Chapter 10.9

Direct Means of Miraculous Communication

From the Writing of God to Living with God

 

Table of Topics

A) The Writing of God

B) The Glory Cloud of God

C) The Angel of God

D) The Son of God

E) Living with the Living God

Extras & Endnotes

Primary Points

• The Bible records remarkable occasions when God Himself did the writing.
• The Glory Cloud was a manifestation of the presence of God, and perhaps specifically the Holy Spirit
• The Angel of the Lord many times represents the Person and Presence of God in the OT, but is also distinguished from God. Accordingly, He is probably a pre-incarnate revelation of Jesus Christ and we therefore have significantly more biblical text describing Christ than just the Gospels.
• The Scriptures are clear that to have met Christ in person was to meet God.
• With the physical presence of Christ on Earth the Scriptures reflect a conspicuous absence of other modes of personal revelation.
• All of the more direct means of personal revelation were intensified in the person of Christ.
• Obviously the deeds surrounding Christ’s life revealed a great deal about God.
• Although the physical presence of Christ was the most direct personal revelation of God provided to date, only relatively few humans experienced it.
• The Scriptures warn us of the greatest counterfeit revelation of all time, “the antichrist”.
• Obviously, the ultimate of all divine revelations will be when, “the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them” (Rev 21:3)
• The Age of Faith will end.
• In the Eternal Kingdom, we would suggest that virtually all current modes of divine revelation will cease operating. For example, it can be reasonably assumed that not even Scripture will be needed.
• Imagine the joy we will experience when we truly do see and hear Him and faith is no longer needed! That will be the ultimate revelation of God, not only because of its intensity, but its eternity.

While we have suggested that the above means of miraculous communication from God were rather indirect, here we begin our discussion of more direct means. This would include the voice of God and apparitions, visions, and dreams from God which we cover in the next chapter. Here we will discuss the writing of God, the Glory Cloud of God, the Angel of God, the Son of God, and in eternity future, living with the living God. ^[1]

A) The Writing of God

While we recognize that Scripture represents the writing of God’s word through a human instrument, the Bible records some remarkable occasions when God Himself did the writing. The most obvious example of divine writing is the recording of the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone. We read, “When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God” (Exod 31:18). God’s grace is reflected in the fact that after Moses breaks such a precious gift from God by throwing the tablets to the ground in anger over the people’s sin, God personally inscribes another set (cf. Exod 34:1, 28; Deut 10:1-5). ^[2]

B) The Glory Cloud of God

We noted above that in the transfiguration of Christ, “a bright cloud” descended and God spoke, “from the cloud” (Matt 17:5). This would seem to be a NT manifestation of the “Shekinah” ^[3] that often symbolized the presence of God in the OT. Shekinah is the Hebrew word given by Jewish rabbis ^[4] to the “glory cloud” that filled the OT Tabernacle (cf. Exod 40:34-35) and later the temple (cf. 1 Kgs 8:10). Moses simply refers to it as “The cloud of the LORD” (Num 10:34; cf. 14:4). By our count, there are over 80 references to the Glory Cloud of God in the Bible.

We first encounter this phenomenon in Exodus 13:21 when in the context of the Israelite’s journey to Canaan we read: “By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.” Here we see that the presence of “the Lord” is somehow contained in this “pillar of cloud . . . [and] fire” (cf. Num 14:14). ^[5] Soon afterwards, in response to the complaints of the people, we read the next encounter with the Glory Cloud:

Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the LORD, for He has heard your grumbling.'” While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud (Exod 16:9-10).

The next scene in which this cloud represents the presence of God is on top of Mount Sinai. We read: “When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud” (Exod 24:15-16). It is after this that Moses asks God to see His glory (Exod 33:18), and upon granting the request, we see that the Glory Cloud accompanies this manifestation of God as well: “Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed His name, the LORD” (Exod 34:5). It will be noticed in these instances that this cloud is consistently referred to as “the cloud,” not just a cloud, suggesting it to be not only the same phenomenon in all these cases, but something that the Israelites recognized as being significant.

The next descriptions of the Glory Cloud concerns its indwelling of the wilderness Tabernacle and the Temple of Solomon. Concerning the Tabernacle we read:

Moses finished the work [on the Tabernacle]. Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out–until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels. (Exod 40:33-38)

Several observations can be made from these passages. First of all, as noted above, the cloud was a manifestation of the presence of God. In Leviticus 16:2 we read: “The LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.” Apparently, while the Glory Cloud of God initially filled the whole temple area, it was understood to have then confined itself to the Holy of Holies, situated precisely where God had promised to dwell. God had told Moses: “There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all My commands for the Israelites” (Exod 25:22; cf. Deut 31:15; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; 2 Kgs 19:15; Ps 80:1; 99:1; Ezek 9:3; 10:3-4). ^[6]

The fact that the Glory Cloud represents the presence of God is why when it enters the temple later (cf. 1 Kgs 8:10f.), it is considered a fulfillment of God’s promise that He would, “put His Name there for His dwelling” (Deut 12:5). Where the Cloud was, there was God. More specifically, it should be added that the Glory Cloud was not God, but simply where He dwelt. Accordingly, we read: “Then the LORD came down in the cloud [not as a cloud] and stood there with him [Moses] and proclaimed His name, the LORD” (Exod 34:5; 19:9; 24:16; 1 Kgs 8:12).

