RELATIONAL PRESENCE

Genesis 12 - 50
pānîm = face, presence

Genesis 12-50

Notice the repeated motifs of the Lord appearing through visions and as the ‘Angel of the Lord’?
As a bonus, have a look at how most times the Lord makes an appearance in Genesis, the place he appears at is named by the human there and anointed with oil.

In the ancient mind, to be in the presence of God is to be BEFORE THE FACE of God.

PRIOR TO GENESIS 12-50
  • And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence (pānîm) of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8, ESV)
  • 13 Cain replied to the LORD, “My punishment is too great for me to bear! 14 You have banished me from the land and from your presence (pānîm); you have made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!” 15 The LORD replied, “No, for I will give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him. 16 So Cain left the LORD’s presence (pānîm) and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. (Genesis 4:13-14)

GENESIS 12-50

ABRAHAM
  • The Lord appears in fire and smoke to Abraham to establish the covenant (Genesis 15)
  • The Lord appears as the “Angel of the Lord” to Hagar in the wilderness (Genesis 16)
  • The Lord makes himself ‘seeable’ to Abraham (Genesis 17)
  • The Lord appears again through three men (Genesis 18)
  • The Lord appears as the “Angel of the Lord” to Hagar in the wilderness again (Genesis 21:8-21)
  • The Lord appears as the “Angel of the Lord” to stop Abraham sacrificing Isaac (Genesis 22:11)

JACOB
  • The Lord appears in a ‘stairway vision to Jacob at Bethel (Genesis 28:10-22)
  • The Lord appears as the ‘Angel of the Lord’ to wrestle Jacob (Genesis 32:22-32)
  • The Lord appears to Jacob again at Bethel to change his name (Genesis 35)
  • The Lord fills Joseph with his Spirit (RUAH) to interpret dreams (Genesis 41:38)

BEYOND GENESIS

CORINTHIANS
  • For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face (pānîm) of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor 4:6, NLT)

DEUTERONOMY
  • “He found him in a desert land,
    and in the howling waste of the wilderness;
    he encircled him, he cared for him,
    he kept him as the apple of his eye. (Deuteronomy 32:10)

ISAIAH
  • But your iniquities have separated 
you from your God; 
your sins have hidden his face (pānîm) from you, 
so that he will not hear. (Isaiah 59:2)

SEEK THE LORD!
  • Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence (pānîm) continually! (1 Chronicles 16:11)
  • Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face (pānîm) of the God of Jacob (Ps 24:6)
  • One thing have I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
    that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
    to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
    and to inquire in his temple.  Ps 27:4.
  • You have said, “Seek my face (pānîm).”
    My heart says to you,
    “Your face (pānîm), Lord, do I seek.”  Ps 27:8.

THE NEW HEAVENS & NEW EARTH

  • For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12-14)
  • No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. 4 And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. (Revelation 22:3-4)