Did the Leaders of Israel See God?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT THE LEADERS OF ISRAEL SAW GOD AND ATE AND DRANK IN HIS PRESENCE? 

By Ezekiel Kimosop

When the Bible says in Exodus 24:9-11 that the leaders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel and that they ate and drank in His presence, my interpretation is that God invited them into His divine presence. No one simply walks into the presence of God uninvited! 

These leaders were earlier chosen by God Himself for His service and the Bible records in another section of Scripture that all of the seventy elders were filled with the Holy Spirit and they prophesied in the presence of God. 

My view is that God permitted these leaders to see a portion of His divine glory as a memorial to them that they were in God's presence. My view is that we cannot explain the experience further than that without the risk of drifting into error! 

Once again I wish to state that our previous rules of interpretation which we earlier established regarding God speaking to Moses face to face, will still apply in this context. 

Now, the Hebrew language carries a range of synonyms or variants for a single word or phrase and we need to be careful when interpreting certain words or phrases. It also contains it's range of idioms and figures of speech. 

Let me mention some examples here. The Hebrew word "shalom" is translated "peace" in English, yet most Bible scholars would agree that this translation is inappropriate and limiting!

The word "Shalom" means much more than peace. It means wholesomeness or completeness in every conceivable dimension! Shalom speaks to our entire journey of life, the peace of God and the divine blessings of God in their various descriptions. 

The Hebrew word for "saw" or "seen" also means to perceive or to experience. 

For example, Jesus is quoted in the New Testament saying "whoever has seen the Me has seen the Father." 

Obviously, this statement cannot be understood in its literal sense without some degree of absurdity! 

What Jesus meant by "seeing" Him or the Father is really about experiencing or knowing Him in a personal way through the revelation of His truth concerning the nature of His divine Person and the divine purpose of His coming as God incarnate. 

Many people claim to know Christ today but in truth, some have no idea about who He truly is! They have no practical encounter with the resurrection power of Christ! These are mere religious folk who attend church each Sunday as a matter of religious order. 

Now back to the Old Testament... 

In Genesis 22, God provided Abraham a ram to sacrifice in the place of Isaac whom God had earlier commanded him to sacrifice under one of the most difficult tests in Scripture. 

Abraham called the mountain, Jehovajireh which translated in Hebrew meant "in the mountain of God, the LORD will be seen" (Gen. 22:14).

Now we know from our reading of the story Abraham's test that Abraham did not literally see God on that mountain! However, there is no iota of doubt here that Abraham experienced God in new refreshing divine sense. 

He learnt that God was testing him and that he passed the test by God's grace! He was grateful to God for sparing his son! 

The idea of seeing God in this context is metaphoric or a figure of speech, suggesting that it was more about discovering and knowing God under a new revelation than about seeing Him with naked human eyes, a fact that was impossible. 

Now let's return back to our passage of context of Exodus 24:9-11.

My concluding view is as follows:

1) God graciously permitted these leaders to draw closer to Him than was ordinarily possible. Usually, only priests and prophets could come close to God's presence. 

This is true of us today. When we draw close to God in obedience and service, He gets intimately closer to us and our experience of His divine presence will never be the same! 

2) The leaders never saw God physically or face to face. We had already ruled out such possibility under our previous case regarding Moses. No man can see God and live! 

3) God graciously preserved rather than destroy these leaders for coming into His holy presence. 

Normally, people who crossed the red line between the holy of holies or who attempted to touch the Ark of the covenant while they were ritually unclean were instantly struck dead by God. God is a consuming fire and if His wrath is kindled, nothing can stand in His way! 

While we know from the teaching of New Testament Scriptures that Christ has opened for us access to the Father so that we may walk boldly to His throne of grace to obtain mercy (Hebrews 4:14-16), the above passage serves as a warning to us never to take the presence of God for granted! It was inconceivable in Hebrew thought that one can simply walk into the presence of God, let alone His throne! 

The Jewish leaders were graciously exempted from the ritual requirements when they walked into the presence of God. This confirms that they were approved of God. We also learn the value of spiritual confidence as God's children. 

Do you recall that David ate of the shrew bread at the tent of the LORD at wilderness of Nob yet God spared him from instant judgment! Jesus recognized and spoke of this unusual  event when defending Himself against false accusations of defiling the Sabbath. 

David was just an ordinary mortal yet God honored him for his faithful walk in His presence. How much does God honor Christ! 

4) The leaders were in spiritual communion and harmony with God. Eating and drinking in God's presence mirrors the partaking of the Holy Communion without any burden of guilt. Of course we are never perfect in God's presence! 

However, when we walk close to God in obedience, God preserves us in special ways (cf. Psalm 23).

I have decided to juxtapose the answer to the question with additional teachings which I consider relevant to the passage in question. 

Shalom 

© Ezekiel Kimosop 2017