Exodus 33:12-23/v.18 – “Seeing God”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this verse:

¹⁸And he said, “Cause me to see (na) Your glory.”

In my last post, I pondered some esoteric thoughts about seeing God, that I have come to the conclusion that there is a spiritual experience of “seeing His face.” Moses asked in the passage before us, “Show me Your glory,” and the Lord responded, “You cannot see My face” but then allowed him to see His “backside.” I would suggest that the Lord (and probably Moses) is speaking here of physical vision, which would then seem obvious – that no mere mortal can actually “see” the infinite glorious God.

In physical terms this would be impossible, as “seeing” requires something to have a form or shape, but having form or shape presumes the seen thing must have limit. It must occupy some portion of space, yet not other. God is omnipresent, everywhere present at all times, filling the all of the universe with all of His being at all times in every place. If that is true, then where do you “look”? Even the sky has limit – it ends at each horizon, so that we can “look” at the sky, even though it seems to fill the half the universe “above” us. We can look “down” at the earth and the sky is not “there.” “Oh,” we can say, “It is up there.” There is a place where it is and a place where it isn’t, therefore we can “see” it. Physical “seeing” is an activity confined to our material world of time and space, while God, in His infinite divinity, simply transcends all such considerations so that it is, in fact, impossible to “see” Him.

Apparently there is something God could have done, some miracle by which He could have allowed Moses as a mortal to somehow “see” His face, but God knew that event would kill Moses. I suspect the understanding of this is utterly beyond us, the physics of how to literally expose the limited created thing to somehow comprehend the limitlessness of Infinity. I suspect the splitting of an atom is a very tiny expression of mortality prying into the limitlessness of infinity. We dared to cross that line and an entire city was instantly vaporized. How much more devastating could it be for a mere mortal to cross the line from material to immaterial, from finite to infinite, and actually take in a vision of the totality of the glory of God’s face? God was not interested in vaporizing Moses, so He declined to fully grant his request. He put him in the cleft of the rock, covered him with His hand, and showed him His “backside” which somehow could be “limited” to allow mortal comprehension.

As I said in my last post, I believe it is possible to “see” God in a spiritual sense, and I mean that more than just using the word figuratively. I believe that sight has a spiritual dimension, when two beings actually look each other “in the eye” and it is that spiritual experience which I believe is possible and, in fact, highly desirable. It is in some sense the “face to face” which Moses and the Lord shared, but which perhaps too many never know. As I said then, only grace can allow us to rise above the shame and guilt of our sins and our sinfulness to actually look God “in the eye.” That can only happen when a person is confident in the effectual atonement of Jesus’ blood, when we stand confident in the forgiveness of sin and in our complete and final adoption as beloved children. Moses somehow grasped this in the promise of the coming Messiah. We may grasp grace in the finished work of Calvary. But either way, grace opens the way for us to “see” God, to “look Him in the eye” and have a real, personal relationship with Him, to speak with Him “as a friend, face to face.”

But, I can’t leave the subject without stopping to further ponder this business of physically “seeing” God. That side of Calvary, Moses could not see God’s face. As I discussed above, it is still impossible for mortal beings to physically “see” the infinity of God’s face. But something did change. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us … and we beheld His glory…” (John 1:14). ^“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” (II Cor 4:6). “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…” (Heb 1:3). When Philip said to Jesus, “Show us the Father,” Jesus responded, “Don’t you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

To see Jesus is to see the Father, to see God. To look into the face of Jesus is to look into the face of God. Once again, in the incomprehensible counsels of the infinite God, limitless Divinity stepped into limited creation and became a man like us. Had Moses crossed that line from here to there, it would have killed him, but Jesus, being very God Himself, crossed from there to here and lived. Although today He is not physically present for us to look Him in the eye, there was a time when He was, when His disciples and His family and all of the then existing creation could literally “see” God in Him; and He yet maintains that form even in Heaven. Even in Heaven, I would suggest that we will see God in the face of Christ. Even in eternity we will remain created beings while our God is incomprehensible and infinite. Yet, there will be no sense that our knowledge of Him is any longer limited, as our souls will be consumed with the wonder of Jesus, when “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants shall serve Him, and they will see His face …” (Rev 22:3,4).

As I have said above, there is a spiritual sense in which today we can (and should) literally “see” God, in which we can “look Him in the eye.” In addition, there is a sense in which it remains impossible for us to physically actually “see” God. But, praise Him for His glorious grace, it is also true that He has made a way that we can and will literally and physically “look upon” our God, in which we can literally and physically look Him in the face and lean on His bosom and walk by His side. His name is Jesus.

All of this verges on the very limits of our mortal comprehension, but the bottom-line, I think is this: The unknowable, unseeable God has invited each of us to know Him and to see Him. Jesus has, from all eternity been the bridge. To embrace Him is to embrace our limitless God, to open the door that we might speak with Him “as friends, face to face.” God help us, may we clutch the opportunity and take our place eternally at His side, our God … and our friend. May we say without hesitation, “Lord, show us Your glory!”