Seeing Him who is Invisible: The Peniel Paradox - Seeing the Invisible God Face to Face
Moses (the Egyptian prince who forsook Egypt “as seeing him who is invisible”), Abraham (who rejoiced to see Christ’s day by faith centuries earlier), and the Roman centurion (who trusted Jesus’ word alone) form a striking visual of faith across the whole Bible—Old Testament and New, Jew and Gentile, prince and soldier. All three believed and acted without relying on physical presence of the incarnate Christ - Jesus Christ our Kinsman Redeemer.
Hebrews 11:27
“By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.”
King James Version (KJV)
"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad." (John 8:56)
Exodus 3:14
“And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
King James Version (KJV
John 8:58
“Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”
King James Version (KJV)
Resolution: the invisible God and His visible Image
The paradox is solved in the one Person - Jesus Christ.
False children of the Lord will say God is 3 Persons.
The word, " PERSON " in the Cameron Moshfegh study is essential.
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2024/03/it-brings-tears-to-my-eyes-reading-your.html
John 12:45
“And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.”
King James Version (KJV)
John 14:9
“Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”
King James Version (KJV)
The Father is Spirit and invisible; no man has seen Him or can. Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily. Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, and the rest saw Him. BOTH VISIBLY AND UNSEEN.
ONLY THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST WHO IS THE SPIRIT OF GOD WITHIN US (Romans 8:9, 1 John 4:13, Ephesians 2:6, John 16:13 KJV) ALLOWS US TO SEE THE UNSEEN. THIS IS THE KNOWING = SEEING WHICH IS BELIEVING WHICH CONNECTS DIRECTLY TO ABRAHAM AND THE COVENANT WHICH WE ARE GRAFTED INTO AS GIVEN BY THE MYSTERY THAT JESUS CHRIST REVEALED UNTO PAUL. HENCE WHY YESTERDAY I EXPOSED A WOLF KATE PODGEE AND HER KIND FOR CALLING PAUL A FALSE APOSTLE.
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2026/10/exposing-egregious-wolf-kay-podgee.html
See my 2 studies on the FAITH of the Roman Centurion
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2026/10/corollary-to-faith-of-roman-centurian.html
This has to be connected to Isaiah 6, Matthew 13 - Revelation 3:18 KJV "EYES TO SEE"..
Isaiah 6:9–10 (KJV)
9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
Matthew 13:13–15 (KJV)
13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
See my studies:
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2024/05/revelation-19-and-matthew-13-kingdom.html
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2025/06/the-mystery-of-heavens-kingdom-divine.html
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2023/06/eyes-to-seethe-spiritual-eye-exam-by.html
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2025/03/christ-is-king-is-not-biblical-redux-of.html
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2026/10/so-great-faith-no-not-in-israel-matthew.html
Genesis 32:28 KJV
“And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.”
Genesis 32:30 KJV
“And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
NOTE: Peniel
Peniel / Penuel in Genesis 32
Text (KJV): Gen 32:30 "And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." Gen 32:31 "And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him..."
Strong's Entries
Strong's definition: "face of God," from H6437 (panah, to turn) and H410 ('el, God).
Etymology
פָּנִים (panim, H6440): "face, presence." It is always plural in form. It comes from the root פָּנָה (panah, H6437), "to turn, face toward." Your face is the part of you that turns toward someone.
אֵל ('el, H410): "God, mighty one." The root idea is strength (compare אוּל, 'ul).
Linking vowel: In Peniel (-î-), the ending is either the construct form or a 1st-person suffix ("my face"), which gives "face of God" or "turned toward God." In Penuel (-û-), the -û- is an old connecting vowel that also appears in names like Methuselah and Bethuel. The two spellings mean the same thing. The Samaritan Pentateuch, Syriac, and Vulgate even it out by using one form in both verses.
Ancient (Paleo-Hebrew) Pictographs
These are interpretive readings in the style of Jeff Benner's Ancient Hebrew Lexicon. They are not standard scholarship.
