Did Jesus Appear in the Old Testament?
After a recent speaking event I was presented with a question that, sadly, I was not prepared to answer. (Yes, I see the irony too) I was asked if I thought the physical appearances of God in the Old Testament were Christophanies. (i.e. pre-incarnate appearances of Jesus) To be honest, I was tired. So, rather than give it a lot of thought I gave the rather non-commital answer of, “Maybe. For sure it was God speaking, but who really knows.”
To be clear, that was a lazy and lame answer, and God wasn’t going to let me get away with it. Because it turns out, the answer to that question carries way more than just a curious “itch” that only a few need to scratch. It holds one of the weightiest matters of Christian truth that every believer should understand, embrace, and rejoice over.
Shortly after that encounter, I was catching up on some personal reading, which included re-reading a chapter from John Owen’s works entitled: The Power and Efficacy of the Office of Christ. I’ll spare you any suspense by stating up front that after reading Owen’s insights on the office of Christ, I am certain that we can and should say with confidence that not only are the appearances of God experienced by the Old Testament saints to be considered Christophanies, but that any utterance or words of God expressed to God’s people in the Old Testament are the pre-incarnate words and voice of Jesus, God’s Son.
Any utterance or words of God expressed to God’s people in the Old Testament are the pre‑incarnate words and voice of Jesus, God’s Son.
Okay, now that I’ve said it, let me unpack the biblical reasons for saying so and the implications for our Christian joy and satisfaction.
By saying the “office” of Christ, we mean the role that Jesus serves before God on behalf of his church. Since earliest times, Christians have identified three offices held by Jesus, namely, King, Priest, and Prophet. I’ll just briefly comment on the first two, because it is the third office of Prophet that I think believers often overlook. And yet, it has direct relevance to our question and, properly understood, supplies great benefit to our faith.
King
When Jesus was crucified, the Romans posted a notice above his head that read: “This is the King of the Jews”[1] Though done in mockery, they spoke better than they knew, for only God was the rightful King of Israel.[2] In the Old Testament, Israel sinned against God by asking for a king to rule them like the other nations.[3] However, God graciously appointed David as his own king, establishing his throne as an eternal throne upon which God’s rule would rest over his people. The key Old Testament text foretelling Jesus’ office as King is found in 2 Samuel 7:8-16:
8 [To David]“‘Thus says the Lord of hosts… 12 When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; … 16 Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’”
In this promise of an “eternal” throne, God is using David to point to something beyond his time-bound, earthly, and national reign over Israel. He is pointing to an eternal throne upon which Jesus, God’s chosen King, would rule forever. He will forever be “a son” to God and will always reign over God’s eternal and universal kingdom. This hope of a coming king would echo throughout Old Testament prophetic promises to come, most notably Isaiah 9:6-7:
6For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
Since God alone can be King of his people, Jesus, the Son of God, reigns on God’s throne.
Jesus is God’s anointed, eternal King. He has been exalted by God to rule forever over his people. And since God alone can be King of his people, Jesus, the Son of God, reigns on God’s throne.[4] Because Jesus is our King, God is our King. To give our lives to King Jesus is to live in God’s Kingdom.
Priest
According to the writer of Hebrews, Jesus is also our “merciful and faithful high priest”[5] In the Bible, a priest was someone appointed by God to serve in God’s presence. But his role was serving on behalf of the people. He was the people’s representative before God, bringing offerings and sacrifices, and petitioning before God’s throne on the people’s behalf. One key text describing Jesus’ office as our high priest is Hebrews 2:17-18:
17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
There is so much that can and should be said about Jesus’ office as our High Priest. But what it boils down to is this: Jesus is the one who represents us to God, first by making atonement for the forgiveness of our sin through his blood. But also through his humanity by which he sympathizes with us in our weakness. Being fully human, he’s walked in our shoes and suffered everything and more that we suffer. And so, Jesus as our Priest continually and mercifully mediates before the Father on our behalf. And so, we can truly and joyfully say, “What a friend we have in Jesus!”
Prophet
I’ve heard many sermons about Jesus as King and Priest. But I can’t remember having heard any about Jesus as Prophet. I can’t remember ever preaching one either. And yet, Jesus’ office as God’s Prophet is just as important as King and Priest.
In a sense, the prophetic role of Jesus is like that of all God’s prophets. The foundation of this office is modeled after Moses and rooted in God’s promise made to him in Deuteronomy 18:18.
18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you [Moses] from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.
While this was generally true regarding all the prophets God raised up throughout the Old Testament, it was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus himself testifies that Moses had written about him and that it was the Father who commanded him to say all that he’d spoken.[6] Peter[7] and Stephen[8] directly confirm Jesus as the fulfillment of Deuteronomy 18:18.
In general, a prophet was a man appointed by God to speak God’s words to God’s people. And it wasn’t a role one presumed to take for himself. God warned that whoever presumed to speak for him who God had not commanded to was to be put to death.[9] But when Jesus arrived and began his ministry, he immediately claimed this prophetic office for himself.[10] God the Father also confirmed it at Jesus’ transfiguration, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”[11] But Jesus’ prophetic office was unlike any other prophet. Old Testament prophets were mere men who spoke on God’s behalf. And so, their messages would include qualifiers like, “The word of the LORD came to [insert prophet’s name]”, and “Hear the word of the LORD!” But Jesus didn’t do this. He said things like, “everyone who hears these words of Mine,”[12] or “a new commandment I give you,”[13] or “If you love me, keep my commands,”[14] or “If you remain in me and my words remain in you…”[15].
