Theophanies in the Old Testament :: By Randy Nettles
“On the sixth day of creation, God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:26-27).
God (Elohim in Hebrew) created man in His image. Elohim is plural for God (Gods) in the Hebrew language. On the sixth day of creation, God made man. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). This verse is just one of many declaring the Trinity of God, otherwise known as Elohim.
In the Old Testament, it was sometimes necessary for God to manifest Himself to human beings in a visible form, either individually or collectively. This is called a theophany. The word theophany comes from the Greek words “theos” (God) and “phaneia” (to appear). God sometimes makes his presence known to man in the form of a man Himself.
The first theophany in the Bible occurred sometime after Adam and Eve ate from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking 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 3:8). The English word “presence” is translated from the Hebrew word “panim,” meaning face, presence, countenance, or before. The origin is from the root פָּנָה (panah), meaning “to turn” or “to face.”
The LORD (Yahweh or Jehovah) told Moses, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live” (Exodus 33:20). The English word “face” is translated from the Hebrew word “panim.” It primarily refers to the “face” or “presence” of a person or entity. It is often used in the context of being in someone’s presence or before them. This verse in Exodus is the reason why God appeared to men (a theophany) as a “man” instead of in His natural form.
The second Person of the Trinity, the Word (aka the Son of God or Jesus Christ), is the One who appeared to men as recorded in Scripture. Old Testament theophanies involving Christ are called Christophanies. So, a Christophany is a particular kind of theophany that includes a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ in human form. It does not include visions or dreams of God or metaphors involving God, but actual temporary appearances of God in the form of a human being.
In eternity past, before the foundation of the world, the decision was made that the Word would become a man to redeem His creation from the bondage of sin. Elohim is omniscient and knows the end from the beginning. “Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” (Isaiah 46:9-10).
God knew man would sin and death would ensue, so God, who created man, would become a man Himself and redeem those who were made in His image. He would become their kinsman redeemer. The kinsman redeemer is first mentioned in Leviticus 25:23-25 regarding the redemption of one’s land. “If your brother becomes destitute and sells part of his property, his nearest relative may come and redeem what his brother has sold” (Leviticus 25:25). Israel’s best representation of the “kinsman redeemer” is found in Ruth 3-4 when Boaz, a kinsman of David and Jesus, redeemed Ruth’s property and position.
According to the law of Leviticus 25:23-25, Jesus had to become a man to save mankind because only Adam’s next of kin could redeem what Adam had lost. 1 Corinthians 15:45-47 calls Jesus the “last Adam” and the “second man.” In order to redeem that which Adam had lost, Christ had to descend from his former position of glory to a place lower in the creative order than the angels, that of mankind. When He died for mankind, He was not only able to return to His former position Himself, but He also elevated mankind to His position of glory as well.
Here is how the late Bible scholar Jack Kelley explained Christ’s role as our kinsman redeemer:
“The law of redemption is detailed primarily in Leviticus 25 and covers both the loss of property and the loss of freedom. Adam suffered both these losses when he sinned, and from that time forward, all of his progeny were held captive to sin by the one who had stolen their kingdom, awaiting the Kinsman Redeemer. A Kinsman Redeemer had to meet several requirements. First, he had to be qualified. That means he had to be a next of kin or close relative. Next, he had to be able or have the means to pay the price. And third, he had to be willing. Although it would be a public disgrace to do so, he could refuse.
“In Jesus, God became a man in order to qualify Himself to redeem us. He lived a sinless life because the coin of redemption was the blood of a sinless man. And He was willing to give His life for us because He loves us. The idea that God could become a man and live a sinless life shouldn’t surprise us. He is God, after all. But the fact that He would choose to sacrifice that perfect life just so we could escape the punishment due us when there’s nothing we can give in return should drive us to our knees in wonder.” {1}
THEOPHANIES OF THE LORD
The following scriptures refer to the physical appearances of the LORD (theophanies) in human form or as a glorious manifestation in a cloud or fire. They are not visions or dreams. When a man of God has a vision or dream, it is mentioned as such. These appearances are fulfilled by the pre-incarnate Christ, the Word (or Son). Sometimes, the scriptures say the appearances were made by “the LORD,” “the angel of the LORD,” or by “God.”
