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How can God “come down” from heaven when He is already here (and everywhere)? Genesis 11:5

5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

Clarify • Share • Report • Asked March 26 2019 • My picture Jack Gutknecht

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Mini Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army 
Although God is (as stated in the question) omnipresent, I would say that the use of the phrase "came down" in the cited passage pertains to the fact that God specifically manifested His presence and activity in that particular earthly location through the confusion of languages that He produced in order to curtail the building of the tower that the descendants of those who had survived the Flood had undertaken.

March 26 2019 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

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My picture Jack Gutknecht ABC/DTS graduate, guitar music ministry Baptist church 
I, too, like Mr. Maas, believe in the omnipresence of God.

See Genesis 11 in context for the big picture:

Genesis 11

God Stops a Revolt (Genesis 11:1-9)
Rebellion (Genesis 11:1-4).
God Sustains a Family (Genesis 11:10-26)
God Starts a Nation (Genesis 11:27-32)

In Genesis 11:5 where it says God "CAME DOWN", we note this: The tower was a human attempt to go up to God's realm (Deuteronomy 26:15; Psalm 2:4; 103:19; 115:16). The foolishness of that attempt was exposed by revealed by God's "COMING DOWN" to see their feeble efforts.

God “came down” as a theophany, which is a special localized manifestation of the presence of God. These theophanies often appeared in the OT. Once God appeared to Abraham as a man (Gen. 18:2). God also came down to speak to Moses (Ex. 3), Joshua (Joshua 5:13-15), and Gideon (Judges 6) in a similar manner.

March 30 2019 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

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