“So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.”

I don’t know about you, but I don’t hear God in audible voices.  I’m not sure I would want to.  I mean, there’s really no mistaking things when he speaks in plain words.  There’s no wiggle room.  I have several friends and colleagues that claim they do hear God audibly.  And that’s really for them to explain and defend their claim to naysayers.  I’m not one of them.  It’s not for me to judge another’s servant in how the Master speaks to him/her.  I also don’t get discouraged that I don’t hear God audibly.  I figure I’m in the majority camp: most people are like me.  While God primarily uses his Word, he has in the past and present communicated his will through dreams, visions, angels, and even a donkey (Numbers 22:23-35)!

In Genesis 12 we have one of the decisive moments in biblical and redemptive history: God’s calling Abraham.  In verses one and two we find God speaking to Abram telling him to leave his people and culture and go to a new land.  The payout will be incredible blessings.  In fact, “bless” or “blessing” is used five times as part of God’s “benefits package” for obedience.  The text says nothing about God’s presence or appearance.  It appears that Abram just hears words.  In response, Abe left (verse 4) and took his wife and nephew with him along with their earthly possessions.

Once in the land, he made an apparent survey of his newfound territory.  That done, the Lord made another gesture of communication by “appearing” to Abe saying, “To your offspring I will give this land” (v. 7).  Exactly how he appeared to him is not told, but it was something clear enough to get Abe’s attention.  “He built an altar there to the Lord, who appeared to him.”  We want to make sure we see the connection between God’s appearing and God’s revelation.  Sometimes God reveals without appearing.  But it would seem that all appearances come with revelation.

In one of our church services recently a missionary home on a short-term visit said he didn’t always see the Lord in his work, and that he didn’t “appear” in the busy work of the kingdom this missionary was doing.  He even admitted that he didn’t even ask God to appear in his work!  (Admittedly Abraham didn’t either, but he was really new at this whole thing.  He had no predecessor.)  I thought that some people hearing our missionary’s statement might wonder why we send and support missionaries that don’t ask God to appear. But why not send him?  Most Christians are guilty of the same: they don’t ask God to appear (and thus reveal himself) in their daily shuffle of work, school and family.

Perhaps some believers like me who don’t hear God audibly might get the idea that God doesn’t or won’t appear to them, that maybe that happened long ago to only special people like Joseph and Daniel and Abraham.  And while it’s true he did appear to them, the Bible is full of instances where God repeatedly appeared in many ways to a good number of people, even to some unbelievers.  Thus the Bible is the record that God regularly appears revealing himself to mankind.  Indeed, the Bible itself is one long appearance!  Why would Christians, of all people, allege that God is done making appearances?  A great number of Muslims today come to Christ after having dreams of the Savior.  And when he appears, the revelation that accompanies these appearances leaves those he appeared to in better shape, at least knowledge-wise.

There are several New Testament verses touching on Christ’s future appearance when he returns to earth.  Let’s consider Colossians 3.  In verse one Paul writes that we are to set our “hearts on things above.”  In verse two we are to set our minds there too.  In verse three he says that our life is hidden with Christ in God.  Then we come to the pertinent part for us, verse four: “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”  Now watch this: when Christ makes appearances, like he did on earth the first time, people come out ahead.  They profit.  Ditto here: the return of Christ makes his people better — in their lives, their circumstances, their relationships, their homes, everything!  That’s because “we appear (see the connection?) with him in glory,” losing all that’s bad, evil, fallen and corrupt about us.  It is then that we will see all that has been true of us all along since we came to faith.  The real problem is, why don’t we walk in that confidence now, knowing it’s a done deal, guaranteed?

Since Christ has appeared to us, is his appearing enough for him to appear to others through us?