"And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend" (Exo. 33:11)
This blog post is a continuation of the last, which offers some food for thought concerning a topic that some people believe refutes Joseph Smith's account of seeing Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. If you didn't know, Joseph Smith was the first prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at the beginning of the restoration in the 1800s (See "Apostasy & Restoration"). I know without a doubt that Joseph Smith saw and spoke with God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ (See "Joseph Smith -- A Name Had For Good and Evil"); furthermore, I believe that some individuals may also have such a sacred experience although they're more rare than common, and not usually spoken of because they are so sacred and personal.
**NOTE: If you wish to get in contact with missionaries of the Church to learn more, you can do so at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/requests/missionary-visit
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SEEING THE FATHER & THE SON
The Prophet Joseph Smith declared, “It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another” (King Follett Sermon, 1844). There are multitudes of individuals in the world who assert that nobody has ever seen God or could see God and live. I could see some reasons for the birth of this belief, namely a handful of scriptures in the Bible such as “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), or “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live” (Exo. 33:20) or 1 Timothy 6, “…whom no man hath seen, nor can see…” (vs. 16) but John clarifies, “Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father” (John 6:46). Again, we can see but a taste here of the effect translation has on different religions' interpretation of doctrine because some scriptures do not always corroborate others perfectly. (See "The Holy Bible: A Testament of Jesus Christ")
Theophany, from Ancient Greek theophaneia, meaning "appearance of a god" is the academic term for the appearance of a deity to a human. This term has been used to refer to appearances of the gods in the ancient Greek and Near Eastern religions (and Epics like the Iliad or the Epic of Gilgamesh) but the term also acquired usage to the Bible.
Time and time again, we read accounts of prophets seeing God and speaking with Him “Face to face” (Gen. 32:30; Exo. 33:11; Num. 14:14; Deut. 5:4). Says Numbers 12:6, “…If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision…”. Though it may not be commonplace, should God will it, man can see Him. God speaks with Adam and Eve in Eden (Gen 3:9-19); with Noah (Gen 6:13, Gen 7:1, Gen 8:15) and his sons (Gen 9:1-8); and with Abraham and his wife Sarah (Gen 18). The first revelation that Moses had of God at the burning bush was "a great sight"; "he was afraid to look" at Him (Exo. 3:3, 6); God was frequently "seen" at Shiloh (1 Sam. 3:15, 21). Isaiah's first revelation was also a sight of God (Isa. 6:1-5); Amos had his visions (Amos 7: 1,4; 8:1; 9:1); Jeremiah (Jer. 1:11, 13), and Ezekiel (Ezek. 1:1; 8: 1-3) did too.
The Torah lays stress on the fact that while to other prophets God made Himself known in a vision, speaking to them in a dream, He spoke with Moses face to face "as a man speaketh unto his friend" (Num. 12: 6-8; Ex. 33: 11; Deut. 34: 10). Common Israel could not stand in God’s presence (except for certain officiating Priests) because of their disobedience, which is why they dwelt in the wilderness for forty years before being able to enter the promised land. During the course of their wandering, the Lord went before them in a cloud by day, and pillar of fire by night (Exo. 13:21-22). I’ve heard it suggested that it was the Levitical sacrifices and peace offerings that prevented the Children of Israel from being consumed in God’s presence (Exo. 24:1-11; See also "Great Sacrifice") as the entire purpose of Levitical sacrifices functioned to sanctify the nation; but when the people disobeyed they were consumed by “the fire of the Lord” (Numbers 11:1-3; Lev. 10:1-3). Moses had frequent communication with the Lord on the top of Mount Sinai but the rest of the people had to wait lower down the mountain. Even when, the “Glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Exo. 40:35-36), only those whom God permitted and was prepared spiritually could enter (See "Temples -- Holy Houses of the Lord"). The innermost room of the tabernacle called “the Holy of Holies” was where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. Its lid, called the Mercy Seat, bore two winged figures representing Cherubim (heavenly beings, although their exact appearance is unknown). The Lord instructed them to build the sacred edifice for, “There I will meet with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two Cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony…” (Exo. 25:22). And he did come. Again, it's been suggested by some scholars that the construction of the tabernacle and God's presence filling it was symbolic of God coming "down" to be in the presence of the people, symbolic of the condescension of God.
