Do Jews believe they will finally SEE G-d in Heaven?

[jlhargus]

Maybe you can weigh in on whether Christians will actually see G-d the Father (in addition to Jesus).

JL: All who are saved will see God face to face as He really is. The Church calls this the beatific vision. God is one, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We will not see three faces as God in His Trinity is one God with one face.

 

[AbideWithMe]

“I saw the Lord high and lifted up, seated on a throne, and the train of His robe filled the temple.”

What is the Jewish understanding(s) of Isaiah 6? I would assume most commentators don’t view it in a literal manner?

 

[CopticChristian]

Then Genesis 1:26 would make no sense: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”.

This would be true if you believe that Genesis only applies to the body. If you accept that it applies to the Spirit or Soul then the answer would be that the Soul is created with Intellect and Will in the likeness of God with a body to contain it. This would be based on Aquinas and the faculties of the Soul/Spirit. Many talk and think of Mind, Body, Spirit. I tend to go with Aquinas Body/Soul or Body/ Spirit that then allows to describe faculties of the Soul/Spirit.

 

[mercytruth]

What is the Jewish understanding(s) of Isaiah 6? I would assume most commentators don’t view it in a literal manner?

This Jewish commentator does not view it in a literal manner because G-d is ‘incorporeal.’
Moses the most important prophet does not speak of the abode of heaven, therefore, the Ezekiel and Isaiah descriptions of the abode of heaven are seen as allegorical. (However, this author does refer to Exodus 24:9-10 as a vision of the LORD, but without a lengthy description.) The word for ‘see’ is ra ah, and does not usually represent visual seeing, but visionary seeing.

jbq.jewishbible.org/assets/Uploads/323/323_PROPHTIC.pdf

 

[AbideWithMe]

This Jewish commentator does not view it in a literal manner because G-d is ‘incorporeal.’
Since Moses does not speak of the abode of heaven, so the prophetic descriptions are seen as allegorical. The word for ‘see’ is ra ah, and does not usually represent visual seeing, but visionary seeing.

jbq.jewishbible.org/assets/Uploads/323/323_PROPHTIC.pdf

Much thanks, mercytruth. I was hunting around via Google and only found commentary by Rashi.

 

[meltzerboy]

This Jewish commentator does not view it in a literal manner because G-d is ‘incorporeal.’
Moses the most important prophet does not speak of the abode of heaven, therefore, the Ezekiel and Isaiah descriptions of the abode of heaven are seen as allegorical. (However, this author does refer to Exodus 24:9-10 as a vision of the LORD, but without a lengthy description.) The word for ‘see’ is ra ah, and does not usually represent visual seeing, but visionary seeing.

jbq.jewishbible.org/assets/Uploads/323/323_PROPHTIC.pdf

Thanks for that interesting article. I think my initial question places too much emphasis on the limited human faculty of sight rather than paying attention to the spiritual faculties that the Prophets may have had and that we all may have in the World To Come.

 

[meltzerboy]

Hmm…as a Christian, I don’t know that I necessarily think of seeing God in a way that I can really comprehend now. I do believe God can condescend to our understanding by using something we know—seeing—to meaningfully, but partially, describe a reality that will be beyond what we are able to grasp in this life. What the actual experience will be like I have no idea. Personally, I most often think of seeing God in Heaven in a way Paul described:“Now we see as through a glass darkly; then we shall see Him face to face. Now we know in part; then we shall know fully, even as we are fully known.”

I also think of it as though I sometimes see God out of the corner of my eye now—a fleeting glimpse of Someone breathtakingly beautiful but elusive. Heaven will be seeing Him full on, with us made able to withstand the the weight of the glory of His full-eyed gaze without becoming “undone” as Isaiah described himself in Isaiah 6 . “I saw the Lord high and lifted up, seated on a throne, and the train of His robe filled the temple.”

I like Paul’s famous description. Meanwhile, we are all limited by our human perceptions, cognitions, and emotions, although still created in the image of G-d. Thank you for your informed comments.

 

[Anna_Scott]

Interesting thread. Interesting comments.

Peace,
Anna

 

[mercytruth]

Thanks for that interesting article. I think my initial question places too much emphasis on the limited human faculty of sight rather than paying attention to the spiritual faculties that the Prophets may have had and that we all may have in the World To Come.

Yes, a very interesting response.

Yet, the manner in which the LORD spoke to Moses was different from the way He spoke to any of the other prophets:

First, Moses:
Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.(Exodus 33:11).

Now, the Messiah Jesus calls his disciples his friends.

When Aaron and Miriam complained to Moses, suggesting that the LORD speaks to them also, this was the response by the LORD:

**And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” **(Numbers 12:5-8).

When the LORD spoke to Moses face to face and Moses saw his form, the NT (2 Cor.3) says this was the pre-existent Messiah. Moses face was so filled with the radiance of glory of the Father that shined in the face of the pre-existent Messiah that Moses had to wear a veil over his face when he came down from the mountain to speak to the people:

** When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.[a] 3 Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.**(Exodus 34:29-33).

G-d has not revealed his secrets unto the wise, but unto his children.
Ps.131, Matthew 18:1-4

 

[healonzo]

I suppose I should be answering this question rather than asking it. Or else asking it on a Jewish instead of a Catholic Forum. However, I don’t think Judaism actually has an answer for this, since the details of the World To Come are not specified in either the Written Law or the Oral Law. So I ask mainly the few Jews on this Forum what they think, and any others who may have information I am not aware of or who just wish to offer their (name removed by moderator)ut. The problem with seeing G-d for Jews is that, according to Jewish belief, G-d has no physical form, being only spirit. Perhaps the same issue applies to Christians with regard to G-d the Father, since I believe only G-d the Son (Jesus) is thought to be visible. And Muslims may also wish to express their views on the issue.

I have read some mid rash on what Heaven might be like for Jews. Most of the mid rash focus on the human faculties and our human experience. I haven’t talked to many Jews about whether they will finally see G-d in Heaven, but I believe the idea of being in the presence of the Messiah for Jews would be like being in the Divine presence at the most basic level. Overall, I think the view of the World to Come on the most basic level is a belief in the afterlife in the sense of seeing G-d face to face. Those are my two cents.

Don’t discount the human faculties either. I think the closest thing for me as a Catholic to seeing the Heavenly Father face to face would be at Mass in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.