WHAT ARE THEOPHANIES

THEOPHANIES ARE THE REVELATIONS OF GOD HIMSELF COMING DOWN TO MEET HIS CREATURES. THEY VARY FROM AGES TO AGES. THAT IS THE USE OF AGES. All theophanies were historical facilitators for accomplishing the final theophany of Jesus in history.

THEOPHANIES ARE RIGHTLY FOUND ONLY IN BIBLICAL THEOLOGY. ISLAM DOES NOT ADMIT THE POSSIBILITY OF GOD REVEALING HIMSELF IN A HUMAN FORM. RATHER IT OPPOSES IT. HENCE ISLAM OPPOSES BIBLE AND CHRISTIANITY.

ONLY THE INFINITELY ALMIGHTY CREATOR GOD CAN DO THE THEOPHANY KIND OF SELF-REVELATION AND SELF-MANIFESTATION. In the case of self-manifestation, God can remain Himself in heaven in His full glory and display Himself, where ever He wants in the form He chooses, and accomplish His own purposes. Nothing is impossible for God. And this is possible only for God.

THEOPHANIES ARE THE VISIBLE APPEARANCES OF THE INVISIBLE GOD. Theophanies are instances of divine self-revelation in which God visibly manifests himself to humans. Theophanies occur in different forms in the Scripture. But the content of a theophany is always the same. Theophanies consistently show God revealing himself. Since the creation of man, He has made many appearances on this Earth where He manifested Himself as a divine Being. In the period before His incarnation, these were known as 'theophanies'. This word is taken from the Greek words, THEOS (God) and PHANEROO (appearance). Hence this means THE APPEARANCES OF GOD TO MAN IN PHYSICAL FORM. Theophanies mean a physical manifestation that could be seen and heard. And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day (Gen 18).

THEOPHANY IS THE WORD WE USE TO DESCRIBE THE VISIBLE PHYSICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD. A theophany is a physical appearance of God to a human being. The ultimate theophany is the appearance of Christ which is known as Christophany. But there are other biblical examples of theophanies. One such example is found in Genesis 18:17 and starts out with “the Lord said.” Not every the “Lord said” is a theophany. But in this passage the Lord is walking and talking directly with Abraham. This is the place where Abraham intercedes on behalf of Lot with the Lord negotiating him down to a promise of not destroying Sodom if ten righteous people can be found in the city. THE LORD AND ABRAHAM MEET AND TALK FACE TO FACE. THE DISCIPLES DID THE SAME THING. DURING THEIR LIFE TIME, WITH JESUS THE SON OF GOD, THEY TALKED WITH, ATE, SLEPT, AND WALKED. AND BY SEEING JESUS THE SON OF GOD, THEY SAW THE FATHER ALSO.

GOD MADE HIS WILL CLEAR IN A THEOPHANY. As Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac, the angel of the Lord stopped him at the right time and commanded him not to harm his son. God appeared in a burning bush and gave Moses the detailed instructions as to how he would rescue the Israelites from Egypt and bring them into the Promised Land. He even revealed his name to Moses: ‘I AM WHO I AM’. (Ex 3:14).

THEOPHANIES USUALLY MARKED A TURNING POINT IN THE PERSON'S LIFE. God gave orders or told the person what would happen in their future. When the persons realized they were talking with God himself, they were often struck with terror, hiding their face or shielding their eyes, as Elijah did when he pulled his cloak over his head. God usually told them, ‘Do not be afraid’.

SOMETIMES THE THEOPHANY PROVIDED A RESCUE. The pillar of cloud moved behind the Israelites when they were at the Red Sea, so the Egyptian army could not attack them. In Isaiah 37, the Angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. The Angel of the Lord rescued Peter from jail in Acts 12, removing his chains and opening the cell door.

GOD WANTS TO HELP US, SAVE US AND BE WITH US. God will not leave us to suffer in isolation. He comes down to meet us without taking into account His infinite loftiness. He Himself is the guarantee of His promises such as “I will be their God and they will be my people” (Jer 24:7). Thus, theophanies are a comforting reality. GOD IS HOLY, AWESOME, AND MAJESTIC. Our God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29). God’s holiness is most clearly seen in his wrath against sin, revealed and satisfied at the cross of Jesus. GOD DESCENDS TO US. Theophanies give the tangible and physical proof of God. Though God wants us to trust Him even when we can’t see Him (Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed) (Jn 20:29), theophanies offer a glimpse into the heart of God who in love and grace descends to comfort those who are in need.

