“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.” Exodus 33:20-23
The next
time you see God will be when you die. Both
believers and non-believers will face God on judgement day.
Moses
asked to see God’s glory, but God said even Moses, a righteous man, would die
if he saw God. God blocked Moses from getting
a clear view of him, like when we shield our eyes from the sun. The sun is a good example. You can catch a glimpse of the sun, but
staring at the sun will cause damage.
God’s holiness shines so brightly, seeing it directly destroys our
unholiness, shattering our flimsy reality and breaking us to pieces.
It’s a
powerful sight to behold and we cannot be too anxious. Once we are dead and have shed this worldly
skin, then we can finally get to see God without the threat of dying because
we’ll already be separated from this world.