Apologetics

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Background: Christians and observant Jews share certain commonalities. Together with Jews, we believe that there is one God. Also, we believe God is the Creator and hence, the Creator of man. Moreover, we, accept the Pentateuch (5 Books of Moses) as divine revelation from God. Further, we also share Abraham as a primary patriarch of our respective faiths. Additionally, we accept Moses, as a prophet of God. Despite our agreements however, the most significant disagreement we have is concerning the identity of the Person of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, whereas Jews consider him as having been a mere Jewish man or rabbi at best to a false messiah and blasphemer at worst.

New Testament Warrant and Examples:
In 2 Timothy 3:15, the apostle Paul tells Timothy, “And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” By the “Holy Scriptures,” the apostle Paul was referring to the Old Testament Scriptures, since the New Testament canon had not been completed. Therefore, Paul is telling Timothy that the Old Testament Scriptures are able to lead him to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Our Lord tells us in John’s gospel that if the Jews had believed Moses, they would have believed him, since he (Moses), wrote of him (Jesus, John 5:46). In his post-resurrection appearance to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, after hearing their despondency and disappointment, Jesus responds, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself (Luke 24:25-27). Philip, upon being commissioned to follow Jesus, finds his friend Nathaniel, and tells him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45). The apostle Paul in his ministry to his Jewish people, reasoned with them in the synagogues from the Old Testament Scriptures concerning Christ (Acts 17:1-3) including out of the law/books of Moses (Acts 28:23). Since God’s revelation progressively unfolds throughout the Old Testament and has its climax in Christ in the New Testament, we should expect to find, in anticipation of God being manifested in the flesh, glimpses of that manifestation in the Old Testament. Our study will thus, focus on those manifestations in the Pentateuch.

Scriptural Truths from the Pentateuch:
1) No man can see God (Exodus 33:20)
2) There are no other gods, except the LORD God (Deuteronomy 4:35)
3) God is eternal (Exodus 3:14)
4) God, in his being, has no physical form (Deuteronomy 4:12)

Objective:
Although, there are many prophecies which speak of Christ in the OT, through this study, you will be able to identify passages which show the appearances of the preincarnate Christ. By the end of this study, you will be equipped to share with Jewish friends and neighbors, out of the Old Testament Pentateuch, passages concerning appearances of God and their connection to the Person of Jesus Christ, God who appeared in the flesh. You will also be equipped to answer objections that might be raised in discussing these passages with your friends.

Definition and Examples:
Theophany: An appearance or manifestation of God to people in the Old Testament. Theophanies in the Pentateuch are manifested in natural phenomena such as in fire (Exodus 19:18, 24:17, Leviticus 9:24, Deuteronomy 4:11-12), in a cloud (Exodus 16:10, Leviticus 16:2, Numbers 14:14 Deuteronomy 31:15), in thunder, lightning, and smoke (Exodus 20:18-21) with precious stones (Exodus 24:10) as well as in angelic or human form (Genesis 16:7-13, 18:1-22, 32:24-30). The phrase, “the LORD appeared” occurs 21 times in the Bible, 20 of which are found in the Old Testament, with 11 instances in the Pentateuch. Jesus, in his prayer to the Father in John 17, stated that he had glory with the Father, before the world existed (John 17:5), establishing his preincarnate existence and hence, his ability to manifest himself in preincarnate appearances.

Theophanies in Genesis - Lesson 1

Scripture passage for our reading: Genesis 16:7-16

Context: Sarai is barren and gives her maidservant Hagar to Abram as a wife so that she may have a child through her. Abram and Hagar have relations and Hagar conceives. Sarai, on seeing Hagar’s conception, despises Hagar and blames Abram. Abram, in turn, tells Sarai to do with Hagar as she sees fit. Consequently, Sarai mistreats Hagar and Hagar flees to the desert where she is met by the angel of the LORD.

Questions:
1) What is the first thing we notice about the angel of the LORD in verse 8?
A: He asks questions/he speaks
2) Can you think of another time in Genesis where someone is fleeing or hiding from someone and is asked a question?
A: Genesis 3:8-9, where Adam and Eve are hiding from God and God calls out to Adam to ask about his whereabouts.
3) How does the angel of the LORD respond to Hagar?
A: He sends her back to Hagar and tells her to submit to her.
4) Who else sends someone out in an earlier chapter of Genesis?
A: God, in Genesis 3:23
5) What does the angel of the LORD tell Hagar he will do in verse 10?
A: Multiply her seed
6) Who else promised to multiply seed?
A: God, in Genesis 13:16, 15:5
7) What does the angel of the LORD command Hagar to name her son and its meaning?
A: Ishmael, which means “God has heard.”
8) It was the angel of the LORD who heard Hagar in the desert and yet he tells her to name her
Ishmael, which means what?
A: “The LORD has heard”
9) The text tells us that it was the angel of the LORD who spoke to Hagar (vs.9) and yet, who does the text state Hagar spoke with in verse 13?
A: The LORD (YHWH)- The Name of the Covenant God of Israel.
10) In her conversation with the angel of the LORD, who is it the One Hagar says saw her and whom did she see (vs.13)?
A: The-God-Who-Sees

