By Ezekiel Kimosop
Exodus 33:9-11 proclaims thus:
"And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. 10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. 11 So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle."
Two texts appear to contradict the statement recorded in Exodus 33:11.
Exodus 33:20 says:
17 So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”
18 And he 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.” (NKJV).
A plain reading of Exodus 33:20-23 reveals that no man can see God face to face and live to tell about it! God put Moses in the cleft of the rock and covered his face with His hand as He passed by so that Moses only saw God's back (vv. 21-23).
God chose to conceal His face from Moses to protect him against instant death!
The message of Exodus 33:20-23 is affirmed by a number of New Testament Scriptures. We shall sample a few.
John 1:18 says "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him."
This implies that only Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity had seen God the Father face to face in heaven. No other living soul had seen the face of God, perhaps not even the angels. It also underscores His divine fellowship with God the Father.
John 6:46 says "Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father." (NKJV).
1 John 4:12 says "No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us."
1 Timothy 6:16 describes God as He "who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen."
Our human frailty cannot permit us to stand before God's throne. This is the reason that Scripture proclaims that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50).
So what does it mean that God spoke to Moses face to face?
So what does it mean that God spoke to Moses face to face?
How can two or three texts of Scripture stand in contradiction to one other in the same passage or chapter? How can we explain the theological paradox presented by the this theological phenomenon?
Numbers 23:19 says "God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" (NKJV).
James 1:17 says "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."
The writer affirms that there is no variation or shadow of turning with God. This affirms that God's divine truths are immutable. They cannot therefore contradict. Simply put, the writer of James proclaims that God cannot speak from the two sides of His mouth!
When the Scriptures are read and interpreted within their passage, book, and canonical contexts, there cannot be an iota of contradiction or disharmony.
The word of God is inspired by the Holy Spirit. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."
This is why we should not merely interpret the Bible in a literal sense without considering the hermeneutical context and overall harmony of the entire body of Scriptures!
It is important to reconcile the two Scriptures in Exodus 33:11 and Exodus 33:20, using the rules of hermeneutics in order to rule out any contradictions of sorts. We need to explore the range of interpretations can emerge from a consolidated treatment of the texts.
Bible scholars agree that the writer of the Book of Exodus could not have deliberately contradicted himself in Exodus 33 by first stating that God spoke to Moses "face to face" and a few verse away in Exodus 33:20, the same writer records that God did not permit Moses to see His face!
One of these two Scriptures must be teaching something different and this is what we need to decipher through a methodical hermeneutical approach.
Let's now explore the Scriptures...
God declares to Moses in Exodus 33:20 "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me and live".
We need to bear in mind that God himself is declaring this truth here! James 1:17 confirms that God cannot contradict His own word. He cannot therefore misrepresent His mind to us through sets of contradictory statements.
To deal with this apparent confusion, we should apply the rules of interpretation with prudence, giving glory to God so that we do not misrepresent His mind.
First, in harmonizing the texts of John 1:18 and Exodus 33:20, we arrive at the inescapable conclusion that indeed no man has ever seen God and that Moses never saw God's face. We have already affirmed that God cannot contradict His own voice. The two Scriptures appear in the Old Testament and New Testament, respectively.
Secondly, there is a general principle of biblical interpretation that says if a teaching appears in both the Old Testament and New Testaments, then the teaching is absolute. For example, God condemns divorce in Malachi 2:16 and Jesus upholds this truth in the Gospel books (Matthew 5:31,19:3, Mark 10:4). This settles the issue of Christian divorce being a violation of God's law.
This then implies that we need to revisit and interpret Exodus 33:11 in a manner that is consistent with the overall harmony of the word of God.
This is why we should not merely interpret the Bible in a literal sense without considering the hermeneutical context and overall harmony of the entire body of Scriptures!
It is important to reconcile the two Scriptures in Exodus 33:11 and Exodus 33:20, using the rules of hermeneutics in order to rule out any contradictions of sorts. We need to explore the range of interpretations can emerge from a consolidated treatment of the texts.
Bible scholars agree that the writer of the Book of Exodus could not have deliberately contradicted himself in Exodus 33 by first stating that God spoke to Moses "face to face" and a few verse away in Exodus 33:20, the same writer records that God did not permit Moses to see His face!
One of these two Scriptures must be teaching something different and this is what we need to decipher through a methodical hermeneutical approach.
Let's now explore the Scriptures...
God declares to Moses in Exodus 33:20 "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me and live".
We need to bear in mind that God himself is declaring this truth here! James 1:17 confirms that God cannot contradict His own word. He cannot therefore misrepresent His mind to us through sets of contradictory statements.
To deal with this apparent confusion, we should apply the rules of interpretation with prudence, giving glory to God so that we do not misrepresent His mind.
