The God we serve is very complex in his character and many times it is difficult to comprehend why or how he does what he does. This is one reason why critics of Christianity resist having the Lord as part of their lives. When they look at the Old Testament (OT) and compare it to the New Testament (NT), they fail to see how the two interconnect. They deny that all three persons of the godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) were active in the Old Testament and claim that the Trinity is nothing more than an idea conjured up in the New Testament.
Mankind in his sinfulness is more comfortable serving gods who are created in his image, but the God of true Christianity expects us to be like him because everything he does is done in truth and righteousness. Critics of the true and living God fail to realize that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are his ways our ways because his thoughts and ways are much higher than our thoughts and ways (Isaiah 55:8,9). Furthermore, the existence of the Trinity is expressed in the very first chapter of Genesis (Gen. 1:1,2,26) where God’s name is Elohim, which is plural (yet at the same time is singular), and where in v. 26 God refers to himself in the plural.
Careful study of the OT also reveals that Jesus Christ made several bodily appearances, or Christophanies, long before he entered Mary’s womb. One such appearance was in Gen. 18 when Jesus, along with two of his angels, visited Abraham. In v. 3 of that chapter Abraham greets one of the men as “My Lord” (“Adonai” in Hebrew) which is a phrase in scripture used only to refer to God (see Ps. 110:1). Starting in Gen. 18:13, this man is called “the LORD.” Whenever the word LORD appears in scripture with all caps, this identifies God’s name Jehovah or Yahweh. As this chapter ends, two of the men begin a journey to Sodom while Jesus remains behind to tell Abraham that Sodom will be destroyed. Upon learning of Sodom’s upcoming destruction, Abraham intercedes on their behalf to Jesus. In the next chapter the two angels who were with Jesus arrive at Sodom to rescue Lot and his family.
Jesus also made an appearance to Jacob in Gen. 32:24-30 where he wrestled with Jacob all night. Several theologians have said that Jacob was merely having a psychological battle, not a physical one, because of his feeling guilty for taking Esau’s birthright. However, I have never heard of someone having a psychological battle where their hip gets knocked out of joint as Jacob’s did–have you? Since Jacob held his own against Jesus in the wrestling match, he was granted a blessing. His name was changed to Israel, which is proof that this man had to be Jesus. Israel means “he who prevails with God” or “he will rule as God (rules).” Jacob had literally prevailed with God by wrestling with him in the person of Jesus. This was a reflection of Jacob’s spiritual growth in that he could persevere and overcome by faith without cheating as he had done in the past. Jacob realized who he wrestled with in Gen. 32:30 by naming the place Peniel, meaning “the face of God,” knowing he had seen him face to face and lived.
Jesus appeared to Joshua also in Josh. 5:13-15. Joshua was near Jericho when he saw a man with a sword drawn. Immediately Joshua wanted to know if he was friend or foe and he was told by the man that he was captain of the Lord’s host. Upon hearing this, Joshua fell on his face and worshipped him. This man did not stop Joshua from worshipping him as any other servant of the Lord would do (see Acts 10:26; 14:15; Rev. 19:10; 22:9 where servants of God stopped other men from worshipping them). Joshua asked Jesus what his message was and Jesus responded by telling Joshua to take off his shoes because he was on holy ground, which is the same thing he told Moses in Exodus when he appeared to him in a burning bush.
Kerry Dale Hancock Jr
/ January 21, 2007We are brainwashed in this world to look at everything but JESUS. Let our eyes stand fast upon the LORD and HIS prize. This takes me back to a short poem I recentlly wrote:
A MILLION PIECES
Inside I feel shattered
Like a million pieces
My thoughts are scattered
On everything but JESUS
Let YOUR love make me whole
Let YOUR will take control
Cleanse me with YOUR SPIRIT
Renew my heart and my soul
Guide me on YOUR path
To help others who are lost
YOU bought me with YOUR blood
That YOU poured upon the cross
YOU lift me like kings
YOU speak to me in dreams
YOU give me hope in despair
And forgive me for all things
“Let Go and Let GOD”
By: Kerry Dale Hancock Jr
1/6/07
Christy
/ August 8, 2007Thank you for your deep insight. This article rocks!
