Has God ever been Seen?
By George Ide Butler
This is a question of much interest. The impression generally prevailing among those who regard the Deity as an essence, is, that in his very nature he is invisible, and therefore cannot be seen; while we think it is because of man's weakness, sinfulness, and corruption even in his best estate, that he could not endure to look into the face of Heaven's glorious King. Our “God is a consuming fire.” There are several scriptures quoted on both sides, which we wish to examine. “No man hath seen God at any time.” John 1: 18. “Whom no man hath seen, nor can see.” 1 Tim. 6: 16. “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,” &c. 1 Tim. 1: 17. On the other hand, it is said: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Gen. 32: 20. “In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.” Isa. 6: 1. “Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. . . . Also they saw God, and did eat and drink.” Ex. 24: 9-11. “Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, [face in the Douay] that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight.” Ex. 33: 13. Verses 20–23 say: “And He said, Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me, and live. And the Lord said, behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock. And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts; but my face shall not be seen.” “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.” Chap. 34: 6–8. In these texts of Scripture there is an apparent contradiction, which the infidel tries to make the most of, but which the child of God will try to harmonize consistently with truth. The question involved is certainly one of interest. To avoid the apparent contradiction it has been argued that the appearances spoken of in the last class of Scriptures quoted, were those of an angel of God, and that the Deity has never manifested himself personally to any of the race of man. The texts in proof of this are, Ex. 23: 20, 21: “Behold I send an angel before thee. . . . Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions; for my name is in him.” And Acts 7: 38: “This is he [Moses], that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the Mount Sina, and with our fathers; who [Moses] received the lively oracles to give unto us.” From these it is argued that as the angel of God had the name of God in him, when the Lord is represented as appearing, it was simply the angel of his presence, especially as it is said that he was with Moses in the Mount Sina, and so the God of Heaven has never manifested himself, personally, to man. I cannot accept this position, but must still believe that God has in a certain sense been seen by man. The text quoted from Gen. 32: 20, without doubt refers to an angel. It is Jacob who says he saw God face to face. He evidently thought so, as John did on one occasion when he was in the act of worshiping one of the heavenly messengers. Hosea makes this very plain: “Yea, he [Jacob] had power over the angel and prevailed.” Hos. 12: 4. But the case in Ex. 24, seems to me different. In this, and other chapters in connection, we have an account of the conversation of two parties, one called “the Lord” and the other was Moses. The question is, Was the one called “the Lord,” the angel with the “name of the Lord in him,” or God himself? In the chapter preceding, verse 20, the party speaking to Moses says: “Behold I send an angel before thee. . . . Beware of him, . . . for my name is in him.” Surely the one sending, and the one sent, must be two different beings. The one sending is the one called “the Lord.” In the 24th chapter, the same being calls Moses into the mount with the elders of Israel. Verse 10 says, “And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.” Either this was the true God, or the God of Israel was an angel. It says so. The circumstances under which he was seen are every way befitting the appearance of the Deity. How sublime! In all the recorded appearances of angels we have none like this. “Upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand. They also saw God, and did eat and drink.” Verse 11. “And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.” Verse 17. The testimony is so positive, and the circumstances so fitting, so well calculated to give the children of Israel a true sense of the majesty of Heaven’s King, that to my mind it could not be made plainer by human language that the Deity was there. Verse 12 of the same connection reads: And the Lord said unto Moses, “Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written.” So the same being that was seen by Moses and the elders of Israel, was the one who wrote and spoke the law. If that was an angel, we should forever cease to speak of the ten commandments being written with God’s own finger. It was all the work of an angel, and therefore God did not give any special prominence to the law in its promulgation as we have been so ready to claim. We have always considered it a strong argument for the superiority of the ten commandments, that God spoke them himself and wrote them himself, while much of the Bible was given through angels, to men. But if the appearance here was that of an angel, we can claim no such exception in their favor, and this argument is taken from us. But some may quote Stephen’s words in Acts 7: 53, “Who [the Jews] have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it,” and claim from them that it is established beyond question that the moral law was given through angels. On this passage Dr. Albert Barnes, who is good authority in criticism says, “There has been much diversity of opinion in regard to this phrase (translated disposition of angels). The word translated disposition does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It properly means the constituting and arranging of an army, disposing it into ranks and proper divisions. Hence it has been supposed to mean that the law was given amidst the various ranks of angels, being present to witness its promulgation. Others suppose that the angels were employed as agents or instruments to communicate the law. All that the expression fairly implies is the former, that the law was given amidst the attending ranks of angels as if they were summoned to witness the pomp and ceremony of giving the law to an entire people, and, through them, to an entire world.” This criticism, to my mind, is most reasonable and forcible, and worthy of God, and consistent with the circumstances mentioned in Exodus, and with the great work there being done. While to suppose this was the work of angels, belittles the majesty of the transaction as represented in many scriptures, and contradicts the plainest testimony of106the Bible. The fact that Stephen declares that the angel was with Moses in the Mount Sina, does not prove but that God was there also. We now come to Ex. 33. Space forbids that I should notice many points in it which I would desire to. But I think this chapter settles the question in regard