Many of the theophanies in the Old Testament are accomplished by the entity called “the angel of the LORD.” The Hebrew word “malak” is translated as “angel” or “messenger” in the English Bible, and “Yahweh” is translated as LORD. So, the angel of the LORD is not actually a created angel but is the messenger of Yahweh.
As Christ is the second Person of the Triune God in the New Testament, the angel/messenger of the LORD represents the second Person of the Trinity in the Old Testament. The messenger of the LORD is the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2). They are one and the same, for they both had the same mission to accomplish for God the Father. The Father sent them to the earth at different times to deal with mankind and to accomplish His eternal will and plan of salvation for them.
“The combined testimony of these theophany passages (regarding the 2nd Person of the Trinity) 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 revelation of the person of the Son of God thus afforded is in complete harmony with the New Testament revelation. The testimony of Scripture has been so complete on this point that, in general, scholars who accept the inspiration and infallibility of Scripture are agreed that the angel of Jehovah/Yahweh is the Christ of the Old Testament. Not only Christian theologians but Jewish scholars as well have come to the conclusion that the Angel of Jehovah is more than an angel.” {2}
PHYSICAL APPEARANCES OF THE LORD
1) “And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, ‘Unto thy seed will I give this land’: and there built he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him” (Genesis 12:7). This occurred when Abram (Abraham) first entered the Promised Land.
The LORD made a covenant with Abram in Genesis 15, saying, “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates. The events of Genesis 15 occurred in a vision and is not considered a theophany. However, I chose to include it here because of who speaks to Abram in his vision. “After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Genesis 15:1). “And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir” (Genesis 15:4).
It is the second Person of the Godhead (the Word or the Son) that appears to men of God in a human form in these theophanies or Christophanies.
2) The first appearance of the angel (or messenger) of the LORD is found in Genesis 16 when Hagar (Sarai’s maid) fled into the wilderness. After Hagar had conceived (with Abram’s seed), she grew bitter toward Sarai, so Sarai, in turn, treated her harshly. Hagar then fled into the wilderness.
“And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where did you come from and where are you going? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress, Sarai. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands. And the angel of the LORD said unto her: I will multiply your seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for it is such a multitude. And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, you are with child, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Ishmael; because the LORD has heard your affliction” (Genesis 16:7-11).
After the messenger of the LORD talked to Hagar, this is her reply as recorded by the prophet Moses: “Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her (the angel of the LORD is the one who spoke to her), ‘You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, Have I also here seen Him who sees me?'” (Genesis 16:13). Clearly, Hagar recognized this person to be God (in human form).
3) “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'” (Genesis 17:1). The Hebrew word “El” is used (for God) here instead of Elohim. This theophany occurred when the LORD changed Abram’s name to Abraham and made a covenant with him in which the LORD promised the land of Canaan to him and his descendants forever. In return, Abraham and his male descendants would keep the covenant of circumcision.
4) “And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 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 18:1-2). This visitation by the three “men” to Abraham occurred right before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. One of the “men” was the LORD Himself. “And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD” (Genesis 18:22).
The two individuals who went to Sodom were really angels in disguise, according to Genesis 19:1 and 19:11. The angels gave Lot the message from the LORD regarding the coming destruction of the city. They told Lot to gather his family and leave the city immediately.
Early the next morning, judgment came for the inhabitants of the cities of the plain. “The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven” (Genesis 19:23-24). Some scholars believe verse 24 exemplifies the first two Persons of the Trinity. The first LORD mentioned is the second Person of the Trinity, the angel/messenger of the LORD, and the second LORD is the first Person of the Trinity, the Father.
Many scholars believe the three persons involved in this theophany are the same three mentioned in Daniel 12.
