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Theophanies in Scripture: Introduction

Theophanies in Scripture: Introduction

Theophanies in Scripture: Introduction.

Theophany: From the Greek words “Theo” (God) and “phaino” (to appear). So a theophany is when God makes a temporary appearance on earth for reasons of His own. A theophany is God’s temporary visible manifestation to remind us of His permanent presence in the world.  A theophany is when God stoops to us in gracious self-revelation in a form that we can experience through our senses. Theophanies, though, are preliminary, because they anticipate the ultimate theophany in the incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Theophanies in the Hebrew Bible were God’s temporary appearances, but in Jesus we see the fulfillment of theophany, a permanent appearance of God on earth.

Glory: the weighty splendor of God’s personal presence. God dwells in glory, He is comprised of glory, and so when God makes an appearance on earth, glory is revealed. The sheer weight of God’s presence, His spiritual girth, outweighs the world; His splendorous presence is more substantive and heavier than the universe.

God’s Drama. So it’s inevitable that an appearance of God, a theophany, would be accompanied by various natural phenomenon. When God makes an appearance, He seems to enjoy announcing it dramatically with natural effects that capture our attention. God loves variety, so a theophany involved everything from a whirlwind and hurricane to a soft whisper; from heavenly trumpet sounds to earthquakes; from lightning and gale-force winds to thunder and voices; from fire and smoke to blinding lights and a burning bush. One particular time, a theophany of the Holy Spirit included many things all at once… a violent rushing wind, tongues of fire on people’s heads, and foreign languages.

Theophanies can take place in any number of settings as well… At a Trash Heap: a whirlwind appearing before a suffering man (Job 38:1, 40:6); On a Mountain: Dense cloud; thunder; lightning; consuming fire; smoke; violent earthquake; increasingly louder trumpet blast (Exodus 19:9, 16-19; 20:18-19; 24:15-18); In a Tent: thick cloud; heavy presence (Exodus 40:34); On a Journey in the Wilderness: thick cloud by day, fire by night (Ex. 40:34-38); In a Cave: violent wind; earthquake; fire; gentle whisper (1 Kings 19:11-13); In a Temple: thick cloud; heavy presence (2 Chronicles 5:13-14); In the Heavenly Throne Room: Isaiah’s calling (Isaiah 6); At a Babylonian River: Ezekiel watching the appearance of a violent storm, a cloud filled with flashing fire, and glowing metal in the midst of the fire (Ezekiel 1:1-5); In a Divine Courtroom with the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:9-10); At the River Jordan: Father, Son and Holy Spirit all together (Mark 1:9-11; also refer to Matthew 3:13-17, Luke 3:21-22, John 1:29-34); During Prayer on a Mountain: dense cloud; body of light; clothing transfigured; voice of the Father; presence of two dead prophets. (Luke 9:28-36); On the Cross: Temple veil torn in two; earthquake, rocks split; tombs open, dead are raised; darkness at noon; salvation of thief. (Matthew 27:45, 50-53); In an Upper Room: tongues of fire; strong wind; foreign languages; filled with Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:1-4); Under Persecution: Stephen saw skies open, heaven, Jesus and the Father. (Acts 7:54-56); On the Road: lightning; flashing lights; voice from heaven; blindness. (Acts 9:3-7); On an Island Penal Colony: St. John interacts with the glorified Jesus (Revelation 1).

Sometimes the supernatural power of God’s presence makes the natural world burst at the seams. There are times God’s’ theophanies on earth simply overpower nature. Isaiah asks for God’s presence and what it would take for Him to make an appearance in Isaiah 64:1: “Tear the heavens apart and come down!” David puts it much the same way in Psalm 144:5: “Bend your sky, O Lord, and come down.”

Christophanies. The most intriguing theophanies in the Hebrew Bible just may be the appearances of the preincarnate Christ. Jesus has been the face of God from eternity, even from before His incarnation. There were many times in the Old Testament when God appeared in bodily form as a man. But can Yahweh be seen that way? Can one visibly witness a sighting of God face-to-face? There are a couple of reason why this contradicts Scripture:

  • God is a Spirit (John 4:24). One can’t see a Spirit. A Spirit is formless, shapeless, and basically invisible. The Spirit is more like a wind and can’t be encountered visibly;
  • We cannot actually see God and survive the experience (Exodus 33;20; John 1:18). God is a consuming fire of purity and light and unimaginable substance. God burns too hot for personal human experience.

