As I was reading through my devotional this morning, I came across an awesome truth. The doctrine of the pre-incarnate Christ in the Old Testament.
Many people have wondered what Christ was doing during Old Testament times. The assumption is that the OT was the Fathers" time to shine" and that the New Testament was for the Son. Well, that isn't necessarily true.
The answer is found in the scriptures themselves.
The prime example of Jesus in the OT in my opinion is the Isaiah 6 vision of the Lord. All to often people make the assumption that the glory emanating from the throne that Isaiah saw was the glory of the Father alone. However the testimony of scripture tells us a different story. Its easy to assume that this magnificent vision is of the Father alone, however when you use scripture to interpret scripture, you will come to the conclusion that the glory emanating from the throne was the glory of Christ (John 12.39-41) and the one whom Isaiah heard speaking to him was the Holy Spirit (Acts 28.25-27). To be sure Father was present at this wondrous occasion, however he would not have been seen for "no one has ever seen God [the Father]; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known." John 1.18.
But this isn't the only place where Christ shows up in the Old Testament. As I read Genesis 16 I came across these wonderful verses.
"The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” And the angel of the Lord said to her,
Many people have wondered what Christ was doing during Old Testament times. The assumption is that the OT was the Fathers" time to shine" and that the New Testament was for the Son. Well, that isn't necessarily true.
The answer is found in the scriptures themselves.
The prime example of Jesus in the OT in my opinion is the Isaiah 6 vision of the Lord. All to often people make the assumption that the glory emanating from the throne that Isaiah saw was the glory of the Father alone. However the testimony of scripture tells us a different story. Its easy to assume that this magnificent vision is of the Father alone, however when you use scripture to interpret scripture, you will come to the conclusion that the glory emanating from the throne was the glory of Christ (John 12.39-41) and the one whom Isaiah heard speaking to him was the Holy Spirit (Acts 28.25-27). To be sure Father was present at this wondrous occasion, however he would not have been seen for "no one has ever seen God [the Father]; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known." John 1.18.
But this isn't the only place where Christ shows up in the Old Testament. As I read Genesis 16 I came across these wonderful verses.
"The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” And the angel of the Lord said to her,
“Behold, you are pregnant
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,[a]
because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,[a]
because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”
So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” (Gen 16.7-13)
Notice, that she saw and spoke to God. This is called a Theophany.
In light of John 1.18 she couldn't have seen the Father. And most would generally agree that the Holy Spirit is unseen (except for the baptism of Jesus). Thus we are left with one conclusion. Hagar saw the second person of the Trinity. God the Son, a.k.a. the Pre-incarnate Christ.
Just about every time we see the term "the angel of the Lord" in the OT, we can be certain that this was the Pre-Incarnate Christ. When it says "an angel of the Lord" its most likely referring to an angelic being (Seraphim, Cherubim)
Other texts to consider are: Exodus 3, Numbers 22.22-35, Joshua 5.13-15, Judges 6.11-40.
The list could go on and on. Isn't our God amazing! He