Is Jesus present in the Old Testament?

In these words also were exposed the evil motives lying deep in the hearts of His opponents, yet He was not their accuser. Moses was that through the law that had been given by him. They boasted in Moses, because they felt that great man conferred some honour upon themselves, but they did not really believe him. Had they done so they would have received Christ. Verse 39 applies to all Old Testament scriptures: they "testify of Me." Verse 46 alludes specifically to the early books written by Moses; and he "wrote of Me." This, then, is the key which unlocks all the Old Testament — the main theme is the Christ, who was to come.

The Scriptures testify of Christ. This is the declaration of the Lord Himself: "They are they which testify of Me," He says, referring to the Scriptures. And He does not here refer to the Gospels, as some might suppose, for they had not yet been written. He is speaking of the Old Testament Scriptures. So throughout the whole of the Old Testament canon we may expect to find allusions, direct and indirect, to Christ. This is what makes it all so interesting. God has chosen a double method of bringing Christ before us in these ancient writings. He speaks of Him by direct reference, as in the 53rd of Isaiah, Deut. 18:15, and in many other places. Then He shows us Christ in type and figure. In doing this, He uses inanimate things, such as the ark, the tabernacle, the manna, etc. He uses animals also, as the firstling of Abel's flock, the passover lamb, the scapegoat, sacrificial bullocks, and doves. But His most striking and effective method of manifesting beforehand the character of the coming One was in the use of persons.

It was the reproach of Christ which Moses esteemed as "greater riches than the treasures in Egypt" (Heb. 11:26). It was Christ who followed, as the Rock, His redeemed people in the wilderness, and whom they tempted by their unbelief (1 Cor. 10:4, 9). It was the holy Person whom we know as the Christ of God, who was there with them in Egypt and during all their wanderings. It was God, God the Son, who was there with them — not excluding the presence of the Father and Spirit, indeed, but giving prominence in this connection to the Eternal Son. And so throughout the Old Testament history we have not only types and prophecies of the coming One, but intimations of the Son in that divine Presence.

Our point in part one was the wealth of typical instruction contained in the Old Testament concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. As the centre of the divine volume, He fills both Testaments but in the Old Testament it comes out necessarily in type, figure, symbol, promise and prophecy. Prophecy foretold what history records namely, that the march of events in this world, from Adam, for four millenniums, was towards the incarnation of the eternal Son of God. During much of this period, Messianic songs sounded out in strains of heavenly music, both from men and women, in ecstatic vision, as under the control of the Holy Spirit. This glorious event was foretold in a threefold way as answering to what we have already seen in the Divine-Human Person of our Lord. (1). God Himself was coming down to deliver. Ex. 3:8; Isa. 13:3, 5; Zech, 14:5; Mark 1:1, 3. (2). The seed of the woman; the Son of Abraham; the Son of David; the Prophet like unto Moses that would be heard. Gen. 3:15; Deut. 18:15; Matt. 1:1. (3). These two lines of Messianic prophecy run right through the Old Testament, but combine together in Isa. 6:9 and Micah 5, where the Babe of Bethlehem is described as the eternal God whose goings forth have been from eternity.

It is used for the mystic representation of the divine presence, as in Gen. 31:11-13. "The angel of God" spake unto Jacob saying, "I am the God of Bethel." "The angel of Jehovah" spake to Hagar and said, "I will multiply thy seed exceedingly that it shall not be numbered for multitude." Gen. 16:7-11. "The angel of Jehovah" spake to Abraham saying, "By myself have I sworn," etc. Gen. 22:11, 15,16. Three 'men' drew near to Abraham's tent. One said Sarah should have a son: at which Sarah laughed, and Jehovah said, "Wherefore did Sarah laugh?" Two of the three left, and were called 'angels' at the gate of Sodom, while Jehovah, the third, talked with Abraham. Gen. 18:1-33: cf. also Ex. 3:2, 6-15; Num. 22:22-35. Jacob, in blessing the sons of Joseph, said, "The Angel which redeemed me from all evil bless the lads." Gen. 48:16. It is generally believed that it was the second person in the Trinity who appeared as a man in the O.T. It is no doubt the same who is called 'the mighty angel' in Rev. 10:1-3.

The Lord was there incognito, as we say, until the tent scene is over and the angels are gone, and then it is all open. While in the tent, Abraham addresses Him with full deference, but the Lord does not come out with the secret until He gets alone with him. Read chapter 18:1-5. Abraham says, My lord, not My lords; he has perfect consciousness that One is superior, and his faith evidently sees through it all. In verses 10, 14, it is, "I will return"; in verse 17, "Shall I hide?" and so on. "And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before the Lord" (v. 22). He sends on these two angels, and we find them at Sodom directly afterwards. Then Abraham calls Him "the judge of all the earth." He addresses Him as Adonay (in verses 3, 27, 30, 31, 32), but it is Jehovah. It may be the administering power; but Abraham sees who the administrator is. I believe myself that all the appearances in the Old Testament are the Son's.

