A Study of Theophanies: Appearances of God in the Old Testament  

By Steven Lester

In this paper I will examine certain Old Testament passages that deal with appearances of God or theophanies. Theophany is constructed from two Greek words: theos meaning God and phaino meaning “to appear.” (John M. Baze—The Angel of the Lord) Lewis Chafer more accurately defined a theophany as, “a manifestation of God in visible and bodily form before the incarnation.” [Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology 4 Vols., (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1993) 3:31] According to Chafer’s definition certain phenomena such as the Shekinah glory would not be considered a theophany since God did not appear in visible, bodily form. (John M. Baze—The Angel of the Lord) At any rate, a careful study of Old Testament theophanies will reveal important themes that are repeated throughout scripture. These themes provide the substance of God’s overarching plan for humanity.

Through out the paper I will examine theophanies and their significance by referring to the Biblical record. The format of examination will include elements such as: the historical context, possible theological meanings, relationships between theophanies, and theophanies value in regard to New Testament doctrine. I hope to weigh in on the academic debate regarding theophanies and intelligently establish my opinion based upon careful research of scripture and relative theological material. Due to space limitations I will not be able to consider all theophanies in the Old Testament. The ones I have chosen will be an appropriate representative sampling so that the theology of theophanies may be established.

The first consideration I want to explore is the issue of the Jesus Christ as the substance of Old Testament theophanies. In considering this possibility we need to be aware of the academic debate regarding this subject. James C. Moyer says in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology:

Various interpretations have been suggested including an appearance of God himself, an appearance of a messenger, or of God’s many angels, or the appearance of the incarnate Christ. Each interpretation has difficulties and there is no consensus. Walter Elwell, ed., Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1984), P. 1087.

There are good arguments on both sides of the issue. This paper, however, shall suppose that Christ is the substance of Old Testament theophanies. If Christ is subject of Old Testament theophanies then how does this affect the theology of theophanies? Having this presupposition puts a unique perspective of the entirety of scripture: scripture takes on more of a Christocentric disposition. Having Christ active only in the New Testament does not, in my opinion, bind the scripture together as coherently as having Christ active in the Old Testament via theophanies. This is an important issue as Christ is the theme of Scripture.

Christ is suited to be the substance of Old Testament Theophanies by reason of scripture witness. John 8:56-58 declare:

“Your Father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad. The Jews said unto him you are not yet fifty years old, and you seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, most assuredly I say unto you, before Abraham was I AM.”

Jesus stated that he was present, visible and interacting with humanity in the Old Testament. Which reference was Christ speaking of? Scripture records no less that eight times from Genesis chapter12-22 that Abraham experienced an appearance of God. Some of these appearances may not be considered a bona-fide theophany according to Lewis Chafer’s definition as mentioned above for the reason that there was no visible body appearance. Many times the Lord spoke to Abraham such as in chapter 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 22:1-2. These passages reveal that God simply spoke to Abraham; there is no mention of appearance. Genesis 15: declares that God appeared in a vision to Abraham. Other passage such as 12:7; 15:17-18; 17:1-22; 18:1-33 speak of God actually appearing to Abraham in visible form. In fact Chapter 18 gives a description of God:

“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. So he lifted up 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.” Genesis 18:1-2

God is described as appearing in the form of a man. Later in verse 8 scripture tells us that the men ate with Abraham. John Baze notes that out of the eight occurrences of the phrase “and the Lord appeared,” this account is only time that supporting details are given. (Baze 272) The point is that Christ is among these appearances to Abraham. I submit that the tenor of scripture suggest that Christ is the only member of the Godhead that appeared to Abraham.

John 8:58 gives mention of Christ associating himself with the title, “I AM”. Of course this title was applied to The Angel of Jehovah appearing to Moses in the burning bush. The fact that Christ applies this title to himself directly associates him to the Angel of Jehovah (a subject we will discuss in detail later) and to an Old Testament theophany.

