How did God communicate with Abram? Was it a voice in his head? A dream? A passing thought? The text gives us the answer in Genesis 12:7:
“Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.” (Gen. 12:7 ESV)
The LORD appeared to Abram. This wasn’t just as an impression or a whisper, but a visible appearance. The Hebrew word translated “appeared” is רָאָה (ra’a), in the Niphal stem, meaning:
- to appear, present oneself;
- to be seen;
- to be visible.
In other words, Abram saw the LORD with his own eyes. He met YHWH face to face.
But, Doesn’t the Bible Say we Cannot See God and Live?
But how is that even possible? Didn’t God later tell Moses, “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Ex. 33:20)?
In the worldview of Second Temple Judaism — prevalent in Jesus’ day — there was a well-known concept called “Two Powers in Heaven.” It was the understanding that YHWH — the one true God — could manifest both in heaven and on earth simultaneously. The invisible God up in heaven, whom no one can see, would from time to time appear in a visible form that humans could perceive.
Throughout Scripture, we find this same pattern. YHWH appears in human form to Abraham again in Genesis 18. He appears to Jacob as the mysterious man who wrestles with him (Gen.32:24–30), to Moses in the burning bush (Ex.3:2–6), and to Israel in the pillars of cloud and fire (Ex.13:21–22). He is often called “the Angel of YHWH” — not merely an angel, but a visible manifestation of God himself.
The Visible YHWH who Appeared to Abram is Jesus!
So what’s really happening in Genesis 12:7? Many biblical scholars agree that this visible YHWH — the one who appeared to Abram — is none other than Jesus before his incarnation. The eternal Word, who later took on flesh (John 1:14), was already revealing God to humanity long before Bethlehem.
“No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” (John 1:18 ESV)
From the very beginning, Jesus has been the face (Heb.: panim) of God turned toward humanity — the visible image of the invisible God (Col.1:15).
When Abram built an altar to the LORD who appeared to him, he wasn’t just responding to a mystical experience. He was worshiping the same Person who would one day walk the roads of Galilee, call fishermen to follow him, and lay down his life for the redemption of the world.
So here’s the wonder…
The story of Abram’s encounter is not just ancient history — it’s the same God who still reveals himself to us today. The One who appeared to Abram now lives in us by his Spirit, inviting us to walk before him and to be blameless (Gen.17:1).
Every altar we build — every act of worship, every step of obedience — is our response to the same Jesus who first called Abram out of Ur and still calls us to follow him into the promises of God.
Scholarly Note
The appearance of YHWH to Abram (Gen. 12:7) and later to others (e.g., Gen. 18:1; Ex. 3:2–6; Judg. 6:11–23) belongs to a larger biblical motif often described as a theophany — a visible manifestation of God. The Hebrew verb ra’a (“to appear”) emphasizes that this was not merely an auditory revelation but a sensory encounter in which YHWH was perceived as present and visible.
Within the framework of Second Temple Jewish theology, the idea that YHWH could appear in human form without compromising his transcendence was well attested. Alan F. Segal’s seminal study, Two Powers in Heaven (1977), traces how early Jewish sources distinguished between the unseen, enthroned YHWH and a visible manifestation of YHWH who acted within history. This concept, later declared heretical by the rabbis, provided the theological matrix in which early Christians understood Jesus as the embodied Word of God.
Michael S. Heiser (The Unseen Realm, 2015) further develops this framework, demonstrating how the Hebrew Bible presents a consistent pattern of two (and sometimes three) divine figures who share YHWH’s name, authority, and essence. Heiser identifies these appearances — including the “Angel of YHWH” — as preincarnate manifestations of the second person of the Godhead.
Doug Van Dorn (The Angel of the LORD: A Biblical, Theological, and Historical Study, 2018) complements this view by articulating a robust Trinitarian theology of theophanies, arguing that the Angel of YHWH is a distinct yet fully divine person who reveals the invisible God to humanity. Van Dorn notes that these appearances anticipate the incarnation, showing that “the visible YHWH of the Old Testament is the same Jesus of the New Testament.”
From a restorationist perspective, this continuity underscores the unity of God’s redemptive plan: the same divine Person who appeared to Abram and promised the land is the Messiah who now calls all nations into Abraham’s covenant (Gal. 3:8, 29). The story of Israel’s beginnings is, therefore, already a story of Jesus — the visible YHWH who reveals the Father and restores creation to himself.
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