Exodus 33.11 - Where's Yahweh?

Question:

Says that Moses & Yahweh spoke like a man and his friend, yet Moses has not seen the face of God. IS it literal when Yahweh says "you will see my back but not my face"? 

Answer:

Moses' notes about seeing God’s “Back” is weird.  Since God is spirit (and way beyond us), and since He’s omnipresent, it’s hard to say much about that except that He seems to have presented a visual representation of part of Himself to Moses. 

Does God even HAVE a back?  Or a face, or a right arm, or any of those other things?  I don’t know … but He does use terms like that so that He can communicate to us.  Like us trying to explain something to a dog, God can’t really explain Himself to us because we’re just not capable of getting it all.   

In this case He seems willing to give Moses a treat, and Moses writes it down to let the people know that he had this special relationship. 

Something to Think About:

As you study through the bible, it’s interesting question to ask: “Where is God?”  We who believe in Him understand that He is omnipresent (everywhere at once).  But that’s hard for us to feel.  If you have ever felt distant from God, you know that it would be nice to know He is near you – personally. 

From Abraham until Moses, God was an invisible, nameless God … one of many gods worshiped by Israel.  But during the Exodus He reveals His presence in a special way.  First the burning bush, then the pillar of fire and smoke, then on Mount Sinai, and then finally He instructs Moses to build a tent just for God, and to put it in the middle of all the tents of Israel.  We call God’s tent “The Tabernacle.”  God’s “presence” moves into this tent from the mountain, and resides in the tent all the way to the Promised Land.  Then it’s not until Solomon becomes king of Israel that God gets a permanent house, instead of a tent: the Temple. 

When Jesus died, the curtain was torn, and the temple ceased to be God’s house.  Remember Jesus said he would “destroy this building and rebuild it in three days”? (John 2.19)  He was suggesting that from the moment of his resurrection until forever – the dwelling of God would be among men in a spiritual way.  Today we saints who have been born again are each described as “living stones” (1 Peter 2.5) that build up this true, final, spiritual temple (house) of God (1 Corinthians 3.17). 

So where is God today?  He is inside all those who have been sprinkled clean with the blood of the Lamb and who now have the Holy Spirit living inside us.  He is never far – He is with us everywhere we go.