3 KINDS OF THEOPHANIES 

1. APPEARANCE IN NON-HUMAN FORM. In Exodus God appeared in a burning bush, as a pillar of cloud by day, and as a pillar of fire by night. God appeared as a "whisper" to Elijah and in visions to other prophets. The Lord appeared to King Solomon in a dream promising to grant what he asked.

2. APPEARANCE AS A MAN. The most famous revelation of God in the form of a man happened at Peniel (face of God) where Jacob wrestled with a man all night. The wrestling was real and symbolized Jacob's struggles with men and God. Then Moses spoke with God ‘face to face’ on Mount Horeb.

3. APPEARANCE AS AN ANGEL. By far the most common revelations of God were as ANGEL OF THE LORD. The term occurs over 60 times in the Scriptures. These Old Testament manifestations were Chistophanies, or the pre-incarnate appearances of Jesus Christ. The Angel of the Lord is unique from other angels. HE IS THE PRE-INCARNATE YEHOVAH SON. THUS, the angel of the lord who cast out adam FROM EDEN was INDEED jesus HIMSELF in HIS PRE-INCARNATE FORM. An angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a burning bush. The voice that spoke to Moses was God Himself. Exo 3:2-4 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. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.  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. It is also important to note here, angels are created beings by God and are in spiritual-body form. Even though they are separate beings, yet, we see here how God simply took on an angelic form and revealed Himself that way to man.

TO BE MORE ACCURATE, THEOPHANIES WERE CHRISTOPHANIES

THEOPHANIES ARE MANIFESTATIONS OF THE SON OF GOD PRIOR TO HIS INCARNATION, IN A FORM WHICH WAS VISIBLE TO MAN. He walked with Adam in the 'cool of the day', He appeared to Abraham and to the other patriarchs. He appeared to Moses and led the children of Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land. He continued to guide the nation of Israel during the time of the Judges with various visitations to key figures at pivotal times.

YEHOVAH SON JESUS IS THE MEDIATOR BOTH IN OLD TESTAMENT AND NEW TESTAMENT. Though we cannot go to heaven to plead our case with the Father, Christ Jesus is the one who has come down from heaven on our account (Jn.3:13). Now we have access to the Father in prayer, though we still cannot enter into His presence in heaven as long as we remain in these earthly bodies. Before the cross, the Father was even more inaccessible to sinful mankind.

ALL OLD TESTAMENT THEOPHANIES WERE CHRISTOPHANIES. In the Old Testament, when God appears, it is consistently the Son who appears, but as the representative of the Father, speaking the Father's words. The words Theophany and Christophany mean, respectively, an appearance of God and an appearance of Christ. The Greek root phan, means "appear". We know that Abraham spoke with a pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God because Jesus later told the disciples that no man has seen the Father (Jn 6:46) except himself. So what we know to be true is all Theophanies are Christophanies. Even in the garden of Eden God the Son was the one walking with Adam. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad (Jn 8:56). Isaiah said these things when he saw His glory and spoke of Him (Jn 12:39-41). Isaiah saw these things when he saw the lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up (Isa 6:10).  Father cannot be seen with human eyes. Hence Isaiah was seeing the pre-incarnate logos or Christ sitting on the throne. Ex 33.20 - God Himself said, you cannot see my face for no one can see my face and live. But logos or Christ can reveal the glory of God.

NO ONE HAS SEEN GOD AT ANY TIME. THIS MEANS THAT THEY WERE SEEING CHRISTOPHANIES OR THE APPEARANCES OF GOD, NOT GOD HIMSELF. Jn 1:18 But no one has ever seen God. Jesus was seen by many. People have seen the logos who reveals the Father. Israel were seeing their Messiah the logos. Christophanies before he was born (Ps 107:20). They saw pre-incarnate Yehovah Son. In the Book of Daniel, He came into the fire like the Son of Man.