Conclusion and application:
In this passage, we clearly see that the angel of the LORD is identified with none other than God Himself. In her dialogue with the angel of the LORD, Hagar knew it was the LORD who spoke with her and she names him, “The God Who Sees me.” We observed that the angel of the LORD promises to multiply her seed, an action attributed to the LORD (Gen.13:16, Genesis 15:5). Since the Bible says no man can see God (Exodus 33:20), yet Hagar, in this passage saw God, who is it that she saw? Our answer is the preincarnate Christ. Since God created all things (Genesis 1:1), interacts with matter (Genesis 2:7) and nothing is too hard for God (Genesis 18:14), then God can manifest himself in a visible form.

Theophanies in Genesis - Lesson 2

Scriptural passage for our reading: Genesis 18:1-15

Context: In the previous chapter, God had promised that Sarah will have a son, that she will name him Isaac, and that God would establish His covenant with him. God also promised to multiply Isaac. Abraham circumcises his household including Ishmael.

Questions:
1) As Abraham was sitting by the entrance of his tent, who appeared to him?
A: The LORD
2) Is this the first appearance of the LORD to Abraham?
A: No, He appeared to Abraham in Genesis 12:7, and Genesis 17:1
3) Who does the text say Abraham saw?
A: Three men
4) What was Abraham’s response?
A: He ran to meet them and bowed himself to the ground
5) What else did he say?
A: He says, “My Lord,” and petitions him not to leave if he has found favor in his sight.
6) Although 3 men are mentioned, how many people does Abraham address?
A: One, “My Lord.”
7) After they ate and told Abraham that Sarah would have a son, how did Sarah respond (vs.12)?
A: She laughed
8) After laughing and asking how she would bear a son in her old age, who is identified as speaking to Abraham and what did he say?
A: The LORD- he rhetorically asks if anything is too hard for the LORD and says he will return at the appointed time, at which time, Sarah would have a son.
9) Who else had just said in vs. 10 that he would return and that Sarah would have a son (vs8-9)?
A: One of the three men who had just eaten the food that Abraham prepared.
10) Why did Sarah deny laughing when asked why she laughed?
A: Because she was afraid.
11) Who else was said to be afraid when hearing the voice of the LORD God?
A: Adam, in Genesis 3:9-10

Conclusion and application:
In this passage, we see one of the three men identified with the LORD, since this passage tells us the LORD appeared to Abraham (vs.1), yet it was three men that Abraham saw (vs.2). One of the three men who ate (vs.8) is the same one who is identified with the LORD as speaking with Abraham (vs.13). Jesus, in John 8:56 says “Abraham rejoiced to see my day (future tense) and saw it (past tense) and was glad.” If Abraham saw the LORD and Jesus said Abraham saw him, we can logically conclude that Jesus is the LORD. Someone may respond, but doesn’t Numbers 23:19 say that “God is not a man?” Our response is that the rest of the verse continues “that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent.” God is unlike sinful, changeable man in that He always does what He says. Furthermore, as we have noted, since God created matter (Gen. 1:1) interacts with it in the creation of man (Gen. 2:7), says that matter is good (Genesis 1:31), breathes his life into man so that he becomes a living soul (Gen. 2:7), and since nothing is too hard for God, there is no difficulty in God Himself inhabiting a human body in the form of one of the three men who appeared to Abraham.

Theophanies in Genesis - Lesson 3

Scriptural passage for our reading: Genesis 31

Context: Laban’s sons were displeased and envious of Jacob due to his vast wealth. The LORD tells Jacob to return to his home country and that He would be with him. Jacob informs Rachel and Leah that their father is unhappy with him, but despite being cheated by Laban, God has made Jacob prosper.

Questions:
1) Who appeared to Jacob in his dream in verse 11?
A: The angel of God
2) Where else have we read of the “angel of God” appearing to someone?
A: In Genesis 21, where he appeared to Hagar in her distress
3) What did the angel of God first say?
A: He called Jacob’s name
4) After responding to the angel of God, how does the angel respond?
A: He tells Jacob to look at the various kinds of male goats that are streaked, speckled, and spotted and that he has seen Jacob’s affliction.
5) Who does the angel of God identify himself as in verse 13?
A: “I am the God of Bethel.”
6) Turning back to Genesis 28, what was the significance of Bethel?
A: It was the place wherein Jacob dreamed and saw a ladder with angels ascending and descending on it.
7) In Genesis 28:13, who was standing above the ladder in Jacob’s dream?
A: The LORD
8) What does Genesis 28:16-19 give for the reason he names the place Bethel?
A: Jacob states that “the LORD was in this place” and that “it is none other but the house of God.”
9) So the same God who appeared to Jacob in his vision of the ladder is who, according to this text?
A: The angel of God, the God of Bethel.

