Are there appearances (visible or physical manifestations) of Jesus in the Old Testament, or should these appearances just be attributed to angels?
I believe there are a number of Christophanies (appearances of Jesus in the Old Testament). I want to present what I believe are the three most important of these events, the appearances of Jesus to Abraham, Moses, and Nebuchadnezzar.
First, let’s discuss the appearance of the three men to Abraham in the plains of Mamre as described in Genesis 18, and the two angels arriving to see Lot in Genesis 19. In the first verse of Genesis 18 is something that we almost skip right over. We are reading the Bible, after all, God’s own Word, and it becomes easy to miss the first few words “And the LORD appeared unto him”. I have underlined the most important word that we miss. Then, in verse 2, we read:
And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground.
One thing you will note immediately is that none of these three men chided Abraham for doing obeisance to them. I wonder why? For instance, in Revelation 22:8-9, John fell down before the feet of an angel to worship him, and was immediately rebuked as the angel said “See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant”. In more than one place in the Bible, we are told not to worship angels.
Then we notice in verse 3 that Abraham calls one of them “My Lord”. This again is a sign of Abraham’s awareness that he was in the presence of not just some angels, but his very own Master, Creator, and Lord.
Many are familiar with this story, and how Sarah was told that 9 months from then, when she would be 90 years old, a child would be born to her. Sarah laughed at these words. But notice what is said in Genesis 18:13:
And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
Is God’s Word telling us something here? Again, I’ve underlined the Word that we do not want to miss. This is also fortified by the well know chapter of faith in Hebrews 11:11, where we see:
Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who has promised.
Who could make such a promise? Who could and would keep such a promise? Only God, the Faithful One.
Near the end of the meeting with Abraham, Genesis 18:16-17 says:
And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
As we now go a little further, we see in Genesis 18:22:
And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
What follows this is Abraham’s conversation with the Lord as Abraham tries to be the intercessor for the people of Sodom. What happened to the other two men (angels)? Genesis 19:1 says:
And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom.
The two angels had just previously been in the presence of Abraham and their Lord. Do you see now that only two of the three men that appeared to Abraham and Sarah were angels? One of them was the Lord Himself.
Now we know, according to the Scripture, that no one has seen God. John 1:18 says:
No man has seen God at any time;
So, I am not sure how Abraham could have been standing in the presence of God, but I can see how he could stand before Jesus.
Likewise, there is a Scripture which says that all judgement has been committed to Jesus, for in John 5:22 we see:
For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgement unto the Son:
Also, in our story in Genesis chapter 18, verse 25, the Scripture says:
Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?
Who is the Judge? It seems that this Person must be Jesus!
Second, I want to discuss Moses and the children of Israel, as they were journeying from Egypt to the Promised land. In Exodus 23:20, we see that someone was leading the way:
Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
At first glance, we would assume that this is simply another angel sent by the Father to guide his people. But let us read the very next verse, Exodus 23:21:
Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.
I ask you, has any angel ever been given the power to “pardon your transgressions”. See I John 1:9. This is not just any angel, it is the second person of the Trinity. IT IS JESUS HIMSELF. I do not believe that here God was implying that we should listen carefully to His angel. I believe that God’s Word says that he sent His Son to guard His children on their way to the Promise land, and they should listen to His Son.
In I Corinthians 10:4, we read:
And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
The underlining is mine. Surely this can leave no doubt that the Father sent more than just an angel to guide His people. He sent His very Own Son.
Thirdly, I would like to discuss the three Israelite children in the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar. The story goes that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up in the plain of Dura. For this, they were cast bound and alive into burning fiery furnace. When Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the furnace and looked into it, he saw a fourth person in the flames, as we see in Daniel 3:25:
He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
The underlining is mine. I realize that there are a number of modern translations that say this person was “a son of the gods”. But to keep all of this in context, and not break the story, let’s read Daniel 3:28, where we see God’s Word saying:
Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
Nebuchadnezzar realized what had happened here. He makes a difference between “any god” and “their own God”. He attributed this miracle to God and His Angel. In no way did he think that he saw some other created being. The appearance (form) of this fourth person was like “the Son of God”. Check out what he then says in Daniel 3:29:
Therefore, I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak anything amiss about the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no God that can deliver after this sort.
Nebuchadnezzar statement here narrows it down to one God - the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Here too God sent His Son.
See also Judges 6:12-22 (Gideon).
Bill B. Wagner
02/23/2000
Revised 11/12/2001
Revised 02/23/2005
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