IN THE OLD TESTAMENT THEOPHANIES GOD APPEARED AS FLESH FORM, BUT NOT IN THE REAL FLESH AS IN THE CASE OF JESUS CHRIST. Theophany is a manifestation or appearance of God to man. On several occasions God temporarily clothed Himself as flesh during these appearances, or Theophanies. The difference between such Theophanies and Jesus Christ, is that when the Spirit of the Almighty God became Jesus Christ it was no longer temporary. In the case of Jesus God became a man and remains in human form until the 1 Cor 15:24-28 shall be fulfilled. JESUS WAS THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD AS A COMPLETE HUMAN BEING FROM BIRTH TO DEATH. Incarnation of God in Jesus is a theophany. Incarnation is a manifestation of God in human form from birth to death living on earth. Jesus lived an entire course of human life on earth just like any other human being.

JESUS AS ANGEL OF THE LORD

In all these texts we find physical attributes attributed to God - feet, hand, finger, back - that were seen by Moses. If Jesus was the One who appeared to Moses declaring Himself to be the "I AM", then we can see that Jesus, as "the Angel of the LORD", had physical attributes just like other Angels spoken of in the Bible. Throughout the Bible we find references to "the Angel of the Lord" which undeniably refer to the person of Christ. Examples of these can be found in the accounts of Abraham and Sarah, Hagar, Jacob, Moses, Balaam, Gideon, Manoah, David, Joshua, and others (See: Gen. 16:7-9; 22:11,15; Ex. 3:2; Num. 22:32; Judges 6:12,21-22; 13:15-21; Zech. 3:1-7; etc.). These are not mystical descriptions of encounters with mystical spiritual beings. These are descriptions of real encounters with real beings. These encounters with angels and with the "Angel of the Lord" describe interactions between real men and real supernatural beings.

SCRIPTURES WHICH EXPLICITLY STATE THAT MANY HAVE BOTH SEEN AND HEARD FROM GOD

THE CASES OF CHRISTOPHANY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. The appearances of God to believers in the Old Testament are the pre-incarnate appearances of Lord Jesus Christ. In the majority of these cases, the Old Testament identifies such appearances as Angel of the Lord. This was God appearing to Man in a recognizable form. The scripture uses this phrase to designate an appearance of God Himself, taking on the messenger form to deliver a message personally.

ADAM AND EVE. Gen 3:8 is the first theophany in the Scripture. Adam and Eve heard the Lord walking in the garden and hid themselves from His presence. After Adam and Eve sinned, God’s presence was dreadful, declaring judgment for their wrongdoing. 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" (Gen 3:8-10).

ABRAHAM. God’s appearances to individuals in the Old Testament were frequently connected to his covenantal dealings with them. God revealed himself in theophanies to provide assurance that he would maintain His end of the covenant (Gen 26:24; 28:12-13; 35:1, 9; 48:3). After Abraham arrived at Canaan, God appeared to him, promising that Abraham’s offspring would inherit the land in accordance with God’s covenant promises. God appeared to Abraham in human form before Isaac’s birth, assuring Abraham and Sarah that they would conceive a child in fulfillment of God’s promise to 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 " (Gen 12:7). "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). Gen 17:1 says, “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” A simple reading of 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 and said, 'My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by. Then he prepared a feast of the best he had to offer them and they ate with him. One of these "men" was the LORD. It was here that the Lord promised: "I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son". Sarah laughed at the thought but the LORD rebuked her and said: "Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son". Then came the familiar conversation between Abraham and the LORD about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. KEY POINTS OF THIS PASSAGE: Abraham was speaking with the LORD. The LORD appeared as a man. The other "men" were angels (Gen. 19:1). The LORD ate with Abraham. There are two Yehovahs revealed in the passage: One on the 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). The "Man" who appeared to Abraham along with His two companions in Gen 18 is later said to be "the Lord" (Gen 18:22).

GENESIS 22:10-18 describes another encounter Abraham had with the "angel of the Lord" where it can be clearly demonstrated that the "Angel" was actually the LORD.  "Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham". And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." "Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." Acts 7:2"And he [Stephen] 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 . . . '"

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" Gen 26:2,24.

