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See?


Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen (G2517) God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. (I John 4:11-15) 

          “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen (G2517) by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. (Matthew 6:1) 

          And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see (SH2372) God (Job 19:26)

           Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see (G3972) God. (Matthew 5:8) 

                Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw (SH7200, SH7202) God, and they ate and drank  (Exodus 24:9-11) 

          Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!"
          And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”  But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”  Then the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:18-23)  (all SH7200, SH7202) 

          Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees”; for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?” Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.(Genesis 16:13-14) (all SH7022, SH7202) 

          Today’s passages have one significant idea in mind: seeing God, and the verses listed are just a few examples. This is another of those paradoxical cases in which, to avoid Scripture Twisting, we must accept all the Scripture, and examine further to see if the answer is found in the original language. Can someone see God, or not? Hagar, Job, Moses and Jesus all seem to say we can, while John and Moses seem to say we can’t. After each instance or passage, I’ve included parentheses with G or SH plus a number. These are concordance refence numbers. G stands for Greek. H stands for Hebrew, S stands for Strong’s because Mr. Strong wrote a concordance. 
          Not surprisingly, the Hebrew terms are found in the Old Testament, and the Greek are found in the New. I’ll spare you the technical mumbo jumbo, half of which I don’t understand either. The point is that just as we don’t love everything in the exact same way, we don’t see everything in the same way, either. Seeing sometimes refers to merely visually processing something. Seeing can also refer to understanding sufficiently or thorough, as in “Oh, I see.” One can also say, “I will see him now,” meaning that one will grant the person audience. I’ve no doubt there are other understandings as well.
          I’m not sufficiently a Greek scholar, and even less a Hebrew scholar, but I will suggest this as an understanding of these texts. There are ways that one can see God, and ways that one cannot see God. God calls us to seek (which is yet another term) Him, but it is a perilous undertaking and one of the requirements is that to do so, we must obey His rules in the matter. 
          Issue 1: God is not physical. In order for something physical to see Him, either He has to manifest Himself in some manner (in which case we both are, and aren’t seeing Him) or we must be caused to see in a manner that is not physical. I suspect the most general means of doing this involves our not being physically alive.
          Issue 2: In Scripture, it’s made clear that seeing angels is generally a terrifying experience. Seeing God as He is (if that is possible) and recognizing (as such a sight would make it clear) how unworthy we are might well induce death.  
         Issue 3: Just as God tells us not to do our good deeds in order for men to see (view, examine, visit) them, so God does not perform His good deeds or Himself for men to view or examine. Some people want God to manifest Himself, to prove His existence to them. This is the sort of seeing they want. It’s a seeing that can involve judging. It’s also a seeing that can involve disrespect for what is seen. 
          Can man see God? It depends on what you mean by “see.”

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