The Angel of the Lord. So when people in the Old Testament state that they have seen God, what have they literally seen? Early Church theologians, and most Biblical scholars since, have believed that when God is in visible form, the truth is that Christ has made an appearance. Every physical appearance of God is a revelation of Jesus Christ in His pre-incarnate form. There is a particular character who flits in and out of the Hebrew Bible, the Angel of Yahweh also known as the Angel of God, the Angel of the LORD, the Messenger of Yahweh, the Messenger of the Covenant, or the Angel of His Presence. It is widely accepted in Biblical scholarship that this mysterious Angel is none other than the bodily appearance of Jesus Christ. When Biblical characters in the Hebrew Bible reported that they had seen God, they had been right… They had seen the face of Christ. The Deity of Jesus is clearly portrayed in His role of Angelic Messenger, God’s special representative that speaks God’s mind and performs His will. “The Angel of the Lord is the visible Lord God of the Old Testament, as Jesus Christ was of the New Testament.” (Amplified Bible notes).

That the Angel of Yahweh is an uncreated angel, distinguished from other angels, and in many places identified with the Lord God is undeniable. On the other hand, there are passages in which He seems to be distinguished from God the Father. The simplest way of reconciling these two classes is to adopt the old view that this Angel is Christ, the second Person of the Godhead, even at that early period appearing as the revealer of the Father.” (Lange’s Commentary).

The Face of Christ in the OT. Here is a list of the exciting appearances of the theophanies of Jesus in the Hebrew Bible, or Christophanies as they are called. Note the qualities of Jesus that are displayed in the various contexts. Jesus has many roles in the Hebrew Bible: Deliverer, Judge, Sustainer, Redeemer, Revealer. This incomparable Messenger from heaven, this Angel of Yahweh, is God in the form of God’s Son before His incarnation. All of these theophanies of Jesus are unpacked in detail in the blog’s “Christophanies” category:

(1.)  With Hagar, in Genesis 16, as she was abandoned and on the run from an obstinate Sarai;

(2.)  With Abraham, in Genesis 18, when the Lord appeared in bodily form to him by the Oaks of Mamre;

(3.)  With Isaac, in Genesis 22, when he was tied to the altar and about to be sacrificed by Abraham;

(4.)  With Jacob, in Genesis 32, when wrestling with the Angel and he saw the face of God;

(5.)  With Moses, on a number of occasions: in Exodus 3 when he talked with Him at the burning bush; in Exodus 14 when the Israelites were saved at the Red Sea; in Exodus 23 at Mount Sinai;

(6.)  With Balaam, in Numbers 22, when his donkey started engaging in conversation with him;

(7.)  With Joshua, in Joshua 5, when he was confronted by the Captain and he was on holy ground;

(8.)  With Gideon, in Judges 6, when he was given his special calling and assignment;

(9.)  With Samson’s parents, in Judges 13, when they received a heavenly birth announcement;

(10.)  With Elijah, in 1 Kings 19, when he was fed and rested on the run from Jezebel in the wilderness;

(11.)  With Isaiah, in Isaiah 63:9, when he referred to someone known to him, “the Angel of His Presence.”

(12.)  With Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in Daniel 3, as they were surviving in the fiery furnace;

(13.)  With Daniel, in Daniel 10, when he was visited by God after fasting for three weeks;

(14.)  With David, in Psalm 34, when he referred to “the Angel of Yahweh encamping all around those who fear Him” (Ps. 34:7); and also in 1 Chronicles 21:16, when on the threshing floor after sinfully taking a census;

We have no idea the power and splendor and majesty of God, unless He gives us an occasional, little glimpse in one of His theophanies. Annie Dillard, in her book Teaching A Stone to Talk, has this to say about God’s power and presence: “Why do we people in churches seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the Absolute? On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews.” One truly never knows what to expect when “the Lord comes down.”