The Christian faith is built upon the foundational belief that God exists and has revealed Himself to mankind in a variety of ways, at a variety of times, to a variety of people. We read of these revelations as they have been recorded in Holy Scripture. We often think of men like Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, and Daniel who had the great privilege of seeing and speaking to God; we marvel over the many times that God manifested His glory in pillars of cloud or fire; we wonder what it would be like to be one of the twelve disciples who saw Jesus, or who experienced the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Above all, though, we may wonder why God does not reveal Himself in the same way today that He did in biblical times. How many times have we longed to see the glory of God as clearly as the Israelites, prophets, or disciples? But our critics also, in their attempts to shipwreck our faith in the God of Scripture, are quick to ask, “Where is He?” It’s a pressing question: if God is real and can reveal Himself so clearly, then why did He stop? Why not reveal Himself to everyone, right now, in a clear way, so that it can be without question that He exists?
That question, though, should not cause us to stumble, nor should it call into question the reliability of Scripture. When we examine the teachings of the Bible, we actually find a clear pattern of how God reveals Himself throughout time, and see good reason for understanding why God’s means of revelation are different today than in the biblical periods.
1. There’s nothing more to reveal
First, the primary reason that God does not reveal Himself today as He did in the biblical record is that there’s nothing more to reveal. God has revealed Himself, in many ways and to many people throughout time, and we have the records of these revelations in the Holy Scriptures. Many have argued, of course, that these records are unreliable, fantastical, and not to be believed. It is argued that these accounts would be easy to fabricate and cannot be verified—therefore, they should not be believed.
Let me ask the skeptic, however: If in fact these events did occur, how else could they have been recorded? If in fact these events did occur (and they did), we would expect them to be preserved through oral tradition and later recorded in writing (as they were). But I digress.
The major point is this: God does not need to reveal Himself today because He has already revealed Himself so clearly in Scripture. Unless the skeptic, foolishly trying to suppress the truth in unrighteousness, presupposes that the Bible is fabricated, or that the original authors were lying, or that God cannot reveal Himself because He does not exist, then he ought to be sufficient with the record of Scripture, in which God was pleased to reveal Himself, and which we will never find lacking in depth and glory.
We can see both the sufficiency of Scripture and the reason for God’s present “hiddenness” by tracing the history of God’s revelations, and seeing that this present age ought not to be the least surprising. What we will see is that God follows a pattern of revelation that centers around covenants and epochs, wherein God makes a grand revelation of Himself, and then rests until the coming of a new age.
We begin with the various theophonies of the Old Testament, specifically in the Torah. A “theophony” is a visible appearance of God, and is the most clear way that God can reveal Himself. There are many notable theophonies, specifically to Adam, Abraham, and Moses.
To begin, Yahweh reveals Himself visibly to Adam, the first man, for the sake of instituting a personal relationship between God and man. Next, He reveals Himself to Abraham, in order to establish the Abrahamic Covenant and the beginnings of the Jewish people. Lastly, He appears visibly to Moses and to all of Israel when delivering the Law. Now, note two things. First, note that these appearances all are at the institution of a new covenant or age of redemptive history. We see that God typically chooses to reveal Himself most plainly when He is progressing the plan of redemption to a new stage. This explains why His appearances on Mount Horeb (or Sinai) are unmatched for the rest of Israel’s history (as Horeb was the initiation of the covenant that Israel was permanently under), and why He has not revealed Himself so plainly since the days of Jesus (as Jesus established the New Covenant, which we are currently under).
Second, note that there were centuries between these revelations. From Adam to Abraham was about two thousand years. From Abraham to Moses was about six hundred years. We often fail to see the gaps of time between the figures in Scripture, but they can be quite long, especially in Genesis. Clearly, though, when we examine the reality of Scriptural revelation, we see that it is not unusual for God to go through long periods of not clearly revealing Himself.
After these theophonies, however, God shifts His means of revelation. Instead of revealing Himself by personally appearing to individuals or to the whole nation of Israel, as He did in the Torah, God reveals Himself by the Prophets, who received divine messages from the Holy Spirit [2nd Peter 1:20 - 21]. These prophetic revelations do not introduce new covenants, but they call the people of Israel back to the current covenant; the Prophets are God’s tool to call the Israelites to repentance, to assert His supremacy over false gods, and to establish the expectation of the Messiah. These are not new revelations or new ages of redemptive history, but are developments within the existing covenant.
Turning then to the New Testament, we see that the incarnation and ministry of Jesus was the institution of the New Covenant—and following the established pattern, God uses a personal, clear appearance of Himself to usher in the new (and final) age of redemption. Thus, because the New Covenant is the final age of redemption before the return of Christ, we shouldn’t expect that God would reveal Himself personally and clearly: that wouldn’t fit the pattern.
