Are you looking for a complete list of theophanies in the Bible?
If yes, look no further.
In this article, you will find a list of theophanies with 60 passages and verses with commentary.
The theophanies serve as an invaluable bridge between the Old and New Testaments and will build your faith in the Bible as a supernatural resource for all Christians.
Contents
What are theophanies in the Bible?
In Christianity, theophanies are visible, temporary manifestations of God to humans. Derived from the Greek words theos (God) and phaino (to appear), theophanies describe moments in the Bible where God makes His presence known in a tangible or visible form, often to communicate, guide, or reveal Himself.
Theophanies foreshadow God’s ultimate revelation through Jesus Christ, linking the Old Testament encounters to the New Testament fulfillment.
How do theophanies differ from the incarnation?
Jesus’ appearance in the New Testament differs from Old Testament theophanies in that Jesus’ incarnation is not a temporary manifestation but God becoming fully human and dwelling permanently among people.
In theophanies, God appears briefly, often in a specific form, like fire, cloud, man, or an angelic figure, for a particular purpose or message. These manifestations are temporary and reveal aspects of God’s nature or plan.
In contrast, Jesus’ incarnation (John 1:14) is unique: God is entering human history as a person with a real, lasting human nature and identity. This is a permanent and transformative event, not only because Jesus lived as a man but also because He experienced birth, growth, suffering, and death, fully identifying with humanity.
Through Jesus, Christians believe God is with them not as a temporary figure but as the “Word made flesh,” fully embodying human life and bringing about reconciliation with God in a way that surpasses the temporary nature of theophanies.
Read more: Is Jesus God? 100% proof for the deity of Jesus.
How many theophanies are in the Bible?
There are at least 60 passages in the Bible where God manifests Himself. Some of them discuss the same theophanies, but even so, there are dozens of instances when God manifests Himself in different forms.
See the next section for the list of theophanies in the Bible.
List of theophanies in the Bible
| Genesis 3:8-10 (KJV) And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. | Comment: God appears to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. See commentary in The Definitive Guide to the Trinity in the Old Testament. |
| Genesis 12:7 Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” He built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him. | Comment: God appears to Abraham. |
| Acts 7:2 He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, | Comment: God appears to Abraham. |
| Genesis 15:1-7 1 After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” 2 Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram said, “Behold, you have given no children to me: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.” 4 Behold, Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but he who will come out of your own body will be your heir.” 5 Yahweh brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So your offspring will be.” 6 He believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness. 7 He said to Abram, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.” | Comment: God appears to Abraham as the Word of the Lord. Vision in verse 1 means that Abraham sees something and doesn’t just hear words. Yahweh brings Abraham outside. The text handles the Word of the Lord as Yahweh. |
| Genesis 18:1-2 Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood near him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, | Comment: The Trinity appears to Abraham as three men. See Genesis 19:24 explained. |
| Genesis 18:22 The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Yahweh. | Comment: The Trinity appears to Abraham as three men. See Genesis 19:24 explained. |
| Genesis 18:33 Yahweh went his way as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. | Comment: The Trinity appears to Abraham as three men. See Genesis 19:24 explained. |
| Genesis 19:27 Abraham went up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Yahweh. | Comment: The Trinity appears to Abraham as three men. See Genesis 19:24 explained. |
| Genesis 19:24 Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky. | Comment: Jesus, on earth, rains down sulfur and fire from the Father in heaven. See Genesis 19:24 explained. |
| Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. | Comment: God appears to Abraham. |
| Genesis 16:7-13 7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction. 12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” 13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” | Comment: Jesus appears as the Angel of the LORD to Hagar. |
| Exodus 6:3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them. | Comment: God appears to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. |
| Genesis 26:2, 24 Yahweh appeared to him, and said, “Don’t go down into Egypt. Live in the land I will tell you about. Yahweh appeared to him the same night, and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” | Comment: God appears to Isaac. |
| Genesis 28:12-13 He dreamed and saw a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. Behold, Yahweh stood above it, and said, “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. I will give the land you lie on to you and to your offspring. | Comment: God appears to Jacob on top of a ladder which reaches to heaven. |
| Genesis 31:11-13 The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Now lift up your eyes, and behold, all the male goats which leap on the flock are streaked, speckled, and grizzled, for I have seen all that Laban does to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you vowed a vow to me. Now arise, get out from this land, and return to the land of your birth.’” | Comment: God appears to Jacob as the angel of God. The angel says that He is the God of Bethel, where Jacob saw the ladder, anointed a pillar, and vowed to God. |
| Genesis 32:24 Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day. | Comment: Jacob wrestles with a man of whom he says, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” |
| Genesis 32:26-30 26 The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.” Jacob said, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.” 27 He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob”. 28 He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” He said, “Why is it that you ask what my name is?” So he blessed him there. 30 Jacob called the name of the place Peniel; for he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” | Comment: Jacob wrestles with a man of whom he says, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” |
