Many of the Jewish persuasion object to deifying any man; they say it is against the first commandment not to put any other God before Him. They reject the idea that God has any form at all because they claim it is idolatry.

Yet Scripture often mentions God having the physical attributes of a human form - the hand of God, the face of God, the arm of God, the mouth of God, etc. Many of these references appear in the poetry of Scripture such as in the Psalms and the prophets and are figures of speech that are not meant to be taken literally. So the question becomes: where is it ever written in the Law of Moses that God will come in the form of a man in clear and unmistakable terms? We are looking for verses that are not poetic metaphors or recorded dreams or visions. We are looking for simple testimony of direct observations that show that God can appear in human form. We are looking for events preferably witnessed by more than one person so that we know it is not a vision of someone in a trance. We are looking for descriptions of His form and not descriptions of where He speaks from - such as God speaking from fire or out of a bush, etc.

The answer to this may be more obvious than you are prepared to accept. The evidence we seek comes from the mouth of none other than Moses himself on more than one occasion. And the first occasion was nothing more solemn than the confirming of the Covenant of the Law. For Exodus 24:9-11 records that "Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and SAW the GOD of Israel. And under His FEET it was as something of the whiteness of sapphire, and like the substance of the heavens."

It seems that God appeared to these seventy elders in order to confirm the agreement that He made with them. For otherwise they might say that the agreement is not valid because God really does not exist. So He appeared to them in a Vision as it were in person to personally sign the contract between them by writing it Himself on two stone tablets. For the validity of the Covenant rests on the existence of God. If God does not exist, then the Covenant is not valid. So God appeared to them to prove that He does exist.

The second time that God Appeared to Moses is recorded in Ex 33:18-34:8. Here Moses mentions that God has a face and a back and a hand. And it is recorded that Moses SAW God's back. A face and a back and hands and feet would indicate a human form. And this is supported by the fact that Moses heard human words which otherwise comes only from human beings.The fact that God was seen at all proves that God can take form. And it is reasonable to expect that if God did Appear, it would not be in the form of an inanimate object since we at least believe that God is a living Being. And if God took the form of a living being, then it is reasonable to expect that He would not appear as some lower form of life than that of man. For lower forms of life are not concerned about righteousness as we know God is. So God would have to appear as something more than human; He would have to appear as something that is superhuman. Appearing as a human being would only support the conclusion that His message is relevant to human beings.

As to whether these apparitions to Moses were dreams or visions, we are specifically told in Num 12:6-8 that Moses SEES the FORM of the LORD and that it is not true that these apparitions are merely dreams or visions. As it says in Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in His own image". And so these verses would prove that God does have a FORM and an IMAGE that others can see, and that image is in the form of a human being. Would an observant Jew say that Moses was lying when he writes in the law that he and others SAW God?

These Scriptures mentioned above are not poetic metaphors or similes. They are narratives of direct observation. But even if some would excuse all these as some sort of anthropomorphic illustrations that God used for the purpose of communication, it is harder to dismiss the event that took place with Abraham in Genesis 18:1-19:5. As Scripture says, " The LORD appeared to Abraham.... Abraham looked up and saw three men." Abraham ate with them; he drank with them, and he and his wife, Sarah, talked with them. One of the three men must have been the LORD and the other two were angels. For we are told that when "the men" turned away and went toward Sodom, Gen 18:22, only two angels arrived at Sodom while the LORD remained to talk to Abraham. Not only this, but only one of them could have been the LORD since there is only one God. Yet Sarah only recognized Him as a man since she thought she could get away with lying about whether she laughed at the promise of a son. Would a true son of Abraham say that Abraham was lying when Scripture says that these events really happened?

I don't believe that these apparitions were accounts of actual human beings with flesh and blood that were born and lived in the usual sense. For they had absolutely no personal history and yet were the central subject of the narrative. And I cannot believe that these people really did not encounter something that they saw. For the events described had consequence based on these encounters. The destruction of Sodom and the saving of Lot comes to mind. Lot would not have been saved if the two men (angels) were not real. The two angel physically grabbed Lot, his wife, and two daughters and dragged them out of the city. So I am convinced that they saw and felt something. It may be that these people felt the presence of some personality so much so that their minds could not understand it's existence without seeing the vision of a man to accompany this presence that they felt. Yet Abraham and Moses are not the only people who have seen the form of God. Scripture records others who envisioned God in human form.

