Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” (Ex 33:18-23)
…God the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. (I Tim 6:15-16)
Oh God all glorious, let us humbly adore. Let us join the prophets and the angels and the litany of saints in falling face down before you. Open the eyes of our hearts to see even a glimpse of the Unseeable, and in seeing, let us worship. Let our minds and hearts be enraptured with your overwhelming beauty and glory beyond description, beyond classification, beyond all capacity to see and know. Blessed be Your glorious Name.
Ezekiel describes his vision into heaven — the throne, the great expanse, the brilliant light, the figure like the appearance of a man radiant with light, the likeness of a rainbow. He then responds to what he saw: “This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell face down, and I heard the voice of one speaking” (Ez 1:28).
For us now to see God as He is would be instant death, like traveling to the center of the sun but infinitely more consuming. We are sinful, frail creatures, easily broken, easily killed. We have difficulty looking across a snowscape on a sunny day; we cannot look into an eclipse. Do we think we can gaze on the full glory of God? His is a glory that would penetrate through us and consume us entirely, for as He said to Moses, “No one may see me and live” (Ex 33:20).
The visions which the prophets and John the Revelator had were by necessity veiled images. God had to hide glory from them in order to show them the glory He did. They saw a fraction of a drop of glory and fell on their faces. Their little peeks of God unknit them inside out. Such is the nature of God. He dwells in unapproachable light. Who can see Him? Who can know the fullness of the Almighty?
