Seeing The Face Of God

Q

I am trying to understand what gives the appearance of conflicts in the Scripture. First and foremost, I am NOT questioning the infallible Word of God. In Exodus 33:20, we are told that no one can see the face of God and live. In John 1:18, Jesus reminds us that “no man has seen the face of God.” Yet in Genesis 3:8-12, we read that “the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God….” In the following verses, God conversed with the man and then his wife. In Genesis 3:20, the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife. Didn’t Adam and his wife see the Lord God at these times?

A

The easiest thing is to believe that when the Bible says no man has seen the face of God, that’s what it means. There’s no reason Adam and Eve had to see God’s face for Him to interact with them. Moses was with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights and never saw His face (Exodus 24:18, 33:20).