It seems every major prophet in the Hebrew Bible saw God as a man whether in dream or vision. In Isaiah 6:1-5, Isaiah claims, "...my eyes have SEEN the King, the LORD Almighty!" He saw God sitting on a thrown in the Temple of God, and sitting is strictly a human activity. And it should be noted that Isaiah doesn't state that this event was only a vision. Isaiah actually lived in Jerusalem and served in the Temple courts. It may be that Isaiah actually saw this with his physical eyes. In Ezekiel 1:25-28, Ezekiel saw a man sitting on a thrown which is how the glory of the LORD appeared to Him. In Daniel 7:9-10, Daniel describes the "Ancient of Days" (or God) as taking His seat whose clothing and hair were white like wool. Daniel then describes "one like a son of man" whom all people will worship (Daniel 9:13-14).

Some might claim that all these examples above are still nothing more than metaphors that God manifest from time to time as a communication tool. But the point remains, God has represented Himself to all the prophets in a human form. And He has not represented Himself in any other form. Although His glory has appeared IN a burning bush or IN a pillar of fire, it is not claimed that the bush or the fire IS the LORD. The point is: if God (YHWH) never had any intention of becoming a human being, then all these above prophetic Visions are fraudulent misrepresentations. But if He does intent to become a human being, then all these apparitions can be considered to be prophetic visions of the future. I think that all these apparitions tell us plainly of YHWH's intent to dwell with us as a human being.

The question then becomes: what kind of man would YHWH be? How would we know who He is? And what kind of life would He lead? Another question would be: how can His existence as an individual be consistent with His attributes of Omnipresence and Omniscience?

He would no doubt have to be a man of extraordinary power who is destined to be the ruler of all nations. For one of God's attributes is that He is Almighty. So is there any person in Scripture that would match that description? Is there any Scriptures that describe any man as God or YHWH? Yes, He's called the Messiah in Scripture. And many of the attributes of God are also attributed to the Messiah.

Isaiah 9:6-7 tells us of a son (a man) to be born who will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty GOD, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He will sit on David's thrown and of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. However, some would argue that many Hebrew names incorporate the Name of God in their own names. This may be true, but all of those names are statements about God or what He will do and are not alternate names FOR God. Further, There are no other Hebrew names that have this many words incorporated into them. Isaiah seems to be listing qualities only appropriate to God and attributing them to the Messiah. And of course this prophecy cannot be referring to one of the ancient kings such as Hezekiah since none of them established the kingdom forever in peace. But the most literal interpretation states that this one person will establish and uphold it forever, which means that he would have to live forever in order to uphold it forever. And immortality is a quality attributed to God.

And more explicitly, Jeremiah 23:6 and 33:16 states that a king will come from David's family who will do what is just and right and his very name will be YHWH. The exact quote of Jer 23:6 is: "The days are coming", declares the LORD (YHWH), "when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his day Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which He will be called: YHWH our Righteousness". And Jer 33:16 uses very similar language. Now it is totally unprecedented for Hebrew names to have the fully spelled Proper Name of YHWH standing by itself in a multiworded name. All other Hebrew names that incorporate the Name of YHWH use a shortened form of the Name together with other words either hyphenated or with no spaces in between. Yet Jeremiah uses the fully spelled Proper Name of YHWH standing by itself as a reference to the Messiah. He certainly would not have done so unless that is precisely what he meant. "Our Righteousness" would then be His middle name.