פ (Pe): mouth, so "speak, open"
נ (Nun): seed, so "continue, life"
י / ו (Yod/Vav): hand / peg, so "work" / "secure, add"
א (Aleph): ox head, so "strength, leader"
ל (Lamed): shepherd's staff, so "authority, toward"
In that lexicon, the parent root פן (pan) is defined as "face, the turning of the face." אל combines ox and staff, read as "the strong authority."
Proof from the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon: God as Ox Head + Shepherd’s Staff
In Benner’s reconstructed Ancient Hebrew lexicon, the parent root אל (el) is the foundational word for “God” / “mighty one.” It is built directly from two pictographs:
- א (Aleph / Al): Ox head. Concrete meaning = strength, power, muscle, leader, chief. The ox is the strongest work animal; its head (with horns) stands for power and leadership. When two oxen are yoked, the older, stronger ox leads and teaches the younger one.
- ל (Lamed): Shepherd’s staff (or ox goad). Concrete meaning = authority, teaching, directing, the yoke, “toward.” The staff pushes, pulls, corrects, and protects the flock (or the younger ox).
Combined parent root אל: “strong authority” or “the ox in the yoke.”
God is pictured as the older, stronger ox yoked to His people (the younger ox). Through the yoke He teaches, leads, and binds Himself to them in covenant. This is the concrete agricultural image behind every use of אל for God.Ancient-hebrew
Benner states this explicitly: the two pictographs mean “the strong authority.” The chief or father is the strong authority. The same two pictures also represent “the ox in the yoke.” Many Near Eastern cultures worshipped the god אל and depicted him as a bull. Israel’s golden calf at Sinai shows the same link. The idea continues in the crown (from ox horns) and scepter (the staff) of a king.Assemblyofyahuah
Extension to Elohim and Related Forms
- אלוה (Eloah): Child root from אל. Adds the idea of the yoke that binds (covenant/oath). God is the older ox who has bound Himself to the younger ox (His people) to teach and lead them.
- אלהים (Elohim): Plural form of the above. In this lexicon it means “powers” or “strong authorities” (the plural often marking quality/superiority). Still rooted in the ox-head + staff picture of strength and authority. This is the word in Genesis 1:1.Ancient-hebrew Elohim - God in Genesis 1:26 KJV
Genesis 1:26
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
King James Version (KJV)
Every compound name that contains אל (Peniel/Penuel, Israel, El Shaddai, El Elyon, Bethel, etc.) carries this same pictographic base: the strong authority of the ox and the shepherd’s staff.
LORD (YHWH) in the Same Lexicon System
YHWH (יהוה) is the personal name meaning “He exists” (linked to the verbal idea of being/existing). Its letters have their own pictographs (Yod = hand/work, Hey = behold/man with arms raised, Vav = peg/nail that secures, Hey again).
Note do not fall into the Hebrew vowel trap LORD = Jehovah.
and NOT Yahweh
See my study exposing the Yahweh - Yeshua apostasy:
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2024/04/the-subtle-judaizer-case-study-hebrew.html
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2024/04/jesus-christ-has-existed-for-eternity.html
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2024/07/why-yeshua-deception-matters.html
However, when the name is paired with titles built on אל (YHWH Jehovah Elohim, etc.), the אל element still supplies the ox-head + shepherd’s-staff picture of the strong authority. The full picture in the lexicon is therefore the One who exists (YHWH) as the strong leader/teacher (ox + staff).
Summary Proof
In the Ancient Hebrew lexicon pictographic system:
- Every occurrence of the root אל for God is the ox head (strength) + shepherd’s staff (authority).
- Elohim, Eloah, and all El-compounds inherit exactly the same pictures.
- This is the consistent, concrete portrayal of God as the strong authority who yokes Himself to His people, teaches them, and leads them—exactly as the older ox leads the younger one in the yoke.
Exodus 33:11 KJV (Moses)
“And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.”
Exodus 33:20 KJV (Moses)
“And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.”
