THEOPHANY - NYOBS 01.18

The appearance of God

• Theophany from the ancient Greek means; “The appearance of God”, or His deity to man.  These appearances were found only in the Old Testament.  God gave visions to all the nations until the nation of Israel erected their Tabernacle in the wilderness and God settled in there.  Then the visions were mostly for Israel.
• We first encounter the appearance of God speaking with Adam in the Garden of Eden and later with Cain, then Noah and his sons.  But notice they only heard His voice.  They did not see His face.
• He appeared in the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud as He led the Israelites.
• Moses spoke mouth to mouth to God; as friend to friend and not in a vision. 

Deut 4:11-12 – THERE WAS NO FORM, ONLY GOD’S VOICE

11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.

12 Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. NIV

Deut 4:35-36 - FIRE

36 From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire NIV

Deut 33:2 – APPEARED WITH ANGELS

"The LORD came from Sinai and dawned over them from Seir;

he shone forth from Mount Paran. HE came with myriads of holy ones. NIV

Ex 13:20-22 FIRE AND CLOUD

 21 By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. NIV

Deut 4:33 – ONLY THE CHOSEN COULD HEAR GOD SPEAK.

33 Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? NIV

Ex 33:20 – MAN CANNOT SEE GOD’S FACE AND LIVE

20 And he said, you cannot see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. KJV

Gen 3:9-10 - GOD HAS A CONVERSATION WITH ADAM

9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where are you?

10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. KJV

Gen 4:9 – GOD TALKS WITH CAIN

9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? KJV

Gen 6:13 – GOD TALKS TO NOAH

13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. KJV

Gen 9:8 - NOAH’S SONS HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD

8 And God spoke unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, KJV

Ex 3:2-3 – GOD APPEARS AS A BURNING BUSH TO MOSES

2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. NIV

• WALKED WITH MAN: The scriptures say that God walked on the earth with man however, it does not report the form of God.  Some students think that “walking with God” is symbolic of a man “being righteous”, but I feel that God actually walked with man in a form they could see and hear.

Gen 3:8 - ADAM HEARD GOD WALKING

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, NIV

Gen 6:9 – NOAH WALKED WITH GOD

9 Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. NIV

Gen 5:23-24 – ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD

 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. NIV

• VISIONS - God appeared to the men of faith in visions as they lay fast asleep in their beds.
• This method is reported more than any other and thus should be considered important today.  Listen to what Job said.

Job 4:12-16 JOB SEES SOMETHING THAT SHAKES HIS BONES

12 "A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it. Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,  fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake.  A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end.  It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A FORM stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice: NIV

Job 33:14-15 - DREAMS

14 For God DOES speak-now one way, now another- though man may not perceive it.

15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, NIV

Joel 2:28- SEE VISIONS

28 And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. NIV

Gen 15:1 - ABRAHAM

15:1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: NIV

Gen 46:2 - JACOB

2 And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, "Jacob! Jacob!" NIV

1 Sam 3:15-16 - SAMUEL

15 Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, NIV

Dan 2:19-20 - DANIEL

19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven NIV

Acts 9:10 - ANANIAS

10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" NIV

Acts 10:3 - CORNELIUS

3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, "Cornelius!"

NIV

Acts 10:19 - PETER

19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three men are looking for you. NIV

Acts 18:9-10 - PAUL

9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. NIV

• I read about people today that report visions of Christ and Heaven, but I am reluctant to accept anything they say because of the scriptures that warn us of false witnesses.
• I want to believe what I hear, but I am just “gun shy”.  I would pray that I could receive the Gift of the” Discernment of Spirits” before I ventured out too far.  (That’s why I read the word)
• I believe this Gift is given as “The Spirit Wills” and I have operated in it a couple of times, but mostly not.  When I did, it was profound; My spirit rose up inside me; I’ll never forget it

 In the multitude of counselors,

 there is wisdom.

Prov 11:14

I am grateful for those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical information, and scripture verses.  Because of them I can stand on their shoulders and see further than I otherwise ever could have.

A survey of the New Testament – Gunry

All the Miracles of the Bible - Herbert Lockyer

Bible Commentary – F. B. Meyer

Compact Bible Dictionary - Zondervan

Complete Bible Handbook – Lawrence O. Richards

Dake’s annotated Bible - Dake

Halley’s Bible Handbook – H.H. Halley

KJV Bible

Mystery of the Ages – Herbert W. Armstrong

Mysteries of the Bible – Readers Digest

NIV Bible

The Illustrated Bible Dictionary – Tyndale

The Layman’s Overview of the Bible – George W. Knight

The Bible Almanac – Packer Tenney White

Vincent’s Word Studies of the NT - Mac Donald

What the Bible is all about – Henrietta C. Mears

What in the World is going on? – David Jeremiah

Wikipedia encyclopedia

Who’s Who in the Bible – Paul D. Gardner

Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Wycliff Bible Commentary, The