Secondly, comparing the above passages makes it clear that the initial encounter with the Glory Cloud as a “pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night . . . a pillar of fire to give them light” (Exod 13:21), is the same phenomenon that indwelled the Tabernacle and Temple (cf. Num 9:15-22; Ps 78:14, 105:38-9; Neh 9:12). ^[7]

Additionally, some have noted the similarities between the Glory Cloud and the Holy Spirit. Like the Spirit, the Cloud often appears as fire (cf. Acts 2:3), and seems connected to supernatural empowerment (cf. Exod 24:18; Num 12:10) and divine revelation (cf. Exod 25:22 with Lev 16:2; Exod 33:9-11; Deut 31:15).

In addition, the Apostle Paul makes a very interesting reference to the Glory Cloud when he writes: “For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea (1 Cor 10:1-2). There is a suggestion here that the Glory Cloud “baptized” the Israelites “into Moses” their redeemer, just as the Holy Spirit has baptized us into our Redeemer (cf. 1 Cor 12:13; Gal 3:27). Because of this, several commentators, even as early as Origen (c. A. D. 250), have suggested that the Glory Cloud was a manifestation of the Holy Spirit, or was at least intended to symbolize it.

Remembering the universal response of humans when they see God, it is obvious why God would “hide” in a cloud. As M. F. Rooker notes:

Whenever the Lord reveals himself, he also conceals himself. The reason for this is the recognized danger to the one who gazes on God’s appearance. . . . The human reaction to God’s appearance was always one of fear and terror. . . . The terrorizing appearance of God explains why God was often cloaked in a cloud in the theophonic appearance: the full revelation of his glory would totally overwhelm and could in fact destroy a human onlooker. ^[8]

As we turn to the NT, it would seem that there are possible manifestations of the Glory Cloud recorded there as well. The “bright cloud” (Matt 17:5) which descended and from which God spoke in the transfiguration of Christ has already been noted. In relation to this, we are reminded of the Apostle John’s description of Christ: “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling [eskēnōsen: lit.: “tabernacled”], among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only” (John 1:14; cf. Rev 21:3). Surely especially John’s Jewish readers saw these references concerning Christ to be related to the Tabernacle and the Glory Cloud that represented the presence of God in it, and among God’s people. ^[9] While God dwelt in a cloud in the OT, with the arrival of Christ, He dwelt in human flesh!

Similarly, we notice that a cloud enveloped Christ at His ascension as well:

After He [Christ] said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into Heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into Heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11; cf. Luke 2:9)

The Angels’ comment that Christ’s return will resemble His ascension brings to mind the numerous references to a cloud of glory in this context as well. Luke records Christ as saying, “At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” (Luke 21:27; cf. Mat 24:30; Dan 7:13; Isa 30:27; 60:1; Rev 14:14). It can then be suggested that the Glory Cloud which manifested the presence of God in the OT, has functioned in the same manner concerning the birth and transfiguration of Christ, and will do so as well with His return.

Accordingly, F. F. Bruce comments:

The transfiguration, the ascension, and the parousia are three successive manifestations of Jesus’ divine glory. The cloud in each case is to be understood as the cloud which envelops the glory of God (the Shekinah)-that cloud which, resting above the Mosaic tabernacle and filling Solomon’s temple, was the visible token to Israel that the divine glory had taken up residence there (Ex. 40:34; 1 Kings 8: 10-11). So, in the last moment that the Apostles saw their Lord with outward vision, they were granted a theophany: Jesus is enveloped in the cloud of the divine presence. ^[10]

Even beyond this, it would seem that the Glory Cloud will appear again in the land of Israel. Isaiah prophesies of a future day and says, “Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over all the glory will be a canopy” (Isa 4:5; cf. Ezek 43:2-4). ^[11]

Nonetheless, we again see a discontinuity in methods of divine revelation as regards the Glory Cloud. Not even modern super-supernaturalists or mega mystics claim that we should expect God to manifest Himself to us in this way today as He did to several biblical characters.

C) The Angel of God

Many of the different manifestations of the presence of God in the OT are ultimately described as the “Angel of the Lord” (malak yhwh). This figure is very prominent in God’s interaction with His people in the OT, appearing to key figures, apparently including Abraham (cf. Gen 18:1-33), Jacob (cf. Gen 32:1, 22-30), Moses (cf. Exod 3:1-4), Joshua (cf. Josh 5:13-15), and David (cf. 2 Sam 24:15-17). In light of His importance for God’s interaction with His covenant people, it is remarkable that the Angel of the Lord appears first to someone outside of that covenant, namely Hagar, a pagan slave, concerning her pagan son Ishmael (cf. Gen 16:1). ^[12]

Even here, we encounter the most puzzling thing about the Angel of the Lord. First, he is described as an “Angel” (Gen 16:7). The Hebrew word here (malak) literally means “messenger” and can simply refer to human ambassadors (cf. Isa 30:4; 33:7; Ezek 17:15), or human messengers (almost 100 times), although it is often translated “Angel” (over 100 times). However, when this Angel speaks to Hagar, He promises in the first person, “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count” (v. 10), a promise that could only be made by the Creator. Accordingly, Genesis describes this being as “the Lord [Jehovah] Who spoke to her,” and even Hagar describes Him as “the God Who sees me” (v. 13). This same pattern continues in subsequent encounters and God repeatedly identifies Himself with the Angel of the Lord (cf. Gen 22:15-18; 31:11-13; 48:15-16; Judg 2:1-2; 6:11-14; 13:21-22).

