Old Testament

In Walton’s Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament, he writes, “ With no revelation . . . there was no way to know what pleased and what angered . . . This is the plight of those who live in a world without revelation. In the end, for all of their conscientious ritual, they did not know what deity wanted” (p. 145). Please post a 400-word response to Walton’s statement. Discuss the importance of revelation to God and the biblical writers. Seek to answer questions like “Was it important for God to reveal himself to mankind? If so, in what ways has God revealed himself? How important was revelation to the prophets who often used the phrase 'Thus says the Lord?'” While sources are not required, you may support your answer from the Bible, your textbooks, or other sources as you see fit./>

I think that it was extremely important for God to reveal himself to mankind because of his desire to remain in fellowship with His creation. From the beginning God sought to have interaction with humanity, this is why He spoke to them this was the beginning of their revelation of who God is. "The man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden" (Genesis 3:8).

It is through our knowledge and revelation of God that we find out who He is and what He expects of each of us. In scripture we find God revealing himself to us. We find that our disobedience separates us from God, makes us afraid of God, make us want distance between us and God. But God who desires fellowship always reaches out to humanity. The Bible has plenty of examples that speak to this fact such as, "Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2).

It is through God’s revelation of himself and his nature that we find our way back to him. If we didn’t understand how we were