Exodus 33:20> And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
John 1:18> 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 5:37> And the Father Himself,which hath sent Me, had born witness of Me, ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape.
1 John 4:12> No man hath seen God at any time, if we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love His perfect in us
When Jesus was seen by over 500 witnesses,
after He was resurrected,
Did the witnesses see Him,
and see His face?
Hi Devo
I think Ex ch 33 is a good one for an understanding of this subject
God said to Moses
I will send an angel before you and drive out the Cannanites, Amorites, Hittites, Jebusites, Perizzites and Hittites.
Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey.
But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff necked people and I might destroy you on the way
When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no-one put on any ornaments
For the Lord had said to Moses, Tell the Israelites you are a stiff necked people . If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you.
Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.
So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mt Horeb
verses
2-6
The Isaraelites believed God Himself would not go with them to the promised land
Moses also believed God would not go with them as shown in verse 12
Moses said to the Lord
'You have been telling me. Lead these people,
but you have not let me know whom you will send with me
You have said I know you by name and you have found favour with me. If you are pleased with me teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favour with you. Remember that this nation is your people
The Lord replied
My prescence will go with you, and I will give you rest
Then Moses said
'
If your prescence does not go with us do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us.
verses 12-16
And the Lord said to Moses
I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name
verse 17
So Moses accepted that God would not go with them, otherwise he would not have asked who would accompany them
God tells Moses
His prescence will go with them
Moses asks God to confirm his prescence would go with them. At no time did Moses plead with God to change his mind and go with them himself
So God told Moses that an angel would go before them to drive out their enemies, and his prescence would go with them
In all their distress, He too was distressed,
and the angel of his prescence saved them
Isiaih 63:9
We know that the one refered to as
'The angel of His prescence' is Christ, he accompanied the Israelites on their journey(1 Cor 10:4)
Christ who has the
prescence of the Father in him(Immanuel God with us)
So, if God did not Himself go with the Israelites to the promised land, but Christ did. How can Christ be God Himself?