Why? Why study the topic of Yeshua’s pre-incarnate appearances in the Old Testament?
Most of us “met” Yeshua in the context of the New Testament Scriptures, and we got acquainted with Him there. For many, that is enough. But, let me ask you something. Do you remember when you fell in love? At that time, were you content to know only the things about your beloved from the time you met? For most of us, we wanted to learn everything we could about them from the moment of their birth. We even have asked about their birth weight and so on.
The analogy is not perfect, because Yeshua, as He is called in the New Testament, had no beginning, as we understand the word. He does, however, reveal Himself in other forms and in other ways in the books of the Old Testament.
Another compelling reason is to counteract a heretical movement that is afoot in Christendom, that of disparaging and diminishing the Old Testament, or as I like to call it, the Tanakh. Tanakh is a Hebrew acronym with “T” representing the five books of Moses, the Torah in the narrowest use of the word, “N” representing Ne’veim, the Hebrew word for Prophets and “K representing Ketuvim, or the Writings, which encompasses everything else in the Old Testament. The major, overriding reason the OT is minimized is because people want to claim to follow Yeshua, but not to walk in the ways in which He walked. They reject the authority the totality of the Scriptures has over their lives. But, if you claim to follow Him, how then do you reject the very Scriptures which foretell Him, which reveal Him, in marvelous ways?
The Bible is a progressive revelation of God’s love pursuit of humankind, true. However, it is also a backward/forward book. While it has some linear aspects, it is by no means an exclusively linear book. The Bible is much like an ancient oak. The branches spring from the trunk, but the branches are just as much vital to the tree as is the trunk. Both are equally part of the whole. Can the branches flourish apart from the trunk? No. And, what is a trunk with no branches? Dead.
Furthermore, the Bible must be read by constantly bearing in mind its purposeful ties to other parts of the whole. I call this “reading backward and forward”. When we study in such a way, we find numerous “borrowings” between biblical books or passages or stories. Is it any surprise, then, that Yeshua does not first appear in the Bethlehem manger?
Where, then, does He first “appear”? In the book of Genesis, first chapter. And, let me offer this disclaimer: our study here will by no means cover all of the OT interactions between the Godhead and humankind. So, if along the way you feel I left one out, well, yes, yes, I did!
Appearance 1
We will spend the bulk of our study time together TODAY examining some of the pre-incarnate appearances which occur in the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis. The first time the Messiah Yeshua is seen in the Old Testament is in the very first verse. (How appropriate, right?). The Hebrew says this:
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
Now, Hebrew does not “flow” in the same way English does. So, the literal translation here is:
In the beginning, He created, Elohim, the heavens and the earth.
Let me point out that the verb, bara, is in the masculine singular form. It is a verb that is only applied to Yahweh in the Tanakh. That is, in the Hebrew mind, only Father Yahweh can create. But, Elohim, the first revealed name for God, is a plural. “Im” is a noun ending that indicates plurality, another example in this same verse being “shamayim” (heavens). Seems contradictory, does it not? And, no, it’s not a Hebrew thing, some strange feature of the Hebrew language. In Hebrew, it is a rule that if you have a masculine singular verb, you need a masculine singular subject. Same for plural usages....hmmmmm....The Godhead is referred to by a friend of mine as “The Divine Majesty” or as some have called it, “complex monotheism”. Here, we see Him/Them in the very first verse of Scripture, Father and Son, together, creating.
Additionally, Elohim is a multi-faceted word. It can mean “gods”, such as the polytheistic array worshipped by most pagan cultures. Or, it can mean “angels”. Or, it can mean “big G” God, that is “Yahweh”.
In that same vein, the word in Hebrew for “one” is “echad”. It is a word with special characteristics. It means both “singularity” and “unity”, as is the case in English. In Hebrew, however, when the word is used as an adjective, it does not function the same as any of the other numbers. It is special and a bit mysterious.
