There is a wealth of evidence for the appearances of a
Messianic God-Person in the Five Books of
Moses, the Torah. We call these “Theophanies” or “Christophanies.” We have
good reason to identify a Christophany whenever the “The Angel of the Lord” (in
the singular) is mentioned in the Torah. Interestingly, in each one of these
appearances, there is direct evidence that He is God. Take His first appearance:
·
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, 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 [Yahweh] who
spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I
have seen him who looks after me.” (Genesis 16:7-13; ESV)
Here, the Angel is also identified by the narrative as the “LORD”
(“Yahweh” in Hebrew, a term that is only used for God). Hagar then acknowledges
that this Angel is “God.”
This presents us with a paradox. How can this Angel also be
God? Aren’t there two people present – the Angel and Yahweh? The paradox is
heightened by the fact that the Hebrew word “malach,” which is generally
translated as “angel,” is also translated in other contexts as “messenger.”
Whichever translation is chosen, “The Angel of God” or “messenger,” both terms
indicate that this individual is a distinct person from the God whom sent him.
And yet, he is also called “God” or “Yahweh.”
This, of course can be resolved from a Trinitarian perspective. The Son, Jesus,
is both a distinct Person, the Angel, and yet God Himself.
In the next
appearance of The Angel of the Lord, Yahweh is merely identified as a man:
·
And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks
of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted
up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of
him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself
to the earth. (Genesis 18:1-2)
Although “The Angel of the Lord” is not mentioned in this
account, we are again confronted with the same perplexity as before. Yahweh
appears as a man along with two other “men,” who are actually “angels” (Genesis
19:1). While the two go to investigate Sodom after enjoying a meal with
Abraham, “Yahweh” remains behind, while Abraham intercedes with Him on behalf of
his nephew Lot and his family:
·
So the [two] men turned from there and went
toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD [Yahweh]. (Genesis 18:22)
However, the rabbis claim that Yahweh cannot take on human
form. Therefore, they claim that this “Yahweh” was only a messenger from Yahweh. However, the text will not allow such an
interpretation. After Yahweh had assured Abraham that He would spare Sodom if
ten righteous could be found within it, Scripture claims that Yahweh left
Abraham:
·
And the LORD [not the “man”] went his way, when
he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. (Genesis
18:33)
From all indications, the text leads us to believe that Yahweh was actually present.
Nevertheless, rabbinic authorities argue that this person could not possibly be
Yahweh because Yahweh cannot be seen (Exodus 33:20). However, this doesn’t
discount the second Person of the Trinity, the Son. From an NT point of view, the
impossibility of God being seen refers strictly to the Father (John 1:18; 1 Timothy 6:16).
Jacob later wrestled with a “man,” whom he later understood was God:
·
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,
saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”
(Genesis 32:30)
Later, Jacob identified God as the “Angel” with whom he had
wrestled:
·
And he [Jacob] blessed Joseph and said, “The God
before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my
shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me
from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on,
and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a
multitude in the midst of the earth.” (Genesis 48:15-16)
Notice how Jacob equated the Angel with God! Besides this,
after Jacob invokes the name of God three times, he calls upon God to “bless
the boys.” However, “bless” is in the singular, which reflects the fact that
although he had invoked God three times, he also recognized that they are One!
(Why did Jacob refer to the Angel is the One who “has
redeemed me from all evil?” He, God, had allowed Jacob to have his way with
Him, even to humiliate and brutalize Him, as a foreshadowing of the Cross.)
Well, isn’t this evidence of a Christophany? Not according
to the rabbis. Gerald Sigal wrote:
·
The fact that Jacob sees “elohim face to face” only goes to prove that the divine being [a
mere messenger from God] that Jacob wrestles with is not God. But, since the angel
represents God, Jacob views the messenger as if it is God Himself. It is quite
clear that this angel is not God manifested on earth as a human being. At no
time does the Hebrew Bible teach this belief. (The Jew and the Christian Missionary, 143)
Sigal once again appeals to Exodus 33:20, which claims that
God cannot be seen. However, this evidently only pertains to God, the Father.
Instead, the Torah repeatedly demonstrates that God can be seen in His human
appearances.
Then the Angel appeared to Moses in the midst of the burning
bush in the middle of the desert:
·
And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a
flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was
burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see
this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the LORD saw that he turned
aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said,
“Here I am.” (Exodus 3:2-4)
First, it claims that the Angel of the Lord had been in the
midst of the bush; then it claims that it is actually Yahweh who is in the
midst of the bush. Notice that this Angel is also called “LORD” (Yahweh) and
“God!” To reinforce the claim that Yahweh is actually present, the account
reads:
·
…God called to him out of the bush,
“Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take
your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy
ground” …And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus
3:4-6)
Moses understood that this was “holy ground,” because of
Yahweh’s presence and not the presence of a mere messenger. Besides, the fact
that he was “afraid to look at God” meant that he knew that God was present in
the bush.