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" (Gen 28:13). Guidance "Then the Lord said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you" (Gen 31:3). 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” Gen 31:11-13. 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" (Gen 32:1-2). Jacob wrestled with the Angel by the brook Jabbok. The being he wrestled with certainly had physical substance. Jacob physically wrestled all night with Him. And when the morning came and he realized who he had actually been wrestling with he declared: "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved" (Gen. 32:1-32). The being spoken of in these passages as the "Angel of the LORD" was indeed God Jesus, who later on the cross had a real wrestling with Israel. In Gen 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" Gen 32:28-29. Gen 32:30 says, “And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” (Peniel is Hebrew for “the face of God”). Hosea 12:3-6 confirms that this was the Angel and God. "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." 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." Gen 35:1. Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him Gen 35:9. 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 Gen 46:2-4. Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz (Bethel) in the land of Canaan and blessed me Gen 48:3

MOSAIC THEOPHANIES. No figure in Scripture had as many encounters with God through theophanies as Moses. God appeared to Moses in the fire of a burning bush causing Moses to hide his face. "And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush." However, only two verses later Moses declared that it was the Lord God who was speaking to him from the burning bush: "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" (Ex 3:4). At Mt. Sinai, Moses went up to the mountaintop to worship God. He saw God at a distance and was invited into God’s presence, remaining there for 40 days. Later, Moses met “face to face” with God (Ex 33:11; Numb 14:14; Deut 34:10). Even though Moses experienced a special and intimate relationship with God, he did not experience full revelation. Moses asked God to reveal His full glory to him, but God refused, telling Moses that no one could see God’s face and live (Ex 33:20). So God passed by Moses, allowing him to see His back (Ex 33:21-23).

IT IS BEST TO TAKE THESE APPEARANCES OF THE ANGEL OF THE LORD TO BE APPEARANCES OF JESUS CHRIST. When we read of Isaiah's vision of the Lord (Isa 6), we assume at first that Isaiah's vision was of the Father. But Jn 12:41 tells us that Isaiah was beholding Christ's glory, and we understand (with our New Testament perspective) that this was a vision of our Lord in His capacity of King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the glorified ruler of the earth who has accepted the mantle of rulership from the Father (as He will return to reign until "He has placed all enemies under His feet" 1 Cor 15:25.

The appearance of the Lord to Moses in giving the Mosaic Law presents a case similar to the vision of Isaiah. At first glance, we may assume that Moses is actually viewing the Father. But the New Testament is quite explicit in stating that the law was given "through angels" (Gal 3:19-20; Heb 2:2; Acts 7:38, 53). Since we know that these "angelic appearances" are represented in the Old Testament as appearances of God (Ex 34:5-), it must be the case that the New Testament passages which ascribe the giving of the Law to "angels" are in fact indicating that the Father spoke the Law to Moses through appearances of the Angel of the Lord, a manifestation of our pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ.

THE ANGEL OF THE EXODUS. The case of the Angel of the Exodus demonstrates both the divinity of the Angel of the Lord and His identification as a pre-incarnate manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Angel first appears to Moses in the burning bush (Ex 3:1-14). Soon the Angel represents Himself as God, saying "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, and "I shall be who I am", and is further identified as "the Lord". THE SYMBOLISM OF THE FIRE AND THE BUSH IS IMPORTANT. The bush calls attention to Christ, the Messiah, as the Branch (Isa 4:2; 11:1; 53:2; Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12).  While the fire represents the fiery judgment of the cross that does not consume Him. The burnt offerings of Leviticus 1 represent Christ's work on the cross. When Moses was on the Mount, "The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush" (Ex. 3:2). Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God." (vs. 3-6). It was here that God declared His name: "I AM, WHO I AM". In John 8:58 Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM. So we can conclude that JESUS was the Angel of the LORD. "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. Ex 3:16. 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. Ex 4:5. And I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them. Ex 6:2-3. The Angel is called "of God" in Ex 14:19 as He appears in the cloud and fire. Previously, at Ex 13:21 Yehovah Himself is said to have been the one going ahead of the Israelites in the pillar cloud and fire. Once again, the Lord and the Angel are identified as one and the same, and by appearing from within the fire of the column, which would later stand over the place of the ark in the tabernacle where the blood representing Christ's sacrifice would be sprinkled on the day of atonement (Numb 9:15, Lev 16), we again have a picture of Christ's saving work, enduring judgment on our behalf. At Ex 23:20-23 as part of the giving of the Law to Moses on Sinai, the Angel of the Lord proclaims that He is going to "send" the Angel before the Israelites to lead and guard them. Moses is also told that they are to obey the Angel "because My Name is in Him" (Rev 19:11-16). This is once again the Angel of the Lord, not the actual presence of the Father, but the appearance of the One who is sent by Him, speaks for Him, and who has undertaken to fulfill His plan of salvation in this world, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, appearing in pre-incarnate Christophany. In Exodus 24:9-11 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. Along with Moses and Aaron, the elders of Israel see "the God of Israel" on Mt. Sinai. Despite the fact that no one has ever seen the God nor can see Him and live, they not only see the God of Israel, but have a symbolic meal of fellowship with Him, an event that clearly foreshadows communion based on the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the coming "King of Israel" (Jn 1:49). Ex 31:18 reveals that the Ten Commandments were written by God's own Hand: When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God. Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets which were written on both sides; they were written on one side and the other. The tablets were God's work, and the writing was God's writing engraved on the tablets (Ex. 32:15-16). In Ex 33:22-23 we find the LORD telling Moses: 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. 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. Ex 33:11. Judges 2:1-5. Here the Angel claims to be the One who "led you up from the land of Egypt" and reminds the Israelites that He will never break "My covenant with you". Only the God Himself could make such a claim or Someone representing Him, that is, His Servant, our Lord Jesus Christ who would fulfill that covenant and minister a new one for us all in His blood.

