Seeing God face to face

In Alejandro Bullón’s article “Why Your Eternal Life Depends on Jesus” (May 2006), he says that prior to Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit, they conversed with God face to face. After eating the fruit, they hid from God, implying that they didn’t see Him face to face. But God conversed with them after they sinned in the same way as before.

Jesus Himself said nobody at any time has seen God or even heard His voice (John 5:37). However, John 1:1 says that Jesus is the Word, and “the Word was God.” I believe that Jehovah of the Old Testament is “the Word,” Jesus. How can it be any other way if nobody has seen the Father face to face and lived? Jacob said he had seen God face to face and lived (Genesis 32:30). That’s because he saw the Word, not the Father.

Eric Sherwood, email

Editor’s response: Alejandro Bullón said that Adam and Eve hid from God after they sinned. He did not say that they didn’t talk to him again face to face. However, after they were cast out of the Garden of Eden they did not talk to God face to face again, nor has anyone else. We tend to agree with you that the Being Jacob wrestled with was Jesus, “the Word.”

Pictures of God

We believe you have a helpful magazine, but we can’t get past the first page whenever the issue has a picture of Deity on the cover or inside. Why is it that the second commandment (Exodus 20:4–6) has no influence on the editorial staff on such a serious issue?

Jill at Jill’s Services, Clay, Alabama

Editor’s response: We are asked this question occasionally. Our response is that the commandment itself gives the reason for the prohibition of images: We are not to bow down to or worship them. We do not bow down to or worship the pictures of Jesus in Signs, and we have never heard of a reader who did. The same God who forbade the making of images at the same time commanded the making of images of cherubim to be placed on top of the ark of the covenant in the Mosaic sanctuary (Exodus 25:1, 10–22, especially verses 18–20). The commandment forbade them to worship these images of cherubim, but it did not forbid their making them.

Long hair revisited

Regarding the letter pertaining to the length of Jesus’ hair (Letters, May 2006), you yourself stated that it depends on the culture in which one lives. Coins from the time of Jesus depict Caesar with hair around the ears, but not any longer, such as touching the shoulders. And it was my understanding that the males of that period followed that custom. I was taught this in our church schools.

Virginia Spreen, Wasilla, Alaska

Games and gambling

Is it gambling when you go to a restaurant or the grocery store and see these games with the big claw and the stuffed animals? What I’m trying to say is, is it bad to put your money in them and play? Is that also gambling?

Virginia L. Ross, Marshall, Texas

Editor’s response: County fairs sometimes have booths in which one can throw darts to burst balloons, with a small reward for those who succeed. These are more a test of one’s skill in manipulating the claw or throwing the dart. We would not consider them to be gambling, but we would caution against wasting a lot of money on them.

Thanks for Signs!

I have enjoyed your magazine for several years. It has always been a blessing, especially during the holidays.

Kelly Smith, Belvidere, Illinois

Your Thoughts by Readers	From the September 2006 Signs