John 1:18 KJV (John)
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
John 14:9 KJV (the answer) pointing to Colossians 1:15 KJV
“Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”
Colossians 1:15 KJV (the resolution)
“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:”
Genesis 32:28 gives the name change, and 32:30 is the face-to-face statement. Exodus 33:11 and 33:20 put the paradox inside a single chapter. John 1:18 answers it in the same verse.
NOTE WE NOW WORSHIP IN SPIRIT -
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2024/10/the-word-of-god-gets-really-real-about.html
Because the Father is Spirit and invisible, true worship is no longer tied to a mountain, a temple, or the sight of the eye. We worship Him in spirit and in truth, through the Son who has declared Him. Moses shows the way: "he endured, as seeing him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27).
The foundation: Jesus at the well
"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father." (John 4:21)
"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." (John 4:23)
"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24)
See Notes below on full study on Worship now in the Spirit.
Essential Background Study Links:
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2025/01/let-us-examine-ourselves-gospel-kjv.html
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2025/02/believe.html
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2023/08/melchizedek-my-kinsman-redeemer.html
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2026/02/wrestling-as-jacob-true-israel-knows.html
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2024/11/the-genesis-3230-john-118-kjb-paradox.html
Introduction: three witnesses that seem to disagree (what fake Christians and Atheists call - a contradiction. Laugh at them, I do...and God certainly does as well. Read Psalm 2 KJV is this is news to you.)
Jacob saw God face to face and lived. God told Moses no man can see His face and live. John wrote that no man hath seen God at any time.
All three are true, and the King James Bible itself shows how.
All scripture in this study is quoted from the King James Version.
Witness 1: Jacob at Peniel
"And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." (Genesis 32:30)
The renaming of Jacob to Israel comes two verses earlier, at Genesis 32:28. Verse 30 is the face-to-face statement.
Witness 2: Moses on the mount
"And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live." (Exodus 33:20)
Witness 3: John the apostle
"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." (John 1:18)
The unlearned call this a contradiction*, and scoffers throw it at believers. The workman who rightly divides the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15) sees a paradox.
Two statements are both true, and the rest of scripture brings them into agreement. The answer is THE Person: the Lord Jesus Christ, "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15).
To truly understand the profound signficance of PERSON in the King James Bible please read and study this great work by Brother Cameron Moshfegh:
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2024/03/it-brings-tears-to-my-eyes-reading-your.html
Note: For a very thorough understanding of how the Bible uses the Paradox and Parables please read these background studies:
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2022/04/understand-bible-from-workman-approved.html
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2024/07/the-study-of-scripture-for-doctrine-and_31.html
Paradox, not contradiction
A contradiction would mean God lied, and scripture says He cannot. So the student keeps both statements and widens the study until they agree.
"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19)
"In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." (Titus 1:2)
"That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation..." (Hebrews 6:18)
Working definitions (following Brother Cameron Moshfegh's study, quoted on blog):
Term | Definition | What the student does |
|---|---|---|
Paradox | Two or more statements, all true, where it is not yet clear how they agree | Expand the study verse to verses, chapters, books, whole Bible, until it is solved |
Contradiction | Two or more statements that cannot all be true | Not acceptable for doctrine; it marks an error in the student's study, never in God's word |
The method used in this study
- Read each verse in its own context.
- Define the key words in the KJV, then check the Hebrew and Greek behind them.
- Gather every scripture where men "saw" God.
- Let scripture interpret scripture (1 Corinthians 2:13, "comparing spiritual things with spiritual").
- Avoid "philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men" (Colossians 2:8).
Witness 1: Jacob at Peniel (Genesis 32–33)
Jacob saw a Man, wrestled a Man, and was blessed by that Man, and he called Him God. That is the heart of the paradox: the God Jacob saw came to him in bodily form.
The word Peniel
- Peniel / Penuel (Strong's H6439) means "face of God." It joins panim (H6440, face, presence) with 'el (H410, God).
