Several years ago the biblical scholar Richard Friedman . . .

Several years ago the biblical scholar Richard Friedman wrote a fascinating book entitled The Hidden Face of God, in which he chronicles how Yahweh seems to be less and less evident as you make your way through the Old Testament.  At the beginning of Genesis, for example, God plays a very active role in the lives of Adam and Eve.  God converses with them, God gives them explicit instructions on what to do and what to avoid, and perhaps most important, God visits them in the Garden of Eden almost on a daily basis.

However, says Friedman, after the story of the Tower of Babel, God is never again visible to all humankind—at least not at the same time.  The Lord still appears, but only on special occasions and only to certain people.  The last time that Yahweh speaks to a large group is when the children of Israel are presented with the Ten Commandments.  However, they are so overwhelmed and unnerved by the experience that they quickly turn to Moses and say, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”  And so, wanting to respect their wishes, the Lord never speaks to all of the people again.

As the biblical story goes on, God continues to retreat.  According to Friedman, Moses is the last person who actually “sees” God.  Samuel is the last person to whom God is “revealed.”  And Solomon is the last person to whom God “appears.”

Even God’s mighty acts and miracles seem to withdraw.  The last public miracle recorded in the Old Testament is at Mount Carmel, when God helps Elijah single-handedly humiliate the prophets of Ba’al.  But after that, God assumes a much lower profile, working miracles for smaller and smaller audiences.  Friedman suggests that, perhaps, the reason God keeps stepping back from humankind is so that we will have room to step forward.

Of course, as Christians, we believe that all of this dramatically changes with the birth of Jesus Christ—the clearest revelation of God’s presence on earth since Mount Sinai!  In Jesus Christ, God is once again made both audible and visible.  As the Gospel of John so eloquently puts it, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”