Another passage that deals with Christ’s appearance in the Old Testament is John 12:41. The passage says, “These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.” Of course the context of the Old Testament passage that John was referring to is found in Isaiah chapter 6. This account declares Isaiah’s throne room encounter with God. The scripture plainly testify that Isaiah encountered Christ sitting on the throne in glory.

The characteristics of this particular theophany resemble other God-appearances throughout the Old Testament. Jeffery Niehaus mentions several areas of similarities between the Isaiah 6 account and other theophanic appearance in the Old Testament. For instance the terms used to portray Yahweh resemble both Mount Sinai and subsequent theophanies. (Niehaus 251) Niehaus gives further similarities:

We read that the temple was filled with smoke…and that the door posts and thresholds shook (Isaiah 6:4). The phraseology resembles Amos 9:1…. It also anticipates Isaiah 24:20, which portrays the earth (which, if not God’s temple, is at least his footstool, Mt 5:35) shaken by Yahweh in judgment theophany.

Niehaus goes on to say:

Granted its eschatological implications, there is also a clear terminological parallel between this account and the account of the original dedication. The parallel is no accident. Yahweh appeared in Solomon’s day to seal his promise to David that his son would sit upon his throne and build the Yahweh temple and that Yahweh would cause his name to dwell there. (Niehaus 251)

There fact that Yahweh is seated on a throne gives further detail for comparison. Niehaus says the verb “seated” is also the term used in Psalm 2:4 where God is pictured being enthroned and ready to judge the nations. The term is also used in Psalm 29:10 where God is “enthroned” above the flood waters. (Niehaus 252) Given the similarities mentioned above between the Isaiah 6 theophany and others throughout the Old Testament, it stands to reason that Christ is the one appearing in all theophanies.

The problem of sin has introduced many evils into the human race. One of the most prolific situations facing man is the inability to come face to face with God. Man would be destroyed if God was seen in all of his glory. Exodus 33:20 declares, “You cannot see my face; for no man shall see me and live.” Therefore, an objective of the incarnation is to allow man the opportunity to “meet” God. Christ declared in John 14:9: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” The incarnation was the highest revelation of God to man. Hebrews 1:1-2 says, “God who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken to us by his Son.” Christ is the only member of the God head that has communicated the revelation of God to man by reason of physical presence. This is why he is suited to be the substance of all Old Testament theophanies. Daniel Finestone comments, “God has given a mediate revelation of Himself in Christ (Matt. 11:27), and we must therefore assume that every theophany in the Old Testament is in reality a Christophany. John Walvoord also weighs in on this point in saying:

“The Second Person is the visible God of the New Testament. Neither the Father nor the Spirit is characteristically revealed in bodily and visible form… It is logical that the same Person of the Trinity should appear in bodily form in both Testaments.” (Walvoord 167)

As Christ spoke in the New Testament through his bodily appearance, he also revealed God in the Old Testament. The Sinai Theophany in Exodus 33-34 gives us an example of God communicating revelation through appearance. In Exodus 33 18-23, Moses desired to see God in his glory, to which God replied that no man could see all of his glory and live. Yet, God did pass by Moses and revealed himself in verse 19:

“Then He said, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I am gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”

In Exodus 34:6-7, God also passed by Moses announcing:

“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.”

In these appearances, God was not fully seen, yet he communicated revelation to Moses while appearing. This dynamic of revelation through appearance seems to be God’s chosen method of communication. M. Burrows says, “God appears in order to speak,” (Niehaus 29) Gerhard von Rad expressed the same sentiment, “With an Old Testament theophany everything depends upon the pronouncement: the phenomena which accompany it are always merely accessories.” (Niehaus 29)

John chapter 1:1, 14 declare:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Christ is pictured as the divine expression and tabernacled glory of God among his people. This characterization and ideology of Christ is significant because of its ability to have its origins in the Old Testament while finding its fulfillment in the New Testament. The Old Testament clearly yearned for God to tabernacle among his people in order to express himself to them. The glory of God is seen to have time and again tried to tabernacle among the people. The Old Testament also strains revelation out through the various theophanic events. John Walvoord says:

The doctrine of the Logos has had considerable treatment in historic theology and in particular connects with the rational and philosophic implications of the revelation in Christ… The central idea remains of an intelligent, ordered revelation of God in tangible expression. The theophanies in the Old Testament are partial representations of Christ but not the same sense or as accurate a revelation as Christ the Logos. (Walvoord 160)

The New Testament effortlessly breaths revelation through the person and work of Christ. His incarnation seems to be the maturation and fullness of his theophanic workings in the Old Testament: God’s glory finally finds a suitable dwelling and finds his perfect expression in the incarnate Christ.

I think at this point we should discuss the significant theophanic appearances regarding “The Angel of the Lord.” The supposition of this paper is that Christ is the Angel of the Lord mentioned in the Old Testament. The first issue of consideration is to underscore that The Angel of the Lord is a distinctive person and not one of many angelic beings used in God’s service. The grammatical construction of the term “The Angel of the Lord” as used in the Old Testaments gives weighty evidence for his exceptionality. We cannot go into a lengthy discussion of the particulars; however John Baze gives a lengthy and technical analysis of the subject in his work The Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament Part 1. He sums up his position:

Of the fifty-six occurrences of the phrase, “The Angel of the Lord”, every one of them involves a grammatical arrangement that represents the typical order and form of a true construction relationship. Thus, the usage of a proper name in this construction relationship would substantiate that the only possible literal translation of malak YHWH is “the Angel of the Lord” while eliminating the indefinite translation, “an angel of the Lord.” (Baze 271)

Baze also cites A.B. Davidson as saying: “According to the general grammatical rule the rendering ‘an angel of the Lord’ is inaccurate…” (Baze 271) It appears that grammatically the structure of the phrase “The Angel of the Lord” qualifies this character for a position particular uniqueness.

Furthermore qualifying The Angel of the Lord as a case for the pre-incarnate Christ is the fact that scripture assigns deity to the Angel. Daniel Finestone catalogues six areas where deity can be ascribed to The Angel of the Lord:

1. The Angel of Jehovah claims deity (Exodus 3:6,14; Judges 13:18)

2. The Angel of Jehovah is addressed as deity (Genesis 16:13; Judges 6:22)

3. The Angel of Jehovah is paid divine honors (Exodus 3:4,5; Genesis 22:12)

4. The Angel of Jehovah is called God by the Old Testament writer (Exodus 3:4)

5. The Angel of Jehovah has divine attributes (Exodus 32:34; Isaiah 63:9)

6. The Angel of Jehovah promises to do what only deity can do (Genesis 21:18; 22:17,18; Exodus 3:8) )Finestone 374-375)

The last point I want to make note of is that after the incarnation of Christ the term “The Angel of the Lord” does not appear again in scripture. This startling fact gives further weight to the notion that Christ is “The Angel of Jehovah”. After the incarnation, if the Angel of God was a different person other than Christ, it seems he would make an appearance. His absence seems to suggest that he is the incarnate Christ.

Now we arrive at our last point of consideration regarding Christ’s appearing in the Old Testament. Christ’s eternal role in regard to humanity’s salvation necessitates his working in the Old Testament. When God appeared to humanity in the Old Testament it was with purpose. There was never an empty theophany: all were full of redemptive value. Finestone says:

We have seen that all appearances of the Angel of the Lord were related to some phase of the redemptive program of God through Israel. This plan was consummated in the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Both the Angel of Jehovah and the Lord Jesus Christ were engaged in the same activity, the salvation of man; the One working in the Old Testament times, the Other in the New Testament times. (Finestone 384)