Who then could fulfil this function of Intermediary? The truth of John 1:18 is of the first importance in replying to this question. Let us note once more its terms; "No man (Greek: 'no one') has seen God AT ANY TIME; the only Begotten Son, which is in* the bosom of the Father, He has declared him." Which is (in the bosom) is lit.: "the One being," not "becoming" as it would have been had it been a relation begun in time. The phrase denotes, not mere position, but relationship and oneness of being, essential truth without any particular regard to time. He knows and declares as none other could. This was true before the worlds were made. As we do not see the Sun itself, but its effulgence, so no angel ever saw God, except through the Son, who was "the brightness (lit. 'reflected brightness') of His glory" (Heb. 1:3). This was also true in Old Testament times. The appearances of God to Abraham, Moses, Joshua, etc., usually called "Theophanies," ought rather to be called "Huiophanies," for none but the only begotten Son could have declared Him even then; and such has been the belief of the Church from the beginning, based on the explicit statement of John 1:18. How great the dishonour done to the Glorious Person of the Son of God, that this, His peculiar prerogative, as Revealer of God, should be snatched from Him! Truly the present-day denial that we are seeking to combat here, is (unknown to its authors) only one more Satanic attempt to "cast Him down from His Excellency!"

We will now briefly consider some of these appearances … It is true that the one who appears is often called "the Angel of the Lord," "Angel of the Covenant," or simply "Angel," but the Hebrew "malach" has, like its Greek equivalent, the double sense of angel and messenger. Jacob uses the word in his review of God's dealings. "The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads" (Gen. 48:16). This would undoubtedly include the incidents of Bethel (Gen. 28:13), of Haran (Gen. 31:10), of Peniel (Gen. 32:35), of Beersheba (Gen. 41:1). Would the patriarch at such a moment call on a mere angel to bless his grand-sons. None but the Son of God could redeem? Stephen speaks of the "Angel of the Lord," who appeared to Moses out of the midst of a bush. But in Exodus 3 that very Angel becomes, a moment later, God Himself, affirming, "I am the God of Abraham," etc. Certainly a mere angel could not render the place too holy for Moses to stand on with unshodden feet, or be too much for his eyes to look on. That would be to give the glory of God to another. The "brightness of His glory," which the Son was, was seen in the Shekinah Glory, and in the pillar of fire. It is true that angels had their subordinate share in the events of Sinai, but no one can read Exodus 11 and doubt who was the ultimate Lawgiver. Exodus 19:3, 5, and 20 settle the matter. "All the earth is mine" (v. 5). "God spake all these words" (Ex. 20:1). And then we read in Exodus 24: "They saw the God of Israel," it was no similitude that they beheld, but the glory of "the only-begotten Son."

Then Manoah took his offering, a young goat, together with a grain offering, and offered these on a rock to the Lord. Then an amazing miracle took place before their eyes. As the flame of the sacrifice burned brightly, the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame (vv. 19-20). What a demonstration to Manoah and his wife that this Visitant was no less than the Lord Himself! The Lord Jesus is the true burnt offering, that which ascends in fire to God. So that this visitation is one of the theophanies of scripture, that is, an Old Testament appearing of the Lord Jesus before the time of His actual incarnation. No one can have any idea in what body He came, or whether it was a tangible physical body, but in each case it was a temporary appearing, not such as John describes in l John 1:1, where he speaks of the disciples handling the Lord Jesus with their hands.

Have we not much cause to bless the Lord for these words of His addressed to His poor perplexed ones on their way to Emmaus? They may seem severe; but it is the necessary severity of a pure, a perfect, and a divinely wise love. "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And" — mark these words! — "beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." He Himself — all homage to His glorious Person! — is the divine centre of all the things contained in the Scriptures from cover to cover. He is the golden chain that binds into one marvellous and magnificent whole every part of the inspired volume, from Genesis to Revelation.

An angel was to go before them for guidance and safe conduct. He is often referred to in this connection. (Ex. 14:19, Ex. 33:2; Num. 20:16, etc.) The prophet Isaiah terms Him the angel of His (Jehovah's) presence. (63: g.) Who then was this angel? It is evident, both from this scripture and chapter 14, as well as from others, that divine attributes are attributed to Him. It is said for example here, "My name is in Him." So in Exodus 14, after being spoken of as an angel, He is identified with Jehovah. (24th verse with 19th.) It is the case also in Genesis 22, in connection with the sacrifice of Isaac. (vv. 15, 16.) That He is divine is therefore clear; and the inference is thus justifiable (one that has been drawn by godly students of the Word in all ages) that in this angel we have no other than the Second Person of the Trinity, God the Son, Jehovah, and that as such, in His manifold appearings, we may perceive foreshadowings of His incarnation. It is He who has ever been the leader of His people; and it is He who here takes His place at the head of the children of Israel to keep them in the way, and to bring them unto the place which God had prepared. As Isaiah speaks, "The angel of His presence saved them: in His love and His pity He redeemed them: and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old."