PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 143: WHO ARE WE LISTENING TO? Pt 4
FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell
EPISODE 143: WHO ARE WE LISTENING TO? Pt 4
The revelation of God's face – He wants to smile His blessing upon us, but sometimes He has to hide His face. Let's live in the lights of His countenance.
Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, From Our Home to Yours, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.
Nancy Campbell: Hello ladies. Great to be with you again! And also, I'm so pleased to tell you that a new Above Rubies is going to be coming to you soon. It will go to the printer's this very week, so Number 98 is coming your way!
I know, you've had a long wait, and that's because we have to wait for the finance to come in. I rely on the donations of those who want to get this message of strengthening families out into the nation and into the world. Sometimes I have to wait longer than I want to wait. I love to get it out to you to encourage you and so that you can share it with others, to encourage them.
Now at this time, of course, we're preparing our database, and cleaning it up, as we do each time we send out a new magazine. So if you have a change of address, please send it in. Email it to me at ,This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
We'd love to get your change of address if you've moved, because if you send it out to the wrong address, well, we have to pay for it. And they send it back to, well, they don't, they just send back a little card, so the magazine is destroyed. And then they charge us for letting us know that it couldn't get to you! So do that.
Also, some of you who are listening, you may not even get the Above Rubies magazine. Well, that's the origin of Above Rubies! It's a magazine to encourage you, and uplift you, and bless you, and, oh, fortify you in your great and high calling. It's filled with testimonies of other wives and mothers, and it will bless your soul. So if you don't get the magazine, just email me, and you can send your address in, and we'll put you on the mailing list.
Some of you may want to get more to share with others. That's our vision, to share this message to everyone we can. So you're welcome to write in, email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and ask for more copies.
Oh, also, my Above Rubies Instagram account, some of you may have been following that. A few weeks ago, it was hacked. I haven't yet got it back. Sadly, that is 12,300 followers. I had posted there 1,572 posts to encourage and bless mothers. They're all gone, so that is so sad.
But anyway, at last I have set up another Instagram account. It's still the same address, so you can go to it: _Above_Rubies_. So it's “Above Rubies,” with an underscore at the beginning, the middle, and the end.
So I've got to start all again. Please share with friends and let them know that it's beginning again. I'll start posting now every day to you on Instagram, just to give you something to bless you, and inspire you, as a wife and a mother.
Also, the Equality Act, have you been listening to anything about that? It's an act that's already been passed in the House. Sometime ago it was passed, but now Nancy Pelosi and all these demos, they are desperate to get it passed through the Senate.
Now, this Equality Act is not what it sounds. Like everything that they put out, they make it sound so beautiful, but it is the opposite of equality for all people, especially for those who are conservative with Bible-believing principles.
This Equality Act will cause girls who are in sports to have to compete with transgenders, those who have changed from male to female, but still have so much more manly power. Of course, that's not even fair.
It will affect those who are in business. They cannot refrain from employing someone who is homosexual or transgender. Any business they will do for them, they can't say no, because they'd rather not do it for someone in that position. So they are bound to do it.
Also for churches, they cannot say no to even a homosexual or transgender who would want to come and work for them. They cannot even say no. This is what it's all about. That's only just the beginning. You can read up about it. Just put it in, “Equality Act.”
But what we all have to is call our senators. So I would encourage each one of us to call our senators, because if we don't do this, this thing will be passed. And we're just going down the drain, like we already are.
In only just over a month, since Biden has been the illegitimate President of our nation, he has now signed over 50 executive orders. Now, in that same time frame, Obama signed six, and Trump signed five. But Biden has signed over 50, every one of them bringing down this nation, causing people to lose jobs, and bringing us to poverty, and taking us away from our conservative and Biblical values. So this is where we are heading. We've got to stand up for everything that we can, so do call your senator about this bill, the Equality Act, and plead with them to vote against it.
Of course, let's keep praying for our nation. It's sort of hard to know what to do, isn't it? When we think, “Wow, we're just, they're just pushing in everything that's against our Biblical values!” Here they're doing this in a fraudulent way, because we all know, it has been proven without doubt that this election was won by Trump.