to the Deity’s showing himself to his servant. The whole chapter should be read. The children of Israel had sinned greatly in worshiping the golden calf. God says to Moses that he will not go up in the midst of such a stiff-necked people, verse 3, but will send his angel before them. How plain then that it is God himself who is speaking. Moses pleads for Israel, and manifests such a spirit that he finds grace in God’s sight. Moses pleads with God. He is not satisfied to go on without God’s presence. “And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people; and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way” (face, Douay). Verses 12, 13. “And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken; for thou hast found grace in my sight.” Verse 17. “And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me, and live.” Verses 19, 20. Part of Moses’ request is to be granted; and part, not. He is going to manifest himself more closely to him than to any man who ever lived before or since; and yet even he could not come where the face of the Creator could be seen. Even his strength and perfection were not sufficient. “And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock; and it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts; but my face shall not be seen.” Verses 21–23. “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord! The Lord God! merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. And Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.” Chap. 34: 6–8. From this record we deduce the following facts: 1. God, who speaks to Moses, and the angel he promises to send with him, are plainly two beings. 2. When Moses desires to see his face, he informs him he cannot, as no man can do this, and live. This would not be true of the angel, for we have many recorded instances where men have seen the faces of angels, and lived and are not harmed by them. This could only be true of the eternal God, which shows conclusively that it was he with whom Moses spake. 3. Moses was placed in a cleft of the rock, and did get a view of a portion of his person. 4. When he thus passed before him, Moses worshiped him, which would have been improper had it been an angel, for John was told not to do this, Rev. 19: 10, but to worship God. This proves that it was the Creator. 5. The titles this being took to himself proves that it must have been God: “The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious.” How sublime! It would have been blasphemy for an angel or any created being to have assumed these titles, and deception, to have thus appeared to Moses. He evidently thought it was the Deity. 6. The very facts spoken of in the second commandment are applied to this personage—the one who visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children. To my mind these are decisive. Isa. 6: 1, however, furnishes another text very much to the point: “In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.” There can be no doubt who is referred to here; for the prophet adds, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is filled with his glory.” And further the prophet says, “Mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” This testimony is so strong that I can add nothing to it. If the prophet can be believed, in some sense he saw God. I now desire to notice those texts which are thought to contradict this. 1 Tim. 6: 16: “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see.” This last clause taken by itself seems to contradict the position I have taken above; but read it in connection with the clause preceding it, and it seems to me to furnish a key to the whole question. Why has God not been seen in the sense spoken of here? Why cannot he be seen in this sense? Because he dwells in the light unapproachable. If no man can approach unto this glorious covering of light, of course none can see Him who dwells within it. It would not follow, however, that he could not be seen, or that in his nature he is invisible to those who could thus approach. This peculiarity in the appearance of God is referred to in many scriptures, but in none more beautifully than this. Isaiah represents this in the scripture quoted by the phrase, “His train filled the temple.” In another scripture referred to when his presence was manifested, it is said, The glory of the Lord was like devouring fire; and in another passage it is said, “Our God is a consuming fire.” Such is his appearance when his glory is seen. So when Moses saw his glory, it is represented as dazzling beyond expression. Moses, when he came down from the mount from communing with God, reflected in a small measure his glory from his own countenance. “His face shone” so the children of Israel were afraid to look upon him and talk with him. So we learn that the glory of God will be the light of the holy city. And the “shekinah,” or visible presence of God in the sanctuary, is another illustration. We poor mortals can have no adequate comprehension of this glory that enshrouds the God of Israel. The prophets anciently seemed to realize it more. They speak in some instances as though it were a great wonder that they could see it, and live. In this age of irreverence people seem to have no sense of this. Here we see the true reason why God cannot be fully seen: it is on account of man’s frailty, and of the light that surrounds his person, which no man can approach unto. This is the reason why he is spoken of as the “invisible God.” This makes it very plain. The Saviour says: “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” John 1: 18. On this Mr. Barnes in his notes says: “This declaration is probably made to show the superiority of the revelation of Jesus above that of any previous dispensation.” Moses, from time to time, with others, had a glimpse of him, dwelling in the light, but not able to behold fully his person, certainly not his face. Jesus dwelt in the very bosom of his Father, and was thus intimately acquainted with his person. He was therefore best qualified to speak of him and his will. But in this strongest text of all, I see no real contradiction of the view I have advanced. To use a most humble, poor illustration of such a sublime subject, we often say, as we see a man passing for instance in his carriage, in the winter’s cold, covered with clothing, I saw Mr. A. this morning. We may not see a particle of his person and yet no one would think for a moment that we spoke an untruth. How much more the God of Heaven enshrouded with glory and light unapproachable! In this sense I understand God has been seen. In the other, such as the Saviour, and apostles speak of, where his glorious person is referred to, he never has been seen. He says to Moses, where he has just spoken of manifesting himself, No man shall see my face, and live. Here both senses are brought to view in the same connection. May God give us strength to live so that we, poor, weak, and mortal, may be enabled finally to behold him in glory. Winterset, Iowa, Aug. 26, 1870.