For example, regarding the Israelite’s journey to the Promised Land, God promises “My Angel will go before you” (Exod 32:34). However, a few verses later in the same context God promises, “My Presence [paniym] will go with you” (Exod 33:14). God equates His “Presence” with His “Angel,” which is why the Angel of the Lord is described elsewhere as, “the Angel of His presence” (Isa 63:9). ^[13]

In a similar way, we read in Exodus 23:

See, I am sending an Angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to Him and listen to what He says. Do not rebel against Him; He will not forgive your rebellion, since My Name is in Him. If you listen carefully to what He says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. My Angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. (Exod 23:20-23)

The “Angel” in verse 20 is identified as “My Angel” in verse 24 and given divine attributes, suggesting that God is again referring to the Angel of the Lord. To rebel against this Angel is to rebel and sin against God (v. 21), and what he says is what God says (v. 22). However, the most intriguing thing here is that the Angel of the Lord is described by God as having God’s “Name . . . in Him” (v. 21). If we understand what this means, we will understand who the Angel of the Lord is. Obviously it is a lofty description meaning that, “the essential nature of Jehovah was manifested in him.” ^[14] Accordingly, Keil and Delitzsch define the Angel of the Lord as, “the visible representative of the invisible God under the Old Testament.” ^[15]

The deity of the Angel of the Lord is demonstrated as well by the worship that seemed to accompany Him. When he appears to Moses in the burning bush, God tells Moses, “Do not come any closer . . . Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground,” (Exod 3:5) clearly equating the presence of the Angel of the Lord (v. 2) with the presence of God. Joshua is told the same thing as Moses when he also seems to encounter the Angel of the Lord, and in addition he, “fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”” (Josh 5:13-15). Such worship and reverence was forbidden in the presence of a mere Angel (cf. Rev 19:10; 22:8-9; Col 2:18), but not evidently in the presence of the Angel of the Lord. ^[16] In addition, the Angel of the Lord performs miracles, consuming with fire the offering placed before Him by Gideon, and the sacrifice prepared by Manoah (cf. Judg 6:21; 13:19-20).

Remarkably, while it is obvious that The Angel of the Lord represents the Person and Presence of God, it would seem He is also distinguished from God. We noted above in the context of the Israelite’s journey to Canaan, that God had promised that His “Presence” would accompany them through the presence of the Angel of the Lord (cf. Exod 32:34, 33:14). However, in Exodus 33:1-3, in the same context of the Israelite’s journey to the Promised Land, God says: “I will send an Angel [the Angel of the Lord, cf. Exod 23:20-23; 32:34] before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.” In other words, while the Angel of the Lord is described as the “Presence” of God and was to accompany the Israelites on their journey, God in His Person was not. Here, God and the Angel of the Lord are clearly differentiated.

Likewise, in 2 Samuel we see the Lord Jehovah speaking to the Angel of the Lord as a separate being: “When the Angel [of the Lord, see below] stretched out His hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD [Jehovah] was grieved because of the calamity and said to the Angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The Angel of the LORD was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite” (2 Sam 24:16). In addition, the Angel of the Lord is heard addressing God when we read in Zechariah: “Then the Angel of the LORD said, “LORD Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?” (Zech 1:12).

Some may suggest that the statement “Angel of the Lord” may at times simply refer to any one of God’s Angels. However, as one studies the topic, God often refers to Angels simply as Angels, but the phrase, “Angel of the Lord” seems to have special significance.

Before drawing some conclusions regarding the Angel of the Lord, it is interesting to note that He appears in several different forms as well. For example, we read that, “the Angel of the Lord appeared to him [Moses] as flames of fire from within a bush” (Exod 3:2). In fact, it is not clear that the Angel of the Lord is ever described as appearing as an Angel, but most often as a man. For example, when Jacob wrestles with the Angel of the Lord, he is initially described as a “man” ^[17] (cf. Gen 32:24; Judg 13:3, 6). While Jacob himself later describes the incident as seeing, “God [Elohim] face to face,” (Gen 32:30) it is not until we read the Prophet Hosea’s commentary on this event that we learn that this appearance of a man was the Angel of the Lord as well. In describing “Jacob,” Hosea says: “In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God. He struggled with the Angel and overcame Him” (Hos 12:2-4).

This would suggest that other appearances of a man were manifestations of the Angel of the Lord as well. As noted above, Joshua encounters “a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in His hand” (Josh 5:13). The man describes himself as, “commander of the army of the LORD” (v. 14), but again, the reverence that He accepts suggests that He is in some way closely connected with deity (v. 15; cf. Exod 3:2-6).

