Moses and Isaiah

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Moses asked God to if he could look upon Him. God showed Moses the back of his head, explaining that a mortal could not see God and live. However, Isaiah saw God on his Throne, being honored by Angels. ‘In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw The Lord’. -Isaiah 6:1. Also, didn’t Peter, James and John see God at the Mount of Transfiguration?
 
tdcjco said:
Moses asked God to if he could look upon Him. God showed Moses the back of his head, explaining that a mortal could not see God and live. However, Isaiah saw God on his Throne, being honored by Angels. ‘In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw The Lord’. -Isaiah 6:1. Also, didn’t Peter, James and John see God at the Mount of Transfiguration?
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What are you asking?
 
Not questioning scripture, but I’m confused how both can be true. Either a mortal man can see God or he can not.
 
Mortal men cannot see God fully, at least not until we reach heaven, but God may reveal himself to us in ways that are within our ability to see or grasp.

I recall that the Lord also appeared in person to Abraham as we read in Genesis 18.
 
tdcjco said:
Moses asked God to if he could look upon Him. God showed Moses the back of his head, explaining that a mortal could not see God and live. However, Isaiah saw God on his Throne, being honored by Angels. ‘In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw The Lord’. -Isaiah 6:1. Also, didn’t Peter, James and John see God at the Mount of Transfiguration?
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Isaiah saw a vision of God, similar to John in the book of Revelation. In the transfiguration the apostles saw Jesus, Moses and Elijah in their glorified bodies, not God.
 
Isaiah saw cherubim, their wings, a lot of shekinah glory cloud (“His train”), a throne, and a Being on the throne Whose Face and body were covered up by cherubim wings.

So no, St. Isaiah did not see God face to face. But he saw bits of God,which was enough to freak him out and make him fear that he was going to die of it.

I agree that modern translations do not make it clear that the cherubim are surrounding and veiling God, but the Fathers discuss this quite a lot.

This also shows up in St. Ezekiel; he does not see God’s Face, but he sees a sort of rainbow brightness around God and His throne, and he sees something like the mass of His body.
 
seagal said:
Isaiah saw a vision of God, similar to John in the book of Revelation. In the transfiguration the apostles saw Jesus, Moses and Elijah in their glorified bodies, not God.
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I understand the point you are trying to make (at least i think i do) but your post seems to imply Jesus is not God (no, I don’t believe that is how it was meant to be taken but that was my first reaction after reading it).
 
A baptized Christian is no longer a mortal man, strictly speaking. We have God’s life in us; we are part of Christ’s Body.

So the old worry about seeing God face to face does not apply to us; and it is possible for us to see Christ face to face, even in His glorified form where all His Divinity was not hidden. Christ in us can look at Himself, no problem.
 
tdcjco said:
Moses asked God to if he could look upon Him. God showed Moses the back of his head, explaining that a mortal could not see God and live. However, Isaiah saw God on his Throne, being honored by Angels. ‘In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw The Lord’. -Isaiah 6:1. Also, didn’t Peter, James and John see God at the Mount of Transfiguration?
Click to expand...
I didn’t think Peter, James and John SAW God but heard his voice…
 
No matter what words are used as a description the God of Israel is not flesh. Holy Spirit and the Father are pure spirits- no form. You will never find a Jew who will say YHWH was ever in physical form.
What they saw was visions. How can the physical encounter the formless? Our brains interpret visions so we can make sense of something way beyond us.
 
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