The Holy Trinity 8
VIII. GOD’S APPEARANCES AS A MAN IN THE O.T. (THEOPHANIES)
1) GENESIS 18:1-4 And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; (2) And he lift 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, (3) And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: (4) Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: {cf. 18:13,17,22}
2) GENESIS 32:24,30 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day . . . (30) And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. {cf. 35:9-15}
3) EXODUS 24:10-11 And they saw the God of Israel: and {there was} under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in {his} clearness. (11) And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, . . .
4) ISAIAH 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
5) EZEKIEL 43:6-7 And I heard {him} speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me. (7) And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, {neither} they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places.
6) The “Angel of the Lord” Furthermore, the “Angel of the Lord” is identified as YHWH/God/The LORD several times in Scripture. Yet, in other instances, his identity is distinguished from God (e.g., 2 Sam 24:16, 1 Kin 19:6-7, 2 Kin 19:35, Dan 3:25,28, 6:23, Zech 1:8-14), or is ambiguous (Num 22:22, Josh 5:13-14). In the following passages this Angel is regarded as God Himself, either directly or inferentially:
7) GENESIS 31:11-13 And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, {saying}, Jacob: And I said, Here {am} I. (12) And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle {are} ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. (13) I {am} the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, {and} where thou vowedst a vow unto me: . . .
8) EXODUS 3:2-6 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was {not} consumed. (3) And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. (4) And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here {am} I. (5) And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest {is} {holy} ground. (6) Moreover he said, I {am} the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
9) EXODUS 3:14,16 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you . . . (16) Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and {seen} that which is done to you in Egypt:
10) JUDGES 2:1 And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I . . . have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.
11) JUDGES 6:12,14 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord {is} with thee, thou mighty man of valour . . . (14) And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? {cf. 6:16,20-23}
12) JOSHUA 5:14-15 And he said, Nay; but {as} captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? (15) And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest {is} holy . . .
13) ZECHARIAH 12:8 In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David {shall be} as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.
In Acts 8:26,29, an identification of the Angel of the Lord with the Holy Spirit might be inferred:
14) ACTS 8:26,29 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south . . . (29) Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. {cf. Gen 16:7-14, 21:17-19, 22:11-18, 31:11-13, Ex 13:21 w/ 14:19, Jud 13:13-22, Zech 3:1-2}