- Panim comes from panah (H6437), to turn. The face is the part of a person that turns toward you.
- In Hebrew Bibles these verses are numbered 32:31–32, one higher than the KJV.
What the text says Jacob met
"And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day." (Genesis 32:24)
"And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." (Genesis 32:28)
"And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there." (Genesis 32:29)
The text calls Him "a man" ('ish). Jacob calls Him God. Hosea joins the two:
"He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God: Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us; Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his memorial." (Hosea 12:3–5)
So the Man of Genesis 32 is called God, the angel, and "the LORD God of hosts." One Person carries all three names. JESUS CHRIST
"My life is preserved"
The verb is natsal (H5337), to deliver or rescue. Jacob prayed in 32:11, "Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother" (same root). God answered the deeper need first: Jacob was delivered from the death that should follow seeing God. He lived because the God he saw came to him in a form a man could look upon.
The face theme in chapters 32–33
In the Hebrew of 32:20, Jacob plans to "appease" Esau's face with a present that goes "before" his face, so that Esau will "accept" him (literally lift up his face). The word panim runs through the passage. Then:
"...for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me." (Genesis 33:10)
Jacob met God's face before he met his brother's.
Peace with God came first; peace with Esau followed.
Jacob's own last word on who it was
"The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads..." (Genesis 48:16)
The verb "redeemed" is ga'al (H1350), the root of go'el, the kinsman redeemer.
At the end of his life Jacob names the Angel who met him as his Redeemer. The Man of Peniel is the Kinsman Redeemer.
Again, I can't stress this enough: COME MEET MY KINSMAN REDEEMER:
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2021/10/come-meet-my-kinsman-redeemer.html
https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2025/08/jesus-christ-antivenom-christian.html
Witness 2: Moses and Exodus 33
The paradox is inside one chapter. Exodus 33 says the LORD spoke with Moses face to face, then nine verses later says Moses cannot see His face. Moses himself wrote both, so he saw no contradiction.
"And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." (Exodus 33:11)
"And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory." (Exodus 33:18)
"And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen." (Exodus 33:20–23)
Two kinds of seeing in one chapter
Verse | What Moses had | Meaning in context |
|---|---|---|
33:11 | "face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend" | Open, personal, speaking presence |
33:18–20 | Asked to see "thy glory"; told "thou canst not see my face" | The full unveiled glory of God, which mortal flesh cannot bear |
33:22–23 | Hidden in "a clift of the rock"; saw "my back parts" | A shielded, partial sight, protected by God's own hand |
Moses' request was for God's glory, the full blaze of who God is. That is what no man sees and lives. Speaking face to face as a friend is a different thing, and Moses already had it.
Note on when we will be able to see FULLY the Lord in all His Glory: "In our GLORIFIED BODIES"
1 John 3:2 (KJV) is the primary passage:
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
This verse connects seeing Christ “as he is” with being made like Him (in glorified bodies and full conformity to His image) at His appearing.
Related KJV passages about the glorified body include:
Philippians 3:20–21 — “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
1 Corinthians 15:49, 51–53 — “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. … Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
"Face" also means presence
"And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." (Exodus 33:14)
"My presence" is panai, "my face," the same word as 33:20. God's face went with Israel in the wilderness. Isaiah tells us who that was:
"In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old." (Isaiah 63:9)
"The angel of his presence" is literally "the angel of His face." And "redeemed" is ga'al again. The Angel of God's Face is the Redeemer, the same title Jacob gave in Genesis 48:16.
Other Moses texts
"With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold..." (Numbers 12:8)
"And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face." (Deuteronomy 34:10)
Moses beheld "the similitude" (form, likeness) of the LORD. A similitude is an image. Hold that word; it returns in Colossians 1:15.
The Rock
Moses stood "upon a rock" and was hidden "in a clift of the rock." Paul names that Rock:
"...for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:4)
The man who asked to see God's glory was safe only when hidden in Christ.
Witness 3: John 1:18 and the New Testament
John 1:18 does not stop at "no man hath seen God." The same verse gives the answer: the only begotten Son "hath declared him." The verse is its own resolution.
