Let’s begin by reading Exodus 33:9 & 11, “And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord TALKED WITH MOSES…So the LORD spoke to Moses FACE TO FACE, as a man speaks to his friend.” We learn here that God presented Himself to Moses in the “pillar of cloud” and has a “face to face” conversation with him. We know that “God is a spirit” (see John 4:24) so Moses did not see the “face of a man,” though God did speak to him “as a man speaks to his friend.”

Now let’s read verses 18-20: “And he (Moses) said, ‘Please, show me Your glory.’ Then He (God) said, ‘I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion’ But He said, ‘You CANNOT SEE MY FACE; FOR NO MAN SHALL SEE ME, AND LIVE.” Again, God does not have a “physical face like a man” so we know He must be speaking of something else when He says, “You cannot see My face.” What does He mean? He had already made His GOODNESS pass before Moses to reveal to him that He is GRACIOUS and has COMPASSION on some. This teaches us that God’s glory speaks of His CHARACTER. God’s glory is the manifestation of WHAT HE IS; in this case He is a gracious and compassionate God. Moses wanted to see ALL of God’s glory so we read next in verses 21-23: “And the LORD said, ‘Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and YOU SHALL SEE MY BACK; MY FACE SHALL NOT BE SEEN.” It seems clear that God is using figurative language here when speaking of His BACK and His FACE. One has said, “Though Moses was not allowed to see directly the full undiminished glory of God (His face)—because he was positioned within the cleft of the rock—he did see the so-called afterglow of the divine splendor—the ‘back’ view of God.” Again, no man can see the full glory (character and attributes) of God and live. 1 Timothy 6:16 declares, “who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.”

Now we’re ready to look at Genesis 32:30. In verse 23 we see Jacob alone and “a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.” Jacob knew this was no ordinary man for in verse 26 Jacob says to him, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” In verse 29 we read, “Then Jacob asked, saying, ‘Tell me Your name, I pray.’ And He blessed him there.” Jacob knew this “Man” was God, for in verse 30 we read, “So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: ‘For I have seen God FACE TO FACE, and my life is preserved.” (the word “Peniel” means “the Face of God.”) We have already seen that God is “not a man with a physical face” yet in this case God appeared “as a Man” to Jacob. In the end Jacob realized that this was truly God Who had “visited him in human form” (we call this a THEOPHANY, which speaks of God appearing to men in some form…see Genesis 18:1-3 where God appeared to Abraham as a Man). Like Moses, Jacob had a “face to face” conversation with God, yet God had to “veil His glory” or he would die. In both cases the “consequences of seeing the face of God” was being BLESSED by God. I would encourage you to read of other “appearances of God” to those who acknowledged that they had SEEN GOD (Genesis 16:7-13; Exodus 24:9-18; Judges 13:2-22; Ezekiel 1:26-28).  (DO)  (709.3)