God’s face is derived in some way from the worship of images. It thereby becomes evident what a great step the Old Testament has taken. The image is eliminated, while the search for the face remains. The objective form, the reification of the deity, falls by the wayside, but God retains his “face”. He is the One who cannot be represented, but as such he is still the One who has a face, who can see and be seen. The old form of worship, which made God into something material and drew him down into particularity, is replaced.