5) Although the events of Genesis 22 do not contain a visual theophany, I have included it here as it proves the angel/messenger of the LORD is God Himself. God decided to test Abraham’s faith and told him to take his only son, Isaac, and offer him as a burnt sacrifice to the LORD. Abraham took him to Mount Moriah (next to Salem), “and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, ‘Here am I.’ And he said, Do not lay your hand upon the lad, neither do anything unto him: for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me'” (Genesis 22:9-12).
Abraham looked around and saw a ram caught in a thicket by his horns, so he took it and offered it up for a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh, which means In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. “And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, ‘By myself have I sworn, says the Lord, for because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son: that in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because you have obeyed my voice ‘” (Genesis 22:15-18).
Genesis 31:11-13 also confirms that the angel (this word should more likely be translated as messenger) of the LORD is God.
6) After Abraham’s death, the LORD then appeared to Isaac. “And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 26:2-4).
7) The next theophany occurs in Genesis 32. Jacob is waiting to meet up with his brother Esau when he encounters a “man.” “And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. 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. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (Genesis 32:24-30). Of course, Jacob did not see God in His glorious Shekinah nature but only as a man.
8) God appeared again unto Jacob in Bethel, only this time it wasn’t a dream. “And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him” (Genesis 35:9-13).
9) Forty years after killing an Egyptian and fleeing Egypt, Moses now kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law. One day, he led the flock to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of God, Mount Horeb. “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. So Moses said, I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up. When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here I am.
“Then He said, Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. He said also, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God” (Exodus 3:2-6).
“The Angel of the LORD appeared to him — Not a created angel, but the Angel of the covenant, Christ, who then and ever was God, and was to be man, and a messenger from God to man. He, termed the Angel of God’s presence, (Isaiah 63:9,) had wrestled with Jacob, (Genesis 32:24
and had redeemed him from all evil, (Genesis 48:16 and afterward conducted his posterity through the wilderness, 1 Corinthians 10:4. These his temporary appearances were presages of his more solemn mission and coming, on account of which he is fitly called the Angel or Messenger. That this angel was no creature appears from his saying, I am the Lord, a language which angels never speak; but, I am sent from God — I am thy fellow-servant. In a flame of fire — Representing God’s majesty, purity, and power.” {3}
10) Throughout the 40 years of the children of Israel wandering in the desert, the LORD went with them (as the angel/messenger of the LORD). He traveled in the sky above them. “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: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people” (Exodus 13:21-22).
When the children of Israel were in the Wilderness of Sin, they began to murmur against Moses and Aaron (but mostly against the LORD). “And it came to pass, as Aaron spoke unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud” (Exodus 16:10). The cloud shrouds the full brilliancy of the Shekinah glory of the LORD, which human eye could not behold.
The children of Israel came to Mount Sinai on the first day of the third month (Sivan 1), according to Exodus 19:1. “On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai” (Exodus 19:1 – ESV translation). In Exodus 19:9, the LORD told Moses He would come down Mount Sinai in a thick cloud, and the people could hear Him speak with Moses (but they wouldn’t be able to see His “presence”).
The LORD told Moses this would occur on the third day (inclusive reckoning). “And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai” (Exodus 19:10-11). So, the day the LORD came down Mount Sinai was Sivan 3 (in 1406 BC on the Gentile calendar),…the 3rd day of the 3rd month (33).
“And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
“And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up” (Exodus 19:16, 18-20). God gave Moses the Law (including the Ten Commandments) verbally on this day.
Moses’ first 40 days and nights on Mt. Sinai with the LORD:
In Exodus 24, it says Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 elders of Israel went up the mountain, and they saw God. “And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink” (Exodus 24:9-11).
These 74 men experienced a “Christophany.” A Christophany is a particular kind of theophany that includes a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ in human form. In the Old Testament, Christ appeared to humans in His pre-incarnate state. I believe this appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ was something more than just as a normal human being (per “as it were the body of heaven in his clearness”), but it wasn’t as God (the Word) in His Shekinah Glory.
