How Does God Reveal Himself?

Reading through the Old Testament can be quite daunting. There are so many different names, repetitions, and a slew of weird concepts that we do not understand in the modern day. Many Christians like to avoid the Old Testament, because it's "just history" or "too hard", but the reason for this is because we read it without a purpose other than just to read. One question helps us overcome this fear of the Old Testament, and if we read it with this question in mind, it will change how we treat the Old Testament: How does God reveal Himself? He reveals Himself in many ways, and in the Old Testament, we are able to see how those who came before learned about who God is through His actions and commandments. Below is about one verse per book, summarizing how God reveals Himself in the Old Testament, and that book specifically, so that we can change our outlook from "just history" to "God's revelation."

Genesis

God Reveals Himself through His creation, His handiwork, carefully created in Genesis

Now, in Genesis, God never says, "I reveal Myself to them" but instead he creates an artwork of the universe, placing inside His personality, His "signature", just as an artist would. Creation holds the mysteries of God, and they "proclaim the works of His hands." We can see evidence of this in other places, like Psalm 19:1.

Exodus

God reveals Himself through His mercy, though providing justice when needed.

If you ask a regular person, they may say that God is more loving in the New Testament, and he is all about being a judge in the Old. But here, in Exodus, we see Israel know and understand that God does in fact judge, but he also provides, he is merciful, loving, and by knowing this, and seeing this, we can also know how to properly show these, as well.

Leviticus

God reveals Himself through His holiness, giving us a standard to be like Him: better.

Leviticus has been the dread of the Old Testament for far too long, because us Christians are unwilling to see the beauty in God's law. The Jews understand this. By reading the laws, we see how difficult it is for us to be "holy" and what God requires in order for sins to be forgiven. God is good, and allows forgiveness, and gives Israel these laws, but HE sets the standard.

Numbers

God reveals Himself through His judgement, and His desire for evil to be punished.

We can speak of God's mercy day and night, but what is the purpose of mercy, if he does not judge properly? Mercy is meaningless without judgement. God sets the standard, and we refuse to meet that standard of goodness and holiness, so God judges us properly. Mercy is not being punished when we deserve it, and since God establishes what is right and what is wrong, he can also decide what we are forgiven for, and what we are punished for. God is a good judge and a righteous judge.

Deuteronomy

God reveals Himself through our obedience: we will know God if we obey and seek him.

As Israel is going into the promised land, Moses reminds them to obey God and remember what happens when they do, and when they don't. God gave us commands to follow so that we may be like Him, and be righteous. Not for prosperity's sake, not for boasting's sake, but for the sake of our souls. If we obey God, we will find righteousness, and desire to learn more about Him and who He is.

Judges

God reveals Himself through His patience with us, and His desire for us to repent.

The time of Judges is a time of uncertainty and confusion. This is because Israel rebelled against God, repented, and followed God, repeatedly. We act in this same way constantly. We sin, repent, and come back to God, but we do not stop there. We repeat this cycle over and over again, so why would God allow this? Because He is always patient, and desires us to be with Him as His children. We are His creation, and He loves us dearly, so He gives us many opportunities to return to him.

Joshua

God reveals Himself through keeping His promises and His desire to be our only desire.

God is always faithful. Joshua is not the only book that speaks on this. But the book of Joshua doesn't just talk about His faithfulness, it displays it. In the past, God made the promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that their descendants will be as numerous as the starts. He kept that. He promised that Israel will take over the promised land. He kept that. But God also wants us to desire Him and Him alone. If we do not desire and worship Him, He will not promise prosperity or happiness, but the opposite. God lets Israel know that He desires good for them, but destruction will come if they follow their own desires. He kept that.

1 Samuel

God reveals Himself as the one true King that we should put our faith in, and not any man.

God was the King of Israel. He made the laws, he allotted the land, He protected them, and He provided for them. But they rebelled and did not act in His ways, and so they asked for a human, earthly king to rule over them. God was not enough for them, and so they chose a king who also rebelled against God. Then, David was chosen for his desire after God's own heart, but even he made mistakes and struggled to follow God's Word. Humans make mistakes, and we have a sinful nature, but God is perfect, just, and righteous. An unchanging God should be the only thing we put our hope in.

Ruth

God reveals Himself through the process of redemption: that He will pay the price and accept us.

What is a redeemer? What is the point? A family redeemer pays the price and essentially buys back a family into their inheritance. Maybe this family sold themselves away, or fell away, and a redeemer comes to save them. Christ is our redeemer, who paid the price for us to be brought back into the kingdom of God, our inheritance as his children. Without redemption, we are fully separated from God. Without redemption, we have no hope. But Christ is our family redeemer who gives us hope, who gives us life.

1 Kings

God reveals Himself through His faithfulness and patience, even through our rebellion.

We rebel every time we sin. it is active defiance of God, especially if we want to call ourselves Christians. Even though we sin against Him, we are not destroyed right away. So why? Because God is gracious, merciful, and faithful. God made promises to Israel, even after the split with Judah. Both nations are His people, and even though judgement will come, he provides for them in many ways. He sends multiple prophets, like Elijah, to warn them of their rebellion and encourage them to return to God. He gives us many chances to come to Him, because He is a loving and faithful God. He hates to see us suffer and be judged, and wants us to seek and know Him.

2 Samuel

God reveals himself through David, God's sinful anointed, who sought after God and repented of his sins.

God chose a king, and He wanted a king after His own heart. But what does that mean? God never said He wanted a sinless king to rule Israel; that would later be Jesus Christ. Instead, a king after God's heart looks like David. God wants us to be humble enough to face our wrongdoing, and repent of it. He praised God, loved God, and sought a true relationship with Him, despite his mistakes. Because of this, god blesses David, and establishes him as a legend among Israel for thousands of years. David became known as a great leader, and great worshiper of God. But remember, he is not a good model of a follower of God because of his sinful actions, but because of his desire for God.