23“Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
and I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back; but my face shall not be seen.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face thou canst not see.

Darby Bible Translation
And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see me from behind; but my face shall not be seen.

English Revised Version
and I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back: but my face shall not be seen.

Webster's Bible Translation
And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

World English Bible
then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back; but my face shall not be seen."

Young's Literal Translation
and I have turned aside My hands, and thou hast seen My back parts, and My face is not seen.'The Mediator's Threefold Prayer
'And Moses said unto the Lord, See, Thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and Thou hast not let me know whom Thou wilt send with me. Yet Thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in My sight. 13. Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found grace in Thy sight, show me now Thy way, that I may know Thee, that I may find grace in Thy sight: and consider that this nation is Thy people. 14. And He said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. 15. And he …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

June the Seventeenth the Invisible Presence
"Show me Thy glory." --EXODUS xxxiii. 12-23. Moses wist not what he asked. His speech was beyond his knowledge. The answer to his request would have consumed him. He asked for the blazing noon when as yet he could only bear the quiet shining of the dawn. The good Lord lets in the light as our eyes are able to bear it. The revelation is tempered to our growth. The pilgrim could bear a brightness in Beulah land that he could not have borne at the wicket-gate; and the brilliance of the entry into …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Election no Discouragement to Seeking Souls
However, whether we all of us agree to the doctrine that God is sovereign or not, is a very little matter to him, for he is so. De jure, by right, he should be so; de facto, as matter of fact, he is so. It is a fact, concerning which you have only to open your eyes and see that God acts as a sovereign in the dispensation of his grace. Our Saviour, when he wished to quote instances of this, spake on this wise: many widows there were in Israel in the time of Elias the prophet, but unto none of these …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 10: 1864

A view of God's Glory
THAT WAS A large request to make. He could not have asked for more: "I beseech thee, show me thy glory." Why, it is the greatest petition that man ever asked of God. It seems to me the greatest stretch of faith that I have either heard or read of. It was great faith which made Abraham go into the plain to offer up intercession for a guilty city like Sodom. It was vast faith which enabled Jacob to grasp the angel; it was mighty faith which enabled Elijah to rend the heavens and fetch down rain from …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 54: 1908

Of the Way to Attain Divine Union
Of the way to attain Divine Union It is impossible to attain Divine Union solely by the activity of meditation, or by the meltings of the affections, or even by the highest degree of luminous and distinctly-comprehended prayer. There are many reasons for this, the chief of which are as follow:-- First, According to Scripture "no man shall see God and live" (Exod. xxxiii. 20). Now all the exercises of discursive prayer, and even of active contemplation, while esteemed as the summit and end of the …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

After the Preceding Ways, There Remains an after Way, Preparatory to Divine Union, in which Wisdom and Justice Make the Passive Purification of the Soul, All
It is impossible to attain divine union by the way of meditation alone, or even by the affections, or by any luminous or understood prayer. There are several reasons. These are the principal. First, according to Scripture, "No man shall see God and live" (Exod. xxxiii. 20). Now all discursive exercises of prayer, or even of active contemplation, regarded as an end, and not as a preparation for the passive, are exercises of life by which we cannot see God, that is, become united to Him. All that …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

Let us Now Examine the Conditions under which a Revelation May be Expected To...
2. Let us now examine the conditions under which a revelation may be expected to be given to the original recipients. It may be observed in the first place that a revelation must possess some distinctive character. Even, if it should turn out that there is no such thing in reality at all, at least the notion which we form in our minds must possess such points of difference as to distinguish it from all other notions. It appears needful to bear this in mind, obvious though it is, because there …
Samuel John Jerram—Thoughts on a Revelation

Whence Also the Just of Old, Before the Incarnation of the Word...
18. Whence also the just of old, before the Incarnation of the Word, in this faith of Christ, and in this true righteousness, (which thing Christ is unto us,) were justified; believing this to come which we believe come: and they themselves by grace were saved through faith, not of themselves, but by the gift of God, not of works, lest haply they should be lifted up. [2679] For their good works did not come before God's mercy, but followed it. For to them was it said, and by them written, long ere …
St. Augustine—On Patience

God's Love for Man
Nature and revelation alike testify of God's love. Our Father in heaven is the source of life, of wisdom, and of joy. Look at the wonderful and beautiful things of nature. Think of their marvelous adaptation to the needs and happiness, not only of man, but of all living creatures. The sunshine and the rain, that gladden and refresh the earth, the hills and seas and plains, all speak to us of the Creator's love. It is God who supplies the daily needs of all His creatures. In the beautiful words of …
Ellen Gould White—Steps to Christ

Ninteenth Lesson. I Go unto the Father!'
I go unto the Father!' Or, Power for Praying and Working. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my Name, that will I do.'--John xiv. 12, 13. AS the Saviour opened His public ministry with His disciples by the Sermon on the Mount, so He closes it by the Parting Address preserved to us by John. In both He speaks more than once of prayer. …
Andrew Murray—With Christ in the School of Prayer

The Blessed Privilege of Seeing God Explained
They shall see God. Matthew 5:8 These words are linked to the former and they are a great incentive to heart-purity. The pure heart shall see the pure God. There is a double sight which the saints have of God. 1 In this life; that is, spiritually by the eye of faith. Faith sees God's glorious attributes in the glass of his Word. Faith beholds him showing forth himself through the lattice of his ordinances. Thus Moses saw him who was invisible (Hebrews 11:27). Believers see God's glory as it were …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

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