First, in harmonizing the texts of John 1:18 and Exodus 33:20, we arrive at the inescapable conclusion that indeed no man has ever seen God and that Moses never saw God's face. We have already affirmed that God cannot contradict His own voice. The two Scriptures appear in the Old Testament and New Testament, respectively.
Secondly, there is a general principle of biblical interpretation that says if a teaching appears in both the Old Testament and New Testaments, then the teaching is absolute. For example, God condemns divorce in Malachi 2:16 and Jesus upholds this truth in the Gospel books (Matthew 5:31,19:3, Mark 10:4). This settles the issue of Christian divorce being a violation of God's law.
This then implies that we need to revisit and interpret Exodus 33:11 in a manner that is consistent with the overall harmony of the word of God.
Bible scholars say the writer of Exodus applied a Hebrew idiom or metaphor under the phrase "face to face" to underscore the spiritual proximity between God and His servant Moses. The two engaged in direct, open, and intimate communication built in trust.
It is instructive that Jacob used the same phrase during his encounter with the angel of God in Genesis 32:30. The text says "So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."
Jacob could not have literally seen God face to face. The editors of the Bible Hub succinctly opine thus: "the infinite holiness of God stands far beyond human capacity to withstand in its entirety." God only makes self disclosure suited to human limitations.
CONCLUSION
We can safely conclude that the writer of Exodus, being inspired by the Holy Spirit, could not have contradicted the voice of God within the same Book. There must be another meaning to his statement which is outside the literal rendering!
We can therefore aver that the writer of the Book of Exodus was demonstrating a deeper truth using metaphorical language. He was allegorizing the statement of Exodus 33:11 by saying "So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend."
What was his message here?
Bible scholars generally agree that the writer was demonstrating that God was intimately close to Moses and his use of the phrase "face to face" [Heb: panim el panim] was simply a figure of speech to underscore this spiritual proximity and intimacy. This Scripture should therefore not be interpreted in a literal sense.
We can surmise that Exodus 33:11 does not teach or imply that Moses literally saw God's face with his naked human eyes. You may also recall that Elijah, another great prophet of God, shielded his face in the presence of God at Mt Horeb (1Kings 19:13).
We can therefore aver that the writer of the Book of Exodus was demonstrating a deeper truth using metaphorical language. He was allegorizing the statement of Exodus 33:11 by saying "So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend."
What was his message here?
Bible scholars generally agree that the writer was demonstrating that God was intimately close to Moses and his use of the phrase "face to face" [Heb: panim el panim] was simply a figure of speech to underscore this spiritual proximity and intimacy. This Scripture should therefore not be interpreted in a literal sense.
We can surmise that Exodus 33:11 does not teach or imply that Moses literally saw God's face with his naked human eyes. You may also recall that Elijah, another great prophet of God, shielded his face in the presence of God at Mt Horeb (1Kings 19:13).
This conclusion leads us to another significant question: Shall we ever see God face to face?
This question is often asked in Christian circles. I am persuaded that one day, when Christ shall appear to take His church to Himself, those who love the appearing of Christ, shall see the God face to face and dwell in His glorious presence forever (1Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Revelation 22:4 says "they [the redeemed in Christ] shall see His face and His name shall be on their foreheads."
This question is often asked in Christian circles. I am persuaded that one day, when Christ shall appear to take His church to Himself, those who love the appearing of Christ, shall see the God face to face and dwell in His glorious presence forever (1Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Revelation 22:4 says "they [the redeemed in Christ] shall see His face and His name shall be on their foreheads."
This is a literal promise in the Bible. I believe there will be no divine barrier separating the redeemed saints from God's holy presence. We shall see the face of God the Father at that time, for we shall walk around His great white throne and shall reign with Christ for ever.
Up till then, no person dwelling under the sun will literally see God with their naked human eyes.
This implies that those latter-day, self appointed prophets who claim to have directly seen the glorified Christ in person or heard His voice in visions should be flatly ignored by Bible believing Christian communities. God can never contradict His word or misrepresent His divine nature (Hebrews 1:1-2, 8:13; James 1:17).
The Holy Spirit affirms and brings to our memory the word of God. He can never contradict His divine truths. He reveals to us the mind of Christ through the illumination of His word.
© Ezekiel Kimosop 2019
Up till then, no person dwelling under the sun will literally see God with their naked human eyes.
This implies that those latter-day, self appointed prophets who claim to have directly seen the glorified Christ in person or heard His voice in visions should be flatly ignored by Bible believing Christian communities. God can never contradict His word or misrepresent His divine nature (Hebrews 1:1-2, 8:13; James 1:17).
The Holy Spirit affirms and brings to our memory the word of God. He can never contradict His divine truths. He reveals to us the mind of Christ through the illumination of His word.
Shalom
© Ezekiel Kimosop 2019
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