No man has seen God [the Father] ?
No man has seen God:
Exodus 33:20 And he added: “You are not able to see my face, because no man may see me and yet live.”
John 1:18 No man has seen God at any time; the only-begotten god who is in the bosom [position] with the Father is the one that has explained him.
I Timothy 6:16 The one alone having immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom not one of men has seen or can see. To him be honor and might everlasting. Amen.
I John 4:12 At no time has anyone beheld God. If we continue loving one another, God remains in us and his love is made perfect in us.
I John 4:20 If anyone makes the statement: “I love God,” and yet is hating his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot be loving God, whom he has not seen.
No man has seen or can see God. But God appeared (was seen) in the Old Testament:
Gen. 32:30 Hence Jacob called the name of the place Pe·ni´el, because, to quote him, “I have seen God face to face and yet my soul was delivered.”
Gen 17:1 When A´bram got to be ninety-nine years old, then Jehovah appeared to A´bram and said to him: “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and prove yourself faultless.
Gen 18:1 Afterward Jehovah appeared to him among the big trees of Mam´re, while he was sitting at the entrance of the tent about the heat of the day.
Bible says no man has seen God and yet God appeared face to face. Who was it that no man has seen?
John 6:46 Not that any man has seen the Father, except he who is from God; this one has seen the Father
John 5:37 Also, the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. YOU have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his figure
Therefore it is God the Father that no man has seen! Jehovah who appeared (was seen) in the Old Testament is none other than God the Son!
But some say God appeared only in a vision and not face to face literally. What does the bible say?
Num 12:6-8 And he went on to say: “Hear my words, please. If there came to be a prophet of YOURS for Jehovah, it would be in a vision I would make myself known to him. In a dream I would speak to him. Not so my servant Moses! He is being entrusted with all my house. Mouth to mouth I speak to him, thus showing him, and not by riddles; and the appearance of Jehovah is what he beholds. Why, then, did YOU not fear to speak against my servant, against Moses?”
Ex 6:2-3 And God went on to speak to Moses and to say to him: “I am Jehovah. And I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty, but as respects my name Jehovah I did not make myself known to them.
Conclusion: Jesus is the Almighty God who appeared in the Old Testament.
What does it mean to see God?
Was God seen? Yes. Are these visions or dreams? Not so with Moses. Consider Num. 12:6-8 where God says that He does not appear to Moses in a vision or dream. Rather, Moses beholds God’s very form. It does not say a vision, a dream, a cloud, a flame, etc.
But in what sense was God seen?
To start with, we are specifically told in Scripture that God is not "a man" (Num. 23:19; Hosea 11:9). God is a sprit being - Jesus made a clear statement that, "God is (a) Spirit (Grk. pneuma)" (John 4:24). And Luke reports Jesus as saying, "a spirit (Grk. pneuma) has not flesh and bones." This is a clear statement about God's essential Being - He is "a Spirit" (cf. 2 Cor. 3:17; Heb. 9:14). Therefore the Creator is nothing like His creatures, nor like any physical substance. Scripture also teaches us that God is invisible - "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, [be] honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:17; Romans 1:20; Col. 1:15, Hebrews 11:27)
So in what sense did they see God? God manifested sometimes as a man, an angel (messenger), a burning bush, a pillar of cloud, and so forth (called 'theophanies'). Therefore God was seen (however it was not the Father after the fall of humanity - John 6:46), it was God, the Son. Old Testament pre-incarnation appearances of Jesus are called Christophanies, and His glory was necessarily veiled so that those he met with would not perish. Similarly in the New Testament, people could see Jesus face to face, because His glory was veiled and could not be seen.
Was God seen? Yes. Are these visions or dreams? Not so with Moses. Consider Num. 12:6-8 where God says that He does not appear to Moses in a vision or dream. Rather, Moses beholds God’s very form. It does not say a vision, a dream, a cloud, a flame, etc.
But in what sense was God seen?
