Gen_3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
Gen_17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
Gen_35:9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.
Exo_6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them
Exo_3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Exo_31:18 And he gave unto Moses when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
Ki 9:2 That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.
1Sa_3:21 And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.
Jer_31:3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
Here is a selection of verses where God appeared and spoke to some of the patriarchs in the old testament. Apart from the fact that this is totally incredible, having God appear to you and talking to you, we have to wonder who is this God that was speaking and showing himself to the patriarchs?
If we only had the old testament, this would be a non-question. However, now we have the New Testament, and the revelation it brings to us. Here is a very interesting thing our Lord said in Joh 5:37
Joh 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
This is such a revealing scripture about our God. First is the fact that no one has heard His voice, second, no one has seen His shape. If this was not enough, there is also this scripture:
Joh_1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
and what about these:
Mat_11:27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
Joh_6:46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
All tight, if no man has seen God, and no man has heard his voice, who did the people in the Old Testament see, and who did they speak to?
Again the answer is in the New Testament:
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
The Preeminence of Christ
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
This is a very small verse that packs so much information that we will have to return to it at some other study. However, I want you to notice the part that says the image of the invisible God. Paul is giving us two insight here.
- Jesus is the image of God. He is not in the image or like the image He IS the image of God.
- God is invisible. We cannot see God unless Jesus reveals Him. (See Matt 11:27 above)
This means in every part of the old testament, where they see God or speak to God, they are in actual fact speaking To Jesus. If this is not true, then Jesus and Paul are either liars or they are delusional.
This means the whole Bible is a revelation of Jesus, the Creator, and Jesus in the new testament revealed to us, His Father.