the presence of God

Part 1: What is a Hierophany?

In my primal religions class this past semester, we discuss what the term “hierophany” means. It is the manifestation of the holy. In oral culture, it’s told in Lame Deer's vision quest when animals talk to him, giving him his calling a shaman; it’s Moses communing with God on Mount Sinai, and coming down with a face far too radiant for the Israelites to behold. Exodus 34:29-34

“ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.”

It’s also the transfiguration when Jesus appears in this same radiance with Elijah and Moses before his three freaked-out disciples (Matthew 17:1-13). When we are saturated with this being, we are no longer present in human reality but in sacred reality, which is true reality. It is interesting that each of these hierophanies mentioned, there is an interaction between persons which triggers it. They are each in communion, being with one another; being relational. Worship is engaged as it is a state of being in communion. People don’t only worship in a church, they can worship with their entire lives, in communion with God. Also, these hierophanies involved sacred places. Lame Deer went off into the wilderness, into a “vision pit.” Jesus took his disciples to a high mountain by themselves- this is reminiscent of Moses proceeding up to Mount Sinai to be with God.

In these nature-bound sacred places, God is sought to be in communion. Another thing about hierophany is that once it’s done- it’s hard to be integrated back into society. This is particularly seen with Moses- who had to wear a veil whenever he came down from Mount Sinai. The Israelites could not accept the radiance of this supernatural occurrence. When people experience a hierophany it’s hard to explain or try to replay for other people- who may as well think you’re crazy. That’s why we normally can not put words to those kind of ecstatic experiences; they happen but it’s only for your eyes to comprehend anything about it.

Part 2: Experiencing Hierophany in striving for God's presence

A.W. Tozer addresses this same concept in The Pursuit of God. He begins chapter 3, “Removing the Veil”, with an epithet by St. Augustine: ‘Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.’

Until reading this quote followed by Tozer’s interpretation, I never thought restlessness was beneficial. The idea behind this thought is that as human flesh, we are restless for a reason- we are fallen creatures in need of God’s rest. Our restlessness enables us to seek the divine. Tozer follows this stream of thought with a question and answer from the Westminster Shorter Catechism: ‘Question: What is the chief End of Man? Answer: Man’s chief End is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.’

Tozer articulates that God formed us for his pleasure to “see him and live with him and draw life from His smile,’ but due to the Fall (as seen in Genesis 3), we have broken with God and because we ceased to obey him or love him we have a fear and guilt which causes us to flee as far as possible from his presence. God’s work in redemption is to undo the tragic effects of the Fall and bring us back into relationship with himself to glorify him and enjoy life.

This turning opens a conscious communion with God to live again in his Presence. “At the heart of the Christian message,” Tozer says, “is God himself waiting for his redeemed children to push in to conscious awareness of his Presence.” Yet contempory American Christianity only knows this presence in theory and “fails to stress the Christian’s privilege of present realization.”

This is the heart of Tozer’s argument I want to get to- how do we as a literate society experience God’s presence? I have been raised in a Christian home and accepted Christ as a 15 year old and grew to develop a better understanding of my beliefs in college. Yet the presence of God was always something I felt lacking in my life. Tozer says according to biblical teachings, Christians are always in his presence positionally, but still feel the need to experience it in actuality. There are distinct times in my life which I don’t remember clearly, but I remember sitting in rest with my God. They happen sometimes, but God wills that I push into his presence and live my whole life there. I still do not know what this looks like, but this year, I’ve been pushing harder than ever and I see the fruits of it. I know that if I lived in a nature dwelling oral culture, this would be easier. I have a tendency to look things from a completely intellectual, analyzing point of view instead of an ecstatic spiritual point of view- this is the product of being a college student in a literate culture. I tend to even rationally doubt that I could ever experience anything spiritually and at times, I haven’t even tried. I grow content in my positional faith rather than allowing myself to be led into a place of burning zeal. Tozer says “We are satisfied to rest in our JUDICIAL possessions and for the most part we bother ourselves very little about the absence of personal experience.” This reminds of C.S. Lewis’ declaration that we are half-hearted creatures who are far too easily pleased.

People tend to reduce Christianity to one simple thing- is someone “saved” or not saved (puzzlement still remains to non-christians on what being saved is. I hate when people use this term without explanation). Being saved is not just about going to heaven. If it were, how would life itself ever be enjoyable? It’s also about enjoying eternity in the present moment, here on earth, by coming to relationship with God through his salvation he offers as a gift (if confused by what I mean, please ask and read Ephesians 2). Like Tozer, I also find it tragic that not only manifesting God’s presence is absent from the church, but being still and seeking some kind of presence is relatively a thing outside our culture. We are encouraged to live fast-paced, task-oriented lives with little thought to ever finding the rest we need to sit in God's presence, experiencing hierophanies.

The point is, we are not the Israelites who cannot see God's radiance. The veil has been removed, and we can experience much more of God than we allow ourselves to. I struggle with this a lot. My logical sense does not allow me to engage in God, to come confidently to his throne- to be transformed by the radiance of the Lord's glory. But I want it. I want to move forward in that. A couple of weeks ago, I didn't want anything else more, but since getting home for winter break, it's become really hard to quiet myself. With too much free time, I end up wasting it rather stewarding it, to help me break down my walls and truly be transformed by His radiance.

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3: 12-18