"Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father." - John 6:46

"And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form." - John 5:37

"...and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank." - Exodus 24:10-11

"No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained {Him.} " - John 1:18

The Scriptures say that no one has ever seen God, that is: Father, Son and Holy Spirit together as One - ever. When Yeshua walked this earth, He was God Incarnate (John 1:1-14). When we (speaking as humans) saw Him on this earth, we did not see the Father. We heard the Father at the mikvah of Yeshua, we saw the Spirit in the form of a dove [by the way, the only time in Scripture we see the Spirit in any form - Matthew 3:16], but we have never as humans seen God as One at any time.

Yet, from the above-cited passage in Exodus 24, and other passages in the Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures), we find that people have "seen" God. We call these appearances of God "Theophanies" (appearances of God). So, who did Avraham "see" (Genesis 15, 17, 18, etc.), who did Yakov wrestle with (Genesis 32) and who did Manoah (Judges 13) "see?"

Definitely, not the Father! Not if Yeshua knows anything! The reason I believe that they did not "see" the "Father" is because of the words of Yeshua in John 6:46 and John 5:37. If anyone should know, it is Yeshua Himself.

Having stated that, it is very important for us to ask, "Who was the "God" that the elders of Israel "saw?"

I believe they saw the pre-Incarnate Messiah Yeshua, not the Father and not the Spirit. That being the case, then when the Elders saw the pre-Incarnate Yeshua in Exodus 24, we can understand that it was He Who gave the Torah on the mountain (Exodus 19)! Let me repeat this to let it sink in: it was Yeshua who gave "the Law" to His people!

It was not a different God who gave the "Law!" It was not the Father - for according to Yeshua, no one had ever heard His voice or seen His form - it was Yeshua (Jesus)!

So, when we see Him say, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." - John 14:15, then we need to realize that He is the One who gave His Torah to His people and He expects His people to obey them - if they truly love Him.

As believers in Him, we need to realize that the walk that we walk must be the same as His was. 1 John 2:1-5 says:

"¹ My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ² and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

³ By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. ⁴ The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; ⁵ but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: ⁶ the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked."

In short, if you truly are are believer in Yeshua (Jesus) - you will walk in obedience to His commandments, even as Yeshua walked according to His Father's commandments!

The litmus test for your faith is your walk! If you are not walking as Yeshua walked, you are not likely to be His! There is no different "Law" in the New Testament from that Yeshua gave in His Older Testament! It is the same commandment! It was given by Yeshua! Yet, it IS New in that it is empowered by His Spirit who dwells within us!

"⁷ Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. ⁸ On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining." - 1 John 2:7, 8

The "New" of the "New Covenant" is that the Law is not an external system of Laws and rules that we must keep in order to be made righteous. The "New" of the New Covenant is that God puts His Law on our hearts and our minds:

³¹ "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, ³² not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. ³³ "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." (Jeremiah 31)

Yeshua did NOT do away with (or abolish) the Law - which He gave on the Mountain to Israel and throughout the Scripture exhorts His people to keep! He says in Matthew 5:

¹⁷ "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸ "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

As far as He is concerned, the Law that He gave on Sinai is forever - until heaven and earth are passed away. If anyone tells you otherwise, he or she is the least in the Kingdom of Heaven!

If you are a true believer in Yeshua as your Messiah and Lord and truly love Him, you need to obey Him.

If He asks you: "Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? (Luke 6:46)

What will your answer be?

This article is the viewpoint of Bruce R. Booker and does not necessarily represent the views of all the members of Beth Yeshua Messianic Congregation.