| Hosea 12:3-4 3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he contended with God. 4 Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us, | Comment: The word “angel” in verse 4 is “malak” in Hebrew, which means “messenger.” The verses tie God to the messenger who appeared as man and wrestled with Jacob. |
| Judges 2:1-4 1 Yahweh’s angel came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, “I brought you out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to give your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you. 2 You shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall break down their altars.’ But you have not listened to my voice. Why have you done this? 3 Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.’” 4 When Yahweh’s angel spoke these words to all the children of Israel, the people lifted up their voice and wept. | Comment: The Angel of the LORD speaks to the Israelites, saying He brought them out of Egypt and made a covenant with their fathers. If the Angel is not appearing here, He testifies that He appeared them in the pillar of cloud and fire when bringing them out of Egypt. See commentary in the article: The Angel of the LORD is Jesus. |
| Judges 6:11-24 Yahweh’s angel came and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites. Yahweh’s angel appeared to him, and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor!” 13 Gideon said to him, “Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, ‘Didn’t Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.” 14 Yahweh looked at him, and said, “Go in this your might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Haven’t I sent you?” 15 He said to him, “O Lord, how shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” 16 Yahweh said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” 17 He said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me. 18 Please don’t go away until I come to you, and bring out my present, and lay it before you.” He said, “I will wait until you come back.” 19 Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal. He put the meat in a basket and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it. 20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” He did so. 21 Then Yahweh’s angel stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. Then Yahweh’s angel departed out of his sight. 22 Gideon saw that he was Yahweh’s angel; and Gideon said, “Alas, Lord Yahweh! Because I have seen Yahweh’s angel face to face!” 23 Yahweh said to him, “Peace be to you! Don’t be afraid. You shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it “Yahweh is Peace.” To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. | Comment: The Angel of the LORD appears to Gideon, who is afraid of His life and recognizes the Angel as Yahweh. |
| Genesis 35:1 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.” | Comment: God appears to Jacob. |
| Genesis 35:9 God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him. | Comment: God appears to Jacob. |
| Genesis 48:3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, | Comment: God appears to Jacob. |
| Exodus 3:2 (ESV) And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. | Comment: God appears as the Angel of the LORD to Moses in the burning bush. See commentary in the article: The Angel of the LORD is Jesus. |
| Acts 7:30-33 30 And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, 32 Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. 33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. | Comment: In verse 30, the Angel of the LORD appears to Moses. In verses 31-32, the Voice of the Lord came to Moses saying, “I am the God of thy fathers…” and verse 33 continues, “then said the Lord to him…” Acts 7:30-33 handles the Angel of the Lord, the voice of the Lord, and the Lord as they are the same. |
| Numbers 12:6-8 6 And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. 7 Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. 8 With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” | Comment: God testifies that He appears to Moses. |
| Exodus 3:16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt. | Comment: God appears to Moses. |
| Exodus 17:5-6 Yahweh said to Moses, “Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. | Comment: God appears to Moses standing on a rock in Horeb. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes that “the rock” was Jesus. |
| Exodus 19:18-20 18 All of Mount Sinai smoked, because Yahweh descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. 19 When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice. 20 Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. | Comment: God appears to the Israelites at Mt Sinai. |
| Number 20:6-11 6 Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and fell on their faces. Yahweh’s glory appeared to them. 7 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it pour out its water. You shall bring water to them out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink.” 9 Moses took the rod from before Yahweh, as he commanded him. 10 Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Shall we bring water out of this rock for you?” 11 Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice, and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their livestock drank. | Comment: God appears to Moses and Aaron. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes that “the rock” was Jesus. |
| Exodus 4:5 “This is so that they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” | Comment: God appears to Moses. |
| Exodus 33:11 Yahweh spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. He turned again into the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, didn’t depart from the Tent. | Comment: God appears to Moses. |
| Exodus 33:18-23 18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 He said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim Yahweh’s name before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” 20 He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.” 21 Yahweh also said, “Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22 It will happen, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; 23 then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back; but my face shall not be seen.” | Comment: God appears to Moses. |
| Exodus 24:9-11 9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up. 10 They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was like a paved work of sapphire stone, like the skies for clearness. 11 He didn’t lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. They saw God, and ate and drank. | Comment: God appears to Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. |