"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." (John 1:18)
NOTE: WHY KING JAMES ONLY: “BEGOTTEN SON” IS FAR DIFFERENT MEANING THAN MODERN CORRUPT BIBLE TRANSLATIONS THAT SAY “ONLY SON”
See details
https://av1611.com/kjbp/ridiculous-kjv-bible-corrections/Only-Begotten.html
https://share.google/LLdZ2iYe61uPEoavD
Word study (Greek behind the KJV)
KJV word | Greek | Strong's | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
hath seen | heōraken | G3708 (horaō) | Perfect tense: no man has ever seen, and that state stands |
only begotten | monogenēs | G3439 | One of a kind, unique (also John 1:14, 3:16, 3:18; 1 John 4:9) |
bosom | kolpos | G2859 | Closest intimacy; the place of shared life |
hath declared | exēgēsato | G1834 (exēgeomai) | To lead out, unfold, make known. English "exegesis" comes from this word |
The Son is the exegesis of the invisible God. What cannot be seen is led out into view in Him.
Every "no man hath seen" verse in the KJV New Testament
"And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape." (John 5:37)
"Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father." (John 6:46)
"No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." (1 John 4:12)
"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:17)
"Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen." (1 Timothy 6:16)
Notice who is unseen: "the Father" (John 5:37; 6:46), God who is "invisible" (1 Timothy 1:17), dwelling in unapproachable light. Jesus Himself said:
"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24)
A spirit has no shape for the eye to see. John 5:37 says Israel never saw the Father's "shape." That fits Exodus 33:20 exactly. The Father in His invisible glory is never seen. What men saw, at Peniel and on Sinai, was someone else who is also God.
Note on John 5:46, 47 that applies to this study I believe:
Deuteronomy 18:15–19 (especially v. 15 and v. 18) is the primary passage.
John 5:46–47 (KJV) says:
“For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?”
Jesus is referring to Moses’ writings (the Torah/Pentateuch) as a whole, which contain both direct prophecies and types pointing to the Messiah. The clearest direct statement by Moses is the prophecy of a future prophet like himself:
Deuteronomy 18:15–19 (KJV)
“The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.”
The New Testament explicitly applies this to Jesus (Acts 3:22–23; Acts 7:37). Other messianic pointers in Moses’ writings that are commonly connected to John 5:46 include:
- Genesis 3:15 — the seed of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head.
- Genesis 49:10 — the scepter not departing from Judah until Shiloh comes.
- Typological elements such as the Passover lamb (Exodus 12), the bronze serpent (Numbers 21:4–9; cf. John 3:14), and other sacrificial and prophetic patterns.
The full witness list: men who saw God and lived
Jacob is not alone. From Genesis to Revelation, men and women saw the LORD in a visible form and lived. Each one is a further witness that God makes Himself seen through His visible Image.
Who | KJV reference | What was seen | Their words (KJV) |
|---|---|---|---|
Adam and Eve | Genesis 3:8 | The voice of the LORD God walking in the garden | "hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God" |
Hagar | Genesis 16:7–13 | The angel of the LORD, who speaks as God | "Thou God seest me" (16:13) |
Abraham | Genesis 18:1–3, 22 | The LORD with two angels, as three men; He ate | "My Lord" (18:3); Abraham "stood yet before the LORD" (18:22) |
Abraham | Genesis 14:18–20; Hebrews 7:1–3 | Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God | "made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually" |
Jacob | Genesis 32:24–30 | A man who wrestled him | "I have seen God face to face" |
Moses | Exodus 3:2–6 | The angel of the LORD in the bush, who says "I am the God of thy father" | Moses "hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God" (3:6) |
Moses, Aaron, and 70 elders | Exodus 24:9–11 | The God of Israel, with a paved work of sapphire under His feet | "also they saw God, and did eat and drink" |
Joshua | Joshua 5:13–15 | A man with a drawn sword, Captain of the host of the LORD; Joshua worshipped | "loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy" |
Gideon | Judges 6:11–23 | The angel of the LORD | "I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face"; answered "thou shalt not die" |
Manoah and his wife | Judges 13:3–22 | The angel of the LORD, whose name is "secret" (13:18) | "We shall surely die, because we have seen God" |
Isaiah | Isaiah 6:1–5 | The Lord on a throne, high and lifted up | "mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts" |
Ezekiel | Ezekiel 1:26–28 | "the appearance of a man" on the throne | "the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD" |
Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego | Daniel 3:25 | A fourth man in the fire | "the form of the fourth is like the Son of God" |
John | Revelation 1:13–17 | "one like unto the Son of man" | "I am the first and the last" |
Manoah and his wife are the parents of Samson: Judges 13:22 KJV I have it in my "come meet my Kinsman Redeemer" blog.
