If Moses met face to face with God, why, later, was he not allowed to see God's face?

"And the Lord spake to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. Moses exhibits a higher degree of spiritual energy than his servant Joshua. It is much easier to assume a position of separation from the camp, than to act aright towards those within.

The first request, then, of Moses was, "Show me now Thy way," and this was granted, as we read in Psalm 103:7, "He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel." The people saw the wonderful things He did but Moses was permitted to know the end God was pursuing in the doing of them. But when Moses made his second request, "I beseech Thee show me Thy glory," he met with a refusal. He was permitted to see the "back parts" of the Lord but not His "face," for no man could see that and live. Moses was only to see God when He had passed by as it were, and thus discern Him in the way He had taken.

Until Christ came it could be said, "No man has seen God at any time." Yet bright rays of divine light shone through the gloom into the hearts of men, and where those bright rays got an entrance a great longing for more light was created. Moses was a man greatly favoured of God, and God spoke face to face with him; but the light with which he was so greatly favoured of God only made him cry out for more. He says, "I beseech thee, show me thy glory." Moses wanted the perfect light of God. This is what is meant by His "FACE." God answers him, "No man can see my face and live." The meaning of that is that no one could meet God in the revelation of Himself. If God had revealed Himself to Moses, He must have given Moses to know His hatred of sin, and how could Moses have stood before Him had He let loose His wrath against sin? But God showed him His back parts. Moses never saw His face while upon earth; but even a sight of His back parts made the skin of his face to shine.

God came forth from the unapproachable light to make known His law — His demands on man, what He requires of him as standing on his own responsibility; but He did not manifest Himself. He surrounded Himself with "a thick cloud" (Ex. 19:9). He spoke out of "fire and smoke" (ver. 18) and "thick darkness" (Deut. 4:11). There was a display of majesty, power and authority. So great was the tempest and the quaking of the mount that the people trembled, and Moses himself feared exceedingly (Heb. 12:21). Even on the occasion of the second giving of the law, though not accompanied with such terrible manifestations, there was still reserve and distance. When Moses requested to see the glory of God, his request was not granted. He was told, "Thou canst not see My face: for there shall no man see Me, and live" (Ex. 33:20). The revelation then given was not of the "face" of God, but His "back parts" (ver. 23). It was not the Light in the full power of its shining, manifesting God in the fulness of what He is in moral nature and life, but a ray of the Light, partially revealing the One from whom it was reflected.

But Moses could come closer to God than the elders of the people. He went into the midst of the cloud and was allowed to speak with God face to face. As Numbers 12:8 puts it: “With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold”. But in spite of this very privileged position, God remained hidden in the sanctuary and to some extent He was still an “unknown God” even to Moses. Although he saw the form (or similitude) of God, this did not imply full knowledge of God. This is obvious from the well known passage in Exodus 33, where Moses asked to see God's glory. The Divine answer was: “Thou canst not see My face; for there shall no man see Me, and live” (v. 20).

The people watched Moses as he went out to the tent of meeting, and when he entered it the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door, and there the Lord spoke with Moses (vv. 8-9). The sight of this so affected the people that they worshiped, whether out of fear or whether in humble sincerity. We are not told what the Lord said to Moses, but He spoke to him as to a friend, face to face (v. 11). This does not mean that Moses saw God's face (Ex. 33:20), but that there was a close intimacy.

Yet a gleam of light shone out, as at the first giving of the law, there had not been. No goodness of Jehovah had been mentioned at the first, and no glory shone as the result in the face of the Mediator. Yet even with goodness shown, God is not seen face to face. When Moses asks to be shown His glory, he is told, "Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see Me and live." Solemn preface to declarations of goodness, but not yet over-abounding mercy! "And Jehovah said, There is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock; and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock and cover thee with my hand while I pass by: and I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see MY BACK PARTS; but my face shall not be seen." What a distinct declaration of a glory yet unrevealed, which is the "excelling" glory of Christianity! Long after this an apostle says, as echoing what is here: "No man hath seen God at any time;" but then adds, as looking at the glory of the Word made flesh, "The Only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him."