THE COMMANDER OF THE ARMY OF THE LORD APPEARS TO JOSHUA. Joshua 5:13-15 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, Are you for us or for our enemies? Neither, he replied, but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come. Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, What message does my Lord have for his servant? The commander of the LORD's army replied, Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so. Joshua then not only worships Him (a thing forbidden where mere angels are involved (Rev 19:10; 22:9), but is also told to remove his sandal because he is standing on ground that is holy (sanctified by the presence of God (Ex 3:5-7). 

Suddenly, while surveying the situation, Joshua was confronted with a man standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. Verse 14 will tell us that this man came as the “captain of the hosts of the Lord,” the commander of the Lord’s army. Joshua’s response in verse 14b and the statement of the captain in verse 15 show this was a theophany, or better, based on the truth of John 1:1-18, it was a Christophany. A Christophany is a manifestation of the preincarnate Christ, who, as the Logos, is the one who reveals God. If only a man or an angel, he would certainly have repelled Joshua’s worshipful response (vs. 14). Compare the response of Paul in Acts 14:8-20 to those who wanted to make them into gods and the response of the angel to John in Revelation 19:10.

Here then, the preincarnate Christ appears to Joshua to teach, guard, and reinforce certain vital truths for God’s people and especially for those in positions of leadership, which really includes all believers to some degree. . . . and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No, rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord.” The first answer is simply a flat “neither.” Why didn’t he say, “I am here for you and for Israel”? But in essence, the man with the drawn sword said, “Neither; I am not here to take sides, yours or that of anyone else.” The second part of the answer gives the reason. In other words, “I am here, not to take sides, but to take over and take charge as Commander of the Lord’s army.”

This is so important and lays down two principles that are foundational for all of life and our warfare against the forces of the world and Satan. The first principle: It was not for Joshua to claim God’s allegiance for his cause no matter how right and holy it might be. Rather, the need was for Joshua to acknowledge God’s claim over Joshua for God’s purposes. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” Remember Paul’s response on the Damascus road, when he came to realize it was the glorified Lord who was speaking to him. He quickly answered, “What shall I do Lord?” (Acts. 28:10).

And the captain of the Lord’s host said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. In these last words of the Captain, there is a command, “Remove your sandals,” and an explanation, “for the place where you are standing is holy.” In this passage, Joshua had an encounter with the living Logos, the very revelation of God.

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. Lev 16:2

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

GIDEON. The Angel of the Lord who appears to Gideon is also said to be the Lord (Judges 6:11-24). The Angel also identifies Himself with the sacrifice (by touching it with His staff) which then goes up in flames, representing the fiery judgment of God (that Christ was to undergo on our behalf). The revelation of Yehovah Himself is often said as Angel of the Lord.

MANOAH. The Angel of the Lord's appearance to parents of Samson is similar to His appearance to Gideon (Judg 13:2-23). Manoah and his wife, though realizing that an angel has appeared to them, do not realize this is in fact the Angel of the Lord until His fiery departure, at which point Manoah exclaims We have seen God. The symbolism of self-sacrifice by the Angel is even more distinctly drawn in this passage, for He ascended in the flame of the burnt sacrifice, the very picture of Christ being judged on our behalf. 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).

DAVID AND 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). That the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon (1 Kings 9:2). 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). 2 Chronicles 3:1 says, Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 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 KINGS. Micaiah continued, Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left.  1 Kings 22:19.

