Excerpt from Appendix 5 of…
Immanuel: A Practicum by Patricia A. Velotta

People in Scripture Who Saw God

Many curiously ask, “Can people see God?” Pastor Patti has generously let us use an excerpt from her book to provide an examples of people who saw God from the Old and New Testament. If you are interested in more, you can get a copy of her book at her website

“I’ve had so much fun looking up the people who saw God in the Bible. Maybe you can think of some I missed.” -Patti Velotta.

People in the Old Testament Who Saw God

1. Adam and Eve
And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. (Genesis 2:21–22)

2. Cain and Abel
And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering. (Genesis 4:3-4)

3. Enoch
After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. (Genesis 5:22, 24)

4. Noah, His Wife, His Sons, and Their Wives
This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9)
So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in. (Genesis 7:16)

5. Abraham
Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. (Genesis 12:7)
So the LORD went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place. (Genesis 18:33)

6. Sarah
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!” (Genesis 18:12, 15)
And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. (Genesis 21:1)

7. Hagar
Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, Have I also here seen Him who sees me? (Genesis 16:13)

8. Ishmael
So God was with the lad [son of Hagar]. (Genesis 21:20)

9. Isaac
And the LORD appeared to him [Isaac] the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father; fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your descendants for my servant Abraham’s sake.” (Genesis 26:24)

10. Rebekah
So she went to inquire of the LORD. And the LORD said to her . . . (Genesis 25:22b-23)

11. Jacob
And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: “I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants . . . Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you. (Genesis 28:13, 15)
Then God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother. (Genesis 35:1)

12. Joseph
The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; . . . But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. (Genesis 39:2a, 21)
And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him . . . (Acts 7:9)

13. Moses
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. (Hebrews 11:27)

14. Aaron
Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tent of meeting, and fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them. (Numbers 20:6)

15. The Whole Hebrew Congregation
“also a bull and a ram as peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with oil; for today the LORD will appear to you. . . . Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the LORD commanded you to do, and the glory of the LORD will appear to you.” (Leviticus 9:4, 6)
And the LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud; and the pillar of cloud stood by the door of the tent. (Deuteronomy 31:15)

16. Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu,
and Seventy of the Elders of Israel Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel . . . and they saw the God of Israel. . . . But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank. (Exodus 24:9–11)

17. Joshua
So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. (Exodus 33:11)
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, the days approach when you must die; call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of meeting, that I may inaugurate him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle of meeting. . . . Then He inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land of which I swore to them, and I will be with you.” (Deuteronomy 31:14, 23)

18. Balaam
The utterance of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, with eyes wide open. . . . The utterance of him who hears the words of God, and has the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, with eyes wide open. (Numbers24:4, 16)

19. Gideon
And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor.” (Judges 6:12)

20. Manoah and Wife (Samson’s parents)
And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman [Manoah’s wife, Samson’s mother] and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have no children; but you shall conceive and bear a son. . . . And the woman ran in haste and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” . . . The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD. (Judges 13:3, 10, 21)

21. Samuel
But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the LORD, and abide there forever.” (1 Samuel 1:22)
And the LORD visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD. (1 Samuel 2:21)
And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD. (1 Samuel 3:21)

22. David
For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. (Acts 2:25-28)
I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. . . . You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalms 16:8, 11)

23. Solomon
And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. (1 Kings 11:9)

[Additional Old Testament people who saw God addressed more fully in Immanuel A Practicum see www.immanuelpracticum.com]

Solomon
Job
Isaiah
Micaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
Nebuchadnezza
Shadrach, Meshach,Abed-Nego
Belshazzar and company of ,1000 lords at feast
Daniel
Amos
Jonah
Habakkuk
Zechariah
Elijah
Elisha

People In the New Testament Who Saw God

1. Jesus saw God
Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19)
I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father. (John 8:38)

2. All the People Who Saw Jesus in His Earthly Appearance, Saw God
If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. . . . “Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:7, 9)

[Additional New Testament people who saw God addressed more fully in Immanuel: A Practicum (www.immanuelpracticum.com)]

3. People Who Saw Him in the Physical, and Recognized Him as Messiah

a. Mary, Jesus’ Mother
b. Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father
c. Elizabeth
d. Shepherds
e. Magi, Wise Men from the East
f. Simeon
g. Anna
h. John the Baptist
i. Andrew
j. Peter
k. Woman at the Well
l. Martha
m. Mary
n. The Thief on the Cross
o. The Centurion at the cross

4. All the Disciples Saw God
5. Peter, James, and John Saw God
6. Followers Saw God in Post-Resurrection Appearances

a. Mary Magdalene and Mary
b. Eleven Disciples
c. Two Traveling to Emmaus
d. John
e. Five Hundred at His Ascension

7. Post-Ascension Appearances

a. Stephen
b. Paul
c. Ananias
d. John

8. The World, Including Israel, Will See God at the End of Time