When jehovah appears physically

Throughout the Old Testament, Jehovah appears physically and visually to his servants. The concept of Jehovah as a God that is both beyond our world yet at the same time decidedly present in it was well known to ancient Jews. These following scriptures show examples of when Jehovah appears visually or physically to his people in a human form.

(Quotes taken from the ASV which uses the name Jehovah.)

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God amongst the trees of the garden.

Jehovah had the habit of taking a walk every afternoon with Adam and Eve. Walking implies actual physical bipedal movement. This is not like God is some kind of Casper the friendly ghost or some mist of energy just hovering along. No this is a human figure walking alongside Adam and Eve on the ground.

Genesis 12:7-7 ;17:1,22 And Jehovah appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto Jehovah, who appeared unto him. 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be thou perfect. … 22 And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

Jehovah appeared to Abraham several times. Verse 17:22 shows that Jehovah was there in person, because afterwards God “went up”. Abraham saw God, yet he didn’t die.

Genesis 15:4,5 And, behold, the word of Jehovah came unto him, saying, This man shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

When Abraham was in his tent, the Word of Jehovah came and brought him out of the tent. In other words the Word of Jehovah was there with him in the tent and then they walked out together to look at the stars. ((The Word of Jehovah is later known as Jesus.))

Genesis 16:7 And the angel of Jehovah found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. … 13 And she called the name of Jehovah that spake unto her, Thou art a God that seeth: for she said, Have I even here looked after him that seeth me?

This angel wasn’t an ordinary angel, but the passage shows it was Jehovah who spoke to her. Hagar admits that she looked upon Jehovah, yet she didn’t die. ((The angel of Jehovah who is identified with Jehovah himself is the same as the Word of Jehovah. Word and Messenger convey the same role. This is the divine person later known as Jesus.))

Genesis 18:1-5 And Jehovah appeared unto him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2 and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood over against him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, 3 and said, My lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: 4 let now a little water be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: 5 and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and strengthen ye your heart; after that ye shall pass on: forasmuch as ye are come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.

Jehovah comes to visit in the shape of a man, and he has two angels with him. They are seen, they talk with Abraham, and they sit down and eat food.

Genesis 18:20-23 And Jehovah said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; 21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. 22 And the men turned from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before Jehovah. 23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou consume the righteous with the wicked?

Jehovah sends the two angels ahead of him but remains standing beside Abraham. Abraham draws near to him. So Jehovah is in the shape of a man, he is standing in a place, and Abraham physically moves closer to him.

Genesis 18:33 And Jehovah went his way, as soon as he had left off communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

Jehovah walks about on earth

Genesis 19:24 Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven;

Here Jehovah has caught up with the two angels who went ahead of him and meet them outside of Sodom. Afterwards, Jehovah on earth rains down brimstone and fire from Jehovah in heaven. This shows that Jehovah is present both as a human figure on the ground, and as the one in heaven who throws down the fire. In other words there are two agents who are both Jehovah at the same time. This and other scriptures led the ancient Jews to believe that Jehovah was manifest as more than one person.

Genesis 26:2 And Jehovah appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:

Here Jehovah appears to Isaac, yet Isaac does not die.

Genesis 32:24,28,30 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. … 28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed. … 30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for, said he, I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

Here is where Jacob wrestles with a “man”. Wrestling is very physical. Jacob is touching this “man”. Afterwards the “man” reveals that Jacob has in fact wrestled with God himself. And this is how Jacob understood it too because he named the place “Peniel” because he saw the face of God yet he wasn’t killed.

Was this really God, though? Hosea explains:

Hosea 12:3-4 In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he had power with God: 4 yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him at Beth-el, and there he spake with us,

Yes, Hosea explains that Jacob did indeed wrestle with God himself. This was again Jehovah manifested as the Angel of Jehovah, or Jehovah himself mabifest as messenger. Also known as The Word of Jehovah. Also known as Jesus.

Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Here the Israelites come to Horeb and Jehovah is standing on a rock there. Standing implies he is physica and have something to stand on, i.e. legs. On the rock shows that he has a location.

Exodus 24:9-11 — Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. 10 And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the very heaven for clearness. 11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: and they beheld God, and did eat and drink.

Here 74 people went up the mountain and not only saw God, yet they weren’t killed. In fact they literally had a meal with Jehovah God, eating and drinking with him.

Exodus 33:11 — And Jehovah spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his minister Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the Tent.

Jehovah spoke to Moses face to face inside the tent of meeting. This implies he can be seen, he has a position, and a face.

Exodus 33:19-23 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for man shall not see me and live. 21 and Jehovah said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock: 22 and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand until I have passed by: 23 and I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back; but my face shall not be seen.

Here is another instance where Moses saw Jehovah. In this case Jehovah did not allow him to see his face, but he saw everything else. Jehovah even touched him when lifting him up and placing him in a cleft. Jehovah has hands too.

Judges 6:14,22,23 And Jehovah looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee?… 22 And Gideon saw that he was the angel of Jehovah; and Gideon said, Alas, O Lord Jehovah! forasmuch as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. 23 And Jehovah said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.

Here the Angel of Jehovah visits Gideon. Notice that the text uses Jehovah and the Angel of Jehovah interchangeably L, because in the Jewish mind these are one and the same. Jehovah turns to face toward Gideon, implying location and direction and physica features. And Gideon sees his face and is scared that he will die, Jehovah spared his life.

This shows that the Angel of Jehovah is one and the same with Jehovah, that Jehovah was present in the shape of a man, and that Jehovah can choose whether someone dies or not from seeing him.

Jeremiah 1:4,6,9 — Now the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, […] 6 Then said I, Ah, Lord Jehovah! behold, I know not how to speak; for I am a child. […] 9 Then Jehovah put forth his hand, and touched my mouth; and Jehovah said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth:

In this passage the Word of Jehovah comes to Herekiah. Jeremiah calls him Jehovah. Jehovah is physically present, has a body with a hand that he stretches out and physically touches Jeremiah on the mouth.

Isaiah 6:1,5-7 — In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. […] 5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 and he touched my mouth with it, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin forgiven.

Isaiah also saw Jehovah yet he didn’t die. That the Seraphim came and touched his lips show that this wasn’t a dream, but a real experience.

Amos 7:7 — Thus he showed me: and, behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand.

Amos was also visited by Jehovah whom he saw physically standing next to a wall, holding a physical object in his physical hand. Yet Amos didn’t die from seeing this.