Jacob then named the place Peniel, "For,'"[he said,] "I have seen God face to face, and I have been delivered." - Genesis 32:30
Is it possible for a person to see God and live? Moses saw Him, face to face, and so did Jacob. "Peniel," where Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the LORD, means "I have seen God face to face, and I have been delivered." How in the world did Jacob (and Moses) survive such meetings?
To put it simply, they survived by the grace of God.
God is holiness defined. In order for a person to come face to face with this holiness and live can only mean that this person, in some way, has been made acceptable to God or perhaps that God has, in some way, agreed to accept the unacceptable. Truth is, anyone who wants eternal life must first have a face to face encounter with the Creator, and the result of this encounter will not be life. The result will be death.
Jacob's life was not preserved at Peniel, his soul was. Jacob died at Peniel and Israel was born. Do you want eternal life? Go to Peniel and die that your soul might live.
I believe in one God, the first and great cause of goodness. I also believe in Jesus Christ, the rebirth of the world. I also believe in the Holy Spirit, the comforter. - Daniel Morgan
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