Theophany 

Create Date: 3-Jun-2019
 

Last updated: 3-Feb-2022
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Sections

1 Definition 2 Secular Beliefs
3 See the Face of God and Live? 4 Occurrences in the Scriptures

Definition

For the Christian, a Theophany is a word used to describe an Old Testament preincarnate appearance of Jesus Christ.  In the scriptural references when a Theophany occurs, Jesus Christ is appearing as a human being.  We know from Hebrews 13:2 that Angels can appear as human beings, where Jesus Christ can also as Jesus Christ is God.

Hebrews 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Secular Beliefs

Many people, who study ancient writing such as anthropologists, believe the writings of the Old Testament came after other ancient writings.  Believers, need to know that the Scriptures were highly venerated by the ancient Hebrews.  The earliest book of Job and the books written by Moses, date at least around the date of 1360 BCE, which is before the Greek Empire which is estimated to be around 800 BCE. 

The Old Testament Scriptural Source Text, was copied with a precise diligence where scribes would destroy any scroll parchments that had errors in them.  Additionally, when a scroll parchment became old and weathered, there was a special procedure taken to destroy it so that only the highest quality scrolls were ever in use.

The incorrect belief is the first use of the word Theophany was in the ancient story of Lliad, estimated to be written in 1280 BCE, and then used in Greek mythology such as the Epic of Gilgamesh. Along with the Scriptural significance of the Nephilim, it is the belief of many Biblical Scholars that the Greeks adopted their Greek Mythological gods from the historical Nephilim.  Additionally, it is the belief of many Biblical Scholars that the Greeks most likely adopted the Hebrew style of numerical values for letters in their alphabet.  Therefore, any Greek writings concerning their mythological gods as Theophanies would most likely have also come from the knowledge gained in history from the true God.  Note also that the adoption of the word, by no means, diminishes the significance of the appearances of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament.

See the Face of God and Live?

We know from several scriptures that we cannot see the Face of God the Father and live.  In the exodus of Israel from captivity in Egypt, Moses asked God to show His Face.  God's response explained the consequences of seeing God face to face.
 
Exodus 33:19-23 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” 
John 3:13 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

In the times the Jesus Christ appeared and talked with people, was as a Theophany.  Jesus Christ appeared as human being where He represents Himself, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.   Jesus Christ is not God the Father or God the Holy Spirit.  Jesus Christ is the "Son of Man" as one of many Titles.

Occurrences in the Scriptures

There are at least the following scriptures that give us Theophany Occurrences.  Many people have quoted the places in the Old Testament where "The Angel of the Lord' is referenced to mean it is actually a Theophany but in most cases it is not.  In Genesis there are two references to Enoch and Noah, who "walked with God", but this is a figure of speech meaning they had a relationship that does not necessarily mean they saw God manifested in front of them.
 
Scripture
and the Person being Visited

Passage

 

Theophany
Genesis 12:3

 Abram later becomes Abraham		 1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. Yes
Genesis 17
(entire chapter)


 

Abraham

 

 1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, 4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee. 6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. 8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. Yes
Genesis 18:1-3

Abraham		 1 Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.  2 So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, 3 and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant.”  Yes.  The two Angels go on with Abraham and Jesus Christ departs.
Genesis 22:1-2
 Abraham		 1. Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Appears Yes
Genesis
32:28-30

Jacob		 28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed. 29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. 30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for, said he, I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. Appears Yes
Joshua 5:13

Joshua

 

 13 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?”14 “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?” 15 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.

Note: Is the Book of Joshua a small model of the Book of Revelation?   This also helps in verifying Jesus Christ as a Theophany appearance in the book of Joshua.  This author first heard this from Chuck Missler and agrees with Chuck's beliefs.		 Yes, because an angel would never allow himself to be worship
Judges 6:11-18

Gideon		 11 Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” 13 And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 And the Lord1 turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; bdo not I send you?” 15 And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” 16 And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” 17 And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. 18 Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”  Appears Yes
Daniel 3:25
Nebuchadnezzar speaking. 		 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they yare not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods. Appears Yes but could be an Angel also.

What to read next?

What is Salvation?  Is it is possible to lose Salvation?  We have eternal life.  Evolution is not real.  When a Christian suffers is there benefits from it.  Rewards in heaven.  Do we Tithe?  What does the 3rd Commandment tell us?  What is Grace and Mercy?  Is there an Age of Accountability?  Is there a place of unending punishment and exile form God?