But why not prophets? Why don’t we have modern-day Isaiahs, or Daniels, or Zechariahs? Well, basically, it’s because we don’t need them. The primary responsibility of the Prophets, which was to call the Jews to repentance, is fulfilled by the elders and pastors of the Church. The secondary role, which was to assert the dominance of Yahweh over other gods, is accomplished by evangelism. But the final purpose of the Prophets, which was to give new revelation about the Messiah, is not needed for the Church: first, because Messiah has come, and second, because unlike the progressive revelation that occurred in the Old Testament, the whole of the Christian faith has already been handed down by the Apostles [Jude 3]. Simply put, God does not reveal Himself today as He did in the biblical periods because there’s nothing left to reveal.
2. The nature of the One who revealed God
There is also another reason why God does not reveal Himself so clearly today as He did in the biblical periods. We’ve already looked at the reality that, unlike in biblical times, there’s nothing more today that must be revealed about God’s existence, character, or plan of redemption. Where we must now turn is to an examination of God’s mechanism of revelation: specifically, who it is that reveals God in these clear appearances.
The clear teaching of Scripture is that Jesus is the sole source of divine revelation. See John 1:18, which says, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” Now, to the biblically versed Jew reading John’s words, he might be struck with outrage. “What do you mean no one has seen God?” And certainly, that question would be completely warranted—we’ve already noted a number of times that God appeared to Adam, Abraham, and Moses. So what is John saying? Is he denying that those appearances happened?
No. What John is saying does not contradict the Old Testament theophany narratives at all. Instead, what he does is provide very important context for understanding those accounts. Take careful notice of what he says in verse 18: “No one has seen God [in context, this refers to God the Father] at any time; the only begotten God [this is clearly Jesus] … He has explained Him.” What John is saying is that no one has seen God the Father, but Jesus (who is called “the only begotten God,” demonstrating that He is truly God; see also verses 1 and 2) has been seen by many, so that if anyone has seen God they’ve really seen Jesus.
We can see this fleshed out elsewhere in John’s gospel as well. Consider John 12:36 - 41
“These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them. But though He had done so many signs before them, they still were not believing in Him, so that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: ‘Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’ For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, ‘He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and return and I heal them.’ These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke about Him.”
John, to explain the unbelief of Jesus’s audience, turns to the great prophet Isaiah, and provides two quotes: one from Isaiah 53:1, and another from Isaiah 6:10. Then, immediately following his quotation of Isaiah 6:10, John explains that “These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke about Him.” Clearly, in the context of John 12, the “Him” is Jesus. So, according to John, Isaiah wrote his sixth chapter after seeing Jesus. But, turning to Isaiah chapter 6, we see that Isaiah actually saw Yahweh:
“In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is Yahweh of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory.’ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called out, while the house of God was filling with smoke.
Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts.’
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. And he touched my mouth with it and said, ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is atoned for.’
Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’ He said, ‘Go, and tell this people: “Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not know.” Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.’” [Isaiah 6:1 - 10]
So according to John, Isaiah saw Jesus; according to Isaiah, he saw Yahweh. Are these accounts contradictory? No! They are not contradictory, but demonstrate something amazing: whenever God reveals Himself, it is Jesus who does the revealing by being seen. We also see this in John 8:54 - 58, where Jesus says that Abraham saw Him, and then uses the divine name “I Am” in reference to Himself (cf. Genesis 15, 18, 19).
If we apply this principle throughout the Old Testament, then what we conclude is that when Abraham saw Yahweh by the Oaks of Mamre [Genesis 18], of when Jacob wrestled with God [Genesis 32], or when Moses spoke to the Angel of Yahweh in the burning bush [Exodus 3], or when God spoke to the Israelites from Mount Horeb [Exodus 20], is was actually Jesus. Jesus is the one who is God and who reveals God.
Now, how does this answer our question? Consider this: in the Old Testament, it was the pre-incarnate Christ who made these visible revelations of God. But now, because of the events that immediately precede the New Testament, Christ is incarnate, and permanently so. Not only was Jesus’s incarnation the ultimate revelation of God [John 1:18, 14:4; Colossians 1:15 - 20; Hebrews 1:1 - 3], but it is by definition the final revelation of God until judgment day.
Jesus is permanently incarnate—He has to be, in order to fulfill His office of High Priest and Mediator [1st Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 5:14 - 15]. And we know that Jesus’s return will be for judgment [Revelation 19:11 - 19].
So here’s the point: Jesus is the one who revealed God in visible form to the Old Testament patriarchs and saints. But now, Jesus is permanently and immutably incarnate, such that were He to reveal Himself visibly, He would appear incarnate. He does not do this, however, because His next appearance will be at the second coming, which brings judgment day. So God does not reveal Himself today as He did previously because, first, there’s nothing more to reveal; Second, because His next revelation will necessarily bring judgment—God’s supposed “hiddenness” is, in reality, a great act of mercy.
