JW's: Has anyone seen God?

Question

One of the claims you make about Jesus not being God is the fact that John 1:18 says no one has seen God. However is it true no one has seen God? In Genesis 32:30 Jacob says He saw God face to face. How do you reconcile this?

Answer 1

It's a deep question.   I agree that no man has seen God in all His glory.

Another verse to ponder:

NWT - Isaiah 6:1 says - In the year that King Uz·zi′ah died I, however, GOT TO SEE JEHOVAH, sitting on a throne lofty and lifted up, and his skirts were filling the temple.

See also:

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In response to some other "answers:"

Ummmmmm.....

When JWs show up at people's doors, don't they have leading questions prepared, to begin a discussion on the Scriptures?  Such as "Do you know the Lord's Prayer?"  Or "Do you know what God's name is?" etc, etc.  Those questions are aimed at people from a Christian background.

So, how can it be wrong for Christians (who believe that God wants us to share our faith), to ask questions of Jehovah's Witnesses, in the very same manner?

How else do you open up discussion about interpretation?

This reminds me all too much of the reason I left the Kingdom Hall to begin with.... hypocrisy... that led me to believe God is cruel.... Thankfully, He has revealed Himself to me and redeemed me since then.

Answer 2

Jacob was mistaken.

The apostle John was not.

x x x

Answer 3

If you read the context of that scripture about Jacob it refers Jacob wrestling with an angel angels are also called gods but not the almighty god so when he say he saw the face of god he was referring to an angel the bible say no man can see god and live  

Answer 4

Hosea 12:4 (in reference to Jacob) answers your question very unequivocally:

"And he kept contending with an ANGEL and gradually prevailed. He wept, that he might implore favor for himself" (Hos 12:4)

Angels were sometimes spoken to as if they were Jehovah themselves, because they REPRESENTED him, and because Jehovah SPOKE THROUGH THEM.

"This is he that came to be among the congregation in the wilderness with the ANGEL that spoke to him on Mount Si′nai and with our forefathers, and he received living sacred pronouncements to give YOU."

The angel who delivered God’s message to Moses at the burning thornbush was also a spokesman. He is identified as Jehovah’s angel at Exodus 3:2, where we are told: “Jehovah’s angel appeared to him in a flame of fire in the midst of a thornbush.” Verse 4 says: “When Jehovah saw that he turned aside to inspect, God at once called to him out of the midst of the thornbush.” In verse 6, this angelic spokesman for God said: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” So when speaking with this personal representative of God, Moses spoke as if he were speaking to Jehovah himself.—Exodus 4:10.

Answer 5

It is literally true that no flesh-and-blood organism could see Jehovah God and live. As a spirit creature Christ is “the image of the invisible God” and “the exact representation of his very being”, yet a partial revealment of his glory was so intensely brilliant that it blinded Saul of Tarsus, and sight returned only after a miracle of God. (Acts 9:1-18; Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3, NW) A full view of “the Father of the celestial lights” would be more than human flesh could endure.—Jas. 1:17, NW.

When the Bible speaks of Moses or others as seeing Jehovah God it means that they see a manifestation of his glory, and this is usually given by means of an angelic representative of the Almighty. Hence it is that Exodus 24:16 speaks of “the glory of the LORD” abiding upon Mount Sinai, rather than Jehovah himself, when Moses and others were reported as seeing “the God of Israel”. This “glory of the LORD” was due to the presence of one of Jehovah’s angels, for his glory and his angel are associated together, as at Luke 2:9 (NW) when announcement of Jesus’ birth was made to the shepherds: “Suddenly Jehovah’s angel stood by them and Jehovah’s glory gleamed around them.”

We have direct testimony that Jehovah personally did not come down to Mount Sinai and appear and talk to Moses and deliver the Law to him. That Jehovah appeared and spoke only representatively is shown by the following scriptures. “You who received the Law as transmitted by angels but have not kept it.” “It was transmitted through angels by the hand of a mediator.” Paul referred to the Law as “the word spoken through angels”. (Acts 7:53; Gal. 3:19; Heb. 2:2, NW) Because at Sinai God did not speak with his own voice but by that of his angelic representative, Exodus 19:19 states: “Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.” The foregoing also enlightens us that it was the back of Jehovah’s angel or glory that Moses saw, and not Jehovah himself, as recorded: “When my glory passes by . . . I will take away my hand, so that you may see my back, while my face shall not be seen.”—Ex. 33:22, 23, AT.

Another instance where God’s Word interprets itself for us on this matter is the case of Moses and the burning bush. Exodus 3:4, 6 states that “God called unto him out of the midst of the bush” and “said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”. But verse 2 tells us that “the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush”. Hence Jehovah appeared and spoke only representatively.

Again, when Jacob wrestled with a man that was actually a materialized angel of Jehovah he was blessed with a new name, that of Israel. Israel means “ruling with God; soldier (wrestler) with God”; and Jacob called the location “Peniel”, meaning “face of God”, saying, “I have seen God face to face.” (Gen. 32:24-30) But actually it was only Jehovah’s materialized angel that he had seen and wrestled with, and who withheld his name, as was usual with such materialized spirit creatures. Also, when an angel of God appeared to Manoah and his wife they viewed this representative as God himself: “Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.”—Judg. 13:3-22.