harryagaylord
/ August 8, 2007Thank you for the compliment and God bless you.
sockmonk
/ April 2, 2008One of my favorite OT Christophanies is when he appeared in the blazing furnace to the three holy youths, in Daniel chapter 3.
bible dude
/ April 6, 2008Actually the three persons who appeared to Abraham was the Trinity. Abraham haggled with God the Father. God the Son and God the Holy Spirit went to Sodom and you know the rest of the story.
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/journals/ssr/issues/volume2/number3/ssr02-03-e02.html
The old testament is replete with Trinitarian proofs. Atleast a guy by the name of Yoel Natan thinks so and he wrote a book called the Jewish Trinity.
Just my 2 cents.
harryagaylord
/ April 7, 2008Sorry, bible dude, you missed the mark here. If you read the scripture carefully, three men appeared to Abraham. After they finished eating, two of them headed toward Sodom and one stayed behind. Abraham called him “Adonai.” He’s the only one of the three who is the Lord.
In the following chapter the two men arrive in Sodom and they are revealed as angels sent to rescue Lot and his family.
bible dude
/ April 7, 2008OK. You are right in a sense that Christ did tell Abraham that he is going to destroy Sodom – But Abraham did not haggle with God the Son but God the Father. Lot also called the Maleks (Son and the Holy Spirit), Adonai in Gen 19:18. Read pages 81-82 in the Jewish Trinity source book. Let me know what you think. Its available for free on http://www.yoel.info or lulu.com (I think). It is not a ploy to make you read the book.
“If one accepts the logical conclusion that there are at least two persons called Yahveh (by the narrator) in Gen 18—19, it is not difficult to accept that the three men who visited Abraham were The Trinity.” From TJT source book
harryagaylord
/ April 8, 2008bible dude,
You’ve raised a very interesting point. As you probably know, we are told in the scripture that “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” in 2 Peter. Isaiah also informed us that “precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” when it comes to God’s word. So in addition to a word’s meaning in the scripture and the context in which it is used, we must also compare scripture with scripture.
I took another look at Genesis 18 and 19 and discovered that the one man who stayed behind to talk to Abraham is called both Lord (Adonai) and LORD (Yahweh)(see Genesis 18:22-23 where Abraham stood before, and drew near to, the one man who stayed behind). So we have two witnesses that this is God in the flesh. Christ is the only person of the Godhead who ever appears in a human body. And whoever sees Christ in his bodily form has seen the Father. In Genesis 19, the context is different. Lot calls both angels “my lords” (adonai) in v. 2, but the context of the word refers to beings that are lower than God.
There is a distinction made between the angels and God in v. 17–”And it came to pass, when they [the angels] had brought them forth abroad, that he [the Lord] said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.” After God spoke, v. 18 says “And Lot said unto them [the angels], Oh, not so, my Lord.” We have to ask ourselves why was he speaking to the angels like that? This is the point you’ve raised, and it’s a good point which I asked myself to try to find the answer. This led me to ask myself “Self, where was God’s voice coming from?” I also asked God to bring to my remembrance any scriptures that could address these questions.
Then some scriptures came to my mind to answer the questions. Ezekiel had visions of cherubim in Ezekiel 1 and 10. In his visions of the angelic beings, Ezekiel “heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.” In chapter 10, he tells us “the sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.”
God can use angels like stereo speakers to project his voice from the midst of them. We also see him projecting his voice from other things in the scripture, like the burning bush and the ark of the covenant and the altar in heaven in Revelation. God projected his voice from the midst of the angels to speak to Lot, which is why he spoke to them to address the Lord. Jesus Christ can be called an angel in certain circumstances but only two of the three men were called angels to denote the heavenly beings. In Genesis 18 the man who stayed behind was never referred to as being an angel. In Genesis 19, the other two men are called angels. This was God’s way of showing us in the scriptures that the two men who actually went to Sodom to get Lot were different than the man who stayed behind.
