emblem —
Whether Moses himself understood the full signi- fication of his own act, we cannot say : it is probable he did not : for certain it is, that the prophets in many instances could not see the full scope of their own prophecies. But, whether he understood it or not, we are assured, on infallible authority, that his covering his face with the veil was intended by God to represent,
1. The darkness of that dispensation —
[The Mosaic dispensation wTas " a shadow of good things to come : " but what the substance was, none could exactly ascertain. The very tables which at this time Moses had brought down from God, contained a law, the nature, intent.