3. The Holy Spirit, the Scriptures, and the Church as the living witness to God.
But it is not as though God has left us without sufficient means of knowing Him. His present means of revelation may be “tempered” compared to those in Genesis, but that does not mean He is unfindabale—far from it!
First, God is revealed (or testified to) by the work of the Holy Spirit. Much like the Son, the Spirit is a primary instrument of God in revealing Himself. Christ reveals God in a visible manner, making Him clear in an objective way, as someone that can be seen and touched; the Spirit (who is God) reveals God in a subjective manner, revealing and confirming His existence to individuals internally. Now, I do not mean to imply that the Spirit does not deliver clear, consistent, measurable revelation by using the term “subjective.” Rather, the term observes that the work of the Holy Spirit is primarily done in an invisible, internal, and individual way.
The Spirit does this first through the miracle of regeneration, where He takes the heart of a dead, lost sinner, and brings it back to life, so that the once-wicked man can now receive the grace of God through faith [Ezekiel 36:26 - 28; John 3:5; Ephesians 2:1 - 5]. The Spirit awakens our minds to the things of God [1st Corinthians 2:10 - 13].
The Holy Spirit also testifies to the believer about God by the act of sealing. In this act, which goes hand-in-hand with regeneration, the Holy Spirit continually turns our minds to the word of God, conforms our hearts to that of Christ, and testifies to us that we are children of God [John 14:16 - 26, 16:13 - 15; Romans 8:14 - 17; Ephesians 1:13 - 14]. While regeneration and sealing are subjective actions, in that individuals can only discern for themselves if they have occurred, they are powerful testimonies to the truth of The Gospel.
Secondly, God is revealed in the Scriptures, where we have been reading from thus far. The Scriptures (which are themselves products of the Holy Spirit, see 2nd Peter 1:21) are the record of God’s revelation throughout time. Most notably, the New Testament serves as a verifiable record of the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. From front to back, the Scriptures reveal God to all who read them, even to such an extent that Jesus equates the reading of Scripture to hearing directly from God [Matthew 22:31 - 32].
Of course, the Scriptures are the focus of innumerable attacks by skeptics and unbelievers, but given the substance and prevalence of the Scriptures, no one can honestly say that the God of the Bible is “hidden.” If the Christian position is correct (and it is) then every Atheist in America has immediate access to direct revelation from God, should they ever care to use it. The Scriptures forever codify the revelation of God and serve as evidence in-and-of-themselves, completely refuting the whole notion of “divine hiddenness.”
Lastly, God is revealed in His Church. The Church, which is God’s people throughout time and across the world, is the living, breathing, ever-present witness to God and The Gospel. The Church has been entrusted with the task of preaching The Gospel, of expositing the Scriptures, and of being the instrument through which Christ establishes dominion on earth.
When the Church gathers, we celebrate the sacraments of baptism and communion, which furthermore testify to the promises of God being made alive today. When the Church goes into the world, we proclaim the Good News of Jesus even to the harshest critics; we engage in apologetics that leave men without excuse for their continued rebellion.
A Brief, But Essential Note:
Before concluding, it is also necessary to examine what has come to be known as “natural theology.” Natural theology is the process of studying God through studying the natural world. While this idea can be taken beyond what is reasonable, the underlying assumption is undeniably biblical. According to Scripture, knowledge of God can and ought to be reached without even referring to Scripture. See what the following passages assert:
“The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and the expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; it rejoices as a strong man to run his course. Its rising is from one end of the heavens, and its circuit to the other end of them; and there is nothing hidden from its heat.” [Psalm 19:1 - 6]
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. [Romans 1:18 - 20]
Clearly, the position of the Psalmist and of the Apostle Paul is that the beauty, intricacy, and very existence of the world—of creation—testify to the existence of God. Just as a painter is revealed in his paintings, or as a builder is revealed in his buildings, or a lawmaker is revealed in his law, so to God is revealed in nature, being the necessary cause of its being.
Λοιπόν - FINALLY
God has not left Himself “hidden,” as so many have blasphemously asserted. No, God has left behind many proofs of His existence, His character, and His promises; furthermore, God is still actively revealing Himself to the world through the work of the Holy Spirit. And while it is true that God does not reveal Himself today in the same manner that He did in the Old Testament, that is not to be unexpected, nor is it without warrant.
Instead, when we examine the biblical testimony, we find that not only has God historically gone extended periods without revealing Himself clearly as He did to Adam, Abraham, and Moses, but we also find that He has a consistent pattern that accurately predicts the current reality.
Furthermore, we understand that because of the incarnation, God must necessarily remain “hidden” for our sake—the next great revelation of God will be the revelation of judgment. And it is not as though God has left Himself unfindable. Rather, He has left us His Holy Spirit, His word, and His Church to be His ever-present witness—even creation itself continually declares the glory of God.
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