Three keys that unlock the list
- Isaiah saw Christ. John says plainly who was on Isaiah's throne:
"These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him." (John 12:41)
In context (John 12:37–41), "his glory" is the glory of Jesus. Isaiah "saw the King" and John says it was Christ. - The Angel bears God's own name.
"Behold, I send an Angel before thee... Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him." (Exodus 23:20–21)
Only God forgives or withholds forgiveness. This Angel does both, because God's name is in Him. - The I AM of the bush speaks in the Gospels.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." (John 8:58)
The One who said "I AM THAT I AM" from the bush (Exodus 3:14) is the One who stood before the Pharisees.
Abraham saw His day
"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad." (John 8:56)
Every one of these witnesses saw the same Person.
None of them saw the invisible Spirit of the Father.
Resolution: the invisible God and His visible Image
The paradox is solved in one Person. The Father is Spirit and invisible; no man has seen Him or can. Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily. Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, and the rest saw Him.
"Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature." (Colossians 1:15)
"For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." (Colossians 2:9)
"Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person..." (Hebrews 1:3)
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6)
How each statement is true
Statement | What it refers to | Supporting KJV |
|---|---|---|
"I have seen God face to face" (Gen 32:30) | Jacob saw Christ, the visible Image of God, in bodily form | Hos 12:3–5; Gen 48:16; Col 1:15 |
"There shall no man see me, and live" (Exod 33:20) | The full unveiled glory of God, which flesh cannot bear | Exod 33:18; 1 Tim 6:16 |
"No man hath seen God at any time" (John 1:18) | God the Father, who is Spirit and invisible | John 4:24; 5:37; 6:46; 1 Tim 1:17 |
"He hath declared him" (John 1:18) | The Son makes the invisible God known | John 14:9; Heb 1:3 |
Philip's question settles it
"Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" (John 14:8–9)
"Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?" (John 14:10)
Philip asked what Moses asked: show us. The answer to Moses was the clift of the rock. The answer to Philip was the face of Jesus Christ. To see Him is to see the Father, because the Father dwells in Him (John 17:21, 23).
Why Jacob lived
No man sees God in His unveiled glory and lives. Jacob lived because God met him as a Man. The same mercy runs through every witness: God comes near in a form men can bear. In Bethlehem, that mercy came all the way, "made of a woman" (Galatians 4:4), so that every sinner could look on God and live.
On wording
My Blogs teach that Jesus Christ has always existed as the visible Image and rejects the term "pre-incarnate." This study uses "appearances of Christ before Bethlehem" or "Christophany" for that reason. 1 John 4:2 ("Jesus Christ is come in the flesh") marks the moment He came through the virgin as the Son of man, the Kinsman made of a woman.
The Kinsman Redeemer thread
The Hebrew word ga'al (H1350, to redeem as kinsman) ties Peniel to the whole story of redemption. The Man Jacob saw is the Redeemer Jacob named, the Angel of God's Face Isaiah named, and the Redeemer Job expected to see with his own eyes.
The go'el in the law
A go'el was the nearest kinsman, the one with the right and duty to buy back a relative's land or freedom (Leviticus 25:25, 47–49) and to stand for the family. He had to be kin, able, and willing.