To start with, we are specifically told in Scripture that God is not "a man" (Num. 23:19; Hosea 11:9). God is a sprit being - Jesus made a clear statement that, "God is (a) Spirit (Grk. pneuma)" (John 4:24). And Luke reports Jesus as saying, "a spirit (Grk. pneuma) has not flesh and bones." This is a clear statement about God's essential Being - He is "a Spirit" (cf. 2 Cor. 3:17; Heb. 9:14). Therefore the Creator is nothing like His creatures, nor like any physical substance. Scripture also teaches us that God is invisible - "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, [be] honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:17; Romans 1:20; Col. 1:15, Hebrews 11:27)
So in what sense did they see God? God manifested sometimes as a man, an angel (messenger), a burning bush, a pillar of cloud, and so forth (called 'theophanies'). Therefore God was seen (however it was not the Father after the fall of humanity - John 6:46), it was God, the Son. Old Testament pre-incarnation appearances of Jesus are called Christophanies, and His glory was necessarily veiled so that those he met with would not perish. Similarly in the New Testament, people could see Jesus face to face, because His glory was veiled and could not be seen.
In Num. 12:6-8 we find when Jehovah spoke to Moses, Moses beheld the appearance of God. But why does God say to Moses, “you are not able to see me and live”? That is because in Ex 33:18 Moses asks Jehovah, “Cause me to see, please, your glory” and Jehovah answers “you are not able to see me [in that glory] because no man may see me [in that glory] and yet live. So when the scriptures also says no man has seen God at any time, it also means that no man has seen God in his very being; glorious.
One Jewish Rabbi explains :
"Of that divine glory mentioned in the Scripture, there is one degree which the eyes of the prophets were able to explore; another which all the Israelites saw, as the cloud and consuming fire; the third is so bright, and so dazzling, that no mortal is able to comprehend it; but should anyone venture to look on it, his whole frame would be dissolved."
- No man has seen the Father at any time? Didn’t Adam and Eve see the Father?
Adam and Eve saw the Father and the Son before sin entered the world ( Note: In Genesis, God said, Let us create man” – therefore the Father, the Son and the Spirit was present). The text is telling us that no man has seen the Father [after sin]. Therefore, since the fall, God the Son took over the role of a mediator and a go between God the Father and man.
- In Ex 33 says "no one can see me and live". But Num 12 says when God spoke to Moses he beholds the appearance of God and he speaks mouth to mouth. So did Moses see only God's back parts or did he really see him face to face just like Abraham in Gen 17:1?
Moses never did see Jesus' full Glory face to face and neither did Abraham even though they spoke together. In the case of Moses, Moses asked God a question to show him his glory (Ex 33:18] and God answered Moses, “you cannot see me [in that glory] and live”. We get an idea that in certain occasions (like the one at Mt. Sinai when the 10 commandments were given) that Moses did get a taste of God’s glory. In 2 Corinthians 3:7 it says, “the sons of Israel could not gaze intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face”. God was still very glorious, but that glory was veiled to a greater extent when God met his beloved servants. If not, Moses would have been consumed.
- It also says with regard to the Father, you have neither heard his voice. But Father spoke from heaven at baptism? John 5:37 is a text that applies only to the immediate audience.
One Jewish Rabbi explains :
"Of that divine glory mentioned in the Scripture, there is one degree which the eyes of the prophets were able to explore; another which all the Israelites saw, as the cloud and consuming fire; the third is so bright, and so dazzling, that no mortal is able to comprehend it; but should anyone venture to look on it, his whole frame would be dissolved."
- No man has seen the Father at any time? Didn’t Adam and Eve see the Father?
Adam and Eve saw the Father and the Son before sin entered the world ( Note: In Genesis, God said, Let us create man” – therefore the Father, the Son and the Spirit was present). The text is telling us that no man has seen the Father [after sin]. Therefore, since the fall, God the Son took over the role of a mediator and a go between God the Father and man.
- In Ex 33 says "no one can see me and live". But Num 12 says when God spoke to Moses he beholds the appearance of God and he speaks mouth to mouth. So did Moses see only God's back parts or did he really see him face to face just like Abraham in Gen 17:1?
Moses never did see Jesus' full Glory face to face and neither did Abraham even though they spoke together. In the case of Moses, Moses asked God a question to show him his glory (Ex 33:18] and God answered Moses, “you cannot see me [in that glory] and live”. We get an idea that in certain occasions (like the one at Mt. Sinai when the 10 commandments were given) that Moses did get a taste of God’s glory. In 2 Corinthians 3:7 it says, “the sons of Israel could not gaze intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face”. God was still very glorious, but that glory was veiled to a greater extent when God met his beloved servants. If not, Moses would have been consumed.
- It also says with regard to the Father, you have neither heard his voice. But Father spoke from heaven at baptism? John 5:37 is a text that applies only to the immediate audience.