The Veil: Why the Old Testament Can’t Be Read Without Christ

Many people read the Old Testament and walk away with a picture of God that is harsh, angry, violent or unpredictable. But Jesus revealed a God who is gentle, forgiving, patient and self-sacrificing. How can both be true?

The Bible teaches that there has always been a veil over the way humanity reads the Old Testament. Not because God was hiding, but because something (or someone) was blocking our understanding.

That someone is Satan.

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The Veil That Blinds People to God’s Character

Paul explains this clearly.

2 Corinthians 3:14–15

“Their minds were blinded… a veil lies over the reading of the Old Testament.”

This veil causes people to read Scripture and misunderstand God’s character. The veil hides the truth about what God is really like. Paul then gives the key:

2 Corinthians 3:16

“Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”

The veil does not come off by more study, more effort, or more theology. Paul says the veil is removed only when we turn to Christ. Jesus is not simply a helper or teacher, He is the perfect revelation of the Father.

When we look at the Old Testament through the lens of Christ, everything becomes clear, the stories, the commandments, the judgments, even the violence. When we read without Christ, we misunderstand God.

“Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

John 14:9

Jesus is the lens through which all Scripture must be understood. He didn’t come to correct the Scriptures, He came to correct our interpretation of God.

Where Did This Veil Come From?

The veil did not come from God. It came from Satan.

2 Corinthians 4:4

“The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ should shine on them.”

Satan blinds minds.

Satan causes misinterpretation.

Satan darkens our view of God.

This veil is not made of ignorance. It is made of lies about God.

Jesus exposed this clearly.

John 8:44

Satan “is a liar and the father of it.”

His entire strategy is to misrepresent God. If people see God wrongly, they will not love Him, trust Him or come to Him.

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Satan — the Covering Cherub Who Turned Against the Law of Love

Before his fall, Satan was not merely an angel. He had one of the most sacred roles in all of heaven.

Ezekiel 28:14

“You were the anointed cherub who covers… you were on the holy mountain of God.”

The “cherub who covers” refers to the cherubim covering the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place, the place where God’s character and government were symbolically revealed.

Satan’s original mission was to defend God’s Law of Love.

He was created to protect the truth about God’s character.

But something changed.

Ezekiel 28:17

“Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty.”

Pride replaced love. Self took the place of service. Satan no longer wanted to reveal God, he wanted to replace Him.

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How the Covering Cherub Became the Veil

Once Satan rejected God’s character of love, he didn’t stop believing in God,

he just began misrepresenting God.

He introduced a new picture of God:

• A God who punishes to get obedience

• A God who kills those who resist Him

• A God who rules through fear instead of love

This false picture became the veil that covers the reading of Scripture.

Instead of seeing:

• a God who gives freedom

• a God who heals

• a God who absorbs suffering

• a God who forgives His enemies

People read the Old Testament and see:

• a demanding ruler

• a violent judge

• a God who destroys those who disagree with Him

The veil does not change the Bible.

It changes how we read the Bible.

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Only Jesus Removes the Veil

This is why Jesus came, not to change God, but to reveal God as He truly is.

John 1:18

“No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son… has declared Him.”

Jesus shows us the Father plainly.

John 14:9

“He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

Jesus’ life reveals what God has always been like:  not angry, not coercive, not retaliatory. When Jesus forgave His enemies on the cross, He was not acting differently from the Father. He was showing the Father.

Hebrews 1:3

“He is the express image of His person.”

When we read the Bible through Jesus, the veil is gone.

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Two Ways of Reading Scripture

With the veil:

• The Old Testament seems to reveal a God who destroys His enemies.

With Jesus removing the veil:

• We see that sin destroys, not God.

• We see that God protects but never forces.

• We see that God allows freedom, even when it breaks His heart.

• We see that God absorbs violence rather than inflicting it.

The stories never changed, the reader did.

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The Final Removal of the Veil

The veil is not permanent. It will be torn from the minds of the universe at the end of time.

Habakkuk 2:14

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.”

Revelation 21:23

“The glory of God illuminates it, and the Lamb is its light.”

When the whole universe sees God as He truly is, Satan’s lies collapse. The rebellion dies not because God attacks, but because truth destroys deception.

Love wins, not through force, but through revelation.

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The Great Controversy Is About a Misunderstanding

The battle was never about power.

Never about territory.

Never about God proving His authority.

The controversy has always been about God’s character.

Satan covered the world in a veil.

Jesus came to remove it.

The Old Testament does not show a different God.

It shows the same God, but often seen through a veil.

When we look through the veil, we fear God.

When we look through Jesus, we love Him.

And that has always been God’s purpose, not that we would obey from fear, but that we would trust from love.