"And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem." (Exodus 13:13)
Ga'al from Genesis to Isaiah
Text (KJV) | Who redeems | Link to the paradox |
|---|---|---|
Genesis 48:16, "The Angel which redeemed me from all evil" | The Angel who met Jacob | The Man of Peniel is called Redeemer |
Exodus 6:6, "I will redeem you with a stretched out arm" | The LORD at the exodus | The God of the bush is the Redeemer |
Ruth 3:9, "for thou art a near kinsman" | Boaz of Bethlehem | A type of Christ, the Kinsman from Bethlehem |
Job 19:25–27, "I know that my redeemer liveth" | Job's Redeemer | Job expects to see God with his own eyes |
Isaiah 63:9, "the angel of his presence saved them... he redeemed them" | The Angel of His Face | Face (panim) and Redeemer (ga'al) in one verse |
Job: seeing God in the flesh
"For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me." (Job 19:25–27)
Job joins the two halves of the paradox. He will "see God," and the God he sees is his Redeemer, who stands upon the earth.
Melchizedek
"Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually." (Hebrews 7:3)
My blog teaches, Melchizedek met Abraham with bread and wine and blessed him (Genesis 14:18–20). Abraham, the grandfather of Jacob, met the King of righteousness and King of peace. Jacob, the grandson, wrestled with Him at the Jabbok. Both received a blessing from the same hand.
Why the Redeemer must be kin
"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." (Galatians 4:4–5)
At Peniel, Jacob saw God as a Man and lived. In Bethlehem, that Man was made of a woman, kin to us in flesh and blood (Hebrews 2:14–17), so He could redeem us. The face Jacob saw at night is the face that "set his face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51) and was marred more than any man (Isaiah 52:14) for our redemption.
Face to face in the future
The paradox ends in a promise. What Jacob had for one night, and Moses saw only in part, every redeemed saint will have forever: we shall see His face.
"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." (1 Corinthians 13:12)
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2)
"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8)
"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14)
"And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads." (Revelation 22:4)
Why we will be able to bear it
Exodus 33:20 says flesh cannot see God and live. 1 John 3:2 says we will see Him because "we shall be like him." The change comes first:
"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump... and we shall be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:52)
Mortal flesh could not bear the sight. Changed, glorified bodies will.
From Peniel to the throne
Stage | Seeing | KJV |
|---|---|---|
Jacob at the Jabbok | Face to face for one night, left limping | Genesis 32:30–31 |
Moses in the rock | Back parts, covered by God's hand | Exodus 33:22–23 |
The apostles | The Word made flesh, "we beheld his glory" | John 1:14; 1 John 1:1 |
The believer now | "through a glass, darkly"; by faith | 1 Corinthians 13:12; 2 Corinthians 5:7 |
The redeemed forever | "They shall see his face" | Revelation 22:4 |
Jacob named the place Peniel, "the face of God." The whole Bible moves toward a city where the face of God is seen without veil or fear.
Summary, study questions, and notes
The paradox in one paragraph
No man has seen God the Father, who is Spirit, invisible, dwelling in light no man can approach (John 1:18; 4:24; 1 Timothy 6:16). No man can see His unveiled glory and live (Exodus 33:20). Yet Jacob saw God face to face and lived (Genesis 32:30), because the God he saw was the Lord Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), the Angel who redeemed him (Genesis 48:16), his Kinsman Redeemer. The Son "hath declared him" (John 1:18), and "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9).
Study questions
- In Exodus 33, how can verse 11 ("face to face") and verse 20 ("thou canst not see my face") both be true? What did Moses ask for in verse 18?
- Hosea 12:3–5 calls Jacob's opponent God, the angel, and the LORD God of hosts. What does that teach about who He is?
- Why does Jacob call the Angel his Redeemer (ga'al) in Genesis 48:16?
- Compare Philip's request (John 14:8) with Moses' request (Exodus 33:18). How did God answer each?