It was the second Person (the Son or Word) of Elohim, in His Shekinah glory, who came down Mt. Sinai in fire, smoke, thunder, lightning, and clouds, as recorded in Exodus 19:16-20. Nobody, including Moses, saw Him clearly as he was obscured from their sight.
In Exodus 33:18, Moses asks to see the LORD’s glory. 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. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. 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: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:19-20).
“And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. 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. 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. 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 24:15-18).
11) After breaking the two tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written, Moses was instructed to make two new tablets, and God would write the Ten Commandments on them again. The LORD met him on the mountain the following day. “Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation'” (Exodus 34:5-6).
Moses’ second 40 days and nights on Mt. Sinai with the LORD:
“And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him” (Exodus 34:28-29).
12) Exodus 40 describes the children of Israel erecting and arranging the tabernacle of the tent of meeting with all of its furnishings, including the ark of the covenant (with the Testimony/Ten Commandments inside) and the mercy seat above it. So, Moses and the children of Israel finished their work on the first day of the first month in the second year of their journey to the Promised Land.
“Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 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. And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys: But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. 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” (Exodus 40:34-38).
13) The actual consecration and anointing of Aaron and his sons (and the Tabernacle and all that was in it) doesn’t occur until Leviticus 8. For seven days, Aaron and his sons were to remain in the Tabernacle until their consecration had ended. The priestly ministry of Aaron as high priest and his sons as priests of the Tabernacle occurs on the eighth day in Leviticus 9. A bull and a ram were sacrificed as a peace offering (burnt offering) for the people, and the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved as a wave offering before the Lord.
“Then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people, blessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle of meeting and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people, and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces” (Leviticus 9:22-24).
14) The first Feast of Atonement is described in Leviticus 16. The only one who could enter the Holy place within the veil was the High Priest (Aaron in this case). “And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail: And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not” (Leviticus 16:2,12-13).
The cloud of incense would obscure the appearance of the LORD in the Holy place, just as the cloud in the sky obscured the appearance of the LORD during the 40 years of wandering in the desert.
15) An interesting event occurred in Numbers 12 regarding 70 elders of Israel. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone” (Numbers 11:16-17).
“And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle. And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease” (Numbers 11:24-25).
16) In Numbers 12, Aaron and Miriam speak against Moses because he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, Has the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? Has He not spoken also by us? The LORD heard it, and spoke suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, “Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out. And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.
He said, “Listen to my words: When there are prophets of Yahweh among you, I make myself known to them in visions or speak to them in dreams. But this is not the way I treat my servant Moses. He is the most faithful person in my household. I speak with him face to face, plainly and not in riddles. He even sees the form of Yahweh. Why weren’t you afraid to criticize my servant Moses?” (Numbers 12:6-8 – NOG translation). We know the rest of the story and what happened to Miriam.
17) The glory of the LORD usually appeared to the children of Israel in a cloud near the Tabernacle. One such incident is after the Israelites rebelled against Moses, Aaron, Caleb, and Joshua after the 12 spies gave their report regarding the land. “But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel” (Numbers 14:10).
18) During the Korah incident (rebellion) in Numbers 16, the glory of the LORD appeared several times. “And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the congregation” (Numbers 16:19). After God caused the earth to swallow up Korah and his followers and sent fire upon 250 princes of Israel for their participation against Moses and Aaron (and the LORD), the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, ‘You have killed the people of the LORD.’
“And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared” (Numbers 16:42). In His wrath, the LORD wanted to consume the children of Israel, but Moses made atonement for them. Still, the LORD sent a plague that consumed 14,700 Israelites.
19) The last recorded appearance of the glory of the LORD (Yahweh) during the exodus is recorded in Deuteronomy 31. This occurred before the children of Israel finally entered the Promised Land when Moses was about to die. “And the LORD appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle. And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them: (Deuteronomy 31:15).
Randy Nettles
Endnotes:
{1} Our Kinsman Redeemer – Grace thru faith
{2} Finding Jesus in the Old Testament by David Limbaugh, Regenery Publishing
{3} Benson Commentary – Biblehum.com (Exodus 3:2)
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