The foremost representative of Jehovah God is Christ Jesus, and in his case also this principle is confirmed. Jehovah God is rightly referred to as the Creator of all things, yet we know from the Bible record that after he directly created his “only-begotten Son” the remainder of the creation work was performed by and through that Son, in his capacity as the Logos or Word. But since he was Jehovah’s representative and workman in this creative activity, and empowered by God to do it, Jehovah himself is spoken of as the Creator of heavens and earth. (Isa. 40:26, 28; John 1:10; Col. 1:16; Rev. 3:14) For similar reasons, and because Jesus’ course and speech on earth were so perfectly representative of Jehovah God, Jesus said: “He that has seen me has seen the Father also.” (John 14:9, NW) So this text proves no trinity teaching, no more so than do references that seeing angels was seeing God prove the representative angels were embraced in any trinity godhead.

What about Isaiah 6:1. This is a vision in relation to seraphs in Gods presence

seraphs are spirit creatures stationed about Jehovah’s throne in the heavens. (Isa 6:2, 6) The Hebrew word sera·phim′ is a plural noun derived from the verb sa·raph′, meaning “burn.” (Le 4:12) Thus the Hebrew term sera·phim′ literally means “burning ones.” Elsewhere the noun occurs in singular (Heb., sa·raph′) or plural and refers to earthly creatures. In this usage the meaning is variously “poisonous,” “fiery (inflammation-causing),” and “fiery snake.”—Nu 21:6, 8, ftns.

The prophet Isaiah describes his vision for us, saying: “In the year that King Uzziah died I, however, got to see Jehovah, sitting on a throne lofty and lifted up, and his skirts were filling the temple. Seraphs were standing above him. Each one had six wings. With two he kept his face covered, and with two he kept his feet covered, and with two he would fly about. And this one called to that one and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of armies. The fullness of all the earth is his glory.’ . . . And I proceeded to say: ‘Woe to me! For I am as good as brought to silence, because a man unclean in lips I am, and in among a people unclean in lips I am dwelling; for my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of armies, himself!’ At that, one of the seraphs flew to me, and in his hand there was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs off the altar. And he proceeded to touch my mouth and to say: ‘Look! This has touched your lips, and your error has departed and your sin itself is atoned for.’”—Isa 6:1-7.

No description is given of the Divine Person. However, the skirts of his majestic garment are said to have filled the temple, leaving no place for anyone to stand. His throne did not rest upon the ground but, besides being “lofty,” was “lifted up.” The seraphs’ “standing” may mean “hovering,” by means of one of their sets of wings, just as the cloud was ‘standing’ or hovering by the entrance of Jehovah’s tent in the wilderness. (De 31:15) Professor Franz Delitzsch comments on the position of the seraphs: “The seraphim would not indeed tower above the head of Him that sat upon the throne, but they hovered above the robe belonging to Him with which the hall was filled.” (Commentary on the Old Testament, 1973, Vol. VII, Part 1, p. 191) The Latin Vulgate, instead of saying “seraphs were standing above him,” says they were standing above “it.”—Isa 6:1, 2.

Answer 6

I probably shouldn't touch this teasing que. to JW"S ,and why would You ask Them if not to taunt.However to touch base with the que. in a practical sense --As a boy we used to be awed at a D8. Machine move around earth and rocks and we'd shudder,and later to see what a bomb could to the earth and structures. Later in life we realized the tractor was just pushing a little bit of earth's dust around  and was made from a little piece of the earth itself .We were awed and shuddered at its great power and many ppl.from say 4000 yrs.ago would have a heart attack if exposed to similar sights of heavy machinery created today.Now how would our little old hearts fare if we saw the one powerful enough to create the earth and the universe? And the earth is so small compared to the rest of the universe and we are as a peice of dust on that earth and given eyes etc. to handle ourselves around this beautiful earth.You know perhaps even if a little full grown Loin  were to let out a roar some evening behind some of us ,we may not survive even just that.Think! --- Edit---If you really want a Bible based ans. Gordo_bu  has a good coverage.

Answer 7

Nice to see you too Edge.

The Bible says that Moses was the Meekest Man who ever lived. If there was One person who " Deserved" to see God in those Ancient time it would have to be Moses.He did so much for God as a leader of a wardward Nation coming out of Egypt..Yet God turned him down flat you remember the following dont you Edge "You are not able to see my face, because no man may see me and yet live.” (Exodus 33:20)

When the Bible speaks of Moses or others as seeing Jehovah God it means that they see a manifestation of his glory, and this is usually given by means of an angelic representative of the Almighty. Hence it is that Exodus 24:16 speaks of “the glory of the Lord” abiding upon Mount Sinai, rather than Jehovah himself, when Moses and others were reported as seeing “the God of Israel”. This “glory of the Lord” was due to the presence of one of Jehovah’s angels, for his glory and his angel are associated together, as at Luke 2:9  when announcement of Jesus’ birth was made to the shepherds: “Suddenly God’s angel stood by them and Jehovah’s glory gleamed around them.”

We have direct testimony that God personally did not come down to Mount Sinai and appear and talk to Moses and deliver the Law to him. That Jehovah appeared and spoke only representatively is shown by the following scriptures. “You who received the Law as transmitted by angels but have not kept it.” “It was transmitted through angels by the hand of a mediator.” Paul referred to the Law as “the word spoken through angels”. (Acts 7:53)

I sure hope you learning something from our encounters...

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Would you react any different if I spent hours explaining to you how I would arrive at my answer? I think not.

Answer 8

His Glory!

Answer 9

Looking at your added comments it's quite clear that you are not really interested. Take care.

Answer 10

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