Theophanies:
The appearances of God to man in physical form
Physical form is not God's actual nature, but a method used to appear to man.

A. What is a theophanies? God appeared in human form!

1. The word Theophanies, comes from Greek theo- God + Greek phainein, phan-, to show, meaning: God appeared in human form.
2. "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Matthew 11:27

1. "They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" He said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself." " Genesis 3:8-10

1. Abraham: "The Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. " Genesis 12:7
2. Abraham: "And he said, "Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, " Acts 7:2
3. Abraham: Click for outline A simple reading of this two chapter text (Gen 18-19) proves that the three men who appeared to Abraham, were actually God plus two angels. "Now the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. When Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth" (Genesis 18:1-2). The conclusion of this text shows that there are two Yahweh's: One on earth and One in heaven: "Then Yahweh [on earth in human form] rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh [in spirit form in heaven] out of heaven. (Genesis 19:24)
4. Abraham: "Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. " Genesis 17:1
5. Abraham: "and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them. " Exodus 6:3

1. Isaac: "The Lord appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you." ... "The Lord appeared to him the same night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham." Genesis 26:2,24

1. Jacob: (The Ladder at Bethel) "And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. " Genesis 28:13
2. Jacob: (guidance) "Then the Lord said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you." " Genesis 31:3
3. Jacob: (leave Laban for Canaan) "Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am.' "He said, 'Lift up now your eyes and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. 'I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.'" Genesis 31:11-13
4. Jacob: (En route to Canaan at Mahanaim) "Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. Jacob said when he saw them, "This is God's camp." So he named that place Mahanaim. " Genesis 32:1-2
5. Jacob: (wrestled with God at Peniel, the night before he meets Esau) "Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. " Genesis 32:24. "He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked him and said, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And he blessed him there."" Genesis 32:28-29. "Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; He wept and sought His favor. He found Him at Bethel And there He spoke with us, Even the Lord, the God of hosts, The Lord is His name. Therefore, return to your God, Observe kindness and justice, And wait for your God continually." Hosea 12:4-6
6. Jacob: (guidance) "Then God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau." Genesis 35:1
7. Jacob: (guidance)"Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him." Genesis 35:9
8. Jacob: (move to Egypt) "God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, "Jacob, Jacob." And he said, "Here I am." He said, "I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. "I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes." " Genesis 46:2-4
10. Jacob: "Then Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz (Bethel) in the land of Canaan and blessed me," Genesis 48:3

1. Moses: "The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. " Exodus 3:2
2. Moses: "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. "Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household; With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the Lord." Numbers 12:6-8
3. Moses: "Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. " Exodus 3:16
4. Moses: ""that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you." " Exodus 4:5
5. Moses: "Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent." Exodus 33:11
6. "Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!" And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!" Then the Lord said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. "Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen."" Exodus 33:18-23
7. Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, 70 elders: "Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank. " Exodus 24:9-11
8. Moses, Joshua: "The Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent." Deuteronomy 31:15

1. Aaron: "and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with oil; for today the Lord will appear to you." Leviticus 9:4
2. Aaron: "The Lord said to Moses: "Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. " Leviticus 16:2

1. Samuel: "And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, because the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord." 1 Samuel 3:21

1. Manoah: "Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you." The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Though you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord." For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord. Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?" But the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?" So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord, and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground. Now the angel of the Lord did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. So Manoah said to his wife, "We will surely die, for we have seen God." But his wife said to him, "If the Lord had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time." " Judges 13:15-23

1. Solomon: "In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, "Ask what you wish me to give you."" 1 Kings 3:5
2. Solomon: "that the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. " 1 Kings 9:2
3. Solomon: "Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, " 1 Kings 11:9
4. Solomon: "Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. " 2 Chronicles 7:12

1. David: "Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. " 2 Chronicles 3:1

1. "And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born. (Zech 12:10)

 By Steve Rudd
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Go To Start: WWW.BIBLE.CA

• United Pentecostals use this to prove that Jesus is the Father. They say: "One way that God revealed Himself in the Old Testament and dealt with man on man's level was through the use of theophanies. A theophany is a visible manifestation of God, and we usually think of it as temporary in nature. As we have seen, God is invisible to man. To make Himself visible, He manifested Himself in a physical form. Even though no one can see the Spirit of God, he can see a representation of God."
• Jehovah's Witnesses & Christadelphians (Arians) use this to prove that Jesus was not divine, but God revealing through human flesh.
• The truth is that God has always used messengers that represent him, but these messengers are real, existent, beings whether man or angel.

Jacobs dream simply says that God stood above the ladder, no form is indicated. This was a vision: Genesis 28:12-16 "12 And he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it"

Genesis 19:1,13 Lot understood the two angels were not God: "the Lord has sent us (the two angels) to destroy it."

Genesis 15:17 Abraham did not confuse a smoking oven and a flaming torch as God Himself

New Testament witness that Jesus appeared in the Old Testament:

1. Jesus appeared to Abraham: Jn 8:56-58 + Gen 18-19
2. John says Jesus appeared to Isaiah: Jn 12:41 + Is 6:1-5
3. Paul said Jesus was the rock that followed them in the wilderness: 1 Cor 10:4

Can't see God:

"But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!" " Exodus 33:20

"No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him." John 1:18

"[Jesus] who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen. " 1 Timothy 6:16

""Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. " John 6:46

""I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. " Zechariah 12:10