2 Corinthians 3:7

But if the ministration of death, written and engraven on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face: which glory was passing away: how shall not rather the ministration of the spirit be with glory?

MINISTRATION OF DEATH

The old covenant, deficient on account of man's sins, was nevertheless attended at its inception by glorious manifestations of God's power and majesty, including the radiance of Moses' face mentioned here (see Exodus 34:29-35). Paul's argument is simply this, that if even the old covenant, called here the ministration of death, was attended by such glory, how much more glorious is the gospel of Christ, or the new covenant. Of deep interest is Paul's view of history, especially that of Israel, which he interpreted as containing many allegories of great spiritual realities which came to light in the new covenant. Another example is that of Sarah and Hagar in Galatians.

Ministration of death ... The old covenant was thus titled because 3,000 souls perished the day the law was given; it was called the law of "sin and death" (Romans 8:2). However, Paul here laid stress on the diminishing radiance of Moses' face, interpreting the veil as being used to prevent Israel's SEEING THE GLORY FADE AWAY. Thus the veil symbolized the blindness of Israel, not only in the old covenant, but also in the rejection of Christ the head of the new covenant; and the disappearing glory of Moses' face symbolized the abrogation of the old covenant. Commenting on that allegorical prophecy of the Mosaic covenant's being abrogated, Farrar noted that the term "abrogated" or its equivalent occurs 22 times in Paul's epistles.[21]

Which glory was passing away ... Paul seized upon the fact of the vanishing radiance of Moses' countenance as an allegorical promise that the entire Old Testament covenant would, in time, be discontinued, or taken out of the way.

The complaint of Foy E. Wallace, Jr., regarding the RSV's rendition of this paragraph is fully justified. He said:

They have omitted "done away" (2 Corinthians 3:7), "abolished" (2 Corinthians 3:13), and "is done away in Christ" (2 Corinthians 3:14) ... This chapter clearly affirms the abolition of the MINISTRATION OF DEATH (the Old Covenant). They have clobbered the entire chapter of 2 Corinthians 3.[22]

[21] F. W. Farrar, op. cit., p. 59.

[22] Foy E. Wallace, Jr., op. cit., p. 438.