Q: I have a sincere question. In Exodus 33:11 Moses speaks to the Lord face to face like friends speak. But then God says in Exodus 33:20 that no man can see him and live. I have struggled with the Trinity doctrine but I see that God had to be in the form that Moses could meet with him, which is the form of a man. Was this Jesus possibly?
A: That's a good question. If you notice in Exodus 33:9 it says that when Moses entered the Tent of Meeting "the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak to Moses." I don't believe that this "face-to-face" meeting included God in His raw form. We know from 1 Timothy 6:16 that God "dwells in unapproachable light." Therefore, for us to see Him in any form He must come out of that "unapproachable light." In this case, He came down as a "pillar of cloud" so as not to destroy Moses or the people looking on. The phrase "face to face" in Hebrew means "in the presence of." It is not the physical face-to-face that we are familiar with as if you and I were to speak in person. In Exodus 33:14 God says, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." One of the Hebrew definitions for presence is "face." So, it is not God's ultimate form that was with Moses and the people, but just a way of expressing that He will be with them.
I understand the difficulties surrounding the Trinity. I did a video on the Trinity to try and express my thoughts on the subject. It's on my YouTube channel. I hope it will help. Don't get too perplexed on the subject. As for Moses seeing the "back" of God and whether it was Jesus, I don't think we have enough information to go on. Besides, Moses only saw His back instead of His face. I am satisfied that it was God showing love for Moses by allowing him to see a side of God nobody else had seen.
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