To Appear (or, to be seen) comes from the root verb, to see, ra’ah (Strong’s 7200). The root meaning of this word shows up over 1300 times in the Tanakh (Old Testament). To narrow things down, we’re going to explore what it means to appear before YHWH. This is our final week exploring words from the first verses of David’s (42nd) Psalm:
Psalm 42:1-2
[David:] As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear [w-era’eh וְ֝אֵרָאֶ֗ה] before God?
David desperately wanted to appear before God. What does that mean? The Hebrew word for appear (era’eh) means to be seen or see, and the Hebrew word translated as before (p’ney) literally means face. In other words, David yearned to see the face of God. When would he be able to stand in the sight-line of God and truly see His face?
And God Saw…
So let’s take a step back and sort out where this word appear appears (haha) in the Biblical text. It actually shows up fairly early in the text:
Genesis 1:9
Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear (be seen) [w-tey-ra’eh וְתֵרָאֶ֖ה]”; and it was so.
The dry land would “be seen”, but who was the first to “see”?
Well that would be YHWH. Seven times God saw that what He made was good:
Genesis 1:4
And God saw [wai-yar’ Elohim וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים] that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
Genesis 1:10
And God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of the waters He called “seas”; and God saw [wai-yar’ Elohim וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים] that it was good.
Genesis 1:12
The earth produced vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, according to their kind; and God saw [wai-yar’ Elohim וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים] that it was good.
Genesis 1:16-18
God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw [wai-yar’ Elohim וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים] that it was good.
Genesis 1:21
And God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind; and God saw [wai-yar’ Elohim וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים] that it was good.
Genesis 1:25
God made the animals of the earth according to their kind, and the livestock according to their kind, and everything that crawls on the ground according to its kind; and God saw [wai-yar’ Elohim וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים] that it was good.
Genesis 1:31
And God saw [wai-yar’ Elohim וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים] all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.
Now let’s compare what God saw in Genesis 1 to what God saw in Genesis 6:
Genesis 6:5-6
Then YHWH saw [wai-yar’ YHWH וַיַּ֣רְא יְהוָ֔ה] that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. So YHWH was sorry that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
Genesis 6:11-12
Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw [wai’yar Elohim וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים] the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for humanity had corrupted its way upon the earth.
In the beginning God saw good, good, good, good, good, good, very good… but by Genesis 6, God saw only wickedness, evilness, violence and corruption, and it broke His heart.
Over and over God saw what was happening, from the good to the bad. He could see all of human history before His eyes. But on the other hand, there were only a few humans who got to “see” God and live. And David was not one of them. So it makes sense that in Psalm 42 David asked, “when shall I come and appear [w-era’eh וְ֝אֵרָאֶ֗ה] before God?”
When could David join YHWH in His heavenly Kingdom? …because that’s what David really thirsted for; it was his greatest desire.
Seeing the Face of God
God could see us, but we could not see God, at least not in His unique form. It was well understood that those who saw God’s face would die. When Moses asked to see God’s face, he was denied the opportunity because it would kill him, but God came up with an alternative plan:
Exodus 33:18-23
Then Moses said, “Please, show me Your glory!”
And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of YHWH before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion to whom I will show compassion.” He further said, “You cannot see [li-r’oht לִרְאֹ֣ת] My face [et panai אֶת־פָּנָ֑י], for mankind shall not see Me [lo yi-r’ani ] and live!” Then YHWH said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see [w-ra’ita וְרָאִ֖יתָ] My back, but My face [u-panai] shall not be seen [lo yeh-ra’u לֹ֥א יֵרָאֽוּ].”
YHWH made allowances because He desperately wanted to share that experience with Moses, and all His people, but we cannot handle the glory of God in our flesh-born impure state, regardless of our good intentions. We’re just not fit to be in the presence of such raw, sacred, purified, glory that only YHWH possesses.
However, there were many instances in the Bible when people saw God in human form (described as “the Angel of YHWH”/ “the Angel of the LORD”) and lived to tell the tale. And when they did tell the tale, they didn’t say they saw the Angel of YHWH and lived; no, they said they saw God and yet their life was spared. They understood immediately that this Angel of YHWH was actually YHWH Himself, made accessible, to them, in human form.
Probably the most well known instance of this was when Jacob wrestled with “a man”, which he later identified as God:
Genesis 32:30
So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen [raiti רָאִ֤יתִי] God face to face, yet my life has been spared.”
Again, this was the kind of experience that David ached for… his greatest desire was to see God face to face.
There were many more instances of people seeing God (in the form of the Angel of YHWH), such as Abraham (Genesis 18), Jacob (Genesis 32), Balaam (Numbers 22), Gideon (Judges 6), Samson’s parents (Judges 13), and Elijah (2 Kings 1).