So where can we go? Our Supreme Court is not standing with us. No one is standing with us. We only have God. But our God is big, so let's not give in. Let's keep praying, let's keep trusting God, and let's keep standing up for truth. Amen?
Well, dear ladies, we're continuing Who Are You Listening To? The fake media, or God's Word? I'm sharing God's Word to you on a few different subjects that are challenging us at this moment.
I've talked to you on quite a few, a couple of podcasts about masking and what does God think about it in His Word? I thought I'd completely finished with that, but, ladies, I can’t believe it! Just in my daily readings, I am still seeing more Scriptures that give us an understanding of what we should do in this situation. It's so amazing, isn't it, how the Bible is filled with truth and it gives us the answer for everything that we are facing.
So I've got to share a few more verses with you. Do you mind? I'm one, who when I'm studying the Word, I want to find out everything God says on a subject. I often don't find out all about it at once. I'll think, “Oh, wow, I've got it!” And then I'll see more! So I want to share more with you.
Now, I have talked to you about how we get to understand and know God, by seeing His face. Of course, we know the Scriptures that if any man looks upon the face of God, he will die. But you see, God is Spirit. And in His Word, He reveals Himself through showing us His character.
Often He shows it by physical things, so we can understand. We can only understand the physical, even when it talks about God's face. Did you know that the Bible mentions many aspects of God's face? Even though He is a Spirit, God uses these analogies so we can understand more about Him.
I remember telling you about the Table of Showbread in the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and how on the Table of Showbread, they had the Showbread. It is also called the Bread of Faces, lechem ha panim, the Bread of Faces. The bread represented Jesus Who is the Bread of Life. But it wasn't just “face,” but “faces,” because there are so many aspects to His character. And as we feed upon Him, in His Word, and wait on Him, we learn more and more of who He is.
GOD SMILES HIS BLESSINGS UPON US
Now I want to show you a few more things today. I was thinking of Numbers 6:24-26 which is the blessing. It's the blessing that God told the priests that they were to impart to His people. It's the blessing God wants on His people—on His people Israel, on His redeemed blood-bought people who are saved by His grace.
You all know this blessing. Let me read it again:
“The Lord bless thee and keep thee:
The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”
Now, do you notice, ladies, that in the blessing that God wants to put upon us, when He wants to show us His favor and His blessing, it talks about His face? You see, here it comes again, His face. Now “The Lord make His face” (it's the Hebrew word paniym). then it says: “The Lord lift up His countenance” (the Hebrew word is paniym again. It uses two different words, but it's the same Hebrew word, “face,” the face of God.
And so, when God wants to bless you, lovely ladies, He wants to shine His face upon you. He wants you to see His face. Yes, He is Spirit, but He wants you to see who He is, and all that He is—His love, and His compassion, and His longsuffering, and His patience, and His peace, and His rest, and everything that is in Christ. It's all comes through His face. It shines through His face.
Now, in the Knox translation of the Bible, it translates the word “face,” as the “favor of God,” it's translated as “smiled.” I love that. Let me give you a few Scriptures here. Yes, in this beautiful blessing, it says, “The Lord smile on thee.”
It's giving the picture: “The Lord make His face shine upon thee.” So the Knox translation brings it out, “The Lord smile on thee.” Isn't that beautiful? You see, that's how we show our favor.
When we're looking at our children, how do we show our favor to them? We smile at them, don't we? When we lift up our countenance . . . What does it mean to life up your face, lift up your countenance? Well, your face is lifted up. And when it's lifted up, it's smiling! It really just means “smiling.” So God loves to smile on us.
Yes, God smiles. He smiles upon you. That's His blessing upon you. And who God is, we are to reveal Him, in our small ways. So dearest, lovely mothers, in your home, with your children around you, you are to show what God is like to them. You show to them what His blessing is like upon their lives. And so you're going to smile at them. OK? Are you doing that? Are you smiling?
Of course, that's why you have an open face. You can't smile through a mask. That's ridiculous! So we need an open face. You're smiling at your children, and as you do that, you're blessing them. Do you want to bless your children? SMILE AT THEM!