We know that God has a physical form and is not an amorphous spirit or immaterial concept. God created man in His own image and likeness. He possesses senses like sight (Psalms 94:7-11), and smell (Gen. 8:21), and let’s not forget the “two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God” (Exo. 31:18) that contained the Ten Commandments.
The brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ has a similar experience when “the Lord stretched forth his hand and touched the stones one by one with his finger…and it was as the finger of man, like unto flesh and blood” (Ether 3:6). The experience is so surprising to him that he actually falls down in fear. The Lord asks why he fell and the brother of Jared responds, "I saw the finger of the Lord, and I feared lest he should smite me; for I knew not that the Lord has flesh and blood” (vs. 8). Because of his exceeding faith, he sees the premortal Jesus, who we understand to be Jehovah:
“Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh.” (Ether 3:16)
In the New Testament:
“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 hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, ‘Shew us the Father?’ Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” (John 14:8-10)
I wish to make something clear as to both the intended meaning of these scriptures and of the truth of the matter. The first pertains to one of the purposes of Jesus Christ, the Son, which is to be God’s perfect representative as explained in the last scripture. Christ’s obedience to the Father was and is perfect; He did the works which the Father gave Him to finish (John 5:36). To see Christ was in essence equal to seeing the Father because He did and spoke what the Father would have done in His place. Because of the unity and equality with which the two operate, the term “God” is sometimes used interchangeably, but the scriptures usually speak of Jesus Christ when saying “God” unless specified as “The Father”. The term “Lord”, as found throughout the Old Testament refers to Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whom we believe to be the premortal Jesus Christ.
But just because it is generally the Lord Jesus Christ who has often come, does not make the Father incapable of such. Like I said, the two are equal. The prophet Joseph Fielding Smith (1876-1972), not to be confused with the Joseph Smith who translated the Book of Mormon, explained:
“All revelation since the fall has come through Jesus Christ, who is the Jehovah of the Old Testament. In all of the scriptures, where God is mentioned and where He has appeared, it was Jehovah who talked with Abraham (Gen. 12:7), with Noah (Gen. 6:9, 13), Enoch (Gen. 5:21-24), Moses (Exo. 24: 9-11; 33:9-11) and all the prophets… The Father has never dealt with man directly and personally since the fall, and he has never appeared except to introduce and bear record of the Son”.
The scriptures record a number of occasions when the Father has introduced Jesus Christ (Matthew 3:17; 17:5; 3 Nephi 11:6-7). Even Stephen in the book of Acts saw “the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55-56), both the Father and the Son—undeniable distinction. Thus was the case with Joseph Smith where the Father introduced Jesus, “This is my beloved Son, hear Him” and Jesus conveyed the message.
In any case, I know that Joseph Smith literally saw the Father and the Son. Just as the resurrected Christ showed himself to others such as Peter, James, and John, He too showed himself to Joseph Smith. Why it’s so easy for some to accept the first and so difficult to accept the latter is unknown to me. There's no difference. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
I don’t need scriptural evidence to know that God and Jesus Christ work in unison to accomplish their work in whatever ways they see fit and in order to accomplish their work on Earth, they must speak to man on Earth (Amos 3:7). My witness comes from the Holy Ghost --- A still, small voice. I don’t need to see God to know that He exists and that the witness that His prophets give of Him are true. I've had many other experiences in my life, spiritual experiences even, that are evidence enough that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. Faith is a hope for things not seen which are true. May we heed the words of the living Christ, “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)
Something to think about, we know that everyone will one day see God and stand before Him. "Yea, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him. Yea. even at the last day, when all men shall stand to be judged of him, then shall they confess that he is God..." (Mos. 27:31). For "We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2)
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