But the first person to encounter the Angel of YHWH in the Bible was a woman named Hagar. She was the Egyptian maid-servant to Sarai (later Sarah), wife to Abram (later Abraham). Hagar’s name literally meant, “The (Ha) Foreigner (gar)” and she was woman was treated terribly by Abram and Sarai. Early in the story Sarai was jealous and abused Hagar. In response, Hagar ran away:
Genesis 16:7-13
Now the angel of YHWH found her [Hagar] by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave woman, from where have you come, and where are you going?”
And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
So the angel of YHWH said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” The angel of YHWH also said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.” The angel of YHWH said to her further,
“Behold, you are pregnant, and you will give birth to a son; and you shall name him Ishmael, because YHWH has heard your affliction. But he will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; and he will live in defiance of all his brothers.”
Then she called the name of YHWH who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees me [El r’oi אֵ֣ל רֳאִ֑י]”; for she said, “Also here I have seen [raiti רָאִ֖יתִי] the back of Him who sees me [roi רֹאִֽי]”.
God saw Hagar, and Hagar was blessed to see Him. Hagar had what David longed for: to see and be seen.
Psalm 42:1-2
[David:] As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear [w-era’eh וְ֝אֵרָאֶ֗ה] before God?
David was ready for judgement. He knew that God would accept him as good and worthy of saving. He just wanted to be with God; he longed to stand in the Presence of YHWH and see His face.
Seeing God in Sacrifice
The building of the Tabernacle and, later, the Temple meant that God was able to dwell amongst His people. The Presence of God was behind the curtain, in the Tabernacle’s place of holiness, held in the Ark of the Covenant. This was purified God-space and they now had a place to bring sacrifices to YHWH:
Deuteronomy 16:16-17 (see also Exodus 34:23-24)
“Three times a year all your males shall appear [yeh-ra’eh יֵרָאֶ֨ה] before YHWH your God at the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths; and they are not to appear [w-lo yeh-ra’eh וְלֹ֧א יֵרָאֶ֛ה] before YHWH empty-handed. Everyone shall give as he is able, in accordance with the blessing of YHWH your God which He has given you.”
Although humans weren’t supposed to appear before YHWH empty handed, it wasn’t really sacrifices and ritualistic behaviour that God was looking for in the long run. YHWH didn’t “need” sacrifices because He provided the sacrifice. Everything that was handed over to Him was created by Him.
When Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 22, YHWH stopped him and provided the ram necessary for sacrifice. God was always supposed to provide the sacrifice and His final act of sacrifice was offering up His own Son, Yeshua, to be the sacrificial lamb to atone for every human sin ever committed. It was what was needed to redeem us and set us free. The sacrifice of Yeshua was the one thing that would purify and make us whole enough to enter sacred space, where we could stand freely in front of YHWH and see His face.
According to YHWH’s words in the scroll of Isaiah, He wasn’t looking for what we could give Him, like offerings and rituals. The only thing He truly wanted was the hearts of His people:
Isaiah 1:11-14
[YHWH:] “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle; and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. When you come to appear [leh-ra’oht לֵרָא֖וֹת] before My face, who requires of you this trampling of My courtyards? Do not go on bringing your worthless offerings, incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and Sabbath, the proclamation of an assembly— I cannot endure wrongdoing and the festive assembly. I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, they have become a burden to Me; I am tired of bearing them.”
God wasn’t looking for spilt blood… He just wanted to reunite with His children. The primary goal of this whole human story was to get us back to the Garden Kingdom of God… and there was only one way to do that: God would sacrifice Himself, in human form, to purify us from all unrighteousness. Yeshua (Jesus) went to the cross to fulfill that mission.
1 Peter 1:18-21
…you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Messiah. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared [Greek: phanerothentos] in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
God appeared to us in the form of a human and sacrificed Himself, redeeming us and purifying us so that we could, one day, appear in front of Him and see His face.
David couldn’t wait for that “one day”… and neither should we! We have no reason to fear death… because death is not the end; it’s the day we can stand in front of YHWH and celebrate with great joy because we will finally see His face. As believers, we are all destined to receive this gift… and it’s a gift God is happy to give, because it’s all God ever wanted as well. It’s like the Father and the Prodigal child; we will be brought home, with the Father’s arms open wide, and a big family reunion awaiting us!
Although death brings us to glory, our life here on earth is of great importance. We have a job to do. We are the kingdom builders. We must live well and reflect God’s face to others, so that other’s will also seek God’s face.
Samuel was a great prophet and messenger for God. He anointed David to be king and ancestor to the coming Messiah-Saviour. Samuel promoted God’s Kingdom and shared the Good News of YHWH’s saving grace, but it was his mother that started him on his journey. Hannah gave up her one, longed-for son, Samuel, and handed him over to be raised in the Temple. She said, “I will bring him, so that he may appear [w-ni-r’ah וְנִרְאָה֙] before the face of YHWH and stay there for life” (1 Samuel 1:22b).
Our life is not over when we die. One day you will make an appearance, and it will be a fine showing! You will appear before YHWH and see Him face to face, for life… and for eternity. That’s not an end; it’s a new beginning.
Next week: FOOL
Hebrew Word Lessons 