Do you want to bless your husband? SMILE AT HIM! How often do you smile at him during the day? Of course, unless he's out working, but when he comes in, when he's around, how often do you smile at him? How often are you smiling at your children? It's very easy to put on a kind of dark, frowning countenance, isn't it? But the blessing is the smiling countenance.
OK, let's look at some other Scriptures.
Psalm 21:6. “We are comforted by the smile of Thy favor.”
Psalm 44:3: “Thy smile shine upon them, in proof of Thy favor.”
Psalm 67:1: “May God be merciful to us, and bless us. May He grant us the favor of His smile.”
Psalm 80:3, 7, and 19: “Smile upon us, and we shall find deliverance.”
Psalm 90:17: “The favor of the Lord our God smile upon us.”
Psalm 89:15 “Happy is the people that lives, O Lord, in the smile of Thy protection.”
Psalm 119:135: “Restore to Thy servant the smile of Thy loving favor.”
So, we see here again that God has an open face. His blessing is to smile upon us. That is not masked. So we're getting that understanding again of how masking up people is totally antipathy to God's heart, and the way He wants us to live.
Of course, we know, I'm giving you the Word, but I can spend a whole podcast with the science of how masks are not healthy at all. They are the opposite. And when God created us, He didn't create each new human being with a mask to protect them all their life. No, He created them with a powerful immune system.
GOD CREATED US WITH A STRONG IMMUNE SYSTEM
You see, God has provided us with everything. He's provided us with an immune system that fights disease, that helps us to stay healthy. Our job as mothers is not to mask up, or mask our children up. It's to strengthen and build up, daily and diligently, their immune systems. That's how we keep them healthy.
In fact, an immune system has to get used to diseases and stuff around. Now what happens with a little baby at about eight months of age? They're still a little precious baby, and they begin to crawl. Crawling is important. Crawling is important for their mental development.
But crawling is also important for them to start being able to cope with diseases, and this and that, and all the dirt and junk that's around them, and all the things that are in life that we could possibly catch. They've got to get immunity to them! So God causes them to crawl down on the dirty ground, and on the dirty floor.
Well, when we've got babies, we try to keep it all nice and clean, but it's still dirty. People walk on it. And then babies go out, and they just love to get into the dirt and pick up everything they can, and eat it! And they don't die! No, they're getting a strong immunity! Oh, goodness me. That's how God created us.
Anyway, so we see how God just wants to smile upon us. So you're going to be a smiling mother, aren't you? I love that quote of William Makepeace Thackeray. He said. “'Mother' is the name for God, in the lips and hearts of little children.” We show to our children what God is like, through our face, through loving, and through our face, smiling at them through our face. God wants you to be doing this all day long. And of course, to your husband.
GOD HIDES HIS FACE FROM SIN
And on the other hand, OK, we have these Scriptures about God's smiling on us, but when God is bringing judgment upon us, yes, God is also a God of judgment against sin. It tells us that He hides His face from us.
You see, the hiding of the face is not a blessing. The hiding of the face is a judgment. It's a curse, and we need to realize that, even with this masking business. When we hide our face, it's a curse. We hide our face from people we don't like. You know, if you don't want to be in fellowship with someone, you hide your face from them.
God hides His face when there's sin around. Deuteronomy 31:17-18. “Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them. And they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they shall say in that day, 'Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?'”
It was because they had turned away to other gods. It goes on to say: “And I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.” You see, the Word of God is so expressive, isn't it? And it's all to do with the face! He shines His smiles on us with blessing, but He turns His face from us in judgment when we are sinning.
Deuteronomy 32:16-19: “They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they Him to anger . . . Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. And when the Lord saw it, He abhorred them... And He said, ‘I will hide My face from them.’”
Those words in Deuteronomy 31 and 32, where it talks about God's anger, that particular word is aph in the Hebrew. I've been doing a study on this, and I simply can't believe it, ladies. You know, it is important, isn't it, to really understand the full understanding of God's Word, and to understand truly who our God is. Because He's such a God of love and compassion, who just loves to smile upon us.
This is the blessing He so longs to pour out upon us. But because He is God, and holy and pure, He has judgment against sin. And He hates sin. He abhors sin. He cannot stand sin. He is angry at sin. Because of His longsuffering, He holds back His anger.
