Jesus Christ has provided a complete revelation of God. He said, "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (Jn 14.9). The beginning of John’s Gospel attributes creation to the Son (Jn 1.3). It also states that "no man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him" (Jn 1.18). God’s glory is so awesome and pure that no human being could survive a sight of His unveiled majesty (Ex 33.20; 1 Tim 6.16). And being "a Spirit" He is invisible to mortal eye (Jn 4.24; Col 1.15). The Son of God, who is "the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person" (Heb 1.3), has, through the incarnation and His death at Calvary, made God accessible to fallen man.
However, this revelatory role of the Son of God predated His incarnation so that each Old Testament appearance of God (Theophany) was in reality an appearance of Christ (Christophany), "whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5.2). Speaking to confrontational Jews, Jesus Christ said, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad" (Jn 8.56). That is to say, Abraham actually saw the Son of God pre-incarnate. The New Testament makes clear that when Isaiah "saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled [filling] the temple" (Is 6.1), it was Christ’s glory which Isaiah saw (Jn 12.41). Ezekiel had a similar sight of God as "the likeness as the appearance of a man" upon "the likeness of a throne" (Ezek 1.26).
The main Old Testament Christophany was "the angel [MAL’AK, messenger] of the Jehovah", also termed "the angel of God" (Gen 31.11; Judg 6.20), "the angel of his [Jehovah’s] presence" (Is 63.9), and Jehovah’s "Angel" in whom is His name, the sum total of all His excellencies (Ex 23.20-23; 32.34). Anticipating the incarnation, "the angel of Jehovah" often, though not invariably, appeared in human form. He spoke with divine authority and received worship – something forbidden mere created angels (Rev 19.10; 22.8-9) – and appeared at times of individual and national catastrophe. His character and ministry were remarkably similar to that of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
Although it is not implicitly asserted, Old Testament references to God walking suggest that He appeared in bodily form. Adam and Eve "heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day" (Gen 3.8). Both Enoch and Noah walked in fellowship with God (Gen 5.22,24; 6.9).
The Angel had compassion on Hagar in her distress. He spoke knowledgably about her and her circumstances, her future and that of her offspring (Gen 16.6-14). In turn Hagar acknowledged this Angel to be God. "Thou God seest me" (v.13). In the plains of Mamre Abraham "lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him" (Gen 18.2). Two of these men were the angels that visited Sodom (Gen 18.16; 19.1); the third man was Jehovah (Gen 18.1, 9-15, 17-21). On Mount Moriah, as Abraham "stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son…the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven" (Gen 22.10-11). This Angel, who spoke as though He were Jehovah from whom Abraham withheld not his son, promised to multiply Abraham’s seed, make his descendents victorious, and eventually bring in universal blessings through Abraham’s one seed, Christ (vv.12,15-18; Gal 3.16).
At Bethel Jacob "dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven" (Gen 28.12). The ladder showed that heaven has an intense interest in this world’s affairs and also represented Christ, the "one mediator between God and men" (Jn 1.51; 1 Tim 2.5). When "the angel of God" appeared to Jacob in a later dream He identified Himself as "the God of Bethel" (Gen 31.11-13). Thus God and "the angel of God" are the self-same person. Even at the end of his life Jacob spoke of God and "the Angel" interchangeably (Gen 48.15-16). This divine Angel also appeared to Jacob at Penuel as a man wrestling with him "until the breaking of the day" (Gen 32.24-32; Hos 12.3-5). This was a life - transforming experience for Jacob. The Angel altered Jacob’s gait from that day forward by touching the hollow of his thigh (vv.25,31; Heb 11.21), and changed his name to Israel (v.28). Fully convinced of the Angel’s divinity Jacob called "the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved" (v.30). The Son of God still changes people today for "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor 5.17).
God revealed Himself intimately to Moses, speaking unto him "face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend" (Ex 33.11; cp. Num 12.8). At Horeb "the angel of the Lord appeared unto [Moses] in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush" (Ex 3.2). Within two verses it states that "God called unto him out of the midst of the bush" (v.4). It goes on to say that Moses "hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God" (v.6). And in case we are left in any doubt concerning the deity of this holy fiery Angel, He claimed to be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whose name is "I am" (vv.6,14,15). Having observed Israel’s affliction He had come down to deliver them (vv.7-8). He commissioned Moses to "bring forth [His] people the children of Israel out of Egypt", assuring Moses of His presence (vv.10,12). This same Angel may well have been "the destroyer" who smote all of Egypt’s first born (Ex 12.12,23; Num 20.16), "the angel of God" who led Israel by day and by night in a pillar of a cloud and fire (Ex 13.21; 14.19; cp. Judg 2.1; Ps 34.7), and the Angel who secured the Promised Land for them (Ex 23.20-23). In the New Testament the Son of God claimed the "I am" title for Himself, and once more came down to deliver His people (Gal 1.4).
On several occasions the Angel of Jehovah drew His sword to defend Israel or to discipline them. For example, He protected Israel from Balaam’s curse (Num 22.22-35) and, as "captain of the host of the Lord" whom Joshua worshipped, He oversaw Israel’s conquest of Canaan (Josh 5.13-15). He punished Jerusalem when David counted the nation (1 Chr 21.14-27) but later defended the same city from Assyrian attack (2 Kings 19.35). These violent acts by the Angel of Jehovah should not surprise us when we remember that Christ has been appointed as God’s future Judge (Jn 5.22; Acts 10.42; 17.31). He will be revealed from heaven with a sharp sword proceeding out of His mouth, "in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thess 1.8; Rev 19.15).
When promising a child to Samson’s parents and imposing strict dietary restriction on his mother (Judg 13) the Angel appeared as a man with a "wonderful" name (vv.8,18, JND; cp. Is 9.6). Just as Christ gave "himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour" (Eph 5.2) the Angel ascended in Manoah’s sacrifice, fully identifying Himself with it (vv.19-20). During a dark period of Israel’s history the Angel directed Elijah’s ministry and provided food for His downcast servant (1 King 19.5-7). In an amazing literal fulfilment of one of God’s promises to protect Israel, the Angel preserved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the midst of a burning fiery furnace (Is 43.2; Dan 3.24-28).
Zechariah saw the Angel as a man who rode upon a red horse and stood among myrtle trees, praying for Jerusalem and Judah (Zech 1.7-12), and going on to defend Joshua the son of Josedech against satanic attack (Zech 3.1-7). The Son of God continues this advocacy role in the New Testament. He warned Simon Peter, "…behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren" (Lk 22.31-32). And having ascended to God’s right hand, "he ever liveth to make intercession for them" - His saints (Heb 7.25). This is a great encouragement. The Son of God, who is the full expression of God, currently prays for us. Do not disappoint Him.
Concluded.