However, some might suggest that it is not totally clear who Jeremiah is referring to as "the LORD our Righteousness" since there is a full sentence between this phrase and the sentence about the King who will reign wisely. They might suggest that Jeremiah is referring to Israel in one passage and Jerusalem in the other and simply renaming these entities in honor of God. But then you have the dilemma of calling more than one thing YHWH when we know that God is one. And you would also be calling God an inanimate object when we know He lives. Besides this, you don't rename something to praise it simply because it is the recipient of what is just and right. And in these passages Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem are only the recipients of the praiseworthy deeds of the Righteous Branch. Instead you praise someone because he does what is just and right in the land. And I think the context is clear that Jeremiah is bestowing the Name of YHWH as a title of honor on the only entity in these passages whose deeds are being praised, the Righteous Branch. In both Jer 23 and Jer 33, the phrase "Righteous Branch" and "The LORD our Righteousness" appear. Both phrases incorporate the word righteous; this indicates that these phrases are linked by the common word "righteousness" and so refer to the same thing. But to give more than one entity the exact same name would contradict the purpose of giving a name as a unique identifier. The only way that the two passages, Jer 23 and Jer 33, can be considered to be parallel passages is if both passages are referring to the same entity as "The LORD our Righteousness". In this case both passages must refer to the Righteous Branch as "The LORD our Righteousness" in order to be parallel.

In fact there are many Scriptures that attribute the Messiah with the same attributes as God. There are Scriptures that say that YHWH is a King,
that He will rule from Jerusalem,
that He will rule with justice and righteousness.

And there are Scriptures that say that the Messiah will be a King,
that He will rule from Jerusalem,
that He will rule with justice and righteousness.

Will there be more than one king who will rule in Jerusalem at one time? Are we ever told that Messiah will ever do what is contrary to the Will of God? No! They are talked about synonymously. Only God could do the Will of God flawlessly. And if Messiah ever failed to do the Will of God flawlessly, then he would violate the Scriptures that say that he will do what is just and right in God's eyes, and that would prove that he is not the Messiah. So Messiah must always do the Will of God flawlessly which only God can do. Therefore, Messiah must be God.

So let us turn to some of the more difficult questions. Some may ask how God becoming a human being stuck in space and time can still be Omnipresent and Omniscient. Omniscience is the quality of knowing everything in the universe. And Omnipresence is quality of being everywhere at the same time. These qualities are attributed to God. But some may wonder how a man can know everything and be everywhere. For it seems to contradict the limited knowledge we gain in the limited space that we occupy in the body.

First of all, it is obvious that no physical object can exist at every point in the universe at one time. So I cannot be talking about the physical body of a person as being God. Instead, I am referring to the spiritual nature of God. God is a spiritual being. And His Spirit inhabits all places at all times. And God created man with a spirit. For God created man in His own image. The spirit in a man is what motivates his thoughts and his deeds. And it is the spirit of a man that makes him unique to God. So when I say that God will be manifested in human form, I mean that God's Spirit will inhabit the Messiah fully even from birth so that the Messiah will always do the Will of God flawlessly.

But some might think all this sounds complicated and ask where in Scripture does it say that Messiah's spirit will be the Spirit of God. Isaiah 11:1-4 shows that Messiah will have the Spirit of YHWH seven times over. And seven has always been symbolic for completeness ever since God completed His work of creation in six days and rested on the seventh. Thus, these verses show that Messiah will be endowed with the Omnipresent Spirit of God in full measure. They also show how Messiah will have the full Spirit of God to know all things that are just and right. For Isaiah 11:3-4 says that Messiah will have the ability to know and judge rightly without anyone having to show or tell him what the evidence is. And this is not possible unless your spirit was there when it happened or you have access to all knowledge. So, in effect they show Messiah's Omniscience and Omnipresence. And if Messiah has the full measure of the Spirit of God, then He has the unique nature of God and has the right to be called God.

Now, if we accept that God will become a man and His Spirit will dwell in full measure within the Messiah, then the question becomes how do we recognize Him for who He is? And how will we know it when He comes? For there may be many who claim to uphold what is just. And there may be those who proclaim themselves to be the Messiah. So what events will characterize His life? And what actions will distinguish Him?

If there is one thing that Scripture is clear about, it is that Messiah will uphold and defend what is just and right at all times. (See Isaiah 9:7, 11:4-5, Jeer 23:5, 33:15) And there can be no mistake that this is His intent if we are to recognize Him as the Messiah. Apart from any other person mentioned in Scripture, Messiah will be completely devoted to upholding righteousness.

