Revelatory Presence

When it is stated that God was not present in the strong wind, the earthquake, and the fire, but rather in a still small voice (1 Ki. 19:11-12), the reference is not to His essential presence, but to the manner in which He addressed Elijah and revealed Himself to Him. When it is stated that God is not with someone or that He would not go up in the midst of Israel (Exo. 33:7), the reference is to the manifestation of His favor rather than to His essential presence.

 

Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian's Reasonable Service, ed. Joel R. Beeke, trans. Bartel Elshout, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 1992), 95.