He is slow to anger, but we read so many times in the Old Testament of how He became very angry when the children of Israel turned away from Him and turned to other gods. Then He would turn away from them and just let their enemies take over them. They became slaves to enemies for years, and then they'd cry out to God. Of course, in His mercy, He would hear them and send them a deliverer and save them again.
We are in this day of grace. But there is coming a day when God's anger will be released against all sin. As I've been reading these Scriptures, I just can't believe how many there are. There's hundreds! I have found not only this word aph, but eight different Hebrew words about God's anger. In the “fierceness of His anger.” And the “rod of His anger,” and the “power of His anger,” and the “indignation of His anger.” And so it goes on.
I believe that we also can be indignantly angry against evil, because that's how God is. He is angry against evil. We are not meant to be, “Oh well, you know, it's OK, we're just gonna gloss over it.” No, we have to take a strong stand against evil.
Oh yes, let me t show you how God uses, even talks about, specific parts of His face to describe how He feels. Now, we know He is Spirit. The Word uses these parts of the face to describe the emotions and the heart of God. But it's amazing how He uses the face. He uses the mouth. We often read “the mouth of the Lord hath spoken.”
He talks about God's lips. Isaiah 30:27, 28: “Behold, the Name of the Lord cometh from afar, burning with His anger . . . His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue as a devouring fire: And His breath as an overflowing stream.” All these are aspects of the face, because it's the face that reveals the character.
Nostrils. Psalm 18:8: “There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth.” When someone is really angry, it's like they're smoking through the nostrilsand that's the picture that is given here.
It talks about His nose in Isaiah 65:5: “These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.” You're getting to see how the face is so important. Every part of the face is portrayed.
His eyes and His eyelids, Psalm 11:4: “His eyes behold, and His eyelids try the children of men.”
So I just wanted to share that with you as I've been discovering how, yes, the face is so important. The open face, because it declares who we are.
God's face declares who He is; our faces declare who we are!
FACE TO FACE FELLOWSHIP
Let's go over to the end of the Bible now. Let's go to the New Testament. Right at the end, to 2 John. Second John is just a little letter of one chapter. John is writing to the elect lady. This lady was obviously someone who had a church in her home for her family and for others who came into her home.
So John is writing to her. But he hasn't got enough time to write everything he wants, so we get down to verse 12, and he says: “Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you and speak face to face.” The Greek is actually “mouth to mouth.”
Open faces, sharing together. He loves to communicate, to speak face to face. That is the ultimate. Now today, we are still facing, I hope not so much, but it seems that there are still churches who are social distancing and masking. Some are not even coming back, and some who are, are social distancing in their churches. It's all so opposite, so opposite, to what God intends. God loves the face-to-face fellowship.
We go to 3 John, and this letter is also one chapter. He's writing to Gaius. We come down to verse 13, “I had many things to write,” but he doesn't have time to write them all. But he says: “I trust I shall shortly see you, and we shall speak face to face.” Oh, how John loved face-to-face fellowship! This is what the New Testament is all about.
Right at the very beginning, in Romans 1:12, Paul was writing to the believers, and he introduces them to their faith and he tells them what it's like. In that Scripture, he says: “Your faith is a mutual faith.” In other words, it's not an individual faith. Oh yes, it is individual, but it's mostly, ultimately, predominately, a mutual faith.
And that Greek word, allelon, in every other place, it's translated “one another.” Love one another. Be kind to one another. Fellowship with one another. Gather with one another. And on and on. I think I found nearly 40 different “one anothers” in the Bible.
Actually, I did do some podcasts on them. If you didn't actually hear them, you need to go back. I did two podcasts on Should Churches Be Meeting Together? Podcasts 102 and 103. Please listen if you never heard them.
And then I did four podcasts on the whole doctrine of TOGETHERNESS, podcasts 104 to 107. And in those, I talked about all the different “one anothers.” It's just so amazing.
“LET US” DO IT TOGETHER
Then we go to Hebrews and we see how there are ten different times, ten different Scriptures, where the Word says: “Let us.” It doesn't say, “Well, I want you to do this.” No, “Let us.” The writer of the Hebrews (we think it was Paul, it may have been someone else) he didn't say, “Now, this is what I want you to do,” or “This is what I do.” No, “Let us.” This is what I'm to do, and this is what you're to do. We're to do it together. It's together we do it.
