It used to be that most brides wore veils which obscured their faces. Today, that has pretty much fallen by the wayside. My niece is getting married next month. I don't know if she is planning on wearing a veil or not, and that's not really the point. Why did this tradition start in the first place? Why is it relevant to a reading of today's passage, 2 Cor. 3:7-18?
Remember that Jesus Christ's Church is referred to as His Bride several times in the New Testament. In most of these verses, He is referred to as the Bridegroom. (John 3:28-29) However, there is nothing in either the Old or New Testaments requiring a bride to wear a veil. In Genesis, we see Leah wearing a veil, although it seems obvious that the main reason she did so was to further her father's deception upon Jacob.
There is a good bit of church tradition associated with the bride wearing a veil, however. The practice began in Europe in medieval times, when the Crusaders brought the tradition back with them from the East. At that time, a veil symbolized modesty and purity. In the traditional Christian wedding ceremony, who would lift the bride's veil? - - - the groom! Hold on to that thought...
Now, in this passage, Paul is making a comparison, something he loved to do in his writings. He had studied the Old Testament Scriptures for years, and knew them well. So, he was very accomplished at weaving together God's dealings with mankind before Christ with how He was manifesting Himself through Christ, as well as after Christ's ascension (the Holy Spirit).
7 But if the ministry that produced death—carved in letters on stone tablets—came with glory, so that the Israelites could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face (a glory which was made ineffective), 8 how much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry that produced condemnation, how much more does the ministry that produces righteousness excel in glory! 10 For indeed, what had been glorious now has no glory because of the tremendously greater glory of what replaced it. 11 For if what was made ineffective came with glory, how much more has what remains come in glory! 12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we behave with great boldness, 13 and not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from staring at the result of the glory that was made ineffective. 14 But their minds were closed. For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds,16 but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Cor. 3:7-18 NET
In Exodus 24:9-18 we are told that Moses (and about 70 elders) journeyed to the top of the mountain (Sinai). Although all of these men "saw God" (!), only Moses was permitted direct access. He stayed on the mountain for 40 days and nights. In that time, Exodus 25-32, God gave Moses the Mosaic Law, God's rules for the good development and the preservation of His chosen people. Moses was gone so long that many feared he was dead, and that led to the disastrous golden calf debacle. Anyhow, we read in Exodus 33:11 that
"the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend."
However, in His dealings with Moses, God veiled His own glory. Look at Exodus 33:18-23.
18 And he {Moses} said, “Please, show me Your glory.” 19 Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” 20 But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22 So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. 23 Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
So, Moses only saw the glory of the Lord from that back side, because he could not live had he been exposed to the full-on glory of God. Such mystery! It is plain that God revealed Himself in varying degrees to men and women of the Old Testament, as suited His purposes.Next, we have the passage Paul references in 2 Cor. 3. It's Exodus 34:29-35, which describes how Moses' face shone supernaturally after his second trip up Mt. Sinai to speak with God. It shone so fiercely that the Israelites were frightened. So, Moses donned a veil, when he would appear before the people.
Paul states that God's way of dealing with the Israelites, the way of the law, was a "ministry of death". It begs the question, then, "Why did God choose to establish the 10 commandments and the Mosaic Law?" Most theologians agree that He did it for a couple of reasons:
1. To show people how to live clean, honorable and productive lives
2. To show people that keeping God's standards of holiness is impossible.
In Christ, we who believe in Him partake of His new covenant, not the old, condemnatory covenant of death (the Law). He lifts the veil from our eyes and minds, allowing us to see God the Father in a revolutionary revelation. Because of this, we are actual recipients of God's glory in a way Moses could never have been. Because His Holy Spirit lives within us continually, we are to an ever-greater degree reflecting the glory of our Lord as we are transformed more and more into His image. The Lord God Himself does this in our lives.
Remember what I said earlier about how, in the traditional Christian marriage ceremony the groom lifts the bride's veil? A beautiful picture of what Jesus Christ does for His own Bride, is it not?
Another image that comes to mind here is the image of what was called the Temple Veil, which was supernaturally split in two from top to bottom, during the earthquake that occurred the moment Christ died on the cross (Matt. 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45). God did this to symbolize the removal of the barrier between God the Father and His creation, mankind, because it revealed the most holy room of the Temple, the Holy of Holies, the place where the presence of God would come down to meet with select priests, who represented God's people. With Christ's finished work, however, (under His new covenant) there was no longer any need for such separation, or even a priest, as Jesus Christ is now our "High Priest", our only pathway to the Father. Glory to God!
Dear Father,
Thank you for how you tore down the veil separating us from You, by providing the eternal solution to our sin problem, through Your Son. Thank you for how Jesus Christ lifts the veil of His Bride, the Church Universal, as He transforms each of us, His children, more and more into His glory. May we reflect His glory in our unveiled faces, more and more each day. In Jesus' name, amen.
Source:
http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/17212/what-is-the-meaning-and-origin-of-bridal-veils-in-christian-weddings
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