question frm the book of exodus?

Question

Exodus 33

now god says that he spoke to moses face to face.

11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

then he says that moses can only see his back in verse 23

23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.

isnt this contradicting itself?

Answer 1

Contradiction does exist and it is apparent to all with an
eye to see or an ear to hear.

These so called holy books were never meant to be viewed or read by the common folk. The fact the contradiction appears at the end ( Exodus 33: 18 - 23 ) points to tampering, ignorant scribes and dogmatic translators. Such a thing was meant to support the " No one has seen God ! " assertion.

Neither elaborate nor extravagant explanations for manifest error corrects the obvious fault. Most so called holy writings shares such a defect.

The Creator is not the author of confusion , man is.

The Bible Genesis 32 : 30
So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying,
" It is because I saw God face to face,
and yet my life was spared ".

Have a pleasant day.

Answer 2

Now you get a clearer picture, perhaps, of what is meant by "inspired". NOT dictated to the author as if he were merely a secretary. NOT handed down complete as Islam says of the Q'uran, untouched by the thoughts of man (small, genteel snort).

Obviously the author(s) of Exodus were, in the first instance more interested in depicting Moses as really, REALLY close and buddy-buddy with the Lord. But in the second case, it is equally obvious that THAT author was more concerned with upholding the Awesome Otherness of YHVH, the Lord of All.

Please understand, the Pentateuch was NOT written by Moses. Most of it wasn't written down at all until after Saul's time. This was a people who were functionally illiterate. They depended on the memory of certain people for recounting and remembering their history. And until they set up as a nation they didn't really NEED to be literate. But you get a proper government and the first thing you need is to be able to keep all kinds of records and that means you learn to read and write. By Solomon's time, there was a well-educated class who did all that bureaucracy stuff. And it was during that period that the Pentateuch took written form. It wasn't finalized, of course until after the return from the Babylonian Captivity. The last books of the Old Testament were clearly not written until after Antiochus was overthrown by the Maccabees.

Hope this helped.

Answer 3

No. Note the qualifier, "as a man speaks with his friend." Face-to-face, or not through a prophet, or not a voice out of the sky. Not a small voice in his heart. See? It doesn't mean that Moses saw His face. It just means they were that intimate and close. Not convincing enough? Okay. If I come face to face with a Muslima, for example. I may be face to face with her, but if she's wearing a burka, I can't see her face.

Answer 4

God has talked to people in different ways, in dreams, in visions, in a still small voice either that sounds as if it is in your head or outside, through angles, etc....

With Moses, God talked to him with a voice coming from outside of Moses, coming from the shikina glory (which often was over the mercy seat) but God also meet Moses in his own tent before the tabernacle was built.

Other people have seen God (the 70 elders with Moses) but none could see His face.

Answer 5

Moses ask God to see his Glory v18

Answer 6

zzzzzzzzzzz...... uh......huh.......yawn.......
contra-who.......
contradick.......
contradiction?!?!
Yeah, the Bible's full of 'em.
Keep on searchin'..
You'll find plenty.

Answer 7

No.