Because you see, our God, lovely ladies, is a “let us” God. Right in the very beginning, Genesis 1:26: “God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.'” God is a triune Being. And within the Godhead, there is glorious, beautiful, unifying fellowship.
You see, God doesn't tell us to do anything that He is not already doing. That is not part of Him. God is plural. God fellowships—God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. It is an “us” God. “Let us, let us.” It's togetherness and out of these anointed God togethernesses, He encourages us to be a together people.
We're not to be a separated people. We're not to be just having our faith on our own. That's why there is so much encouragement to meeting, and assembling, and gathering together. We can't have this “one another” lifestyle on our own. We have to come together. Everything we have to do in our Christian walk, if we do it together, it will be more powerful.
As we do things together, we become stronger in the faith. We don't grow strong on our own. It's like a fire of coals and they're all together, burning so brightly. Oh, it's just so warming, and so delightful, and they're all hot. Hot, yes. God wants us to be hot for Him.
But if we take one of those coals and we put it on the hearth, it's not long before that coal goes black and all the beautiful red heat goes out of it, and it's no longer hot. It's no longer burning. It's just there, cold on the hearth. And that's what happens when we try to do it on our own.
Well, I'd like to take you through these ten “let us” things we're to do together, but I think we'd better start and do them in the next session, because time is going. .
LET’S BE GOD’S WORD PEOPLE
Well, dear ladies, forgive me. I didn't mean to get on this subject again, but it's all in the Word, and I want to give you everything that's in the Word. When you come to these podcasts, you're not coming just to hear me talk about a lot of this, that, and the other thing. No, I want to give you the Word.
And I do trust that you are built up in the Word as you come to listen to these podcasts, because, dear ladies, there's nothing better we can listen to. We can listen to stories, we can listen to ideas, we can listen to people say this and that. But it's the Word that we need, and if we get this Word right down into our beings, that's how we'll live. We'll live by the Word.
That's why I'm doing this series. We're either going to live one of two ways. One, by the Word, or two, by what we hear in society, what we hear on the fake media, what we hear other people saying. So which one is it going to be?
Let's be Word people!
Dear lovely mothers, oh, impart that Word to your children. Oh, make your children Word-children so that as they go out into this world, they will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, and against the deceptions, and against all the junk that is out there.
I know many of you are homeschooling your children, and it is so beautiful. You have them in this safe environment, and this is what we are meant to do. And then, in some ways, we're hibernating them. But we're not doing it forever.
We're doing it now, to put God's Word, and His truth, into them. But we're ultimately doing it to make them strong for one day when they leave our home and go out into this world. And then they go out to bring the revelation of God and the truth of God. So you are not educating them for hibernation, but for the revelation of God in the world.
Dear Father, we thank You so much for Your Word, and thank You for showing us again the importance You put upon the face. And how every facial feature and every facial expression is either revealing You to our children, and to those around us, or it's giving off a negative thing to them.
Lord, help us to be those who shine with Your smile of blessing. We ask it in the Name of Jesus. Bless these dear mothers, Lord. Bless these dear wives, and their children, and their families. I pray that You will help them to lift up their faces, and lift up their heads, and walk in freedom and in truth, according to Your Word. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Transcribed by Darlene Norris. If you would like to thank her, her email is: momcat617
P.S. There are still so many more Scriptures about the importance the Bible puts upon the face. I thought I better stop doing podcasts on this subject but there is more for you to checkout. For those who really want to dig into God’s Word, here are lots more Scriptures for you. Be blessed.
The importance the Bible places on the face.
We see the importance of the face at the very beginning of creation.
Genesis 1:26, 27: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness . . . So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
God created us in His image to reveal His likeness. The Hebrew word image is tselem and means “to shade.” We are not the perfect image of God, for we are not God. But we are to reveal His character and His likeness, and we do this through our face. People see what we are like and behold our character as they look at our face.
God wants the revelation of His image to be revealed through the face of his people. Conversely, Satan wants to hide the image of God in the world. He is the instigator of masks.
The following Scriptures in this article are the Hebrew word, paniym.
