ON WHERE GOD IS
When the need is highest, God is nighest.
--HEBREW PROVERB
Wherever I go—only thou!
Wherever I stand—only thou!
Just thou; again thou; always thou!
Thou, thou, thou!
When things are good—thou!
When things are bad—thou! thou! thou!
--HASIDIC SONG
Where there is faith, there is love;
Where there is love, there is peace;
Where there is peace, there is God;
And where there is God, there is no need.
--LEO TOLSTOY (1828–1910)
We can seek God and find him! God is knowable, touchable, hearable, seeable, with the mind, the hands, the ears, and eyes of the inner man.
--A. W. TOZER (1897–1963)
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At the foot of Mount Sinai, God appeared to the people of Israel in a physical form. This is called a theophany. Here are some of the other times God appeared to Bible people.
Gen. 16:7
The angel of the Lord appeared to Sarah’s maidservant, Hagar, announcing the birth of Abraham’s son, Ishmael
Gen. 18:1-11
The Lord appeared to Abraham, foretelling Isaac’s birth
Gen. 22:11-12
The angel of the Lord stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac
Exodus 3:2
The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in flames in a bush
Exodus 14:19
God appeared to Israel in pillars of cloud and fire to guide them through the desert
Exodus 33:11
The Lord spoke to Moses face to face
Daniel 3:25
One “like a son of the gods” appeared as the fourth man with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace
(“Angel of the Lord” is a reverential way to refer to God in these passages.)
The following wass adapted from Holam's Bible Dictionary
Original Article by Charles Lee Feinberg
THEOPHANY is the physical appearance or personal manifestation of God to a person.
Need for a theophany. The basic postulate here is that to see God could be fatal. “He said, ‘You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!’ “ (Ex. 33:20. Yet the record is unmistakable that people did see God, such as Moses and others at Sinai (Ex. 24:9-10); the Lord’s rebuke of Aaron and Miriam (Num. 12:4-8); and the majestic vision to Isaiah (Isa. 6:1, 5). Customarily, God is not revealed to ordinary
sight, God at times chooses to reveal Himself in theophanies.
Kinds of theophanies.
There are some five forms of theophanies.
1. In human form
Without question the theophany in Exodus 24:10 involved the appearance of a human being, for the text clearly states that a pavement of sapphire appeared “under His feet.” At Peniel, Jacob testified that he had seen God face-to-face (Gen. 32:30). On Mount Horeb it was the experience of Moses to speak to God “face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend” (Ex. 33:11). In the same passage when Moses begged God to show him His glory (v. 18), the Lord graciously
granted Moses a vision of Himself, saying, “I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen” (v. 23). If it is protested that the subject is enveloped in mystery, it needs to be remembered that theology without mystery is sheer nonsense. God in His wisdom does not restrict Himself to one method of self-revelation. Notice God’s pronouncement in Numbers 12:6-8, which was quite unlike that of Deuteronomy 4:12-15 where only a voice was
granted.
2. In vision
Even self-seeking Balaam was allowed of God to see the Lord in vision (Num. 24:3-4). Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, giants among the prophets, saw God in visions (Isa. 6; Ezek. 1; Dan. 7:9). Jacob, sent off by Isaac to Paddan-aram, was granted a dream in which he saw the Lord (Gen. 28:12-13).
3. By the “Angel of the Lord”
This is the most usual form of theophany, called the “Angel of the Lord” or “Angel of God.” Observe it is not an “Angel of God,” which could include any of the angelic hosts created by God. The “Angel of the Lord” is identified in the accounts with Yahweh Himself. He appears only occasionally in human form. The encounter of the Angel of the Lord with Hagar is of significance in this connection (Gen. 16:7-13).
4. Not in human form
In some instances the theophany came as at the burning bush (Ex. 3:2-4:17) and in the guidance through the wilderness (13:21; compare Acts 7:30). The glory of the Lord appears to people in numerous passages. See Glory. God’s presence is in a cloud (Ex. 16:10; 33:9-10; Ezek. 10:4). God was also manifest in nature and history (Isa. 6:3; Ezek. 1:28; 43:2).
5. As the name of the Lord
God’s sacred name represented His presence (Deut. 12:5; Psalm 102:15; Isa. 30:27; 59:19).
Contrast with the incarnation (God in flesh)
The incarnate Christ was not, and indeed is not, a theophany. In the incarnate Christ, God and humanity were joined, not for time alone, but for eternity.
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