Using the aforementioned technique of “backward and forward”, we see in John’s gospel, chapter 1, verses 1-2 that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word WAS God. The same was in the beginning with God.” Which “beginning”? “Why, the very first “beginning” of the Bible, of course”, you might exclaim. However, although God has no beginning and no end, by His own testimony, John may be referring to a time BEFORE the creation of Genesis 1:1.
John may have been referencing Psalm 33:6, which says,
6By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
We’ll dig deeper in to this phrase “Word of the Lord” in a few moments.
Interestingly enough, we find Messiah Yeshua “front and center” in the last two verses of the New Covenant Scriptures, the New Testament, as well! Revelation 22:20-21
20He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
A few verses earlier in that same chapter, He proclaimed....
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” (Or, in the Hebrew the Aleph and the Tav, which are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet) The First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” And, here we see Him in the very first verses of Scripture and in the very last ones as well. In Genesis 1:1, He came to create and at the end of Revelation 22 He promises to come again, to re-create.
So, then, this first “appearance” was at Creation, and no human beings were involved. The same is true of the second “appearance”.
Appearance 2
In Genesis 1:26, we find another plural word applied by God to Himself. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”. Again, to WHOM is God speaking here?! Although Judaism identifies the other party as angels, it is clear in light of the New Covenant Scriptures that God the Father is speaking to His Son. For example, in 2 Corinthians 4:4, Yeshua is called “the image of God”. In Colossians He is called “the image of the invisible God”. Later in Colossians 1:15-17, Yeshua’s role as Creator is reinforced.
“For by Him were all things created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - - all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist {hold together}.”
After the creation of the man and woman, we find the Lord God interacting with him and her, both verbally and (it would seem) visually. Note the account of the Fall of Man, in Genesis 3.
8And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the coolc of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
Did they see him? Or, were they merely aware of His presence? Was He actually walking? If so, then He was manifesting Himself in a physical form. Again, going backward and forward, it is important to keep in mind these words from Yeshua Himself, recorded in John 6:46.
“not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.”
The apostle John reiterates this truth in John 1:18 - -
No one has ever seen God; but, the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father's side, has made Him known.
So, IF the two “first people” “saw” God, they were seeing His Son in physical form. IF they merely heard Him, God, then they could have been hearing the voice of God the Father. Interestingly, as we go along in this study, we are going to encounter some situations where it appears that both Father AND Son are present, in interactions with people.
Appearance 3
In Genesis 15, we find the very important story of the “cutting” of the Abrahamic Covenant. Here, He is called the Word of the Lord. In my Hebrew lessons, “davar” was one of the first words I was taught, and as a noun, it means either “spoken/written word” or “thing/matter”. Sometimes, in Scripture, when the Word of the Lord came to people, the “coming” was (merely) in the form of a spoken word. Here, however, He takes on a form, sometimes human, sometimes not human. In this chapter it is difficult to tell if the Lord, the Word, appeared in human form. Some theologians have read these verses and said, “yes, He did.” However, I think you can interpret it either way. There’s one thing for sure, though. In verse 17, the Word of the Lord appeared as a flaming torch and a smoking firepot, both of which moved between the two pieces of the animal sacrifices, thereby sealing the covenant between Himself and Abraham.
Genesis 15:17-18 - -
17When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses. 18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
While we are examining the mode of interaction described as “the Word of the Lord”, let me note for you some additional “Word of the Lord” theophanies or Christophanies, as these pre-incarnate appearances are often termed. If you skip ahead in time a few centuries, you will find a young boy named Samuel serving in the Temple. In chapter 3 of 1 Samuel, we are told that this story happened in a day when the Word of the Lord was rare. That’s all about to change. Samuel hears a voice in the night. (This was, as we discover a few verses further on, the spoken Word of the Lord.) Later in the story, vs. 10, we learn that “the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel, Samuel!” The Hebrew verb used here and translated as “stood” is better translated as “presented Himself”, as for a face-to-face conversation.
Then, another prophet, Jeremiah, a few centuries later, had an encounter with a being called The Word of the Lord”.
