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INDEX |
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The Bible Teaching of God- manifestation |
| God Manifestation Through Men |
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"I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way... my name is in him." Exodus 23:20-23 |
In the final section of our outline of God's attributes in chapter 3 we cited several passages expressly stating that He is invisible, veiled from mortal sight - "Whom no man has ever seen or can see" 1Tim 6v16 Yet a number of times in the Old Testament we read of men and women seeing God. For example, after Jacob had wrestled with a 'man' until daybreak he called the name of the place Peniel (ie Face of God) saying "For I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved." Gen 32v30. Again after the covenant between God and Israel had been confirmed:
"Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet a pavement of saphire stone like the very heaven for clearness. And He did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel, they beheld God and ate and drank." (Exod 24:9-11)
Further similar statements include:
"Manoah said to his wife, we shall surely die, for we have seen God." (Judges 13v22)
"In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord (Adonai) sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up;..... And I said: Woe is me .... for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord (YAHWEH) of hosts!" (Isaiah 6:1,5)
How are we to reconcile these apparently quite contradictory statements? If God is invisible to man how could He be seen on such occasions? Whilst obviously in the vast majority of cases 'God' or 'Lord' means the Creator himself, if we come to the Scriptures with the preconception that the term 'God' always means the Creator, the Father of the Lord Jesus, we are going to be in serious difficulties! But preconceptions are just what we must not bring, but rather a humble enquiring mind to ascertain what the Bible itself means by 'God' (and for that matter, any other expression or description it employs). Only a careful examination of its use in its contextual setting will provide a legitimate explanation of the term 'God' consistent with the basic teaching of Scripture, as we now hope to demonstrate. We will show that when they were engaged on His work God sometimes permitted other beings to speak as if they were God Himself, indeed even to use His personal Name. This principle we term 'God Manifestation'. Clearly if this is understood it will have far-reaching implications when we consider those passages that speak of Christ as God.
GOD-MANIFESTATION THROUGH ANGELS
The context of the above-quoted passage in Judges 13 shows clearly that it was 'the angel of the LORD' who appeared to Manoah and his wife. "Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord" (v21), and it was he, consequently, whom they styled 'God'. Similarly the prophet Hosea, when recalling the incident of Jacob's wrestling to which we have previously alluded, writes of him:
- "... in his manhood he strove with God.
- He strove with the angel and prevailed ...
- He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with him the LORD the God of hosts, the LORD is his name" (Hosea 12:3-5).
In the latter part of this passage Hosea also refers to the God of Bethelthe place where Jacob made a vow to serve 'the LORD, the God of Abraham ... and the God of Isaac' (Genesis 28:13ff), but in Genesis 31:11, however, this same personage is styled 'the angel of God'. Thus in these quotations we have a clear Scriptural clue which will enable us to solve the apparent contradiction about whether God has been seen by men or not.
Is there further support for the proposition that in every case it is 'the angel of the LORD' (remember, when 'LORD' occurs in capital letters it always denotes the personal Name of God, Yahweh) who appears on behalf of God and is called 'God'? There certainly is, as the following testimonies prove:
"The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness...And he said 'Hagar, maid of Sarai, where have you come from' ..." (verses 7-8). She called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, 'Thou art a God of seeing'; for she said, 'Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?' Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi (= the well of one who sees and lives)" (vv. 13-14).
"The LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre ... three men stood in front of him" (18:1-2)... "The LORD said to Abraham (v13) ... Then the men set out from there ... The LORD said 'Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? (vv16-17) ... I will go down to see whether they [Sodom and Gomorrah] have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me' ... So the men went toward Sodom; but Abraham still stood before the LORD" [to intercede on behalf of his nephew Lot] (vv21-22). "And the LORD went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham (v33) ... The two angels came to Sodom in the evening (19:1) ... [the men urge Lot to leave] (v12) ... the angels urged Lot, saying 'Arise, take your wife ...'" (v15).