Particular activities of the pre-incarnate Christ should be noted. First he was active in a covenantal context. He established covenant, assisted Israel in covenant fidelity, brought covenant transgression judgment, and delivered Israel as a result of covenant obedience. First, God is seen entering covenant with man. Genesis chapter 1, 2, 8 and 12 contain covenant references, however, the covenant reference in Genesis 15 encloses a magnificent theophany. This covenant theophany shows to what lengths God will condescend in relating his plan to man. Abraham and his seed were the beneficiaries of the covenant. Jeffery Niehaus agrees with Moshe Weifeild and Gordan Wenham that “the nearest parallel to the covenant form in Genesis 15 is the royal grant typically made by a king to a man and his descendants in perpetuity.” (Niehaus 174) Niehaus goes on to say that, “God’s ultimate desire is to restore the intimacy of the unbroken Creation covenant with humanity.” (Niehaus 179) Christ’s appearances in the Old Testament serve to assist humanity to this end. The Genesis 15 theophany not only serves to reveal a divine covenant, but underscore theophanic covenant assistance.

Israel was assisted in covenant fidelity by theophanies. Numerous times God appeared to Abraham in reaffirming his covenant therefore encouraging Abraham. Genesis 18, 20 are instances in which the Lord appeared to Abraham encouraging, testing, and reaffirming the covenant. Jacob wrestled with The Angel of the Lord in Genesis 32. The Angel blessed him, encouraged him, and called him Israel. This pattered continues in Exodus. In chapter 3, 20-34 God appears to assist Israel not only in delivering them but encouraging them in covenant faithfulness. Every theophany has, in some measure, directly or indirectly, an effect of encouraging covenant fidelity.

Theophany or Christophany serves to facilitate judgment upon men for covenant transgression. Within the creation covenant framework God came in chapter 3 verse 8 in a storm theophany. He came as covenant judge. Ezekiel’s vision of God in chapter 1 of his book seems to indicate a similar covenant storm theophany. Niehaus goes in detail regarding the verbage of the Ezekiel 1 and Genesis 3:8 account. Niehaus aggregates the word study of Ezekiel’s theophany and Genesis 3:8 by saying:

As regards Ezekiel’s vision by Kebar and after, one fact is paramount: what he saw was disastrous. Yahweh appears in an awesome storm theophany as covenant judge. He also appeared as covenant judge to Adam and Eve, and if they saw anything like what Ezekiel saw (and the storm theophany of Genesis 3:8 laconically suggests that they did), their fear was well grounded. (Niehaus 255)

Another storm theophany takes place in the judgment upon humanity via the great flood of Genesis chapter 7. Psalm 29: 3, 4 seem to indicate that the Lord appeared in the flood of Noah. These scriptural accounts of judgment are all associated with covenant transgression and subsequent storm theophanies, which are judgment theophanies.

The last activity of Christ in respect to covenant is his activity in deliverance of his covenant people. The Old Testament serves as the narrative of the journey of God’s covenant people. Sprinkled along the journey are Christophanies that function as a means of deliverance. The Genesis 22 appearance of The Angel of the Lord effected deliverance for Abraham’s son, Isaac. The Exodus 3 Christophany announced the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Other appearances to Gideon and Manoah in the book of Judges also emulate the concern and activity of deliverance of God’s covenant people. Even a brief study of Old Testament theophanies produces numerous examples of a deliverance motivated agenda.

It is for the above mentioned reasons that the member of the Godhead most qualified to appear in Old Testament theophanies is the Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture declares him to be the substance of Old Testament appearances. To have Christ as the visible presentation of God’s revelation gives the scripture meaningful continuity. The subject of The Angel of the Lord’s appearing and acting in the Old Testament also gives incredible evidence to the ministry of the pre-incarnate Christ. Having Christ as the subject of Old Testament theophanies is not without its difficulties, yet as in the words of Daniel Finestone, “in Christ all the pre-Christian theophanies find a higher unity.” (Finestone 384)

Works Cited

Baze, John. “The Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament-Part 1”,

Finestone, Daniel. “Is the Angel of Jehovah in the Old Testament the Lord Jesus Christ?”

Niehaus, Jeffery. 1995. God at Sinai. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Walvoord, John. “Series in Christology-Part 2: The Preincarnate Son of God”