A few years ago, I wrote a book about my life called, “God, Golf and Grace”, and some of you have read it. It’s a hundred stories spanning 50 years and, in chapter 18, I tell a story of being in church at Key Biscayne Presbyterian Church. It goes like this:

One fall Sunday morning, I was sitting in my spot on the right side of the square sanctuary. Steve is an expository preacher who regularly preaches through a book of the Bible in line-by-line, paragraph-by-paragraph style. Unlike topical preachers who search for texts that address a theme they wish to get across to their listeners, expository preaching takes the Scripture as it comes, forcing the preacher to submit to the text rather than the other way around. Throughout my time in Miami, Steve was preaching through the Gospel of John.

In the middle of chapter 17, Jesus is deep in prayer, talking to His Father about the welfare of those who His Father has given Him. Steve pointed out that this prayer clearly underscores Jesus’ belief in the sovereignty and immutability of His Father. He knows that, regardless of what happens to Him and His disciples throughout the ages, His Father can be trusted to secure them because of who He is.

As he neared the end of his message, Steve told of a ship that was struggling to find its way in the midst of titanic wind and waves. The radar man shouted to the Captain that dead ahead, about three miles away, he saw the lights of another ship. So, the Captain got on his ship’s radio and said, Please alter you course 10 degrees to the south.” Within seconds there was a reply, “Alter your course 10 degrees to the north.” At this, the Captain was miffed, so he sent a second message, “Alter you course 10 degrees to the south. I am a U.S. Naval vessel!” Less than a minute later a response was received, “Alter you course 10 degrees to the North!” By this time, the distance had narrowed to less than a mile and the Captain was indignant, “Alter your course 10 degrees to the south or I will blow you out of the water, I am a battleship!!” In less than 10 seconds, came reply, “Alter you course 10 degrees to the north. I am the lighthouse.”

That was 1979, and yet, I’ve never forgotten that story. Why? Because it captures so well the God of Scriptures. In the face of all our good intentions and hubris, He is the One who stands firm and says in the midst of any storm, “I am the lighthouse!” And no encounter in Scripture demonstrates that truth any clearer than the one the pre-incarnated Christ has with Joshua in Joshua 5:13-16. It’s a profound encounter that tells us so much about God and us.

Unfortunately, over the years, the story of Joshua fighting the battle of Jericho has been turned into a moral tale taught to children. Even a song was written in 1922 to reinforce the misinterpretation of the events surrounding Israel’s first battle in the Promised Land. As is the case in most moralistic teachings, the emphasis is squarely on the wrong person and the lessons derived are the exact opposite of what God intends.

Did you hear about the student who rushed into the office of his faculty advisor just after midterms? He said, “I need help bad.” The professor asked, “What’s your explanation for that?” The student replied, “I think I spent too much time on that one subject.”

Well, there’s one subject far too few Christians spend time on and that’s, “Christophanies.” The word Christophany comes from the Greek word ”Christos,” and “Phaneroo“ which means “to appear.” You say, “It sounds like the word ”Theophany,” and it is, but far more specific.

In the Old Testament, there are numerous appearances of the second person of the trinity. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve “heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden.” In chapter 12, verse 7, and again in chapter 17, verse 1, we’re told that “The LORD appeared to Abram” and spoke to him.

In Exodus 24, we read that “Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and 70 elders of Israel went up (Mount Sinai), and they saw the God of Israel.” In Exodus 33, we read that “The LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”

There are also numerous Old Testament appearances of someone described as “The angel of the Lord” but who is – unlike other angels – treated as worthy of worship and who is identified as God Himself.” In a remarkable passage, the Apostle Paul, in I Corinthians 10:4, speaks of God’s people in the Old Testament being led through the wilderness by Christ. Jude is similarly explicit about the identity of the one who delivered God’s people from Egypt. He says, “I want to remind you that Jesus, who saved people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.”

So, Jesus Christ is present in the Old Testament and that helps us to answer an otherwise thorny question. How is it that God, who Paul calls “The invisible God,” appeared to Abraham and Moses or could be spoken of as meeting face to face with a man? How is it that God, who tells Moses, “You cannot see my face and live,” the same God who appears to numerous people in the Old Testament. Paul answers those questions plainly in Colossians 1 when he says, “Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God.” In fact, it’s Jesus who makes the invisible God visible.

What this means is dramatic! We serve a God who desires to be known. More than that, He is a God who desires intimate interact with those He calls and commands. Throughout the Bible, God repeats this stunning promise to those He loves, “I will make my dwelling place among you and walk among you.” Nowhere in the Old Testament is that more profoundly seen than in Genesis 32 and His wrestling with Jacob. Think of it. The same Lord who walked on water, healed the sick, delivered the demonized, died on the cross and arose again was the One who wrestled with Jacob all night.

This encounter is so profound and the Lessons derived so impactful that it’s taken us two weeks of focused attention. This Sunday, we continue our study of this great text in a message entitled, “ The Wrestler part 2.” I look forward to digging into it with you!