One objection Jehovah’s Witnesses have to Jesus being Jehovah God is that John 1:18:
John 1:18 (ESV)
18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
Yet people in the past have seen God:
Abraham:
Genesis 18:1 (ESV)
1 And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.
Jacob:
Genesis 32:28-30 (ESV)
28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.
30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”
Moses:
Exodus 33:21-23 (ESV)
21 And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock,
22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” Jacob/Israel:
Isaiah: Isaiah 6:1
In the year that King Uz·ziʹah died,+ I saw Jehovah sitting on a lofty and elevated throne,+ and the skirts of his robe filled the temple.
Micaiah: 2 Chronicles 18:18 (ESV)
18 And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left.
Amos:
Amos 9:1 (ESV)
1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: “Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people; and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword; not one of them shall flee away; not one of them shall escape.
So, what do we do with this apparent contradiction: the Bible says no one has seen God, people saw God several times in the Old Testament, and Jesus is God but people saw Him as well?
God is triune. No one has seen the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It could be that the passage in John 1:18 means that no one has seen God in all His glory. Even Moses was not allowed to see God fully. Some of the passages above were visions of heaven, but still the person having the vision saw God. I don’t see a qualifier in John 1:18 that excludes visions.
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary says this about the John 1:18: “The noun God (theon) has no article in the Greek text, which indicates that the author is presenting God in his nature of being rather than as a person. “Deity” might be a more accurate rendering. The meaning is that no human has ever seen the essence of deity. God is invisible, not because he is unreal, but because physical eyes are incapable of detecting him. ”
Expositor’s Bible Commentary, The – The Expositor’s Bible Commentary – Volume 9: John and Acts.
Jesus is Jehovah God:
Jehovah and Jesus are the First and the Last: Isa. 44:6 and Rev. 1:17 – 18
Jehovah is to be pierced and Jesus is pierced: Zech. 12:10 and Rev. 1:7
To Jehovah and to Jesus every knee shall bow: Isa. 45:23 and Phil. 2:10-11
Jehovah and Jesus are the Alpha and Omega: Rev. 1:8 and Rev. 22:7
Stephen prayed to Him: Acts. 7:59
God is more than one Person
Gen. 20:24
Amos 4:11
Isa. 44:6
AnswersAZ 