His Presence in the Old Testament

Overview:

            The presence of Jesus in the Old Testament, as a member of the Holy Trinity, is known as a ‘Christophany’. The appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament is not accompanied by a clear statement about him, using his name, as you would see in the New Testament. Instead we see several alternative names or designations for a heavenly being that was much more than a normal ‘angel’. The most common term was that of “The Angel of the Lord”. The ‘Angel of the Lord’ was not just a messenger of God, it was a figure that was intimately associated with God Himself, and had divine characteristics afforded to it – including being worshiped. In Colossians 2:18, Paul notes that the worship of angels is not of God, and of demonic origins. The writer of the book of Hebrews 1:4-5, noted that Jesus is higher than the angels. Furthermore, in John 10:29-30, Jesus himself states that he and the Heavenly Father are both one, but also distinct. Thus, it could be fairly assumed that many of the visible appearances of God in the Old Testament were that of a pre-incarnate Jesus, and that he appeared to many of the key biblical characters. It is interesting to note that the “Angel of the Lord” never appeared after Jesus’ incarnation as a physical human being.

             There were several significant appearances of Jesus in the Old Testament, these include many of the patriarchs of the faith.

Abraham:

            Abraham, as the father of the Hebrew peoples, had several encounters with Jesus as the physical presence of ‘The Lord’. In Genesis 18, we find an encounter between Abraham and three men (one of whom is Jesus). This event links with both the promise of a son, and Abraham’s defence of Lot and his family in Sodom/Gomorrah. 

Genesis 18:1-3 “Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. So, he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favour in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant.”

The key to understanding the connection to Jesus in this event is that both the Lord (Adonai) is present and that Abraham identifies the Lord, and bows down in reverential worship to Him. He even washes their feet. Given that the worship of angels is not permitted, one must assume that it is the pre-incarnated Jesus appearing before Abraham, and it is he that Abraham is worshiping, rather than the angels with him.

Later on, when Abraham and Sarah had been blessed with their son Isaac, and he had grown – the Lord asks Abraham to go sacrifice Him on Mount Moriah – as found in Genesis 22:1-19. Here, in response to Abraham’s faith, ‘The Angel of the Lord’ appears to him.

Genesis 22:11-12 “But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So, he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now, I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

 The Angel of the Lord declares that He is God in these verses, thus, Abraham is clearly talking to Jesus.

Jacob:

 In Genesis 32:22-32, we find the story of Jacob wrestling with God. This is an important scripture because it marks a distinct event where a physical presence of God in the form of a man occurs, as seen in verse 24.

Genesis 32:24 “Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.”

Genesis 32:30 “So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

It is interesting to note, that Jacob says that he has seen the face of God and lived – in verse 30. The fact that in Exodus 33:20 God states “But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” Showing that in Genesis 32, Jacob came into contact with the physical manifestation of God, which can only be Jesus, as anyone who sees the face of God will die. The man blessed Jacob, and changed his name – much as God did with his grandfather Abraham.

Moses:

            Even though he had his fair share of weaknesses, Moses was a great leader of the Israelites, and communicated with the pre-incarnate Jesus in a variety of ways – often face-to-face. The first of these was in Exodus 3, where Moses saw and interacted with the burning bush that was not consumed.

Exodus 3:1-4 “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So, he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” So, when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”

In these verses we see two divine representations within the burning bush. One is ‘the Lord’ or Adonai, and the other is ‘The Angel of the Lord’. Both cannot be ‘Yahweh’; thus one is the Heavenly Father, and the other is pre-incarnate Jesus. Furthermore, in Exodus 3:14, God says his name is ‘I Am’ – a name that Jesus claims for himself in John 8:56-59.

            Moses and the Israelites were led by Jesus through the desert to the ‘Promised Land’, as seen in Exodus 23, in particular verses 20-22.

Exodus 23:20-22 “Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 

Here Moses hears from God that the Angel that he is sending with them, bears his name – no other ‘angel’ bears the name of God – but Jesus does. Jude, the half-brother of Jesus even promotes this view in verse 5 of his epistle. Paul also writes along these same lines of reason when he says in Philippians 2:11 that ‘Jesus is Lord’ or Adonai in Hebrew. The fact that God sent an ‘Angel’ with them is repeated in Exodus 33.

Moses had further interactions with a pre-incarnate Jesus in the journey through the desert – in particular, after the establishment of the tabernacle. In Exodus 33, we not only see that God repeats his promise to send an ‘Angel’ as a guide, but that Moses also spoke to the Lord – Face-to-face.

Exodus 33:11 “So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.”

It’s been established that no man can stand in the presence of God, and live – so the figure that Moses spoke to was undoubtedly Jesus.

The pre-incarnate appearances of Jesus in the Old Testament are one of many examples of the consistency of the biblical narrative, that show the hand of God, and his plan of redemption for all of humanity. They speak of a plan that defies human understanding of time, and our level of existence on this Earth. They speak of an eternal God, one whom wants what’s best for his children, and one whom seeks to provide, protect and if need be punish them – for their own good.

Part 6: The Messiah in the Psalms