What is all flesh, that it should hear the voice of the living God, who speaketh out of the midst of the fire, as we have heard, and be able to live?
כִּ֣י מִ֣י כָל־בָּשָׂ֡ר אֲשֶׁ֣ר שָׁמַ֣ע קוֹל֩ אֱלֹהִ֨ים חַיִּ֜ים מְדַבֵּ֧ר מִתּוֹךְ־הָאֵ֛שׁ כָּמֹ֖נוּ וַיֶּֽחִי׃
2 Church Fathers comment on this verse
If the sound of God's voice brings about death, how could the sight of God Himself not lead to the same fate? What is there to wonder at? Even Moses expressed, ‘I am in fear and trembling’ (Hebrews 12:21). What would your preference be: if He who came for our salvation were to bring death because mankind cannot withstand His presence, or if He were to extend His grace to us?
The Israelites believed that no human being—no mortal adorned with flesh—could hear the Lord speaking from the flames and continue to live. It necessitates a miracle of divine compassion for a frail individual to survive such an encounter. While the Israelites had witnessed numerous acts of God’s mercy, these manifestations did not instill fear in them until now, as the Lord had not revealed Himself with such overwhelming majesty before. They felt incapable of enduring this majestic presence due to their inherent frailty and their sinful nature. Gideon and Manoah, the father of Samson (Judges 6:22, Judges 13:22), experienced a similar dread when they came into direct contact with the Lord, despite His appearing as a mere man.
The prophet Daniel, who encountered the Lord in a terrifying form resembling a man with a countenance like lightning, remarked about himself: ‘There is no strength left in me, the appearance of my face is extremely changed, there is no vigour in me’ (Dan. 10:6-8). Moses, on the other hand, was uniquely graced to speak with the Lord in an intimate manner; yet even he was overcome with fear when the Lord manifested His glory above the cleft of the rock, where Moses took refuge so that he would not perish.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS