QUESTION
In Isaiah 6:1 Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up. How can Isaiah in Isaiah 6:1 see God and still survive when other passages like Exodus 33:20 say one cannot see God and live?
Here is Arnold's ANSWER:
The fact that Isaiah saw God seems to contradict passages such as Exodus 19:21: And Jehovah said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto Jehovah to gaze, and many of them perish. Furthermore, Exodus 33:20 notes: And he said, You cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live. The point of these two verses is that no one can see God in His actual essence and survive it. The New Testament makes a similar point. John 1:18 declares: No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. Then I Timothy 6:16 teaches: who only has immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power eternal. Amen. In light of these verses, how could Isaiah say that he saw God?
The answer is that Isaiah was really seeing the Messiah. John 12:39-40 states: 39 For this cause they could not believe, for that Isaiah said again, 40 He has blinded their eyes, and he hardened their heart; Lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, And should turn, And I should heal them.
In these verses, the Messiah was quoting Isaiah 6:10. In verse 41, He then continued by stating: These things said Isaiah, because he saw his glory; and he spoke of him. In other words, Isaiah was not seeing the actual essence of God but the Shechinah glory in the Person of the Messiah.
Ariel Ministries Commentary on Isaiah by Dr Arnold Fruchtenbaum pg 84-85
