Saturday, March 9, 2013
Theophanies
Bible Questions Answered:
“I find a bible error between Genesis
18 and John 1:8. Either is true or not true at all!”
Trayvon/ Manila, Philippines
Bible Answer:
Bible Text:
(A few examples from the Old Testament.)
Genesis 3:8 KJV
And they heard
the voice of The Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the
day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of The
Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
Genesis 32:24 KJV
This left Jacob all alone in the
camp, and a Man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to
break.
Hosea 12:4 KJV
Yes, he wrestled with The Angel and
won. He wept and pleaded for a blessing from Him. There at Bethel he
met God face to face, and God spoke to him—
Genesis 18:1,2 KJV
1 And the Lord appeared unto him
(Abraham) in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the
heat of the day;
2 And he lift up his eyes and
looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran
to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the
ground,\
Genesis 35:13-15 NLT
13 Then God went up from the place
where He had spoken to Jacob.
14 Jacob set up a stone pillar to
mark the place where God had spoken to him. Then he poured wine over
it as an offering to God and anointed the pillar with olive oil.
15 And Jacob named the place Bethel
(which means “house of God”), because God had spoken to him
there.
Exodus 3:1-6 KJV
1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro
his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the
backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to
Horeb.
2 And The Angel Of The Lord appeared
unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he
looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not
consumed.
3 And Moses said, I will now turn
aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
4 And when The Lord saw that he
turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the
bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
5 And He said, Draw not nigh hither:
put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou
standest is holy ground.
6 Moreover He said, I am the God of
thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
Exodus 13:21,22 KJV
21 And The Lord went before them by
day in A Pillar Of A Cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in A
Pillar Of Fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
22 He took not away The Pillar Of
The Cloud by day, nor The Pillar Of Fire by night, from before the
people.
Exodus 24:16-18 KJV
16 And The Glory of The Lord abode
upon mount Sinai, and The Cloud covered it six days: and the
seventh day He called unto Moses out of the midst of The Cloud.
17 And the sight of The Glory Of The
Lord was like Devouring Fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of
the children of Israel.
18 And Moses went into the midst of
The Cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount
forty days and forty nights.
Exodus 33:11,17-23 KJV
11 And The Lord spake unto Moses
face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend..."
17 And The Lord said unto Moses, I
will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found
grace in My sight, and I know thee by name.
18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew
me thy glory.
19 And He said, I will make all My
goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of The Lord
before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and
will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
20 And He said, Thou canst not see
My face: for there shall no man see Me, and live.
21 And The Lord said, Behold, there
is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
22 And it shall come to pass, while
My glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and
will cover thee with My hand while I pass by:
23 And I will take away Mine hand,
and thou shalt see My back parts: but My face shall not be seen.
Exodus 40:30-38 KJV
34 Then A Cloud covered the tent of
the congregation, and The Glory Of The Lord filled the tabernacle.
35 And Moses was not able to enter
into the tent of the congregation, because The Cloud abode thereon,
and The Glory Of The Lord filled the tabernacle.
36 And when The Cloud was taken up
from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all
their journeys:
37 But if The Cloud were not taken
up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up.
38 For The Cloud Of The Lord was
upon the tabernacle by day, and Fire was on it by night, in the sight
of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
Numbers 14:14
KJV
Now if you destroy them, the
Egyptians will send a report to the inhabitants of this land, who
have already heard that you live among your people. They know, Lord,
that you have appeared to your people face to face and that your
pillar of cloud hovers over them. They know that you go before them
in The Pillar Of Cloud by day and The Pillar Of Fire by night.
Judges 6:22 KJV
When Gideon realized that it was The
Angel Of The Lord, he cried out, “Oh, Sovereign Lord, I’m doomed!
I have seen The Angel Of The Lord face to face!”
Now in light of the
following verses, how can these manifestations be?
I Timothy 6:15,16 NASB
15 which He will bring about at the
proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, The King of
kings and Lord of lords,
16 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.
John 1:18 KJV
No man hath seen God at any time,
The Only Begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath
declared Him.
John 5:37
And The Father who sent Me has
testified about Me Himself. You have never heard His voice or seen
Him face to face,
I John 4:12 KJV
No man hath seen God at any time. If
we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in
us.
The answer is these
Old Testament manifestations, be thee The Angel Of The Lord, Pillar
Of Fire, Pillar Of Cloud, the One in the burning bush etc. etc. are
appearance of the Son Of God, The Lord Jesus Christ.
These appearances
are known as theophanies. The Lord Jesus appearing to mankind, before
His incarnation.
Remember our Savior
is eternal, with The Father and Holy Spirit.
John 1:1,2 KJV
1 In the beginning was The Word, and
The Word was with God, and The Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with
God.
John 1:1,2 NLT
1 In the beginning The Word already
existed. The Word was with God, and The Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with
God.
John 1:1,2 NASB
1 In the beginning was The Word, and
The Word was with God, and The Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
John 1:1,2 GNT
1 In the beginning The Word already
existed; The Word was with God, and The Word was God.
2 From the very beginning The Word
was with God.
No one has seen God The Father, but The Lord Jesus, has manifested
Himself to His people, during Old Testament times, and of course,
born into the world, He took on the flesh and blood of Man.
Hebrews 2:14 KJV
Because God’s
children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—The Son also
became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could He die, and
only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the
power of death.