BIBLICAL EXAMPLES OF MEETING FACE TO FACE
JACOB AND ESAU
Genesis 32:13-21. On Jacob’s return from Haran, he wanted to reconcile with his brother Essa. He was so concerned about it that he sent on a gift to him before he actually met. It wasn’t a little a gift but an assortment of 620 animals from his flock. He sent the present on ahead and said: “I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.”
We would normally say, “I will see him after he receives my gift,” but the Bible specifically says, “I will see his face.” To truly meet someone you must see their face. When we think of seeing them again, we think of their face. We see their face before our eyes.
When Jacob and Esau met Jacob said to him: “If now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as thought I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me” (Genesis 33:10). We would most probably have said, “After all these years I have seen you again,” but Jacob said, “I have seen your face.”
Genesis 35:1, 7: “And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother . . . And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el, because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.”
When Jacob fled from his brother to Haran because he stole his birthright. God Himself only say, “When you fled from your brother,” but when you “fled from the face of your brother.” Check out also Genesis 36:6, 7.
JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS
There was great famine in the land of Egypt and Canaan. Jacob’s sons had already been down to Egypt to get food and now they had run out again. It’s time to go again but Judah speaks to his father in Genesis 43:3, 5: ”The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.”
Further on in the story Judah is now speaking to Joseph (although he still does not it is long lost brother): “And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more . . . “ (Genesis 44:23, 26).
We would say, “ You will not see me unless your youngest brother is with you.” But the Bible specifically says, “you won’t see my face.”
Are you getting the importance the Bible puts on seeing the faces of one another?
JACOB AND JOSEPH
Genesis 46:30 speaks of the glorious reunion of Jacob and his son Joseph whom he thought was dead: “And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.”
Genesis 48:11: “And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face and lo, God hath showed me also thy seed.”
MOSES AND PHARAOH
Exodus 2:15: “Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses, But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian.”
Exodus 10:28, 29: “And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die. And Moses said Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.”
These words were spoken before God sent the last plague on the Egyptians, that all their firstborn sons and firstborn cattle would die.
SEEING GOD FACE TO FACE
The Bible says that no man can see the face of God and live (Exodus 33:21-23). And yet the Bible speaks of different ones who saw God face to face. Because the face speaks of God’s character and His presence, these men experienced the manifestation of God’s presence in special tangible ways. To know God is to see Him face to face.
JACOB
Genesis 32:24-30: “And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
MOSES
Exodus 33:11: “And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.”
Deuteronomy 34:10: “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.”
CHILDREN OF ISRAEL
Deuteronomy 5:4: “The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire.”
Numbers 14;14: “And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by daytime in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night.”
COVERED FACES ARE DISGUISES
Genesis 38:15: “When Judah saw her (Tamar, his daughter-in-law), he thought her to be a harlot; because she had covered her face.”
Job 24:15: “The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguised his face.” Masks and disguises are for those who do evil.
WE BLESS OTHERS WITH OUR FACE
Numbers 6:24-27: “The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance (face) upon thee, and give thee peace.” The face is involved in blessing.
1 Kings 8:14 and 2 Chronicles 6:3: “The king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel.” King Solomon turned his face toward the people when he blessed them.
We are commanded to bless one another, and we cannot do it with a covered face. The blessing of the Lord comes out of our mouths, through the smiles, and the favor we show upon our faces. We cannot bless others with a mask on!
WE TURN OUR FACE TO THE PERSON OR THE THING WE ARE PROPHESYING TO
We are commanded to set out faces toward whoever or whatever we are prophesying over. E.g. Ezekiel 6:2; 20:46, 47; 21:2, 3; 25:2; 28:21; 35:2; and 38:2.
WE MUST SEEK GOD’S FACE
To seek God’s face is to seek His presence. It means to get to know Him through His Word, through prayer, and waiting on Him. The Bible not only exhorts us to seek God, but to seek His FACE! The following Scriptures all speak of seeking God’s face:
Chronicles 16:11: “Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.”
2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face , and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Psalm 27:8: “When thou sadist, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee Thy face, LORD, will I seek.”