Comment - Much can be learned from this account. The three visitors obviously looked like men and were at first taken to be so (cf. Hebrews 13:2; "some have entertained angels unawares"). The narrative gradually makes it clear that at least two of the three were angels, who went on to Sodom, while the third, as spokesman, was superior and is expressly called 'the LORD'. Abraham clearly recognises his superior status and appeals to him to spare Sodom even if only ten righteous men can be found there. This 'first of the three' may have been an archangel (only one, Michael, is named in Scripture); in view of the passages about God's invisibility referred to at the beginning of this chapter he certainly was not God Himself. We can therefore dismiss as totally untenable any suggestion that these three were 'the Trinity' or that the name-bearer was Jesus. In the following examples it is clear that 'God', 'the LORD', and 'angel' are used almost interchangeably.
"And he (Jacob) blessed Joseph, and said, 'The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has led me all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil," Gen 48v15-16
"The angel of the LORD appeared to him [Moses] in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bush ... God called to him out of the bush ... 'I am the God of your 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 at God.. 'Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me' (Exodus 3:2,6,16).
In Acts 7:38 Stephen, speaking of Moses says: "This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers." The last phrase must be a reference to the giving of the law, when Moses "brought the people out of the camp to meet God ... And the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai ..." (Exodus 19:17,20)."And God spake all these words, saying, 'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt'" (Exodus 20:1-2).
But who did in fact lead Israel out of Egypt? In Exodus 20:1-2 just quoted it was 'the LORD your God 'but now consider these passages:
- "But God led the people round by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea" (Exodus 13:18).
- "And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire .." (Exodus 13:21).
- "Then the angel of God who went before the host of Israel moved and went behind them" (Exodus 14:19).
- "And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down upon the host of the Egyptians ..." (Exodus 14:24).
- "Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, 'I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you into the land which I swore to give to your fathers" (Judges 2:1).
- "In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them ... But they rebelled and grieved his holy spirit ... Like cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So thou didst lead thy people, to make for thyself a glorious name" (Isaiah 63:9-10,14).
Comment Note that only one personage is mentioned at any one time; it is the style of address that varies, sometimes 'the LORD', sometimes 'God', sometimes 'the angel of the LORD' (or of 'God'). In the incidents just considered, it was evidently the LORD who led them but who was manifested as the 'angel of his presence' (as Isaiah calls him), vested with full divine authority, as this further passage shows:
"Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring to the place which I have prepared. Give heed to him and hearken to his voice, do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression: for my name is in him. But if you hearken to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries. When my angel goes before you, and brings you into the Amorites..." Exod 23:20-23.
Note here the equivalence: when Israel heard this angel's voice, they heard God speaking! Evidently the angel was a divine messenger with full power (a 'plenipotentiary') both to speak and to act on God's behalf, for he spoke in God's name, and that name he bore. Perhaps it was the same angel who appeared to Joshua on the eve of operations to capture Jericho (the chapter division here interrupts the story):
"When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood before him with his drawn sword in his hand ... 'as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come ... Put off your shoes from your feet: for the place where you stand is holy' ... And the LORD said to Joshua, 'See, I have given into your hand Jericho ... '" (Joshua 5:13-6:2).
"And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, 'The LORD is with you ...' and Gideon said to him, ... 'why has all this befallen us?' ... And the LORD turned to him and said, 'Go in this might of yours ...' And the LORD said to him, 'I will be with you ...' Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD, and Gideon said, 'Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face'" (Judges 6:12,13,16,22).
It must therefore be apparent to the discerning reader that whenever we read that 'God' or 'the LORD' appeared to men, it was by angelic agency that He was manifested, all necessary authority and power being invested in these heavenly beings, so that they became the mouthpiece of God Himself. Even trinitarian writers, convinced of the pre-existence of Jesus, incline to the interpretation of the facts submitted here. 2
One might think that such an exalted role would be reserved for the angels alone, as God's immortal messengers (the Hebrew for angel simply means 'messenger'), seeing that they are "all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation" (Hebrews 1:14). On the contrary, God has seen fit, in certain circumstances, to entrust chosen men with a comparable status, as we shall now show.
REFERENCES
1. Exodus 23:21
2. See for example The New Bible Commentary Revised p.134, and the footnote to Genesis 16:7 in the NIV Study Bible.
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