When Moses saw God’s glory, he himself was not allowed to actually see God (Exodus 33:20). The consistent Old Testament assumption is that God cannot be seen, for a sinful human being to see God would bring death (Exodus 33:20; Deuteronomy 4:12; Psalm 97:2). The apparent exceptions are always qualified in some way.1
18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.