The appearance of “three men” to Abraham (Gen 18:2), one clearly being revealed as God (v. 1, 13-14, 17, 22) is one of the more intriguing examples of personal revelation from God. Contrary to the suggestion that all three represent God, and that this is a demonstration of the Holy Trinity, verse 22 indicates that two of “the men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before” the third “man” who was “the Lord.” The two other “men” are later clearly described as Angels, not manifestations of God (Gen 19:1, cf. v. 13). This is one of the most striking encounters with a being that appears as a man, having “feet” to be washed (v. 4), and eating food (v. 8), ^[18] but being described as the very “Lord (Jehovah)” (v. 13) for Whom nothing is “too hard” (v. 14), and Who had personally “chosen” Abraham and his offspring to be the people of God (v. 19). The suggestion that the Angel of the Lord often appeared as a man may explain why those who see Him often initially respond to Him as such (cf. Judg 6:12-13; Gen 16:7-8), instead of the usual reaction from those who see an Angel (cf. Dan 10:12-19; Luke 1:13, 30; 2:10).

The above attributes ascribed to the Angel of the Lord suggest a very interesting conclusion of who He really is. To summarize, the OT’s description of the Angel of the Lord includes the following: 1) His presence and person are a manifestation of the Presence and Person of Jehovah God, His very “name” and attributes being “in Him” (Exod 23:21). 2) He is a separate being from God, and 3) He most often manifested Himself as a human man.

It therefore becomes obvious that there are striking similarities to how Christ is described in the NT as a being Who is the Presence of God, but separate somehow from God, and appearing in the form of human flesh. It is no wonder then that many of the earliest Church fathers including Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian identified the Angel of the Lord as Jesus Christ, the latter referring to Him as “rehearsals” of the Incarnation.

One can add that while the Angel of the Lord is active in the OT even up to the time of the Prophet Zechariah (Zech 1:12), He is no longer mentioned after the appearance of Christ, suggesting as well that the former may well have been the OT manifestation of the latter. ^[19] While there is no explicit confirmation of such an identification in the NT, and therefore we cannot be certain of it, the biblical evidence for it is certainly considerable. ^[20]

Accordingly, J. B. Payne equates the Angel of the Lord as “preincarnate appearances of Christ” in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. ^[21] Likewise, Keil and Delitzsch conclude after an extensive study of the topic:

The Angel of Jehovah, therefore, was no other than the Logos, which not only “was with God,” but “was God,” and in Jesus Christ “was made flesh” and “came unto His own” (John 1:1-2,11); the only-begotten Son of God, who was sent by the Father into the world, who, though one with the Father, prayed to the Father (John 17). ^[22]

Finally, we quote McClintock and Strong who agree that:

The inevitable inference is that by the “Angel of the Lord” in such passages is meant He who is from the beginning, the “Word,” i.e. the Manifester or Revealer of God. These appearances are evidently “foreshadowings of the incarnation” (q.v.). By these God the Son manifested himself from time to time in that human nature which he united to the Godhead forever in the virgin’s womb. ^[23]

If, in fact, The Angel of the Lord is a pre-incarnate manifestation of Christ, then we have significantly more biblical text describing Christ than just the Gospels.

D) The Son of God

The incarnate Jesus Christ obviously represents a monumental personal encounter with God. He was indeed God Almighty, the Creator and Master of the Universe in a human body. As the Apostle John put it: “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (John 1:14). This is, of course, why Matthew says, “they will call Him Immanuel” –which means, “God with us”” (Matt 1:23). There could be no greater demonstration of God’s desire to have a relationship with us. The Scriptures are clear that to have met Christ in person was to meet God.

The King said, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) and “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). This is why the Bible often describes Christ simply as “the Word [logos, expression] of God” (John 1:1, 14; Rev. 19:13). The Jews certainly understood what Christ was saying and “tried all the harder to kill Him” because He was “making Himself equal with God” (John 5:18). And our King clearly identified Himself with the OT God with His extraordinary statement: “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I Am!” (John 8:58; cf. Exod 3:14).

All of the more direct means of personal revelation were intensified in the person of Christ. He was the ultimate messenger of direct verbal communication from God. In Hebrews we read, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the Prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son” (Heb 1:1). Surely when Christ was on the Earth He spoke God’s words, not only because He represented God the Father, but because He was Himself God! (cf. John 8:26, 12:49, 14:10, 17:8, Deut 18:18).

Like the OT Angel of the Lord, He was God in human form. However, He did not present Himself merely momentarily and only to a few select individuals, but rather, over an extended period of more than three years and to many thousands of people. Finally, Christ was the ultimate vision of God, the author of Hebrews writing: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being [hupostasis, person, nature]” (1:3). He was more than a momentary vision of some of the physical attributes of God. Rather, Christ’s compassion, patience, holiness, mercy, sternness against arrogance, and hatred of pride, all reveal the personal character of God.

Obviously the deeds surrounding Christ’s life revealed a great deal about God as well. His incarnation in the form of a baby is the ultimate demonstration of God’s humility. His transfiguration revealed something of not only Christ’s glory, but our future glory as well. His miraculous authority over humanity and nature were the most personal presentation of God’s power. Christ’s crucifixion is, of course, the supreme illustration of God’s love. And finally, His resurrection was the most convincing authentication of His claims to represent God.

