God has always revealed Himself to those who truly desire to know Him…and such were called the friends of God. The Bible says of Abraham:
Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
—James 2:23
Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever?
—2 Chronicles 20:7
Why was he called God’s friend? Abraham was a man who communicated with God directly, making a covenant with him through the blood sacrifice of animals (see Genesis 15:7-17) and circumcision (see Genesis 17:1-14), pleading for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah (see Genesis 18:22-33), and obedient even to the death of his own son (see Genesis 22:1-18). He was a man who knew God through direct contact with Him and became the father of two covenants, both the Old Covenant to the Jews and the New Covenant because his willingness to sacrifice His own son for God was the precursor of God’s willingness to sacrifice His own Son for humankind. Abraham knew God through a one-on-One relationship where there was mutual respect and dedication. Abraham knew God personally by spending time with Him continually.
Look what the Bible says of Jacob, the man who wrestled with God until he received His blessing:
And he [God] said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed…And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
—Genesis 32:28, 30
It was through coming face-to-face with God that Jacob came to know Him and have power with God and men. Look at what the Bible says about Moses:
And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.
—Exodus 33:11
Why was this? Look at the desires of Moses’ heart as expressed in this prayer that appears just a few verses later:
I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people…If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth…I beseech thee, show me thy glory.
—Exodus 33:13, 15-16, 18
According to Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, “‘To know’ God is to have an intimate experiential knowledge of Him.” Again, Moses knew God because he had experienced Him personally. Many think that knowing God is the privilege of a chosen few—those selected from each generation—Abraham, Moses, David, Paul. Yet even these were not selected by God so much as they simply made themselves available to Him. These were men who waited on God, spent tremendous time alone in prayer with Him, men whose hearts desired nothing else but to know God. And it has always been people like these men with such uncompromisingly desperate hearts to whom God has revealed Himself.