Through his incarnation, Jesus, God’s Son, served as THE prophet to God’s people because it has always been God’s will to communicate the truth about himself through his Son. But did God the Son only possess this prophetic office at the time of his incarnation? The answer is yes and no.
Certainly Jesus, the man, did not receive this prophetic office until he was born into the world because prior to the incarnation there was no man named Jesus. The writer of Hebrews also signals that something changed when Jesus came in the flesh, that the incarnation of the Son signalled a new and final stage in God’s saving communication to his people.[16]But as the divine Son of God, we can also say that Jesus has always fulfilled the prophetic role of revealing God’s word to his people. He is, after all, the Word of God made flesh.[17] And, we also see clues to the Son fulfilling his prophetic office prior to his incarnation.
In Micah 5, God speaks of his coming Messiah who would shepherd his people into peace. In verse 2 Micah writes:
2“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.”
You should recognize the familiar words that speak of Jesus’ coming from Bethlehem and the clan of Judah. But notice that “his goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” This is not just a reference to the Son’s eternal nature. God is saying that the One he would send to “go forth” as ruler of Israel had been “going forth” in times gone by; back to ancient times, even eternity. Since we know the one he would send as ruler of Israel was Jesus, the Son is also the one who went forth from God in ages past.
Another important clue comes to us from Zechariah 2, where speaking through the prophet Zechariah God says:
8For thus says the LORD of hosts, “After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye…10 Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” declares the LORD. 11 … Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you.
You probably picked up on the way the LORD speaks here as both the sender and the sent. In other places we’ve discussed the ways that the Old Testament points to the Trinity, (listen to our podcast episode on Jesus’ deity or read our introductory article on the Trinity) so here we will just accept what seems to be a plain example of God the Son speaking as the LORD who would be sent by God the Father, who is the LORD.
In response to these Old Testament hints, John Owen comments, “So was he [the Son] the prophet of the church even before his incarnation, sent or designed by the Father to instruct it—to communicate spiritual and saving light unto it.”[18] Which is why, he goes on to point out, when Jesus did come he could say to the Jews, “Before Abraham was, I AM.”[19]
From all eternity, God has always spoken by his Word, who is the Son. But it is his special office as Prophet by which God appoints the Son to make known his saving purpose to his people.
From all eternity, God has always spoken by his Word, who is the Son. But it is his special office as Prophet by which God appoints the Son to make known his saving purpose to his people. Revealing the Father’s saving purpose has always been the role and delight of the Son,[20] who sends the Spirit to illuminate the hearts and minds of his followers. For, as Paul says, “who has known the mind of the Lord except the Spirit of the Lord”[21], and Christ has sent forth his Spirit to us because he wants us to know what he knows. He wants us to have, in Paul’s words again, “the mind of Christ.”[22]
Conclusion
Are the physical encounters with God in the Old Testament pre-incarnate appearances of Jesus? Given what God has revealed to us concerning his appointment of the Son as Prophet, I think we can safely and thankfully say that the answer is “yes”. Peter himself credits “the Spirit of Christ”[23] as being the one who gave the prophets their glimpses into the glories of God’s Messiah. Even those instances where angelic messengers are specifically mentioned, the words they are speaking are Jesus’ words. It has always been and continues to be the Son’s privileged joy and delight to fulfill his prophetic office for our sakes by making God’s saving truth known to us. And even in his ascended glory in heaven, it is still Jesus’ joy and delight to do so by his word and through his Spirit. Which means, whenever you hear the gospel preached, or gain greater insight into it through Scripture reading, or grasp a fuller meaning of it through reflection and meditation, you may know that Jesus is speaking to you. He is still our great Prophet who declares God’s saving purpose for us to hear, know, and live out in Christ.
Notes
[1] Matt. 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38.
[2] 1 Samuel 12:12.
[3] 1 Samuel 8:7-8.
[4] The theme of “throne” runs throughout the book of Revelation, where “God” and “the Lamb” are depicted back and forth as being on the throne. So, who is on the throne? God or the Lamb? The answer is both, the Lamb is God. This is why in the final chapter of Revelation “the throne” is identified as belonging “to God and to the Lamb.” (Rev. 22:1,3)
[5] Hebrews 2:17.
[6] See John 5:46; 12:49.
[7] Act 3:22-23.
[8] Acts 7:37.
[9] Deuteronomy 18:20
[10] Luke 4:14-20.
[11] Matthew 17:5.
[12] Matthew 7:24.
[13] John 13:34.
[14] John 14:15.
[15] John 15:7.
[16] Hebrews 1:1-3.
[17] John 1:1, 14.
[18] Owens, Works, loc 3738.
[19] John 8:58.
[20] The voice of the Son can be heard in Proverbs 8:31. Speaking as the voice of God’s wisdom, the Son declares his “rejoicing” in the world God had made and “delighting” in mankind. It has been the eternal purpose of God to redeem for himself a people who he would give to his Son as an inheritance that has animated the heart of the Son with never-ending joy. (See Hebrews 12:2)
[21] 1 Corinthians 2:11.
[22] 1 Corinthians 2:16.
[23] 1 Peter 1:10-12.