What do you think when you imagine facing God? There are many instances in the Old Testament where men and women encountered God, but very few where they actually came face to face with Him. It is thought by many that to see God face to face would mean certain death. Exodus 33:18-23 tells us that God showed Moses His presence in an awesome way, so awesome He had to protect Moses from the effects of His presence. How could sinful man endure the presence of a holy, righteous God? Here is a compressed, layman’s attempt at understanding what it means to get face to face with God.
Genesis 3:8-10- God is looking for His creation in the garden after Adam and Eve ( yes, both of them!) had chosen independence over a relationship with God. God sees Adam, and Adam is embarrassed because he is naked. Adam and Eve wanted to know everything, become like God, and now the consequences of that desire were starting to change their relationship with God. God condemns Satan for his deceptions, and tells Him his future. He then turns to the couple He made in His image for fellowship with Him, and pronounces the terrible consequences of their decision to do life apart from His presence. They are removed from the garden ( security, fellowship, significance) and experience life without the continued presence of God. I have no idea how much that must have hurt, because I was born into the struggle to know God personally right from my first breath, with the rest of post sin humanity. They both started out with an intimate connection to God, and then lost it. The rest of the bible is an autobiography of God, beautifully written, to record and teach the never ending love story of God. Everything God does is designed to bring His creation back to the face to face relationship He desires to have with all of us. The goal is to make it possible for men and women to once again relate to God face to face. In the meantime, there will be very few times this happens in the Old Testament. We see the God of love chasing, protecting, restoring, disciplining, challenging, and showing up time after time to secure the perfect reclamation plan that will come through the Jewish race. Here are some instances of God’s desire to see His people face to face….
Genesis 16:13-14- you are a God of seeing….
We leap from the garden to a ragtag group of people not yet established, but on their way to becoming the entry point for God to get face to face with His creation once more. A man named Abraham has disobeyed God and impregnated his wife’s servant, Hagar. His wife, Sarah wasn’t willing to wait for God to do a miracle in her life, so she found a human solution in Hagar. This may have been an acceptable custom at the time, but it wasn’t to God. The result was, Sarah did become pregnant, had Isaac, and now wanted Hagar and her child to leave the camp. We pick up the story as Hagar is in the dessert, alone, hungry, and feeling deserted by the man she was serving.
She has been thrown out of the camp by a jealous and angry Sarah. She is confused, angry, and anxious about her son, Ishmael. She loses hope, and waits for the end to come for her and her son. An angel comes, and tells her that God has heard her cry, and will not allow her to die because Sarah made the mistake of giving her to Abraham. He tells her how her child will thrive, but not in a good way. Ishmael’s descendants become nomadic tribes of irreligious people. Out of one of those tribes rises a leader called Mohamed. The Islamic faith is born, and eventually it becomes a source of conflict with Jews and Christians even up to today. Nevertheless, Hagar calls the place this happened “Well of the living one who sees me”. She experienced the God who sees and loves her, and it changed the course of history.
Have you ever felt thrown out with the bath water? Been removed from friends and family through no fault of your own? Have you cried out in your dessert that it might be better if you never lived? I want you to realize that none of that has escaped God’s loving eyes. He sees you, and is ready to bring you bread and water to sustain you. He has a future planned for you that nobody can interfere with. Let Him send his angels, His people, His family to your dessert place. He has great plans for you, and He has never forsaken you.
Genesis 32:22-32- Jacob is getting ready to meet his brother Esau, the brother he cheated out of the birthright. He knew it could turn ugly, so he planned to send some gifts to soften the blow. Late That night, Jacob couldn’t sleep. For some reason, he packed up the family and trudged them across the river-by moonlight! He sent the servants over with his family, and stayed on the other side by himself. Alone, dreading the next day, Jacob was confronted by a heavenly being dressed in a man’s body and clothes. Jacob wrestled with the man, and Jacob was good! The man decided to end the match with a hip displacement. Jacob winced but did not let go. He begged for a blessing before the mortal reunion with his brother, and the ‘man’ gave it to him. Jacob found his bother a little older, wiser, and forgiving. He humbly asked for forgiveness, and was restored to his extended family. He never walked the same, and He named the place Peniel, which means face of God. God got close to a man in order to change him, break his pride, and make him better. This wrestling match with God was a blessing, not certain death. Face to face with God gave him courage and faith to face his brother, not knowing where Esau was in his faith walk. Finally, Jacob and Esau meet face to face and restore their family ties as God watches with joy! Jacob met God, was broken, humbled, blessed, and restored. This becomes the model God will use to complete His restoration plan for all of creation.
Exodus 3:6- Moses comes face to face with God in the burning bush, and covers his face because he was afraid to look at God. Moses struggled a lot with fear, and it caused him to make bad decisions as he led God’s people. Twice he sold out his wife to protect his life. Once he cried out about not being able to have the resources to feed his people. Many times he must have wondered how he was ever going to get to the promised land when all he could see was sand and more sand. His f.e.a.r. (False Expectations Appearing Real) affected his relationship with God. The bible never says that Moses wasn’t allowed to see God, it just says that he was afraid to see God. This was Moses’ early experience with God, and the relationship would change through the years.
Exodus 33:8-10- We are told that Moses meets face to face with God in his tent, “Like a friend” it is described. I don’t quite understand how this happened, as it is the first time the bible talks about a person meeting face to face with God. Jesus made it clear that no person has ever seen the father, but He ( Jesus ) has seen him. Theologians would say that it was in fact Jesus that Moses entertained in his tent. I have no problem with that as it fits the other God centered encounters men and women had with God. Jesus is part of the Godhead, and visiting his beloved creation was an option and function He could evoke. Every other time there was a medium used, ie a burning bush, a cloud, an angel, etc. This meeting is described as a face to face meeting with a friend. What changed since Exodus three? Many years of relational experience, testing, trusting, failing, falling, getting up and walking by faith had led to total submission and obedience, which led to relational closeness and intimacy over the years. Numbers 12: 7-8 makes it clear that Moses’s obedience was honored. God says “Of all the people, Moses is the one I trust, I speak to him face to face and He sees the Lord as He is.” Obedience, sacrifice, humility, loving communication, the maturity that time offers, all led to a deeper, safer face to face with God. This is God’s desire for us all. We learn to love getting face to face as we grow in our relationship with God. It is never complete this side of heaven. We have so many sin stained barriers as we struggle in this sin sick world. Sometimes we are open to His presence, other times we are hiding in the bushes. The beautiful truth is that God is always seeing us as His beloved child, even when He is disciplining us through our sin cycles. He sees our struggles, and comes to struggle with us. He is longing to relate to you and me face to face, no barriers, no fear, just unfettered love. This getting face to face will take time, sacrifice, and letting go of anything that gets in the way. Many will falter, me included. The encouraging thought should be, God never gives up, and He never forsakes those who chase after Him.