As a Man Speaks With His Friend

Whenever Moses went out to the tent…the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. (Exodus 33:8–9, 11, NIV 1984).

My Musings – “Face to face” as it is used here is figurative, as later on when Moses asked to see God’s glory, God replied “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” (Exodus 33:20, NIV 1984). But it does imply openness and intimacy “as a man speaks with his friend.” For God also said of Moses, “When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face [figuratively], clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord.” (Numbers 12:6–8, NIV 1984).

Contrast this with Isaiah, another great Old Testament prophet. “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. ‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.'” (Isaiah 6:1, 5, NIV 1984). He also saw “the form of the Lord,” but was terrified. As noted by God Himself, “this is not true of my servant Moses, as a man speaks with his friend.“

“And the Lord said [to Moses], ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in 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 33:19, 22–23, NIV 1984). Even Moses, the friend of God was only able to see God’s glory as it passed by, not full on.

My Advice – Sinful man, even the best of them like Moses and Isaiah, cannot behold the full glory of the Lord and live. This is not retribution by a vindictive God, it is just the natural consequence of beholding His holiness in our fallen state. But we can behold His character.

How do we know this? “Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, Show us the Father? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.'” (John 14:8–10, NIV 1984).

Philip saw and believed. We can see through God’s Word and believe. Admittedly, “now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now [we] know in part; then [we] shall know fully, even as [we are] fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12, NIV 1984). But if we don’t know Him now in part, we will never get to know Him fully, for we will remain in our fallen state. Then, we come “face to face” with Him it will be as judge, not Savior or “friend.“

Won’t you be His friend?