The question of whether Moses saw God face to face is an intriguing one that has been debated amongst scholars and theologians for centuries. The Bible contains several passages that seem to indicate that Moses did indeed see God directly, while other verses suggest otherwise. Getting to the bottom of this issue requires carefully examining the relevant biblical texts in their original context.
There are a few key passages in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible traditionally attributed to Moses’ authorship, that describe dramatic encounters between God and Moses. One of the most well-known is Exodus 33, where God spoke to Moses “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11). Shortly thereafter on Mount Sinai, Moses asks God to “show me your glory.” In response, God placed Moses in the cleft of a rock, covered him with His hand, and passed by, allowing Moses to see His back (Exodus 33:18-23). Another important passage is Numbers 12:6-8, where God says this about Moses: “With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord.”
These verses seem quite explicit in indicating that Moses saw God directly. However, other passages muddy the water a bit. In Exodus 33:20, God declares “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” And in the New Testament, John 1:18 states “No one has ever seen God.” How do we reconcile these apparent contradictions? Several solutions have been proposed:
– One view is that while Moses may have had special, extremely close encounters with God, he did not see God’s full glory. He saw an approximation, a limited, filtered vision of God’s backside or afterglow. But not God’s unveiled “face” or full presence, which would be too much for any mortal to handle.
– Another perspective is that when the Bible speaks of Moses seeing God “face to face,” this is likely metaphorical language denoting the direct, conversational way God spoke with Moses, not necessarily a description of physically seeing God’s form.
– Some scholars argue Moses did have a direct vision of God, but what he saw was God incarnated or revealed in human form, most likely the pre-incarnate Christ. He did not see God’s full spirit essence and live.
– Others posit Moses only heard God’s voice, but did not actually see anything. The passages describing Moses seeing God are explained as metaphor or, in some cases, as interpreters reading more into the text than is warranted.
There are good arguments on all sides of this issue, and there is evidence for each perspective in the biblical texts. Here are some of the key biblical passages and considerations that come into play as we seek to understand what exactly Moses saw and didn’t see:
Passages describing Moses seeing God’s glory
As mentioned previously, certain verses quite explicitly describe Moses having direct, visual encounters with God. For example:
“Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11).
“Please show me Your glory” … He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you My name ‘The Lord.’ … you cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” … “while My glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:18–23).
“With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord” (Numbers 12:8).
These verses lend strong support to the idea that Moses did see God in some direct, visual form. God’s glory “passed by” Moses and Moses beheld God’s “back” after being hidden in the cleft of a rock. God also refers to Moses seeing the “form of the Lord.” All of this suggests Moses saw some type of visible manifestation of God.
Verses stating no one can see God’s face and live
In tension with the above verses are clear statements elsewhere in Scripture that no human can see God’s face and live:
But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” (Exodus 33:20).
“No one has ever seen God” (John 1:18).
“No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God” (John 6:46).
These verses seem to qualify what Moses saw. He did not and could not see God’s full glory and remain alive. This view holds that while Moses had unique encounters with God where he saw some limited manifestation of God’s presence in veiled or partial form, he did not see God in the fullness of His glory.
New Testament commentary
The New Testament looks back on Moses’ experiences and provides some interpretive commentary. For example, John 1 states “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made him known” (John 1:18). The author of Hebrews also chimes in:
“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:24-27).
These verses clarify that even though Moses had special encounters with visible manifestations of God, he did not see the fullness of God’s invisible, spiritual essence. The author of Hebrews says Moses saw “him who is invisible,” suggesting he perceived God by faith rather than direct sight.
Visions and dreams
There are instances in Scripture when the words “see” and “vision” are used interchangeably when people encounter God:
“Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream” (Numbers 12:6).
“After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide … No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them … Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” So the Lord gave this command to Joshua the son of Nun: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:1-9).
This suggests that sometimes when God appeared to or “was seen” by people, it was not necessarily referring to physically seeing God’s form, but could also refer to dreams, visions, and other manifestations where God revealed Himself.
Varied terminology for seeing God
The Old Testament uses a variety of terms and expressions to describe the experience of seeing and interacting with God, not all of which necessarily imply physical sight. For example:
– See God “face to face” (Exodus 33:11)
– God “let Moses see His glory” (Exodus 33:18)
– Moses saw God’s “back” (Exodus 33:23)
– Moses “beheld the form of the Lord” (Numbers 12:8)
– Moses “saw the God of Israel” (Exodus 24:10)
Some scholars point to this variety of expressions as evidence that the term “see” is used more rhetorically to convey the intimate communion Moses had with God, not necessarily visual sight. The face-to-face references could simply denote direct conversation versus mediated communication. So Moses may have “seen” God without physically viewing a form.
Moses spoke with God, not just saw Him
While the passages describing Moses’ encounters with God emphasize seeing divine glory, they also make clear Moses heard God’s voice and verbally communicated with Him:
“When Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him” (Numbers 7:89).
“The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (Exodus 33:11).
This suggests Moses’ experiences involved intimate, two-way conversation with God, beyond just seeing. This bolsters the metaphorical interpretation of Moses “seeing” God, representing his direct relationship.
Ambiguous nature of theophanies
The visual manifestations of God that occasionally appeared to people in Scripture, also called theophanies, were likely indirect glimpses of the divine—not God fully revealed. Their ambiguous, hard-to-describe nature comes through in the passages. For example:
“Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day he called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain” (Exodus 24:15-17).
The visual manifestation is shrouded in cloud and looks different to Moses than to the Israelites. This hints it was likely an approximation of God accommodated to the limitations of human sight, not an unfiltered vision of God’s essence.
Moses and the cleft in the rock
The details of Moses standing in the cleft or crevice of a rock while God’s glory passed by provide important clues about what Moses likely saw and didn’t see:
“When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen” (Exodus 33:22–23).
This vivid description has Moses concealed and protected in a rock crevice, able to see only the aftermath of God’s glory passing by, not the full glory itself. This fits with the interpretation that Moses saw a partial glimpse but not God’s face or essence.
God speaking in riddles
In Numbers 12:8, God says Moses saw Him clearly and not in riddles, setting Moses apart from other prophets. Most other prophets only heard indirect riddles from God, not the clear picture Moses received. This suggests Moses had exceptionally close access to understanding God’s nature.
Visions, dreams and manifestations
While it seems Moses did directly encounter God in unique ways that other prophets did not, the exact nature of these encounters remains somewhat ambiguous. The collective evidence suggests Moses saw visions, dreams or manifestations of God, not the fullness of God’s glory and essence. He had an exceptionally close relationship with God where they could speak clearly as friends.
Conclusion
In the end, Moses appears to have seen God in some special form and manner beyond any other prophet. But precisely what Moses saw—the backside of God’s shadow, a limited physical form, or simply a metaphor for direct conversation—continues to be debated. The mystery and tension between the biblical texts hint that Moses never saw God’s full glory and essence, yet he did enjoy unique visual and verbal access to God.