Every Time Someone Saw God and Lived
"You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." That is the plainest rule in the Bible about seeing God. And then the Bible tells you about a whole string of people who did, and lived.
==============
Help us keep making these Bible studies. Join as a member: https://deepmadesimple.com/v/saw-God
Thank you. 🙏
==============
On Deep Made Simple we hold that tension instead of rushing past it. Manoah and his wife lie face down beside a burning altar, sure they are about to die. Hagar, a runaway slave by a desert spring, names the Lord El Roi, the God who sees me. Jacob wrestles a man in the dark by the Jabbok and names the place Peniel, the face of God. Moses speaks with God face to face as a friend, yet is shown only His back from the cleft of the rock, and comes down with his face shining.
Seventy elders see the God of Israel and describe nothing but the pavement under His feet, then eat and drink. Gideon and Manoah are certain they are doomed. Isaiah sees the train of the robe filling the temple and cries that he is ruined, until a coal from the altar touches his lips. Ezekiel, by a canal in Babylon, refuses to claim more than the appearance of the likeness of the glory.
Every account draws a careful line around what was actually seen, and every one of them has something like a filter written into it. Then the New Testament gives the answer: no one has ever seen God, but the Son has made Him known. Anyone who has seen Jesus has seen the Father, and the glory Moses asked to see is shown in the face of Christ.
KEY VERSE
"No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known." (John 1.18, NIV)
IN THIS VIDEO
▸ Manoah on the rock: we have seen God
▸ The rule: no one may see me and live
▸ Hagar and El Roi, the God who sees me
▸ Three travellers at Mamre
▸ Jacob at Peniel, face to face
▸ Moses in the cleft of the rock
▸ His shining face and the veil
▸ Seventy elders eat and drink
▸ Gideon: alas, Sovereign Lord
▸ Manoah's wife and her plain good sense
▸ Isaiah and the coal from the altar
▸ Ezekiel's likeness of a likeness
▸ Why the rule exists
▸ The Son who makes Him known
▸ The transfiguration, Stephen, Saul and Patmos
▸ We shall see Him as He is
Which of these accounts stopped you? Tell us in the comments.
If this video opened your eyes, LIKE it, SUBSCRIBE to Deep Made Simple, and SHARE it with someone who needs to hear this! Hit the bell for more deep Bible studies.
RELATED SEARCHES
If you are searching for who saw God in the Bible, can anyone see God and live, who saw God's face in the Bible, or what Exodus 33 20 means, this study walks every account in order. Viewers asking what El Roi means, what Peniel means, who Jacob wrestled with at the Jabbok, or who the angel of the Lord is in the Old Testament will find the Hebrew explained simply. People looking up Moses seeing God's back, the cleft of the rock, why Moses' face shone, why Moses wore a veil, the seventy elders in Exodus 24, or Isaiah 6 and the coal from the altar will see each passage traced. Those wondering what Ezekiel saw by the Kebar River, what the likeness of the glory of the Lord means, whether Daniel saw the Ancient of Days, or how John 1 18 fits with the Old Testament will find the evidence and the honest answer. Readers comparing Exodus 33 11 and Exodus 33 20, asking whether the Bible contradicts itself about seeing God, or wondering why 1 Timothy 6 16 says God lives in unapproachable light will find both sides laid out. Gideon seeing the angel of the Lord, Manoah and his wife, the three visitors to Abraham at Mamre, and what a theophany is are all explained. Searches like blessed are the pure in heart, we shall see him as he is, they will see his face, face to face with God, the transfiguration of Jesus, Stephen seeing heaven opened, Saul on the Damascus road, John on Patmos, and seeing Jesus is seeing the Father are covered too. Students of the Old Testament searching Hagar in the wilderness, the well of Beer Lahai Roi, Jacob's ladder and Jacob's name changed to Israel, the burning bush, or the glory cloud filling the tabernacle will find how each one connects to the same question. Anyone asking what the face of God means in Hebrew, what panim means, why the Bible uses the word likeness, or what the Aaronic blessing means when it says the Lord make his face shine on you will find those words explained simply. Families and small groups looking for a Bible study on the holiness of God or the fear of the Lord can use this video as a starting point. For more on the character of God, the glory of God in the Bible, Bible study for beginners, and free online Bible study, search Deep Made Simple for the next study.
#SeeingGod #BibleStudy #DeepMadeSimple