Jeremiah 1:4 - - 4The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Might be just audible, might be in his heart of hearts, might be visible/physical. We don’t know, right? But, hang on. After speaking prophetically over Jeremiah, the being manifests visually for sure. How do we know this? Verse 9 - - 9Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me:
Whoa! Now, that’s a game-changer! This manifestation of God Himself touched Jeremiah’s mouth. As Chad Bird puts it in his book, “The Christ Key”, - -
“Not only has the word become visible in a human form. He has become touchable.”
Let’s move now to another form which our pre-incarnate Lord Yeshua assumes in Scripture.
Appearance 4
One of the most frequent pre-incarnate titles applied to Messiah Yeshua is Messenger of Yahweh. If that does not sound familiar to you, how about this iteration: “The Angel of the Lord”. In Hebrew, the word translated into English as “angel” is “malak”, which means messenger. And, when you think about how angels function in the Scriptures, it is often to bridge the gap between Heaven and Earth, carrying messages from the Father to humankind. However, while the Messenger of Yahweh often carries messages from Heaven to Earth, He is no “mere angel”.
What is the first mention in Scripture of the Messenger of Yahweh? We see him revealed in Genesis 16, to the most unlikely of suspects. Not to a Jew, not to a high-ranking official, not to a war hero, not to a wealthy landowner, no. He revealed Himself to a runaway slave, pregnant and facing imminent death for herself and her teenaged son. In verse 10, He says “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” Note that He did not say “The Lord will do this or God will do this, but I ...” This Messenger not only speaks FOR God; He speaks AS God. This divine Messenger has YAH, as opposed to El, as the basis for His name. Incidentally, this is also the first mention of the word “angel” in the Old Testament. So, how appropriate that this particular Messenger should be the one who bears the name of Yahweh.
Jacob understood this. On his deathbed, the one who had heard from this divine Messenger in a dream (Gen. 31) and had wrestled with this same Messenger into the wee hours of the morning at Peniel, said this: (Genesis 48:15-16)
The God before whom my fathers Araham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the MALAK who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys.”
The God, The God, The Messenger - - all three the same Divine Majesty. Messenger is merely another name for God, but it is ascribed to God in physical, observable form.
But, then, look at what Jacob goes on to say, in the context of this blessing of his other sons: (ch. 49, vs. 18)
18I await Your salvation, O LORD.
He had been blessing this one and that one and the other one. And, in the midst of that, it is as though he just stops and proclaims the future salvation from the Lord. In Hebrew, the word translated in this verse as salvation is “yeshua”. After making this longing statement, he continues on with blessing his sons.
We see this Messenger identity affirmed at Sinai. We read in Exodus 23:20-23 - -
20Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him.
22But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. 23For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will annihilate them.
In American culture people’s names often have little meaning beyond the whim of the parents. Sometimes, babies are named after older or even deceased family members. Other times, a parent will name a child after a character in a book or movie. At other times, a deliberately provocative name will be chosen, such as giving a child a ridiculous name shared with an inanimate object. The actress, Gwenyth Paltrow raised many eyebrows when she named her daughter “Apple”. In Hebrew culture, this casual approach to naming was never done. Names always had great and deep significance. So, when Father Yahweh affirmed to Moshe “My name is IN him.” , he was not just “tossing that off”. By placing His Name in this Messenger, He was placing His essence in Him, or as the writer of Hebrews puts it in chapter 1, verse 3: “the exact imprint of His nature”.
There are instances of this divine Messenger all over the Tanakh. Here’s another one:
Appearance 5
The second of these Malak Yahweh encounters occurs in Genesis 22, at The Akedah, the Hebrew name given to the incident on Mt. Moriah where Abraham was preparing to offer his son, Isaac, on an altar.
10Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
“Here I am,” he replied.
