Seeing God

Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land--from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, `I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it."

And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.

Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the LORD had commanded Moses.

Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt--to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel (Deuteronomy 34:1-12).

Moses—what an incredible life that man had. He was raised in a royal palace, the adopted son of a princess. As an adult, he left city life behind and experienced the joys of marriage, fatherhood, and working with animals. At age 80, Moses became a preacher, miracle worker, and leader of the Israelites. Even at 120 years of age, he still had strength and vitality. But most wonderful of all, Moses was permitted to speak with God face to face. Of all the blessings Moses received from the Lord, surely this privilege outshone them all.

But it does raise a question. In the New Testament, Jesus says something that seems to contradict what we read in Deuteronomy. John chapter six quotes the Lord as follows: No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Jesus claims to be the only person in history who has ever seen God the Father! And yet the Old Testament tells us of several people who have seen God.

Moses, of course, is one example. Consider his appearance after receiving the Ten Commandments from God: When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him (Exodus 34:29-30). Because of the time he spent with God, Moses actually started glowing with the reflected light of God’s glory!

Abraham is another example, as we read in Genesis chapter 17. When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers."

Isaiah also saw the Lord. In chapter six of his book, he describes a vision of God’s throne room and his reaction to what he saw: I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

Why was Isaiah terrified? He knew that as a sinful human being, he dared not look at the blazing glory of God. Centuries earlier at Mount Sinai, God had told Moses you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live (Exodus 33:20). But Isaiah was not struck dead for looking at God on His throne, and a similar mercy was shown to the leaders of Israel when they ascended Sinai with Moses: Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel…God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank (Exodus 24:9-11).

So which is it? Is God inconsistent, bending the rules to let a few select people look at Him under certain conditions? Or is Jesus a liar for claiming that only He, the Son of God, has ever seen our heavenly Father? The answer to both is no. God is not inconsistent; He does not bend the rules. Through Malachi He says, I the LORD do not change (chapter 6). And Jesus is no liar; Peter says He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth (1 Peter 2:22).

Exodus says, The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend (Exodus 33:11). Jesus says, No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. How can both these statements be true? They are both true because Jesus is God, and it was God’s Son whom Moses spoke with face to face.

The Son of God is eternal; along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, He has always existed as a member of the Trinity. John calls Him the Word of God, the means by which God reveals His thoughts to us. Ever since creation, that has been the Son’s role—He is the one who reveals the invisible God to mankind. When sin disrupted our relationship with God, it only made sense that the Son of God be the one to correct the problem. He revealed God’s anger at our sins. He revealed what kind of behavior God expects from every human being. And He revealed God’s love for us, a love that found a way to punish sin yet spare the sinner. Jesus revealed both God’s love and justice on the cross, where our sins were punished in Jesus’ tortured body. In the crucified Son of God, justice was served in such a way that we were sheltered from it by the immeasurable love of the Savior.

Jesus reveals God to us—He says, The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me (John 14:10-11). When Jesus speaks, it is God that we hear. The Savior said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him (John 14:6-7). Paul writes, there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). John adds, Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also (1 John 2:22-23). God cannot be known apart from Jesus Christ.

It is through Jesus that God establishes a relationship with us. It is through Jesus’ words that God reveals His thoughts; it is through Jesus’ actions that God reveals His heart. It is through Jesus that the barrier of sin is torn down so that we can approach God unafraid.

When we realize that Jesus is God made visible, it becomes obvious that the Son of God shows Himself throughout the Old Testament. Whenever God is heard speaking, it is the Son revealing His Father whom only He can see. And so it is the Son of God who comes to Abraham in Genesis chapter 18: The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby…"Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him. "There, in the tent," he said. Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son."

Sometimes the Son of God appeared as an angel, as happened in Judges chapter two: The angel of the LORD…said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, `I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?" Clearly this was no ordinary angel; consider Gideon’s reaction when he received such a visit: When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!" But the LORD said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die." Gideon understood that to see the Angel of the Lord was to see God Himself.

The Son of God spoke to Moses through a burning bush. The Son of God led the Israelites through the wilderness as a column of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night. The Son of God inscribed the Ten Commandments on two pieces of stone and gave them to Moses. And the Son of God spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.

In the Old Testament, Moses was the only man the Son of God spoke to as a friend; no other prophet had such a close and personal relationship with the Lord. But in the New Testament, Jesus gathered a group of disciples to learn from Him, men He spoke with face to face; in John chapter 15 He tells them I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

But don’t think that the disciples were the only people close to Jesus. When He was dying on the cross, the Lord made sure that His widowed mother would be cared for in His absence: When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home (John 19:26-27). Jesus also had close friends; John tells us Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus (John 11:5). Notice how our Master speaks to a man in desperate need of hope: Friend, your sins are forgiven (Luke 5:20). In fact, Jesus treats all believers like members of His family: A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother" (Mark 3:32-35).

In the Old Testament, it was a rare and special thing to be God’s friend, as Moses was. Thankfully, the New Testament changed all that. When Jesus came to live on earth, He revealed God in a way never done before—in Jesus, God has become someone we can talk to face to face as friends. Jesus is still the magnificent Son of God whose glory made Moses’ face shine from standing in His presence. Only a few disciples were permitted a glimpse of that hidden glory: Jesus took with him Peter, James and John…and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light (Matthew 17:1-2). On that mountain the disciples saw the glory that made Gideon and Isaiah tremble with fear; since Jesus did not want His followers to be terrified of him, He concealed His majesty behind an ordinary-looking face.

Moses was blessed to encounter God face to face as a friend; so were the disciples. But you are blessed as well; Jesus told Thomas Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29). Peter adds, Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:8-9). You don’t have to see the Son of God to get all the benefits of being His friend. But rest assured that the day is coming when you will see the Lord in all His glory just as Stephen did, moments before his death: "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56).