| Deuteronomy 31:14-15 Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, your days approach that you must die. Call Joshua, and present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting, that I may commission him.” Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the Tent of Meeting. Yahweh appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the Tent’s door. | Comment: God appears in a pillar of cloud to Moses and Joshua. |
| Leviticus 9:1-5, 23 1 On the eighth day, Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel; 2 and he said to Aaron, “Take a calf from the herd for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without defect, and offer them before Yahweh. 3 You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering; and a calf and a lamb, both a year old, without defect, for a burnt offering; 4 and a bull and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before Yahweh; and a meal offering mixed with oil: for today Yahweh appears to you.’” 5 They brought what Moses commanded before the Tent of Meeting. All the congregation came near and stood before Yahweh. 23 Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting, and came out, and blessed the people; and Yahweh’s glory appeared to all the people. | Comment: God appears to Moses, Aaron, and the Israelites. |
| Leviticus 16:2 The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is 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. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover. | Comment: God appears to Aaron and the high priests in the Holy of Holies. |
| Joshua 5:13-15 13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood in front of him with his sword drawn in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our enemies?” 14 He said, “No; but I have come now as commander of Yahweh’s army.” Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and worshiped, and asked him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 The prince of Yahweh’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals, for the place on which you stand is holy.” Joshua did so. | Comment: Jesus appears to Joshua as the commander of the LORD’s army. The man has a sword drawn in His hand like Yahweh did when He appeared to David and Balaam. The ground where Joshua stands is holy, as when Moses saw God in the burning bush. |
| Judges 13:15-23 15 Manoah said to Yahweh’s angel, “Please stay with us, that we may make a young goat ready for you.” 16 Yahweh’s angel said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I won’t eat your bread. If you will prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to Yahweh.” For Manoah didn’t know that he was Yahweh’s angel. 17 Manoah said to Yahweh’s angel, “What is your name, that when your words happen, we may honor you?” 18 Yahweh’s angel said to him, “Why do you ask about my name, since it is incomprehensible?” 19 So Manoah took the young goat with the meal offering, and offered it on the rock to Yahweh. Then the angel did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched. 20 For when the flame went up toward the sky from off the altar, Yahweh’s angel ascended in the flame of the altar. Manoah and his wife watched; and they fell on their faces to the ground. 21 But Yahweh’s angel didn’t appear to Manoah or to his wife any more. Then Manoah knew that he was Yahweh’s angel. 22 Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God.” 23 But his wife said to him, “If Yahweh were pleased to kill us, he wouldn’t have received a burnt offering and a meal offering at our hand, and he wouldn’t have shown us all these things, nor would he have told us such things as these at this time.” | Comment: God appears to Samson’s parents as the Angel of the LORD. The Angel’s name is “incomprehensible,” meaning no creature can fully comprehend the Angel’s nature because He is divine. The Angel does “an amazing,” wondrous (divine) thing by becoming part of the sacrifice and ascending towards heaven in the fire resembling Jesus’ sacrifice and ascension to heaven. Manoah recognizes they have seen God and is afraid for his life. |
| 1 Kings 3:5 In Gibeon, Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask for what I should give you.” | Comment: God appears to Solomon in a dream. |
| 1 Kings 9:2 Yahweh appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. | Comment: God appears to Solomon. |
| 1 Kings 11:9 Yahweh was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, | Comment: God appears to Solomon. |
| 1 Kings 22:19 Micaiah said, “Therefore hear Yahweh’s word. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. | Comment: Micaiah sees God sitting on His throne. |
| 2 Chronicles 7:12 Yahweh appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him, “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for myself for a house of sacrifice. | Comment: God appears to Solomon. |
| 1 Chronicles 21:14-20 14 So Yahweh sent a pestilence on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. 15 God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was about to destroy, Yahweh saw, and he relented of the disaster, and said to the destroying angel, “It is enough. Now withdraw your hand.” Yahweh’s angel was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 David lifted up his eyes, and saw Yahweh’s angel standing between earth and the sky, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. 17 David said to God, “Isn’t it I who commanded the people to be counted? It is even I who have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Yahweh my God, be against me, and against my father’s house; but not against your people, that they should be plagued.” 18 Then Yahweh’s angel commanded Gad to tell David that David should go up and raise an altar to Yahweh on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19 David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spoke in Yahweh’s name. 20 Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. | Comment: God appears as the Angel of the LORD to David on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Also, Ornan and his four sons saw the Angel (verse 20). See also the next verse, 2 Chronicles 3:1. See commentary in the article: The Angel of the LORD is Jesus. |
| 2 Chronicles 3:1 Then Solomon began to build Yahweh’s house at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh appeared to David his father, which he prepared in the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. | Comment: God appears to David. In 1 Chronicles 21:15-16 it is the Angel of the LORD who appeared “on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite,” but here it says it was God. See commentary in the article: The Angel of the LORD is Jesus. |