Although the physical presence of Christ was the most direct personal revelation of God provided to date, only relatively few humans experienced it. The Apostle John writes of his unique experience when he says, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it” (1 John 1:1-2). However, many of those who personally saw or heard Christ did not recognize the incredible privilege available to them. Oh, to have lived in those days!

As noted previously, with the physical presence of Christ on Earth the Scriptures reflect a conspicuous absence of other modes of personal revelation. During His ministry we have no reports of God revealing anything to anyone apart from Him. We would suggest that this is simply another example that when a superior method of personal revelation is present, others cease. Such a suggestion is demonstrated in the ministry of Christ. The fact that Christ was such a complete and personal revelation of God may explain why so many of the ways in which God revealed Himself at other times were limited or focused only through Christ during His ministry.

John the Baptist was a Prophet, but his ministry soon ended after Christ’s ministry began (John 3:26-30; Mark 1:12-14; 6:17-27). Angels appeared to announce the birth of Christ, but afterwards are conspicuously absent from the Gospel narrative until Christ’s resurrection. As noted above, the voice of God the Father is audibly heard three times during Christ’s ministry but this always occurs in Christ’s presence and is directly related to Him. The only divine communication through a dream or vision recorded during Christ’s life on Earth is that of Pilate’s wife, revealing to her Christ’s innocence (Matt 27:19).

Likewise, there were obviously a multitude of miraculous events occurring during Christ’s ministry, but all are attributed to Him, except those done by the disciples He personally empowered and commissioned (Luke 9:2; 10:9). To suggest that a multitude of others were seeing or performing God-sent miracles, or receiving special revelation from God through means other than Christ when Christ was on the Earth is a suggestion from silence, and would not reflect the obvious intention of the Father to communicate at that time exclusively through His Son.

In addition, the physical presence of Christ as a mode of personal revelation is another example of the discontinuity of such methods. Christ’s presence fulfilled its purpose and this mode of revelation ceased. The King is not revealing Himself in the same manner today as He did in A. D. 30. The proof text most often cited in support of this unbiblical suggestion is Hebrews 13:8 where we read: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Of course He is in His character, but not in His methods of revelation. While we have noted above that Christ has apparently appeared to some in visions since His Ascension, these would not reflect the kind of physical revelation that the Apostles could touch and embrace. The super-supernaturalists who think God would never remove a valuable gift of revelation from the church, need to remember He took Christ. His physical presence on Earth was the greatest gift of divine revelation and it is no longer here. Why wouldn’t he take Apostles and Prophets?

Finally, we have noted throughout this chapter, satan’s desire to counterfeit God’s methods of miraculous communication, and not surprisingly, this would especially include the greatest of these methods, Jesus Christ Himself. Thus, the Scriptures warn us of the greatest counterfeit revelation of all time, “the antichrist [antichristos]” (1 John 2:22; cf. Matt 24:15-25; 2 Thess 2:1-12; Rev 6:1-2). The preposition anti does not only reflect opposition, but perhaps even more so, replacement. ^[24] Accordingly, the revelation of antichrist will not merely contradict the teaching of the real Christ, but become a substitute for it. No doubt, antichrist will resemble Christ in many ways, including supernatural abilities and a veneer of virtue. By these he will hope to be another Messiah in place of the real one, and worshipped and obeyed accordingly.

Indeed, while there have already been and will be many “false Christs” (Matt 24:24; cf. 1 John 2:18), there will be an ultimate one, a fraud so convincing that apart from God’s supernatural assistance, all “will believe the lie” (2 Thess 2:11). Therefore, in the context of end time events, Christ warns:

Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ, and will deceive many. . . . At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false Prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible (Matt 24:5, 23-24).

E) Living with the Living God

Obviously, the ultimate of all divine revelations will be when, “the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them” (Rev 21:3). Elsewhere we have written:

While the earthly life of Christ was the ultimate revelation of God in the past, and the indwelling Spirit and Scripture is such for the present, there is still to come a revelation of God that will surpass all of these. Our present interaction with God through the Scriptures and Spirit requires faith. We cannot see the God we are experiencing on a daily basis. Indeed, the Apostle Peter said, “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,” (1 Pet 1:8). Likewise, the Apostle Paul said of the Christian, “we live by faith, not by sight.” . . .

Because we live in the Age of Faith instead of the coming Age of Sight, we do not know God as we will, nor in the manner we will. But the Age of Faith will end (cf. Rom. 8:24-25, 2 Cor. 4:18, 5:7, Heb. 11:1). While the earthly life of Christ was the ultimate divine revelation of God in the past and the indwelling of the Spirit in our New Nature and the provision of Scripture is such for the present, there is still to come, a revelation of God that will far surpass all of these. Here we must pause and notice how drastically the nature of divine revelation is to change.

