The Physical Nature of God, the Father:

As we have seen from the two prior examples, Jacob, Manoah and Manoah's wife had direct encounters with angels.  Although the encounters were not directly with God the Father...they are still referred to as such.

In the next example, let's look closely at some of Moses' encounters with God on Mount Horeb.  Let's look to see if Moses really saw God the Father (remember that Jesus said God was an invisible spirit)...or if he really experienced something else:

Moses and the Burning Bush

In Exodus 3:1-4, while Moses was pasturing his flock on Mount Horeb, an "angel of God appeared to Moses" in a burning bush. Then "the Lord" spoke to Moses from the burning bush. 

The Ten Commandments Given to Moses

Several years later (after the Exodus from Egypt) the Lord gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai at Horeb.  The Lord called the people to stand before Mt. Sinai at Horeb:

"The LORD also said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments; and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. "And you shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, 'Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. Exodus 19:10-12 (NAS)

"So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. And the LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish." Exodus 19:16-21 (NAS)

Later on the Lord reminds Moses of the details of this event:

"Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when the LORD said to me, 'Assemble the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words so they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.' ¹¹ "And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the very heart of the heavens: darkness, cloud and thick gloom. ¹² "Then the LORD spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form-- only a voice. ¹³ "So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. ¹⁴ "And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might perform them in the land where you are going over to possess it. 15 "So watch yourselves carefully, since you did not see any form on the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire... Deuteronomy 4:10-15 (NAS)

Question:

In Deuteronomy 4:10-15 God wanted to remind Moses and the children of Israel of a very important detail of that day.  According to Deuteronomy 4:12, when the Lord spoke to Moses and the people who assembled at the foot of the mountains at Horeb, what did the crowd experience?

1. Nothing - the people did not see or hear anything.
2. They saw that God had a form or body.
3. They heard only a voice coming from the midst of the fire.