Jon
/ August 15, 2008One of the most common challenges to Christianity is the alleged disjunction between the God of the Old Testament and the Christ of the new.
Unfortunately many Christians also have the (perhaps subconscious) perception that this is the case.
Teaching of the perfect continuity of the OT into the NT via Christ is crucial to correct this misconception. Thanks for this piece.
Tasha
/ March 26, 2009Harry, you have said it excellently!:o)
May our Father continue to bless you always,
Tasha
Bible Study
/ September 28, 2010It is sad how few people realize that Jesus did appear in the old testament to the saints of old. It would be nice if everyone studied there bible and it became second knowledge to all mankind, but the truth is many people do not know the truth found in the word of God. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.
harryagaylord
/ September 29, 2010It is sad. Unfortunately, most people who call themselves Christians are unwilling to expand their knowledge of the Bible by reading it for themselves and are content to rely on what their pastor, televangelist, or radio preacher tells them.
Les Brennan
/ August 19, 2011This is the first time I have told this story in public and it really means something only to me, but if it blesses you so be it. Many years ago (1975) while attending Bible College I was being troubled by horrific dreams of an evil nature. So frightful and disturbing I awoke one night to call a 24 hour prayer line to ask God to remove the memory of the evil dream. One night, while in a dream of a peaceful nature there appeared a vision which interuppted this present dream. I was in a spirit world with people all around me. Joy was so profound, I still cannot find words to express it. Suddenly the came the “news” that Jesus was arriving. I moved by pure thought. As I turned to go up a stairway was a personage of such magnificant appearance and stature I stopped in awe. I could not see His face but His eyes radiated a”laser like” radiant bluish warmth that went through my spirit. He opened His arms and called me “Peter” but I thought Hmmm my name is Les. We walked together as friends with no judgement or condemnation. We moved to a large open tranluscent porch that led out to paradise. As I continued to move He remained at the top of the porch and I realized He was the Lord. I started to weep at His feet and felt my shame and shortcomings in life. He reached down and touched my forehead so gently and all my tears dissapeared. He said “Beware!, for thieves and murders will come and they will plunder and kill” then without and notice He was gone. I found a tree out in the paradise to sit under to ponder the words spoken to me when suddenly a horde of black figures on horses were ravaging in the distant horizon. One broke from the horde and came directly at me releasing a spear towards my chest. Just before the spear struck me I awoke with a blood curdling scream. My roomate asked me what was wrong and I said “Gary, you wouldn’t believe it if I told you. Late in life I would come to understand what the words meant. We serve a powerful and awesome Lord and Savior. Les in San Diego
harryagaylord
/ August 19, 2011Thanks for sharing your dream. The black figures on the distant horizon you saw are now not so distant. They’re right in our faces. I’m glad God has given us his armor to fend them off until we are called home.
John
/ November 22, 2011This post is really good and such a great joy to know that our Saviour came before HE was born in Mary’s womb. But if Jesus was present in bodily form in the OT times then how can He be born again in NT time as a new born baby to Mary??? and Why?? He could have continued the same bodily form and appear as a Saviour to the Jews/World. I am not fully sure whether it was the same bodily form that Jesus had in different ages of OT & NT times.
harryagaylord
/ November 22, 2011You raise some good questions. Jesus only made quick appearances in the Old Testament and was not born of a woman at those times. He had to come in a totally different way in the New Testament because he had to be born of a woman to be human so he could be the perfect sacrifice for all humanity. When he made appearances in the Old Testament, he just had his divine nature. In the New Testament he had both his 100% divinity alongside his 100% humanity without sin.
amponsah samuel kofi
/ December 13, 2011GOD bless you for such a wonderful piece.. Harry ur email pls