This is the third time around for this material, but I’m repeating it because (a) we have new readers, and (b) there’s so much scripture in this it definitely bears repeating. This first appeared in 2013 and then in 2017.
No One Can See God And Live
Occasionally I will read or hear conjecture as to what a “glorified body” will consist of when we leave this life and begin life in a New Earth governed by a new order. People speak of being able to transport instantly from one location to another in a manner reminiscent of Star Trek’s “beam me up.” Others wonder about food consumption, since scripture mentions a “marriage supper.” One discussion centered on clothing, because in God’s original order in the garden, the man and his wife were naked. (The conclusion was that yes, we will be, but our minds will be changed so we won’t think of it the same way.)
But I think the biggest change that will occur in those bodies will be that we will be able to withstand seeing God; we will be able to contain the impact of His presence. Have you ever heard that phrase, “No one can see God and live”? Where does that come from?
The reference is from Exodus 33:20. Here’s the story of a direct conversation — not a vision or dream — in context from the NLT with the key verse underlined:
Moses Sees the Lord’s Glory
12One day Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. You have told me, ‘I know you by name, and I look favorably on you.’ 13If it is true that you look favorably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor. And remember that this nation is your very own people.”
14The Lord replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.”
15Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place. 16How will anyone know that you look favorably on me—on me and on your people—if you don’t go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.”
17The Lord replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.”
18Moses responded, “Then show me your glorious presence.”
19The Lord replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh,c before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. 20But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.” 21The Lord continued, “Look, stand near me on this rock. 22As my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind. But my face will not be seen.”
This is reinforced in the New Testament:
John 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.
and
John 6:46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.
and
1 Timothy 6:16 12Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.13I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,14that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,15which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,16who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
(A parallel to that last passage is something familiar if you’ve sung the chorus How Great is Our God: Psalm 104:2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent. )
That doesn’t mean that some have not come close. We know that just a chapter later, when Moses received the “big ten” his face shone when he came down from the market.
The Radiant Face of Moses
29When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. 30When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.
33When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.
This is confirmed in II Cor. 3:7 (ESV)
7Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?
This is also reminiscent of the familiar passage in Isaiah 6:
1It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3They were calling out to each other,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
The whole earth is filled with his glory!”4Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.
5Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
Finally, we can’t begin to scratch the surface of this topic without considering the transfiguration in Matthew 17:
1After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Be sure to see also Revelation 10:1
Today’s reading was prepared using the online site, Bible Hub.
Christianity 201 
Peter’s Sensory Overload at the Transfiguration
Tags: Apostle Peter, Bible commentary, daily Bible study, Gospel of Mark, Jesus is Messiah, transfiguration of Jesus
I’m currently most of the way through Michael Card’s 2012 book on the gospel of Mark titled Mark: The Gospel of Passion (InterVarsity Press). The series of four books on each gospel is called Biblical Imagination, and he certainly brings that gift to this look at the transfiguration of Jesus in Mark chapter 9.
Of all Peter experienced with Jesus, the transfiguration is the only event he refers to in his writings. He understood that he had witnessed a picture of the coming kingdom:
It is absolutely vital to understand that the transfiguration took place after Peter’s confession. It was not proof of Jesus identity. Petr and the others had begun to grasp the truth the only way it can be grasped: by faith.
After the four have made their way up the unidentified mountain, we are told with typical Markan abruptness that Jesus was “transfigured” (metamorphoo). Paul uses the same word twice in his writings to describe the process by which the Holy Spirit works in us to transform and renew our minds (Rom 12:2; 2 Cor 3:18). Strictly speaking, Jesus is not transformed but transfigured. A veil is momentarily lifted and the three disciples see who Jesus has been all along. It is a continuation of the progressive opening of their eyes.
Only Peter speaks. This account is his remembrance. In order to best understand this moment, we must remember the context. Mark says the disciples are terrified. Panic is behind each of Peter’s confused words. His statement is better understood as a question: “Rabbi, is it good for us to be here?” As far as Peter is concerned, it is not a good thing for him to be there. If this radiance is the light of God’s glory, he thinks he is about to taste the death Jesus has spoken of in Mark 9:1 (see Ex 33:20). Perhaps he thinks this is the final coming itself.
Engage with your imagination for a moment. Here is an observant Jewish man facing Moses and Elijah, bathed in a radiant light that all his life he has been told will kill him. Perhaps he is dying. Perhaps the kingdom is breaking in at that very moment! The parenthetical statement in Mark 9:6, that Peter did not know what to say, is a sure indication that what he does eventually say will be the wrong thing.
Peter asks if they might erect three “tabernacles” (Mk 9:5). The Greek word, which appears in all three accounts of the transfiguration, is skene. It simply means “tent” and is sometimes translated as “shelter.” Might Peter in his moment of terror have been asking to build tents for the three luminous characters in order that he and his companions be “sheltered” from their potentially lethal light? It does not make perfect sense, but Peter confesses that he might not have been making perfect sense at the moment. The context is Sinai, terror, impending doom and radiant splendor.
Peter needn’t have worried about shelter. At that moment God shelters them all with a cloud, and the same voice that echoed at Sinai speaks the words both Peter and Jesus need to hear. The progressive opening of Peter’s eyes and ears leaps ahead light years as God’s voice identifies Jesus as his “beloved Son.” Then God, perhaps as frustrated with the disciples as Jesus has been, urges, “Listen to him!” (Mk 9:7).
~Michael Card; Mark: The Gospel of Passion; pp 115-117; IVP Books