Also read 1 Kings 13:6; Job 22:26; 33:26; Psalm 17:15; 24:6; 34:5; 105:4; Daniel 9:3; Hosea 5:15; and 2 Corinthians 3:18.
REFUSING TO SEE SOMEONE’S FACE
KING DAVID AND ABSALOM
2 Samuel 14:24, 28, 32: “And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king’s face . . . So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king’s face.”
We would most probably say, “I do not want to see you,” but the Bible says that David would not see Absalom’s face! Interacting with each other’s faces is how God intends us to live.
WE MUST NOT TURN OUR FACES AWAY FROM GOD’S HOUSE
Read 2 Chronicles 29:3-36. Verse 6 and 7: “For our fathers have trespassed and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs. Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense, nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel . . “
The habitation of the Lord was the tabernacle where they came to meet with God. The New Testament counterpart is the gathering of the saints together which we are commanded not to forsake (Hebrews 10:25). We must never turn our face from the house of God. We show our commitment to God by our commitment to His house and the gathering of His people.
God’s fierce wrath was on the people because they had turned their faces away from His tabernacle. Conversely, we cannot expect God’s blessing upon us when we do not diligently gather with God’s people. When we choose to do something else rather than gather with the saints, we are turning our face away from God Himself.
WE MUST TURN AWAY OUR FACES FROM EVIL
Ezekiel 14:6: “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.”
WE DON’T KNOW SOMEONE UNTIL WE SEE THEIR FACE
Galatians 1:21-23: “And (Paul) was unknown by face unto the churches of Judea which were in Christ: But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.”
WE SHARPEN ONE ANOTHER’S FACES
Proverbs 27:17: “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance (face = paniym) of his friend.”
We cannot have true dialogue without seeing one another’s faces and expressions. Masks spoil fellowship. In fact, they completely hinder true fellowship.
CJB: “Just as iron sharpens iron, a person sharpens the character of his friend.” The CJB uses the word “character” but it is paniym (face) in the Hebrew. But of course our character is revealed through our face. Therefore, as we sharpen one another in conversation and discussion we sharpen the character of each other.
TO ACCUSE SOMEONE, WE MUST DO IT FACE TO FACE
Acts 25:16: ”It is of the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have license to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.” We don’t accuse behind someone’s back, but face to face.
Galatians 2:11: “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I (Paul) withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.”
SAD GOODBYES
Acts 20:37, 38: “And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more.”
The Ephesians elders sorrowed because they did not believe they would see Paula gain. How does the Bible describe this scene? That they would see his face no more. It was his face that was dear to them. His face revealed God’s glory. From his face came the words of revelation and life. We often say, “I am so sad I won’t see them anymore.” But the Bible expressly states that it is the face they will see no more. The reason being that a person reveals himself through his face.
WHEN WE LONG TO SEE SOMEONE, WE LONG TO SEE THEIR FACE
PAUL
1 Thessalonians 2:17: “But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.”
1 Thessalonians 3:9, 10: “For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God; Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?”
JOHN to the “elect lady.”
2 John 1:12: “Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.”
JOHN to Gaius.
3 John 1:13, 14: “I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee; But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face.” The Greek in the last two Scriptures is actually “mouth to mouth.” You can’t speak or fellowship “mouth to mouth” with a mask on!
WE MUST TURN OUR FACES TO ZION
Jeremiah 50:5: “They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward.”
NET: “They will ask the way to Zion, they will turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten.”
This is literally speaking of God’s people returning to Zion, back to their land. But it is the same attitude that we should have. Our faces should always be turned toward God, to His Word, and to that which is on His heart. Our faces should never be turned to the things of this world but only to God Himself.
Jeremiah 32:33: “They have turned unto me the back, and not the face, though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.” May our faces always be toward the Lord, and never our backs.
CHRIST LONGS TO SEE OUR FACE
Song of Solomon 2;14 (NET): “O my dove . . . let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.” God longs to see your face as He fellowships with you.
THE ULTIMATE JOY OF LIFE WILL BE TO SEE JESUS FACE TO FACE
1 Corinthians 13:12: “For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
We have a faint picture of Christ now as we see Him in His living Word, as we get to know Him in the place of prayer, and as we wait on Him, but it is not yet a perfect picture. One day we will see Him face to face.