For example, because the revelation of God for His glory will be so complete in the Eternal Kingdom, we would suggest that virtually all current modes of divine revelation will cease operating. For example, it can be reasonably assumed that not even Scripture will be needed. The King said that the purpose of His first coming was “not . . . to abolish . . . but to fulfill . . . the Law and the Prophets.” However, when “Heaven and Earth disappear” and “everything is accomplished” in His second coming, “the smallest letter” and “the least stroke of a pen” which currently make up Scripture will “disappear” (Matt 5:17-18). ^[25]

Accordingly, Dr. Kuyper (1837–1920) wrote:

With the dawn of the Day of days the Sacred Volume will undoubtedly disappear. As the New Jerusalem will need no sun, moon, or temple, but the Lord God will be its light, so will there be no need of Scripture, for the revelation of God shall reach His elect directly through the unveiled Word. But so long as the Church is on earth, face-to-face communion withheld, and our hearts accessible only by the avenues of this imperfect existence, Scripture must remain the indispensable instrument by which the Triune God prepares men’s souls for higher glory. ^[26]

Imagine the joy we will experience when we truly do see and hear Him and faith is no longer needed! That will be the ultimate revelation of God, not only because of its intensity, but its eternity. This is why the ultimate personal encounter with God will be the day “when He appears . . . because we shall see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2), and unlike Moses, we “will see His face” (Rev 22:4; cf. Matt 5:8).

Job described this future revelation in this way:

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that He will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see Him for myself. Yes, I will see Him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought! (Job 19:25-27 NLT)

Yet it is not that we will simply receive an initial appearance of God, and see Him no more. Rather, in a way that would seem to combine the intimacy that the Twelve enjoyed with Christ personally, with the universality that we enjoy now through the Holy Spirit, all of God’s people will experience an intimate, personal, relationship with God when the Kingdom is fully established on Earth, and it can be said: “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God” (Rev 21:3; cp. Zech 2:10-11).

That is when we will be “at home with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8) living with Him so we can see His glory (cf. John 17:24). While God certainly lives with His people now in a spiritual way through the indwelling of the Spirit, He will then live with us in a “physical” way, as we will dwell in His very presence.

Even though we do not see, hear, live with, and eat with God now, we will in Heaven (cf. Rev 19:9). The revelation of God, and the glory it was to accomplish, will be so complete that even such great virtues as faith and hope will vanish right along with the old earth, sky, and stars (cf. Rom. 8:24-25, 2 Cor. 4:18, 5:7, Heb. 11:1). We will no longer need faith and hope because the second coming of Christ will terminate the Age of Faith and inaugurate the eternal Age of Sight. ^[27]

Obviously, this is one method of divine personal revelation that satan will not be able to counterfeit. While the devil’s children may experience such a direct and constant revelation of him, he will be eternally confined to the Lake of Fire, unable to do anything but suffer and pay for all of his abominable counterfeiting through the ages.

Extras & Endnotes

A Devotion to Dad

Our Father in Heaven, we praise You for all of the amazing, humbling ways You have revealed Yourself to humanity. Thank You for sending Your Son! And thank You that You will send Him again and usher in not only an eternal revelation of Yourself, but an eternal personal existence and enjoyment of You. Can’t wait.

Gauging Your Grasp

1. When does the Bible record that God Himself did the writing?
2. What were the attributes of the Glory Cloud in the OT? Why do we suggest it was an OT manifestation of the Holy Spirit?
3. What were the attributes of The Angel of the Lord in the OT? Who do we suggest He is manifesting in the OT? What is the significance of this in terms of divine revelation? Do you agree or disagree and why?
4. What Scriptures make it clear that to have met Christ in person was to meet God?
5. We claim that with the physical presence of Christ on Earth the Scriptures reflect a conspicuous absence of other modes of personal revelation. How do we support this? Do you agree or disagree? What is the significance of this?

 

1. We claim all of the more direct means of personal revelation were intensified in the person of Christ. How do we support this?

 

1. What did Christ’s deeds reveal to us about God?
2. What has been the most direct personal revelation of God provided to date? Why have only relatively few humans experienced it?

 

1. How will satan counterfeit the revelation of Christ?
2. What will be the ultimate of all divine revelations? What will be the changes brought about by this event?

Publications & Particulars

1. Many of these methods can be referred to as theophanies which literally means “an appearance of God.” J. C. Moyer defines theophany as “A theological term used to refer to either a visible or auditory manifestation of God” (“Theophany” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (EDT), Walter Elwell ed., [Baker, 1984], 1087).

   Likewise, M. F. Rooker defines theophany as, “a form of divine revelation wherein God’s presence is made visible (or revealed in a dream) and is recognizable to humanity.” (“Theophany,” in the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch, Alexander, T. Desmond and David W. Baker, eds. (Intervarsity, 2003), 860. Rooker goes on to note that:

   A prevalent characteristic of all OT theophanies is their divine initiation. This feature distinguishes theophanies in the Bible from those alleged to occur in pagan societies that resulted from persistent and strenuous efforts (862).

   This would also distinguish it from practices in folk religions, shamanism, and, we would suggest, modern worship practices where various methods such as repetition or the length of worship is thought to result in an especially powerful visitation of God which may actually be merely an “altered state of consciousness.” For further discussion of this see section 4.11.B. ↑

2. Unfortunately, many commentators (e.g. Walter Kaiser in Expositors Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelein, ed. CD-ROM [Zondervan, n.d.], loc. cit. Exod 34:1-3), and especially translations suggest that Moses wrote the second set of Ten Commandments on the stone tablets. For example this is implied in the common translation of Exod 34:28 as in the NIV: “Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he [the Lord or Moses?] wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.” (cf. NLT, NASB, RSV, KJV, etc. esp. NCV) The NKJV uniquely capitalizes “He” in the second sentence to refer to God.