DANIEL 3:22-25. THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD WITH THE THREE CHILDREN IN FIRE. The king's command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?" They replied, "Certainly, O king." He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.

PROPHETS. "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.' At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty. Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, 'See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.' Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'" Isaiah 6:1-8. Isaiah's vision of Israel's King in Isa 6:1- which turns out to be a vision of Jesus Christ as Israel's appointed ruler in the line of David (Jn 12:41). "As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened." Daniel 7:9-10. Ezekiel's vision of God (Eze 1:25-28) is strikingly similar to the description of the glorified Christ found in Revelation 1:12-16 and the elders of Israel on Mt. Sinai in Ex 24:9-11. Zechariah's vision of the Angel of the Lord in Zech 1:7-17 is instructive because the Angel, clearly divine as seen from the examples above, is presented as distinct from the Lord of Hosts, that is, the Father, so that this is undoubtedly a Christophany.

NO ONE HAS SEEN GOD AT ANY TIME

IN JOHN 1:18 HE SAYS, “NO ONE HAS SEEN GOD AT ANY TIME.” HOW CAN BOTH BE TRUE? In what sense did John see God in Revelation 4? The answer is found in the fact that the description of God in Revelation 4 was obtained by a vision. So John saw a vision of God. 1 Kings 3:5; 9:2; and 11:9 say that King Solomon saw God in a dream but not in person. Isaiah 6:1 and 5 say that Isaiah saw God. That is, he saw a vision of God but not God in reality or he was not bodily in heaven in the presence of God. Ezekiel 3:23 says that Ezekiel saw the glory of God but not God’s face. Acts 7:55-60 says that the first Christian martyr saw a vision of the glory of God and Jesus in His resurrection body. That is, he did not bodily go to heaven and see God.

YEHOVAH CAME AND LIVED ON THE EARTH IN JESUS CHRIST

After the birth of Christ, though angels do make many more appearances in the Bible, the Angel of the Lord no longer appears in the Scriptures. 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). As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Mt 3:16-17. While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him. Mt 17:5. We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. 2 Pet 1:16-18.

Then John gave this testimony: 'I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water TOLD ME, The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God. Jn 1:32-34.

WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE FATHER? AS I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE, THE NAME OF THE ONE, CAN BE THE NAME OF THE OTHER. NOTICE THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE PROPER NAME IN THE TRINITY.

Father, glorify your name! Then a voice came from heaven, 'I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.' The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, 'This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Jn 12:28-30.

HEB 7:3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.

PREINCARNATE APPEARANCES OF CHRIST.

Theophanies "God appeared" using a verb which means a physical manifestation that could be seen and heard and not a vision or dream.

1. Gen 12:7; 18:1    to Abraham.
2. Gen 26:2, 24      to Isaac
3. Gen 35:1, 9, 48:3 to Jacob
4. Ex. 3:16; 4:5     to Moses
5. Ex. 6:3           to Ab., Isaac, Jacob
6. Lev 9:4; 16:2     to Aaron
7. Deut 31:15        to Moses and Joshua
8. 1Sam 3:21         to Samuel
9. 1Kings 3:5; 9:2; 11:9 to Solomon
10. 2Chron 3:1        to David
11. 2Chron 7:12       to Solomon

THE ANGEL (MESSENGER) OF THE LORD

1. Gen 16:7-14       Judges 2:1-5
2. Gen 22:9-14       Judges 6:11-22
3. Ex 3:2 (comp 4:5 Jehovah);  Judges 13:3 (a woman)
4. Ex 23:20,21
5. Num 22:21-35

ANGEL OF THE LORD - messenger

1. Ex 13:3-4, 16, 14
2. Zech 3:1

SPIRIT OF YEHOWAH

1. 1 sam 10:10
2. Acts 2:17
3. Isa 63:11-12
4. Eze 11:5

INTERCHANGEABLE NAMES

1. Ps 104:30
2. 2 Sam 23:2-3
3. Job 33:4
4. Isa 48:16

FOR THE ALMIGHTY GOD INFINTITE NUMBER OF HIS OWN REVELATION GOD PERSONS ARE POSSIBLE

1. God is one - Deut 6:4
2. Jesus is not alone as Father is with Him Jn 8:16 And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. Jn 16:32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. Jn 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.