Nevertheless, Sigal seems to believe that both the Angel and God were “present” in
some sense:
·
…the textual evidence leans in favor of the view
that this angel of the Lord functions here solely as a fiery manifestation
which attracts Moses’ attention, while it is the God of Israel who actually
“appeared,” that is, made Himself known and spoke to Moses…”an angel of the
Lord” can in no way be identified as part of the divine essence.” (134-35)
Once again, contrary to the text, Sigal will not acknowledge
that God actually appeared in the bush. Consequently, Moses was afraid to look
upon Him and had been instructed that this was holy ground. Instead, he has to
awkwardly claim that both individuals were somehow present in the one bush.
While Moses had been convinced that Yahweh was actually present, Sigal is
convinced that he knows better.
Instead, all of these appearances provide us with evidence
that God, Yahweh, is not as the present-day rabbi’s claim. Instead, these
appearances of a Messianic figure provide us with evidence of the Trinity.
(Before the Battle of Jericho, the Angel, another
Christophany, identifies Himself to Joshua as the “Commander of the Lord’s
army.” Here too, we find out that this “Commander” is actually Yahweh:
·
And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the
army of the LORD. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth
and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the
commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your
feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. (Joshua
5:14-15)
A mere angel or messenger would have ever received worship.
Only the former archangel Satan demanded worship or would have allowed Joshua
to worship Him. Consequently, this Commander would have been usurping God’s
majesty to demand that Joshua take off his sandals. Instead, this command
signified that God was present as He stood before Joshua. The narrative also
identifies Him as Yahweh:
·
And the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have given
Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor.” (Joshua 6:2)
The Angel had also manifested Himself to Samson’s parents,
Manoah and his previously barren wife to promise them as son. However, Manoah
was beginning to suspect that this He was more than just a mere messenger:
·
And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What
is your name [essence of being], so that, when your words come true, we may
honor you?” And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask my name,
seeing it is wonderful?” (Judges 13:17-18)
The Angel responded that His name or essence was “wonderful,”
(“pawlee;” a term used in reference to the Messiah, Isaiah 9:6, but never to a
mere messenger). The narrative also identifies Him as Yahweh:
·
So Manoah took the young goat with the grain
offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to the one who works wonders,
and Manoah and his wife were watching. And when the flame went up toward heaven
from the altar, the angel of the LORD went up in the flame of the altar. Now
Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground.
The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah
knew that he was the angel of the LORD. And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall
surely die, for we have seen God.” (Judges 13:19-22. We find the same
phenomenon in the account of Gideon – Judges 6:22-23)
While Samson’s parents were convinced that they had “seen
God,” Sigal is not. He correctly points out that God (Elohim in the Hebrew) is
also used to refer to human judges (Exodus 22:8) (129). However, Sigal
overlooks all of the other contextual evidence that this couple had actually
seen “Yahweh” and had become convinced of this fact.
The Angel was also the One who brought Israel out of Egypt:
·
When we cried out to the Lord, He heard our
voice and sent the Angel and brought us up out of Egypt. (Numbers 20:16)
However, other
verses claim that it was God who
brought Israel out of Egypt. Again, in order to make sense out of this recurring
paradox, it is most easily resolved by concluding that the Angel Himself is God,
but as another Person. We find many examples of distinction between the Angel
and Yahweh and yet Oneness, exactly what the doctrine of the Trinity posits.
God is often
identified as the “Redeemer of Israel.” However, at closer examination, it
seems that the “Angel of His Presence” had “saved” and “redeemed”
Israel:
·
In all their affliction He was afflicted, and
the Angel of His Presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed
them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old. (Isaiah 63:9)
Is this a contradiction? Not unless this Angel is God
Himself, the second Member of the Trinity! Here is further evidence. God the Father claimed that He could never be
seen:
· But
He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” (Exodus 33:20; 1 Timothy 6:16)
Nevertheless, God
was seen:
- So the
Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he
would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young
man, did not depart from the tabernacle. (Exodus 33:11)
·
And he [God]
said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself
known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant
Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth,
clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why
then were you [Miriam and Aaron] not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
(Numbers 12:6-8)
This sounds like a contradiction, unless Moses had seen God
the Angel, the second Person of the Trinity. Elsewhere, God says:
·
"Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep
you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of
Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your
transgressions; for My name is in Him… For My Angel will go before you…
and I will cut them off.” (Exodus
23:20-23)
If God’s “name” is in Him, this is the same as saying that
“My essence or nature is in Him.” God the Father also makes a sharp distinction
between Himself and His Angel:
·
“And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the
Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Go up to a land flowing with milk and
honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for
you are a stiff-necked
people." (Exodus 33:2-3)
God, the Father, could not be in the presence of Israel.
Therefore, He sent His Angel, the second Person of the Trinity to be with
Israel.
Elsewhere, the Angel is mentioned interchangeably with God,
suggesting that the Angel is also God,
Yahweh:
·
And the Angel of God, who went before the
camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from
before them and stood behind them. (Exodus
14:19)
·
Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that
the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar
of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. (Exodus 14:24)
·
And the Lord went before them by day in a
pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them
light, so as to go by day and night. (Exodus
13:21)
Again, the Angel seems to be God Himself but as another distinct
Person. The rabbis and the various cults do not seem to want to engage the
extensive Biblical evidence. It simply does not accord with their worldview.
However, these verses provide for us a compelling glimpse of the Trinity in the
Torah and also the following books of the Tanach.