Face to face with Christ, my Savior,
Face to face—what will it be,
When with rapture I behold Him,
Jesus Christ who died for me?
Refrain:
Face to face I shall behold Him,
Far beyond the starry sky;
Face to face in all His glory,
I shall see Him by and by!
Only faintly now I see Him,
With the darkened veil between,
But a blessed day is coming,
When His glory shall be seen.
What rejoicing in His presence,
When are banished grief and pain;
Death is swallowed up in vict’ry,
And the dark things shall be plain.
Face to face—oh, blissful moment!
Face to face—to see and know;
Face to face with my Redeemer,
Jesus Christ who loves me so.
THE FACE OF GOD
Revelation 6:15-17: “And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?”:
Revelation 22:4: “And they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads.”
GOD LOVES TO SHINE HIS FACE UPON US
Psalm 4:6; 21:6; 31:16; 34:5; 44:3; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 89:15; 119:135; 140:13; and Hossa 6:2.
GOD’S FACE MAKES US EXCEEDINGLY JOYFUL
Psalm 16:11: “In thy presence (paniym = face)
Psalm 21:6: “Thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.”
As God’s face makes us filled with exceeding joy in His presence, so our faces should make other faces to be filled with joy. Looking at a masked face, does not give us any joy. But as we go about with a happy and smiling face, we bring joy to others.
GOD WANTS TO SHINE HIS LIGHT THROUGH OUR FACES
2 Corinthians 3:18: “But we all, with open (unveiled) face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 4:6: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
We come to the knowledge of God through beholding the face of Jesus Christ. As we behold His face (His character) we understand more of God.
The Passion Translation: “For God, who said, ‘Let brilliant light shine out of darkness,’ is the one who has cascaded his light into us—the brilliant dawning light of the glorious knowledge of God as we gaze into the face of Jesus Christ.”
Christ has shined His light into our hearts so we can shine His glory from our faces, which is reflected glory from His face. When we understand this we realize the deception of masks.
GOD’S FACE WATCHES OVER US
Psalm 11:7: “For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold he upright.”
Psalm 41:12: “And as for me, thou upholdeth me in my integrity, and sittest me before thy face forever.” Most translations say: “You have set me in your presence forever.” God’s face speaks of His presence.
WE CAN PROVOKE GOD’S FACE TO ANGER
Isaiah 65:3: “A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face.”
GOD SETS HIS FACE AGAINST EVIL
Jeremiah 21:10; 32:32; Ezekiel 7:22 and 15:7. We should also turn our faces from evil.
GOD HIDES HIS FACE FROM SIN AND EVIL
Isaiah 59:2: “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
Deuteronomy 31:17, 18; Psalm 10:11; 27:9; 30:7; 34;16; 44:24; 51:9; 69:17; 88:14; 102:2; 104:29; 132:10; 143:7; Isaiah 8:17; 54:8; 64:7; Jeremiah 18;17; 32:31; 44;11; Ezekiel 7:22; 14:8; 15:7; 39:23, 24, 29; Micah 3;4; and 1 Peter 3;12.
GOD WANTS TO PLEAD WITH US FACE TO FACE
Ezekiel 20:35: “And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.” God wants to see us face to face. He also wants us to have open faces to one another. This is God’s way.
GOD WILL NOT TURN HIS FACE AWAY IF WE RETURN TO HIM
2 Chronicles 30:9: “For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.”
THE FOUR FACES OF THE LIVING CREATURES
The four faces of the living creatures in Ezekiel, chapter one speaks of four different aspects of the character of God. Read verses 10, 11, 15; 10:14, 21, 22.
Ezekiel 1:10: “As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion . . . the face of an ox . . . the face of an eagle.”
EXHORTATIONS
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
Exodus 20:20: “God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.”
WE MUST HONOR THE FACE OF THE ELDERLY
Leviticus 19:32: “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD,” cf. Lamentations 5:12.
FURTHER SCRIPTURES TO CHECK OUT
2 Samuel 2:22; 2 Chronicles 25:17, 21; Proverbs 27:19; Jeremiah 1:8, 17.
And there are still more!
Blessings from Nancy Campbell