Yet if everything were already justice and peace before Messiah came, then it would not be possible to recognize that this justice and peace were the result of His deeds. At some point in His life, He must be against hatred and evil, and evil must be against Him. At some point He must at least be willing to risk His life to suffer for what is just if He is the Messiah who is devoted to what is right. And then at some point He must concur the deeds of hatred and evil if it is clear that justice and peace are a result of His deeds. If God were to become a man, wouldn't He prove that He was totally and completely devoted to righteousness? And if God were a man, wouldn't He concur hatred, evil, and death?

So how can we determine what events would characterize the life of God if God were to become a man? What events will accompany the appearing of God to men? The appearing of God to men is not totally unprecedented. And we can find our answer by looking at what events accompany God's appearing in the ancient Hebrew Bible. Whenever God appeared to men in the Hebrew Bible, it was always with a message and sacrifice or offering. When God called to Adam and Eve after they ate the forbidden fruit (Gen 3:8-24) God pronounced judgments on those who sinned and killed animals to make garments of skin for them. When God came to Noah, He said He would save Noah but He would destroy (or sacrifice) all people on earth. When the LORD appeared to Abraham in (Gen12:7), God promised Abraham the land of Caana, and Abraham built an altar and offered sacrifice. And again in Gen 13:14-18. And when God promised Abraham a son in Gen 15, Abraham was instructed to offer sacrifice. When the LORD appeared to Abraham as "God Almighty" in Gen 17, Abraham was instructed to be circumcised (a form of personal suffering). When the LORD visited Abraham in Gen 18, Abraham offered Him food and drink. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, He sacrificed a ram that was caught in the bushes instead. This was the last sacrifice that Abraham made; he was willing to sacrifice his son, his own flesh and blood.

When God appeared to Moses and the seventy elders of Israel in Exodus 24:3-11 after the law was proclaimed, Moses sacrificed bulls on a stone altar. This was the first sacrifice that Moses offered to God. This sacrifice and shedding of blood was meant to signify the seriousness of their commitment to upholding the law. So in all these examples above, the appearing of God always is accompanied with a message of truth and judgment and a sacrafice. It would be expected, therefore, that if God did actually become a man and appear to us, then His coming would also be accompanied with a promise of life and a sacrifice.

The very nature of sacrifice is to deny oneself and suffer a loss for the greater cause of good. And a sacrifice always indicated the seriousness of the belief in that cause. So God, being the most serious about His cause, would show how serious He was by offering the greatest sacrifice. If God was pleased with the sacrifice of men for their belief in God, then God Himself would offer sacrifice as a man. The greatest sacrifice that one can offer is his own life, and no one would offer any greater sacrifice than God. Yet, none of these people offered sacrifice for nothing, but they did it in the hope of better life. And if anyone would gain the blessing for which he sacrificed, then it would be God. So we should expect that if God did become a man, He would sacrifice His own life for His cause, and yet rise from the dead a gain the blessing of eternal life.

What other events characterize the history of God that we might expect to become evident in the life of God if He were a man? It seems the entire history between God and His people has been one of God trying to protect His people and to teach them the ways of righteousness so that they might live. Yet as we read in the Hebrew Bible, they would continue to betray and to spurn and mock God only to repent and glorify Him later. Israel was to be the visible manifestation of God's Kingdom on earth. They were meant as a demonstration of His glory in the world. But as with all humans, she fell into sin and disgrace. And as all the prophets have warned and history has shown, God was willing to sacrifice His glory, the Jews, in favor of upholding what is right. So we should expect no less if God were to become a man, the Jews of that day would mock and spur Him, but He would be willing to sacrifice His flesh, the Messiah, in favor of what is right. But just as the prophet claim that the Jews are destined to believe and be restored, so would Messiah be restored to glory after being mocked.

To be continued. If you know of any way that they ideas can be expressed more reliably or effectively, please let me know with the Feedback button below. Thanks.