And thus with Christ that Father's name is revealed. "I have declared unto them thy Name," are His words. In Exodus it is not the Father's but Jehovah's, an immense difference, which left God indeed in His proper character unrevealed. And all the Old Testament names of God are similar. "Almighty" to Abraham is the declaration of His power, not His Person. "Most High" is His title as assuming His great power over the earth. "Lord" spoke of authority as His. And "Jehovah" here speaks of the Eternal, and it may be Omnipresent, and so Omniscient. But who is He to whom all these titles of glory belong? Alas, poor man, that has to ask it! — thy God and thou knowest Him not! thou canst not see His face! For us, the darkness is passing, and the true light now shineth; for us, the Father has been seen in Him who is the "brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person" in the meek and lowly Man on earth, and yet "the Son of Man who is in heaven."

Yet at this time Moses was denied the full answer to his prayer. Moses could not see God's face, for no one could see Him and live (v. 20). Yet the Lord would encourage him by what we may consider a partial revelation of His nature or character. He tells Moses to stand on a rock, and that God would put Moses in a cleft place in the rock while God passed by. He would cover Moses with His hand, however, so that Moses would only see God's back parts, not His face.

On God's part this was a condescending act of grace. For God's glory is so great that it is impossible for a creature to even imagine what He looks like. How can we ever comprehend a Being like this? But Moses seeing God's back parts is only symbolical of people in the Old Testament seeing the evidence of God's having been there. We too can read the Old Testament and conclude that God has certainly been present there, but not revealed as He is now in Christ.

However, though even today and for eternity God dwells in light unapproachable, never to be seen by the creature (1 Tim. 6:15-16), yet in the person of the Lord Jesus in Manhood form we are privileged to see the face of God. “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). To the believer this is a fully satisfactory revelation of God's glory. Only in Christ will anyone ever see the face of God. Indeed, Moses had the complete answer to his prayer when, after his death, he appeared with Elijah when the Lord Jesus was transfigured on the mount (Matt. 17:1-3), and by faith “we see Jesus” - crowned with glory and honor (Heb. 2:9), though visibly this honor awaits our being with Him in a day soon to come. The sun presents us with a beautiful illustration of this. It is too bright for us to actually see it with our eyes, yet in seeing the light from the sun we do in this way see the sun. Christ is the light that manifests the glory of God, in whom there is such brilliance that we could only be blinded by it. But Christ is God, and we shall see His face.

Moses was a man greatly favoured of God, and he had the light of God in his heart in a greater measure than any other in his day, and consequently the treasures of Egypt were of very small value in his sight; but his soul craved greater nearness to God, and closer acquaintance with Him in whose sight he had found grace; and he says, “I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory.” He is told this is impossible, but he will be permitted to see His back parts. Moses was asking to see His face, which meant the complete revelation of God. If I were anxious to see some great personage who had been very gracious to me, I would not be satisfied to see him with his back to me, I would be longing for him to turn to me that I might behold his face, and in seeing his face my heart is satisfied. But God tells Moses that no man can see His face and live. How could God have fully declared Himself to Moses? Moses, like every other man, was under judgment on account of sin, and if God declare Himself, He must execute that judgment, and what is to become of Moses? He must perish. Therefore God tells him it was impossible to accede to his request, but hides him in the cleft of a rock, and makes His goodness pass before Him, and with this he has to be content. So until the Son of God came into the world it remained a fact that no man had seen God at any time.

Moses, deeply encouraged by this intimate relationship with his God, fervently prays to see the glory of His face. However, the moment has not yet arrived for the knowledge of the glory of God to shine in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). Therefore, the Lord must say to His servant: “You cannot see my face; for man shall not see Me, and live.” Although the Lord cannot yet reveal His glory, He declares: “l will make all My goodness pass before you.”