- What does exēgēsato ("hath declared," John 1:18) show about the Son's work?
- How does Job 19:25–27 join seeing God with the Kinsman Redeemer?
- What must happen to us before we can see Him "as he is" (1 John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 15:52)?
Notes for publication
- All scripture is quoted from the KJV.
- Hebrew verse numbers in Genesis 32 run one higher than the KJV (KJV 32:30 = Hebrew 32:31).
- Strong's numbers used: H6439 (Peniel/Penuel), H6440 (panim), H6437 (panah), H410 ('el), H5337 (natsal), H1350 (ga'al); G3708 (horao), G3439 (monogenes), G2859 (kolpos), G1834 (exegeomai).
- The Hebrew and Greek notes come from standard reference works (Strong's, BDB) and were not checked against a live lexicon in this session.
Sources
- The Genesis 32:30 John 1:18 KJB PARADOX Portrays Jesus Christ PERFECTLY (November 18, 2024)
- Melchizedek, My Kinsman Redeemer (August 24, 2023)
- Come Meet my Kinsman Redeemer (October 12, 2021)
- My Peniel / Penuel lexicon notes (Strong's, etymology, Genesis 32–33 context)
God is Spirit: we now worship in spirit
Because the Father is Spirit and invisible, true worship is no longer tied to a mountain, a temple, or the sight of the eye. We worship Him in spirit and in truth, through the Son who has declared Him. Moses shows the way: "he endured, as seeing him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27).
The foundation: Jesus at the well
"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father." (John 4:21)
"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." (John 4:23)
"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24)
God is Spirit and invisible
"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Corinthians 3:17)
"Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire." (Deuteronomy 4:15)
"Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." (Luke 24:39)
"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:17)
We worship and serve in the spirit, not the flesh
"For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." (Philippians 3:3)
"For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son..." (Romans 1:9)
"But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." (Romans 7:6)
"Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." (2 Corinthians 3:6)
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." (Romans 12:1)
"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:14)
Spiritual sacrifices, prayer, and praise
"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:5)
"By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." (Hebrews 13:15)
"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:18–19)
"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." (Ephesians 6:18)
"What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." (1 Corinthians 14:15)
"But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost." (Jude 20)
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." (Romans 8:26)
No temples made with hands: we are the temple
"Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet." (Acts 7:48)
"God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands." (Acts 17:24)
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16)
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:19)
"...for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (2 Corinthians 6:16)
"In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." (Ephesians 2:21–22)
Access to the Father by the Spirit, through Christ
"For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." (Ephesians 2:18)
"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh." (Hebrews 10:19–20)
"For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." (Hebrews 9:24)
"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." (Romans 8:15–16)
"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." (Galatians 4:6)
"But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." (1 Corinthians 6:17)
"And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:6)
We see the invisible by faith
"By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible." (Hebrews 11:27)
"While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18)
"(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)" (2 Corinthians 5:7)
"Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." (1 Peter 1:8)
"Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." (John 20:29)
"In truth": the second half of John 4:24
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)
"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." (John 17:17)
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth..." (John 16:13)
Promised in the Old Testament
"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." (Ezekiel 36:26–27)
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." (Psalm 51:17)
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh..." (Joel 2:28)
Tie to the paradox: Moses was told he could not see God's face and live (Exodus 33:20), yet he "endured, as seeing him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27). The believer worships the same way today: in spirit, by faith, through the Son who "hath declared him" (John 1:18).
Summary, study questions, and notes
The paradox in one paragraph
No man has seen God the Father, who is Spirit, invisible, dwelling in light no man can approach (John 1:18; 4:24; 1 Timothy 6:16). No man can see His unveiled glory and live (Exodus 33:20). Yet Jacob saw God face to face and lived (Genesis 32:30), because the God he saw was the Lord Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), the Angel who redeemed him (Genesis 48:16), his Kinsman Redeemer. The Son "hath declared him" (John 1:18), and "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9).
Comments
Post a Comment