Appendix 8: Answers to Objections to Seeing God
Excerpt from Appendix 8 of…
Immanuel: A Practicum by Patricia A. Velotta
Objections to Seeing God
Objection 1: You Can’t See God
I. Supportive Scriptures
No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son,
who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
(John 1:18)
And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me.
You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen
His form. (John 5:37)
Who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable
light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom
be honor and everlasting power. Amen. (1 Timothy 6:16)
II. Answers To Objection 1
A. People Survived Encountering God
People of the Old Testament believed they would die if they saw
him, but they did not die when they encountered him face to
face!
She called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “Thou
art a God of seeing”; for she said, “Have I really seen God
and remained alive after seeing him?” (Genesis 16:13)
A. People Survived Encountering God (continued)
Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I
have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.”
(Genesis 32:30)
‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and
greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of
the fire; we have this day seen God speak with man and
man still live. (Deuteronomy 5:24)
And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have
seen God!” (Judges 13:22)
B. God Accommodates Our Humanity
God tailors his perceived presence for our humanity. All his
glory, splendor, majesty, joy, brilliance, dimensionality, brightness,
cognition and other attributes would destroy us.
And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” Then He said,
“I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will
proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion.” But He said, “You
cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
And the LORD said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall
stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by,
that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover
you with My hand while I pass 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)
C. God Reveals Himself to People
Here are some ways he revealed himself to people.
1. Moses and Joshua Met God at the Tent of Meeting
before the Tabernacle Was Completed.
So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly
to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they
fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared
to them. (Numbers 20:6)
So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in
the tabernacle of meeting. Now the LORD appeared at
the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud
stood above the door of the tabernacle. (Deuteronomy
31:14b–15)
2. God’s Presence was above the Ark of the Covenant,
over the Mercy Seat, between the Cherubim.
a. God presence was seen and heard there.
You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the
ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And
there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from
above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim
which are on the ark of the Testimony. (Exodus 25:21–22a)
So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from
thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts,
which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons
of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of
the covenant of God. (1 Samuel 4:4, KJV)
2. God’s Presence with the Ark of the Covenant (cont.)
b. God’s presence in rested on the ark when the Philistines took
the ark to Philistia as a prize of war. See 1 Samuel 4:17, 21; 5:1–12.
So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the
Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel,
and let it go back to its own place, so that it does not
kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly destruction
throughout all the city; the hand of God was very
heavy there. (1 Samuel 5:11)
c. God’s presence was on the ark at Obed-Edom’s house
So David would not move the ark of the LORD with him
into the City of David; but David took it aside into the
house of Obed–Edom the Gittite. The ark of the LORD
remained in the house of Obed–Edom the Gittite three
months. And the LORD blessed Obed–Edom and all his
household. (2 Samuel 6:10–11)
d. God’s unveiled presence was in the tabernacle of David
Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the
LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn,
with trumpets and with cymbals, making music with
stringed instruments and harps. And it happened, as the
ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the City of
David . . . (1 Chronicles 15:28–29)
So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst
of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then they
offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. . . .
And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before
the ark of the LORD, to commemorate, to thank, and to
praise the LORD God of Israel . . . Benaiah and Jahaziel
the priests regularly blew the trumpets before the ark of
the covenant of God. . . . So he left Asaph and his brothers
there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD to
minister before the ark regularly, as every day’s work
required. (1 Chronicles 16:1, 4, 6, 37)
e. The high priests in the holy of holies experienced God in
both the tabernacle and the temple
And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother
not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside
the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he
die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.”
(Leviticus 16:2)
That we may perform the service of the LORD before Him with
our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings;”
(Joshua 22: 27)
3. God Appeared in Old Testament Theophanies (preincarnate
appearances of Jesus)
a. The Angel of the Lord—See appendix 6A, “God Can Appear
in Different Forms,” under point A.
b. Melchizedek, King of Peace and High Priest forever is God—
See appendix 6B, 4: “God Can Appear in Different Forms.”
3. God Appeared in Old Testament Theophanies (cont.)
c. Commander of the Lord’s Army (Captain of the Host)—See
appendix 6 B,5, “God Can Appear in Different Forms.”
4. Jesus Came in the Form of a Man
Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery
to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation,
taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in
the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a
man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the
point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians
2:6–8)
D. God Is Both Transcendent and Immanent.
“Am I a God near at hand,” says the LORD, “And not a
God afar off ?” (Jeremiah 23:23)
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and
to present you faultless before the presence of His glory
with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, Who alone is wise,
be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and
forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24–25)
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am
gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your
souls. (Matthew 11:29)
Who being the brightness of His glory and the express
image of His person, and upholding all things by the
word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our
sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
(Hebrews 1:3)
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given
Him the name which is above every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven,
and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9–11)
My beloved [Jesus, not expressly indicated] is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold,
he stands behind our wall; He is looking through
the windows, gazing through the lattice. My beloved
spoke, and said to me: “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and
come away. (Song of Solomon 2:9–10)
Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like
You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
(Exodus 15:11)
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding. . . . Have the gates of
death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of
the shadow of death? . . . Have you entered the treasury of
snow, or have you seen the treasury of hail? . . . Can you
bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion?
(Job 38:4, 17, 22, 31)
The Following Topics Will Also be Addressed in Appendix 8:
Objection 2: Jesus is Not Omnipresent; He Is out of
Our Sight, Physically Seated at the Right Hand of God.
I. Supportive Scriptures
II. Answers To Objection 2
A. Scripture Directs Us to Look to Jesus Who is Seated at
the Right Hand of the Father in Heaven.
B. While Jesus is Seated at the Right Hand of the Father
in Heaven, He Tells Us That We Will See Him There and
See Him Coming in the Clouds.
C. We are Seated with Him in Heavenly Places
D. While We are Seated with Jesus in Heavenly Places Together, He also Lives in Us by His Spirit
D. (cont.) While We are Seated with Jesus in Heavenly Places
Together, He also Lives in Us by His Spirit
E. It’s the Father Who Sends the Spirit of Wisdom and
the Spirit of Revelation/Understanding (Holy Spirit) to
Reveal Jesus to Us.
F. And Jesus Reveals the Father.