Why Couldn’t Moses See God’s Face?

Introduction

I was reading the remarkable dialogue between Moses and God after the golden calf incident in Exodus 33. In this passage, God reassures Moses that He will still lead the people of Israel through the wilderness, but He emphasizes that His favor is upon Moses alone, not the people. Moses, in a moment of boldness, asks God to prove this by requesting to see His glory. To my amazement, God agrees but adds a critical condition: Moses can only see His back because seeing His face would cause death. This interaction between Moses and God left me wondering: Why couldn’t Moses see God’s face?

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TL;DR Summary

Who is involved in this passage?
The central figures are Moses and God. Moses is leading the Israelites after the golden calf incident, and he is engaged in a profound conversation with God, seeking reassurance that God will continue to be with His people.

What did Moses request?
Moses asked to see God’s glory, a bold request that demonstrated his desire for deeper intimacy with God and a clear sign of God’s favor and presence.

Where did this event take place?
The dialogue occurs on Mount Sinai, the same place where Moses received the Ten Commandments and where God’s presence was manifested in a cloud.

When did this event happen?
This interaction took place after the Israelites sinned by worshiping the golden calf, a time when God’s relationship with Israel was deeply strained, and Moses was interceding on behalf of the people.

Why did God say Moses couldn’t see His face?
God’s reasoning was based on His holiness and the limitations of human beings. No one could see God’s face and live because His full glory is too overwhelming for human nature.

How did God reveal Himself to Moses?
God hid Moses in a crevice of a rock and covered him with His hand as His glory passed by. Moses was only allowed to see God’s back, symbolizing a partial but still powerful revelation of His glory.

Narrative Context

This extraordinary encounter between Moses and God takes place after a crisis in Israel’s history: the golden calf incident. Moses had just interceded for the people, pleading with God not to abandon them after their idolatry. God agrees to continue guiding Israel but emphasizes that His favor rests on Moses alone.

In response, Moses seeks further reassurance by asking to see God’s glory, a request that speaks to his desire for deeper assurance and intimacy with the Lord. God agrees, but with a condition: Moses can only see God’s back because seeing His face would be too much for any human to endure. The physical setting is Mount Sinai, where Moses had previously encountered God in the form of a cloud and where the covenant was established between God and Israel.

The key element of this narrative is the delicate balance between God’s desire to reveal Himself to Moses and the inherent danger of exposing a human being to His unmediated presence.

Scriptural Foundations

The concept of not being able to see God’s face is rooted in Scripture, where God’s holiness and glory are depicted as overwhelming and dangerous for sinful humanity:

• Exodus 33:18-20 (WEB):
  “Moses said, ‘Please show me your glory.’ He said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim Yahweh’s name before you… You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.’”
  This passage emphasizes the danger of seeing God’s face due to His overwhelming holiness and glory.
• 1 Timothy 6:16 (WEB):
  “… who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen, nor can see, to whom be honor and eternal power.”
  Paul refers to the idea that God’s nature is unapproachable for humans because of His pure, overwhelming light and holiness.
• John 1:18 (WEB):
  “No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared him.”
  This verse reiterates that no one has fully seen God, and it points to Jesus as the one who reveals God’s nature in a way humanity can experience.

Perspectives from Others

Many theologians see Moses’ request as one of the most intimate moments in the Old Testament. Some view the concept of seeing God’s “back” as a metaphor for experiencing only a glimpse of God’s glory, which is all that human beings can handle. Church Fathers like Augustine and Gregory of Nyssa emphasized that God’s “face” represents His full divine essence, which is beyond human comprehension and therefore deadly for any mortal to witness.

Others have interpreted this passage as illustrating the tension between God’s immanence and transcendence. While God desires a close relationship with humanity, His infinite holiness sets limits on how much of Himself He can reveal. However this will all change when humans are given their new glorified bodies and the new heaven and earth comes down from God as described in the Revelation.

Identifying Misunderstandings

A common misunderstanding is that God’s refusal to show His face is about withholding His presence from Moses. In reality, God was protecting Moses from the fatal consequences of encountering His unmediated glory. Another misconception is that seeing God’s “back” was a lesser revelation, but the fact that God revealed Himself in any capacity to Moses was an extraordinary privilege and a profound moment of divine intimacy.

Relevance and Application for You

Moses’ experience on Mount Sinai serves as a powerful reminder of God’s holiness and the limitations of our human nature. While we may long for deeper encounters with God, His glory is beyond what we can fully comprehend or endure. However, through Jesus Christ, we can approach God more closely than Moses could, because Jesus mediates God’s glory in a way we can experience without fear.

In our walk with God, we should seek intimacy with Him while also revering His holiness. This passage calls us to recognize the balance between desiring God’s presence and acknowledging His infinite power and glory.

Encouragement and Conclusion

The conversation between Moses and God in Exodus 33 shows us that while God’s glory is too overwhelming for human beings to fully encounter, He still desires to reveal Himself to us in ways we can handle. For Moses, this meant seeing God’s “back” after being shielded in the cleft of a rock. For us today, God’s glory is revealed through Jesus Christ, who enables us to experience God’s presence in a way that Moses could only glimpse. As we seek God’s face in our lives, may we approach Him with reverence, awe, and gratitude for the ways He reveals His glory to us.

Did You Know?

Did you know that in Jewish tradition, the phrase “seeing God’s face” is often linked with ultimate revelation and closeness to God? Some rabbis interpret the idea of not seeing God’s face as not fully comprehending God’s ways or intentions in this life, a theme picked up in the Christian understanding that “we see through a glass darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12). It’s a reminder that even as we grow closer to God, there are aspects of His glory that we will only fully understand in eternity.