Chapter 1. 20
Theophany
The Appearance of God
Has
God ever appeared to anybody on earth?
First
Word
Theophany from the ancient Greek means; “The appearance
of God”, or His deity to man.
These appearances were found only in the Old Testament. God gave visions to all the nations until the
nation of Israel erected their Tabernacle in the wilderness and God settled in
there. Then the visions were mostly for
Israel. We first encounter the appearance
of God speaking with Adam in the Garden of Eden and later with Cain,
then Noah and
his sons. But notice they only heard His
voice. They did not see His face. He appeared in the pillar of fire and the
pillar of cloud as He led the Israelites. Moses spoke mouth to mouth to God; as friend
to friend and not in a vision.[1]
The
Book says; Moses … “stood at the foot of the mountain while it
blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. Then
THE LORD SPOKE TO YOU OUT OF THE FIRE. You heard the sound of words but SAW NO FORM; THERE WAS ONLY A VOICE.” [2]
NIV
Walked With Man
The
scriptures say that God walked on the earth with man, however, it does
not report to us THE FORM of God. Some students
think that the term “walking with God”
is symbolic of a man “being righteous”, but I feel that God actually walked
with man in a form they could see and hear.
The Book says, then the man (Adam) and his wife (Eve) heard the sound
of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the
cool of the day. Enoch and Noah also
walked with God.[3]
Visions
God appeared to the men of faith in visions as they lay fast asleep in
their beds. This method is reported more
than any other and thus should be considered important today. LISTEN TO WHAT JOB SAID. "A word was secretly brought to me, my
ears caught a whisper of it. Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep
sleep falls on men, fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake. A SPIRIT glided
past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end. It stopped, but I could not tell what it
was. A FORM stood before my eyes, and
I heard a hushed voice:”[4]
NIV
The Book says; for God DOES
speak, first one way and then another although man may not perceive it; in a dream,
in a vision of
the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds. Abraham,
Jacob, Samuel, Daniel, Ananias, Cornelius, Peter and Paul all saw God in visions.[5]
Visions - Muslim
There has been an explosion
of “On Line’ Muslim
testimonies all over the world reporting the supernatural visions and dreams of
ISA or
Jesus, and immediately they know who He is, and JOY, LOVE and PEACE floods over them and they accept
Christianity. The first thing that comes
to my mind is “PRAISE
GOD”. But with second
thoughts I wonder if this is from God or has Satan figured out another way to
subvert the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The
question is; are they worshiping the Jesus of their Vision or the Jesus of the
Bible.
Note:
most Muslims report that when they have a spiritual encounter they experience
love and a warm peace all over their body, however most encounters of a vision
in the Bible resulted in the words of ‘FEAR NOT”,
possibly because it was a frightening experience. In all the reports of seeing ISA
or Jesus there is an ABSENCE of a call to repentance and forgiveness
of sin, no mention of a need for
salvation nor praising God’s attributes.
In Islam, ISA ibn Maryam translates literally “Jesus,
Son of Mary”, or Jesus. He is
understood to be the prophet and messenger of Allah (god) who
was sent to guide the Children of Israel into a “NEW”
revelation.
Side Note: The Qur’an says that Jesus will return and punish the Jews
and Christians for not accepting Muhammad and Jesus will judge by the Law of the Qur’an,
not by the Law of the Gospel. Muslims
are called to believe on and accept ISA as God; worthy of worship and Praise. The vision or dream includes a Bible verse or
two, some encouragement, instruction, prophecies and information not found in
the Bible. At this point we are reminded
that the
Bible is the FINISHED work of God.
There are NO NEW
REVELATIONS, just more
enlightenment.
The
Take Away
Through
Visions and Dreams God OPENS the
eyes and the heart of man, GRANTS him
the faith to believe, then DRAWS him
unto Himself; and TEACHES him and thus BEGINS his search for the fullness of the Gospel
message of Jesus Christ. In no way do
visions and dreams ADD to the Word of God, nor are they given
equal or greater authority than the finished cannon; our Bible
which is the ultimate and final unchanging authority. We do not have to see Jesus to believe… Jesus
said;
“Blessed are those
who have not seen and yet have believed”.[6]
If you have had a vision, before you ascribe it to God, you should
prayerfully seek God’s will in how you should respond to the vision; ask and He
will generously give you wisdom.
I want to believe
I read about people today
that report visions of Christ and visions of Heaven, but I am reluctant to
accept anything that is said because of the scriptures that warn us of false
witnesses. I want to believe what I
hear, but I am just “GUN SHY”. I
would pray that I could receive the Gift of the “DISCERNMENT
OF SPIRITS”[7]
before I ventured out too far. (That’s why I read the Word) I believe this Gift is given only as “The
Spirit Wills” and I have operated in it only in a couple of times, but mostly not. When I did, my spirit rose up inside me and it
was profound; I’ll never forget it.[8]
King Solomon says;
“For a dream comes with much business,
and a fool’s voice with many words.” [9]
[1] Deuteronomy 4:36 – Fire
-- Deuteronomy 33:2 – Appeared with Angels -- Exodus 13:21 - Fire and Cloud --
Deuteronomy 4:33 – Only the Chosen could hear God speak. -- Exodus 33:20 – Man cannot see God’s face and live -- Genesis 3:9-10 -
God has a conversation with Adam -- Genesis 4:9
– God talks with Cain -- Genesis 6:13 – God
talks to Noah -- Genesis 9:8 - Noah’s sons hear the voice of God -- Exodus 3:2 – God
appears as a burning bush to Moses
[2] Deuteronomy 4:11-12 – There was no form, only God’s voice
[3] Genesis 3:8 - Adam heard
God walking -- Genesis 6:9 – Noah walked with God -- Genesis 5:24 – Enoch
walked with god
[4] Job 4:12-16 - Job sees SOMETHING that shakes his bones --
[5] Job 33:14-15 – God
revealed in DREAMS
-- Joel 2:28 – God revealed in VISIONS -- Genesis 15:1 – ABRAHAM saw God in a Vision --
Genesis 46:2 – JACOB saw
God in a Vision -- 1 Samuel 3:15 – SAMUEL saw God in a Vision -- Daniel 2:19 – DANIEL saw God in a Vision -- Acts
9:10 – ANANIAS saw
God in a Vision -- Acts 10:3 – CORNELIUS saw God in a Vision -- Acts 10:19 – PETER saw
God in a Vision -- Acts 18:9 – PAUL saw God in a Vision
[6] John 20:29 – Blessed are those who have not seen, but believe
[7] 1 Corinthians 12:10 – The Gift of the Spirit of
Discernment
[8] 2 Corinthians 11:4 – Muslims Proclaim A DIFFERENT JESUS -- James 1:5 – Ask God
for wisdom concerning Vision or Dream
[9]
Ecclesiastes 5:3 - Dream are with
much business & a fool’s voice --
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