   The fact that God wrote the second set of the Decalogue as well is confirmed by the fact that all Moses was instructed to do was to provide the stone tablets, God Himself promising to write on them (cf. Exod 31:1). This is precisely then how Moses describes the event in Deut 10:1-4. ↑

3. W. A. Van Gemeren writes: “Although the word “Shekinah” does not occur in the Bible, the root škn occurs not only in the verb (“dwell”), but also in the notion miškān (“dwelling place,” “tabernacle”) and the name Shecinah (“Yahweh dwells”; e. g., 1 Ch. 3:21f.).” VanGemeren goes on to relate the Shekinah glory and presence of God to the “glory-cloud” (“Shekinah”, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE), Geoffrey W. Bromiley ed., 4 vols. [Eerdmans, 1988], IV:466) ↑

4. Thus, Albert Barnes, in his commentary on 1 Kings 8:10 refers to it as “the Shechinah of the Targums” which were Jewish commentaries on the OT that were written during the time between the writings of the OT and NT (“intertestamental period”). (Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament, Electronic Edition STEP Files [Findex.Com, 1999], loc. cit.) ↑

5. C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch comment on Exodus 13:21-22:

   The cloud was not produced by an ordinary caravan fire, nor was it “a mere symbol of the presence of God, which derived all its majesty from the belief of the Israelites, that Jehovah was there in the midst of them,” according to Köster’s attempt to idealize the rationalistic explanation; but it had a miraculous origin and a supernatural character. (Commentary on the Old Testament, Electronic Edition STEP Files CD-ROM [Findex.com, 2000], loc. cit.) ↑

6. Accordingly, Keil and Delitzsch comment on Exodus 40:34-8:

   To consecrate the sanctuary, which had been finished and erected as His dwelling, and to give to the people a visible proof that He had chosen it for His dwelling, Jehovah filled the dwelling in both its parts with the cloud which shadowed forth His presence, so that Moses was unable to enter it. This cloud afterwards drew back into the most holy place, to dwell there, above the outspread wings of the cherubim of the ark of the covenant; so that Moses and (at a later period) the priests were able to enter the holy place and perform the required service there, without seeing the sign of the gracious presence of God, which was hidden by the curtain of the most holy place. (loc. cit.) ↑

7. See Keil and Delitzsch commentary on Exodus 13:21-22, 40:34-38. ↑

8. Rooker, 860, 863. ↑

9. Leon Morris comments on this verse and writes:

   [C]ertainly the glory associated with the tabernacle is part of John’s meaning. The glory resulting from the immediate presence of the Lord is referred to quite often in Jewish writings. It came to be linked with the Shekinah, a word that means “dwelling” and is used of God’s dwelling among his people (in the Targums this term was sometimes substituted for the divine name). There were various ways in which the Jews used the term, and it is likely that John has more than one of them in mind.

   As A. M. Ramsey says, “We are reminded both of the tabernacle in the wilderness, and of the Prophetic imagery of Yahweh tabernacling in the midst of His people, and of the Shekinah which He causes to dwell among them. . . . The place of His dwelling is the flesh of Jesus.”

   He goes on to bring out the force of the present passage by saying, “All the ways of tabernacling of God in Israel had been transitory or incomplete: all are fulfilled and superseded by the Word-made-flesh and dwelling among us.” That is the great point. What had been hinted at and even realized in a dim, imperfect fashion earlier [by the Glory Cloud] was perfectly fulfilled in the Word made flesh. (The Gospel According to John, [Eerdmans, 1995], 92). ↑

10. F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts (Eerdmans, 1988), 38. Similarly, W. A. VanGemeren, Professor of OT at Trinity, in an entry to the ISBE, argues for a connection between the Glory Cloud of God and both the Holy Spirit and Christ essentially based on an interpretation of 2 Corinthians 3:17-18. He writes:

    The association of Jesus with the Shekinah is . . . apparent . . . in the NT . . . The presence of the Holy Spirit is also a representation of the Shekinah . . . The NT authors attributed to the Spirit and to the Son the glory associated with the Shekinah . (“Shekinah,” IV:467-8)

    Van Gemeren notes that Meredith G. Kline, in his book, Image of the Spirit (1980), argues for the same connection regarding the Holy Spirit. J. B. Payne does so regarding Christ in the EDT, 1010-11. Further possible references regarding the Cloud of God are suggested by E. F. Harrison in his ISBE entry, “The Presence of God”. These include: Divine Presence and Guidance in Israelite Traditions, by T. W. Mann, (1977); The People and the Presence, by W. J. Pythian-Adams, (1942); and The Elusive Presence, by S. Terrien, (1978). ↑

11. See Keil and Delitzsch at Isa 4:5 ↑

12. Hagar is simply referred to as an “Egyptian” (Gen 16:1), and there is no hint that she is included in the Abrahamic covenant. Her son Ishmael clearly is not (cf. Gen 16:12; 17:13-21), and of course became the father of God’s enemies. ↑

