A concordance to all the references of the appearances of God.
Source: The Trinity — Evidence and Issues, by Robert Morey, Chapter 8, pp. 106ff
One of the most interesting subjects in Old Testament theology is what Trinitarian theologians have called "theophany." Because of the number of passages involved (more than 50), the theophanies constitute one of the major arguments not only for the multi-personal nature of God, but also for the incarnation and the deity of Christ.
The word "theophany" comes from two Greek words — θεός ("theos") and φαίνω ("phaino"), which simply mean the appearance of God in human form. These appearances were brief periods of time during which the one true God became visible on earth in the form of a man.
As a man, God walked, talked, ate and fellowshipped with other men. During these times God could be seen by the human eye, touched by the human hand, and heard by the human ear. God was literally manifested in the flesh and dwelt among us. The Invisible became Visible and the Immaterial became Material without ceasing at any time to be true deity.
If it is true the God took upon Himself human form in the Old Testament, this would prepare the way for the Incarnation of the Son of God in the New Testament. Thus, the Trinitarian is not surprised at all to find numerous theophanies in the Old Testament.
On the other hand, Unitarians have always had a hard time coping with the concept of God appearing as a man in Old Testament times because it sounds uncomfortably close to the Incarnation. Thus it is no surprise to find that they generally omit any reference to the theophanies or simply dismiss it as myth. But neither method satisfies those who desire scholarship instead of prejudice.
The theophanies are further proof of the multi-personal concept of God in that the doctrine of the Trinity offers the only way out of what appears to be a clear contradiction within Scripture. The apostle John tells us in John 1:18:
No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
The grammar of the Greek text cannot be denied. It is a universal negative. No one at any time has ever seen God. But what are we to do with all those other Scriptures where we are told that some men have seen God? For example, Isaiah the prophet testified:
“Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.’” Isa. 6:5
The Trinitarian has no problem whatsoever solving this apparent contradiction. Since God is multi-personal, it is possible for one of the Persons within the Godhead to be seen while the others are not seen. John 1:18 is only saying that no one has seen God the Father although they have seen God the Son. Thus there is no contradiction as long as you accept the multi-personal nature of God.
But, if God is a single person as Unitarians assume, then there is no way out of this contradiction. Perhaps this is one
reason why Unitarians were the first to give up the inspiration of the Bible. Without the doctrine of the Trinity, they
were left with too many irresolvable contradictions.
A concordance of all the theophanies in the OT.
Although the theophanies were "God of very God," they were not "man of very man." While true deity was the essence of a theophany, there was actually only an apparent humanness, not true humanness. We must not confuse a theophany with the Incarnation in which Christ was "man of very man" as well as "God of very God." Thus, the true mystery of Christ is not His deity but His humanity.
The Arians always get it backward and assume that the deity of Christ is the big issue. However, given the theophanies of the Old Testament, the deity of Christ is no big deal. But that He was a real man, and not just a theophany with the appearance of a man, is the surprise that awaits us in the New Testament.
The multi-personal nature of God is revealed not only in the grammar and syntax of the Hebrew text as illustrated in the last chapter, but also in the many theophanies recorded throughout the Old Testament period. These appearances of God in human form are solid exegetical evidence that there are several Persons within the Godhead. This is the kind of material that Trinitarians expected to find in the Bible. Thus the theophanies are not a great surprise to them.
On the other hand, Unitarians, Muslims, Jews, and Arians are quite surprised to find so many clear theophanies recorded in the Old Testament because their belief systems cannot handle them. This is why some modern liberals dismiss them as remnants of polytheism. But that groundless theory is without exegetical merit.
The final piece of evidence which demonstrates the multi-personal nature of God is the absolute deity of the Angel of the Lord. This will be demonstrated in the next chapter.