Page 19 - Pentateuch

experience remarkable, yet we are amazed at the simplicity of it all. God has taken on human form at least
temporarily to discuss matters with another human.

Other events in Genesis fall into the same category of
theophany or God's appearance. “A smoking firepot with a
blazing torch” appears and passes between the pieces of
several sacrifices to seal a covenant between God and
Abraham (15:17). Jacob has a dream of “a stairway resting on
the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of
God were ascending and descending on it” (28:12). The LORD
is there, identifying himself as “the LORD, the God of your
father Abraham and the God of Isaac” (28:13). The NT seems
to confirm the Son of God’s presence in this event (John
1:51). By the stream Jabbok, Jacob actually wrestles with a very physical God (32:30) and encounters him
once more at Bethel to bless him (35:9).

All of these appearances are culled from the various incidents in Genesis. The theophanies demonstrate the
depth of knowledge about God possessed by these first generations on earth. They walked and talked with
the pre-incarnate Son of God. He was not yet the person Jesus, permanently human. He had not yet died on
the cross and risen from the grave. They did not have the amount of information possessed by Christians.
Still, he was the explanation of God in a temporary human form.

One of the most often used phrases to identify a theophany is “the angel of the LORD.” A distinction is
made between the angel of the LORD and an angel of the LORD. The first is special. The second is the more
usual variety of heavenly created beings. Often, when the angel of the Lord appears, people identify him as
God in some way. For example, they fear for their lives because they have seen God (Judg. 13:22).
References to the angel of the Lord can be found throughout the Old Testament (Gen. 16:7-13; 21:17;
22:11-18; 24:7, 40; 31:11; 32:24-32; 48:15-16; Exod. 3:2; 13:21; 14:19; 23;20-23; 32:34; 33:2; Num. 20:16;
22:22-35; Judg. 2:1-4; 5:23; 6:11-24; 13:3-23; 2 Sam. 14:17-20; 19:27; 24:14-17; 1 Kings 19:5-7; 2 Kings1:3,
15; 19:35; 1 Chron. 21;11-20; Ps. 34:7; 35:5-6; Eccl. 5:6; Isa. 37:36; 63;9; Zech. 1;9-21; 2:3; 3:1-20; 4:1-7;
5:5-10; 6:4-5; 12:8).

The Son of God appears at other times and is identified with other descriptions. He meets with the elders of
Israel on top of Mount Sinai (Exod. 24:9-11). He is in the pillar of cloud that descended on the tent of
meeting to “speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend (33:11). He is the “commander of the
LORD’s army who talks to Joshua before the battle of Jericho (Josh. 5:13-15). He is seen by Isaiah “seated
on a throne, high and exalted (Isa. 6:1; John 12:41). He is the
One seen by Ezekiel, “a figure like that of a man” and “the
appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD (Ezek. 1:26,
28).”

“The combined testimony of these passages portrays the Son
of God as exceedingly active in the Old Testament, dealing with
sin, providing for those in need, guiding in the path of the will
of God, protecting His people from their enemies, and, in
general, executing the providence of God. The references make
plain that this ministry is not occasional or exceptional but
rather the common and continual ministry of God to His

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