13. In Keil and Delitzsch’s commentary on Exodus 33:14, they also equate the “Presence” which will go with the Israelites recorded there, with the Angel of the Lord described in Exodus 23:20-21. (loc. cit.). ↑

14. Keil and Delitzsch, Exod 23:20 ↑

15. Ibid. at commentary on Exod 13:21-22 ↑

16. This fact suggests that the Angel in Revelation that Christ refers to as “His Angel” (1:1) and “My angel” (22:16), while obviously being a special Angel, would not seem to be the OT Angel of the Lord. John writes concerning this Angel: “I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!” (Rev 19:10; cf. 22:8-9). While worship of the Angel of the Lord was evidently appropriate and he is described as representing the “Presence [paniym]” or “face” of God, this Angel is not described in that way. ↑

17. Keil and Delitzsch rightly point out: “This remarkable occurrence is not to be regarded as a dream or an internal vision, but fell within the sphere of sensuous perception.” (Gen 32:24) ↑

18. Keil and Delitzsch remark:

    The eating of material food on the part of these heavenly beings was not in appearance only, but was really eating; an act which may be attributed to the corporeality assumed, and is to be regarded as analogous to the eating on the part of the risen and glorified Christ (Luke 24:41ff.), although the miracle still remains physiologically incomprehensible. (Gen 18:2). ↑

19. Acts 10:4 would not seem to be an exception. While Cornelius does address the Angel as “Lord [kurios],” this word is often used in the NT as a sign of respect to people, and often does not refer to deity at all. (See Vine’s, 379).

    No angels in the NT are described as “the” angel of the Lord, but rather “an” angel of the Lord (cf. Matt 1:20; 2:13, 19; 28:2; Luke 1:11; 2:9; Acts 5:19; 8:26; 12:7, 23). All of which makes J. B. Taylor’s suggestion in the New Bible Dictionary (NBD) that, “the angel of the Lord . . . appears as Gabriel in Lk. 1:19” and throughout the NT, unfortunately misleading. (“Angel of the Lord,” NBD, J. I. Packer et. al. eds., [Intervarsity, 1996], 37). ↑

20. Moyer, in the EDT says of the Angel of the Lord:

    Various interpretations have been suggested including an appearance of God himself, an appearance of a messenger or one of God’s many angels, or an appearance of the preincarnate Christ. Each interpretation has difficulties, and there is no consensus. (1087).

    We’re not sure what the “difficulties” would be with equating the OT Angel of the Lord with Christ. It is worth noting that evidently such respected theologians as Augustine and F. Delitzsch interpreted the Angel of the Lord, “as merely a created angel, who represents God, and speaks in His name just as the Prophets were later to do.” (James Orr, Revelation and Inspiration [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1952], 84). However, such an interpretation does not seem to do justice to the fact that the Angel of the Lord is clearly portrayed as much more than simply a messenger of God, but as representing the Presence and Person of God as well, which is a just description of who the man Jesus Christ of Nazareth was. J. M. Wilson in his ISBE entry under “Angel” accordingly writes:

    It is certain that from the beginning God used angels in human form, with human voices, in order to communicate with man; and the appearances of the angel of the Lord, with his special redemptive relation to God’s people, show the working of that divine mode of self revelation which culminated in the coming of the Savior, and are thus a foreshadowing of, and a preparation for, the full revelation of God in Jesus Christ. (I:125)

    For further support see James A. Borland, Christ in the Old Testament: Old Testament Appearances of Christ in Human Form (Mentor, 1999). ↑

21. EDT, 1010 ↑

22. Keil and Delitzsch, Gen 11, “Character of the Patriarchial History”. ↑

23. John McClintock and James Strong, “Angel” in Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (M&S), CD-ROM (Ages Software, 2000), 34. ↑

24. Accordingly, we read in the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (NIDNTT):

    Since the root sense of anti is “(set) over against, opposite”, the prep. naturally came to denote equivalence (one object is set over against another as its equivalent), exchange (one object, opposing or distinct from another, is given or taken in return for the other), and substitution (one object, that is distinguishable from another, is given or taken instead of the other). (M. J. Harris, “Prepositions and Theology in the Greek New Testament,” Colin Brown ed., 4 vols., [Zondervan, 1986], 3:1179 ↑

25. The fact that the mode of Scripture may cease in the coming eternal age does not mean that its contents become obsolete. On the contrary, many of its commands, teaching, and promises are eternal. Accordingly, we read in Psalms: “Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever” (119:152; cf. 119:111). Likewise, the King said, “Heaven and Earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away” (Matt 24:35). Finally, the Lord promised:

    As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit, Who is on you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever,” says the LORD. (Isa 59:21)

    Therefore, while the authority and efficacy of this biblical revelation remains, Scripture as a mode of divine revelation need not remain. Which is precisely what Isaiah is prophesying when he describes the covenant revelation being put in the people’s mouths. ↑

26. Abraham Kuyper, The Work of the Holy Spirit (Eerdmans, 1946), 60. ↑

27. Excerpt from section 7.3.F. ↑