12“Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.b”
13Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ramc in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide.d So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
Now, here, we “see” the Malak Yahweh, Messenger of Yahweh, but no one in the story actually “saw” him, it appears (pun intended). One thing that has always confused me is this - - there are repeated instances in the Tanakh of “God said to ____”. Well, was it a “still, small voice” each time? Regardless, why on some occasions was it “God” and on others when He did not physically appear was it only the voice of Malak Yahweh? Only God knows, I suspect.
Although, this is an interesting point..... Malak Yahweh often appeared physically to call or commission His prophets, that is, to initiate their ministries personally. (He did something similar in the New Covenant Scriptures, when He personally called His 12 apostles.) In this specific case, although He was not “calling” Abraham, Abraham was being given a crucial test, per verse 1 of Genesis 22. Had Abraham failed this key test, he could not have fulfilled his role in the plan of God to bring forth Messiah from his lineage.
After passing this test, Abraham “rejoiced to see Messiah’s day”, as mentioned by the apostle John in John 8:56.
56Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.”
It has been widely taught that Abraham and Isaac here were types of the Father and the Son, and the similarities are obvious. In order to pass the test, Abraham’s faith had to be great enough to believe that, even if he slayed Isaac, God would raise him from the dead to keep His promises to Abraham. And, not-so-coincidentally, the Akedah took place on Mt. Moriah, very near where the Messenger would centuries later, in the form of Yeshua, be crucified for our sins, after which, 3 days later, Father Yahweh WOULD raise Him from the dead.
Appearance 6
Occurs in Genesis 31, starting in verse 10. Ya’akov/Jacob speaking....
10When the flocks were breeding, I saw in a dream that the streaked, spotted, and speckled males were mating with the females. 11In that dream the angela of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’
And I replied, ‘Here I am.’
12‘Look up,’ he said, ‘and see that all the males that are mating with the flock are streaked, spotted, or speckled; for I have seen all that Laban has done to you. 13I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and made a solemn vow to Me. Now get up and leave this land at once, and return to your native land.’ ”
Here, in Genesis 31:10-13, we find the Malak Yahweh appearing in a dream to Jacob, as alluded to earlier. It was during this dream that the Lord showed Jacob how to manipulate sheep genetics, in order to abscond with a majority of the wealth of his father-in-law, Laban. Also, in this passage, the Messenger identifies Himself as “the El (God) of Beth-El", before issuing to Jacob a life-changing command: “Go home to the land of your fathers.” So, the Messenger of Yahweh, once again, appeared to one of the patriarchs at a critical juncture in the patriarch’s life, reminding him of his previous vow. And, He made certain Jacob knew exactly who He was, no mere “angel”, but rather The Divine Majesty choosing to take on a similar form.
Appearance 7
Our next appearance of Yeshua in pre-incarnate form also involves Jacob. But, this time, instead of a message delivered in a dream, things become much more strange and physical. Genesis 32:24-32 - -
24So Jacob was left all alone, and there a mand wrestled with him until daybreak. 25When the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocated it as they wrestled. 26Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27“What is your name?” the man asked.
“Jacob,” he replied.
28Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob,e but Israel,f because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”
29And Jacob requested, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there.
30So Jacob named the place Peniel,g saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
This mysterious wrestler is called in Hebrew “ish”, which is the Hebrew word for “man” or in some contexts ”husband”. But, how do we know he is not a “mere man”? Well, look at what He does.
Now, admittedly, it is rather odd that He physically wrestles with Jacob, whom He renames Israel. On that point, no one has the authority to change a biblical character’s name but God Himself or His Messenger (Or Yeshua, who changes Simon Bar Jonah’s name to Peter - - but I repeat myself....). The one seeming exception to this was when Moses changed Joshua’s name (Num. 13:16), but because Father Yahweh ratified that change later, you might as well say that it was done under His command and that it was essentially the same as being done by Him. Regardless, when in Scripture someone’s name is changed, their identity is likewise changed, and it is often done in concert with the giving of a divine mission.
We have run out of time for this week. So, we will take up here and finish Appearance #7 next week.
Shalom!
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