Question:
Please show the harmony between the statement made in Exodus 33:20, that no man should see God’s face and live, and that in Numbers 14:14, which declares that the Lord is seen face to face.
Answer:
The passage in Exodus 33:20 has reference to God and His ineffable glory. Moses pleads, “I beseech thee, shew me thy glory;” and Jehovah answers, “I will make all my goodness pass before thee” and “thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” (See Exodus 33:18-20). No man in his mortal, sinful condition could look upon His face and live. It was for this very reason that God manifested Himself in His Son. Jesus took upon Himself the form of a servant, and, while the character of God was in Him, yet the glory of that character was veiled in the position which He assumed; in the ancient times, in the form of an angel; after His incarnation, in the form of a man. As an angel, Jacob looked upon Him (Genesis 32:30), and so did others; but as the all-glorious Deity, no man could or can behold Him until he stands complete in God’s image. And there is this distinction made between God the Father and God the Son. No man has beheld the Father; the Son alone reveals Him (Matthew 11:27). So when the Son comes in all the glory of the Father, the wicked will not be able to behold that glory, but will perish in its presence.