| Isaiah 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. | Comment: Isaiah sees God sitting on His throne in heaven. |
| Ezekiel 1:26-28 26 Above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone. On the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man on it above. 27 I saw as it were glowing metal, as the appearance of fire within it all around, from the appearance of his waist and upward; and from the appearance of his waist and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. 28 As the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of Yahweh’s glory. When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke. | Comment: Ezekiel sees God’s throne in heaven, and on the throne is seated a person who appears to be a man. |
| Amos 9:1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, “Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape. | Comment: God appears to Amos. |
| Numbers 12:4-9 4 Yahweh spoke suddenly to Moses, to Aaron, and to Miriam, “You three come out to the Tent of Meeting!” The three of them came out. 5 Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward. 6 He said, “Now hear my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream. 7 My servant Moses is not so. He is faithful in all my house. 8 With him, I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see Yahweh’s form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?” 9 Yahweh’s anger burned against them; and he departed. | Comment: God appears to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. |
| Exodus 13:20-22 They took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. 21 Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night: 22 the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, didn’t depart from before the people. | Comment: God appears to Israelites. |
| Numbers 14:14 They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you Yahweh are among this people; for you Yahweh are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. | Comment: God appears to Israelites. |
| Numbers 22:31 Then Yahweh opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw Yahweh’s angel standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face. | Comment: God appears as the Angel of the LORD to Balaam. |
| Numbers 23:4 God met Balaam, and he said to him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.” | Comment: God appears to Balaam. |
| Numbers 23:16 Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.” | Comment: God appears to Israelites. |
| 1 Kings 19:7,9 And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? | Comment: God appears to Elijah as the Angel of the LORD in verse 7 and the Word of The Lordin verse 9, and HE, the Word of the Lord, spoke to Elijah. |
| Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 9 “I watched until thrones were placed and one who was ancient of days sat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames, and its wheels burning fire. 10 A fiery stream issued and came out from before him. Thousands of thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was set. The books were opened. 13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 Dominion was given him, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom one that which will not be destroyed. | Comment: Daniel sees God the Father as the Ancient of Days and Jesus as the Son of Man. Jesus cites verse 13 in Matthew 26:64 during the high priest’s interrogation that led to His crucifixion. The high priest understood the quotation to mean Jesus claimed to be the divine Son of Man from Daniel 7. In other words, the Jews in Jesus’ time knew that the Son of Man was divine. See commentary in The Definitive Guide to the Trinity in the Old Testament. |
| Daniel 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. | Comment: God appears as the Son of God in the midst of a fire. See commentary in The Definitive Guide to the Trinity in the Old Testament. Read more: Is Jesus the Son of God? |
| Zechariah 1:11 They reported to Yahweh’s angel who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked back and forth through the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and in peace.” | Comment: God appears as the Angel of the LORD to Zechariah. |
| Zechariah 3:1 He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before Yahweh’s angel, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary. | Comment: God appears as the Angel of the LORD to Zechariah. See commentary in The Definitive Guide to the Trinity in the Old Testament. |
| Jeremiah 1:4-9 4 Now Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, I don’t know how to speak; for I am a child.” 7 But Yahweh said to me, “Don’t say, ‘I am a child;’ for you must go to whomever I send you, and you must say whatever I command you. 8 Don’t be afraid because of them, for I am with you to rescue you,” says Yahweh. 9 Then Yahweh stretched out his hand, and touched my mouth. Then Yahweh said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. | Comment: God appears to Jeremiah as the Word of the Lord, who comes to Jeremiah and speaks to him. Jeremiah recognizes Him as Yahweh. In verse 7, Yahweh speaks; in verse 9, Yahweh stretches His arm and touches Jeremiah’s mouth. |
| Matthew 3:16-17 Jesus, when he was baptized, went up directly from the water: and behold, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him. Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” | Comment: Baptism of Jesus: The Holy Spirit appears as a dove descending on Jesus, and God’s voice speaks from heaven, declaring Jesus as His beloved Son. |
The New Testament confirms the Old Testament’s theophanies
The New Testament confirms the Old Testament theophanies by identifying the figure who appeared to the patriarchs, prophets, and other figures as God or the pre-incarnate Christ. Here are some key connections with verses from the New Testament:
Jesus as the “I AM” (Exodus 3:14 with John 8:58):
- In Exodus 3:14, God reveals Himself to Moses as “I AM WHO I AM.”
- In John 8:58, Jesus declares, “Before Abraham was, I AM,” affirming His eternal existence and identity with the “I AM” of the burning bush.
Jesus as the “Rock” who accompanied Israel (Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:11 with 1 Corinthians 10:4):
- The Israelites received water from a rock in the wilderness in Exodus 17:6 and Numbers 20:11.
- In 1 Corinthians 10:4, Paul confirms that “they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ,” identifying Jesus as the source of water and God’s presence with Israel.
John says Jesus appeared to Isaiah (John 12:41 and Isaiah 6:1).