Conclusion and application:
In this chapter, we clearly see that the “angel of God” (vs.11) equates himself to God (vs.13). The angel also identifies himself as “I am..,” which Christ used of himself in John 8, the same “I am” we shall read about in Exodus. Interestingly, in Acts 27, as Paul is sailing to Rome to face his trial, a storm arises and in the distress of the crew, Paul tells them that “the angel of God” stood with him, and that Paul belongs to him and serves him (vs.23). We know Paul does not belong to nor serve angels since he has already warned of such things in Colossians 2:18 and in Romans 1:9 and 2 Timothy 1:3, Paul states that he serves God. So who was it that Paul encountered? I think we can infer that it was Christ. In fact, in Galatians 4:4, Paul puts the angel of God on par with Christ Jesus. Are we then saying there are two Gods, God and the angel of God? No, although the angel of God is distinct from God, He is equivalent to God and yet we know there is only one God. How can this be? There is one God, but there is a distinction of persons within God. John tells us that Word was with God and yet the Word was God.

Theophanies in Genesis - Lesson 4

Scriptural passage for our reading: Genesis 32

Context:
The angels of God meet Jacob. Jacob prepares to meet his estranged brother Esau, by dividing up his servants in bringing gifts to his brother to appease his anger over the episode of the birthright being stolen by deception.

Questions:
1) After Jacob sent his wives, servants, and sons over the brook of Jabbok and was alone, who does the text say Jacob encountered?
A: A Man.
2) Who wrestled with Jacob, but could not prevail or overpower him?
A: The Man (vs. 25)
3) What did the man do to Jacob, when he could not prevail against him?
A: He disjointed the socket of Jacob’s hip
4) What did Jacob demand of the Man before he let him go?
A: A blessing
5) How did the Man respond to Jacob?
A: By asking his name and changing his name to Israel.
6) Prior to this event, who else had his named changed and by whom?
A: God changed Abram’s name to Abraham (Gen. 17:5)
7) What was the reason given by the Man for changing Jacob’s name?
A: Because Jacob wrestled with God and men and prevailed.
8) Since the text says Jacob wrestled with a Man and yet the Man says of Jacob, that along with men, he wrestled with God, who must this Man be?
A: God
9) In verse 30, who does Jacob say that he saw?
A: God

Conclusion and application:
The mysterious “Man” in this passage can be validly identified with God, since He, like God changes names, as God did by changing Abram to Abraham, stated that in Jacob’s wrestling with him, he wrestled with God, and Jacob himself claims that in his wrestling, he saw God. Hosea 12:3-4, in speaking of Jacob’s wrestling with the Man of this passage notes that Jacob wrestled with God, also called “the angel” of whom we looked at in our first lesson. This Man, we may conclude, was a theophany, a preincarnate appearance of Christ. John 1:18 says that no man has seen God, yet Jacob says that he saw God, so who did Jacob see? Since the Bible contains a unified, harmonious message with no contradictions, we must seek to reconcile these truths. As “Spirit” God in His pure essence and being, is not visible to men, yet in physical appearances, He can be seen. An objection might be that God is not part of his creation and since a man is a creation, God cannot be him. The response to this is that God retains his infinity, eternality, and omnipresence, even when he appears as man, since the heaven of heavens cannot contain him (1 Kings 8:27), yet He brings his presence into finite localities such as in the tabernacle (Numbers 14:10). If God’s glory can appear in a physical building, then certainly a physical human being is not a problem for him. In the New Testament, we see Jesus, God Who tabernacle among us.

Theophanies in Exodus- Lesson 5

Scriptural passage for our reading: Exodus 3:1-16

Context: In the previous chapter, we read of the children of Israel crying out to God because of their bondage and oppression in Egypt. God hears their cry and remembers his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses is keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro and leads them to the desert, to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Questions:
1) In verse 2, who appears to Moses in a flame of fire in the bush?
A: The angel of the LORD
2) When Moses came to inspect why the bush did not burn up, who saw him?
A: The LORD
3) Who called to him from out of the bush?
A: God
4) If the angel of the LORD was in the flame of fire in the bush and it was God who called to Moses from out of the bush, then what can we conclude?
A: That the angel of the LORD is God
5) How does God identify himself to Moses in vs.6?
A: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
6) Why did Moses hide his face from the burning bush?
A: Because he was afraid to look upon God.
7) Who speaks to Moses in vs.7?
A: The LORD
8) Though God is omnipresent, he is said to do what in the beginning of verse 8?
A: Come down
9) When asked by Moses of God’s name, how does God identify Himself?
A: I AM WHO I AM
10) What does God tell Moses to tell the elders of Israel in verse 16?
A: That the LORD God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob appeared to him

Conclusion and application:
Fire symbolizes God’s presence in passages such as Ex.13:21, 19:18, 24:17, Leviticus 9:24.
In this text, we see the angel of God identified with none other than God Himself, Who is also referred to as the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and “I AM WHO I AM.” The same angel of the LORD in vs.2 is the same LORD GOD who appeared to Moses in vs.16. Other instances in the Pentateuch where we read of the LORD’s “coming down” in connection with a visible manifestation, can be found in Exodus 19:20, Numbers 11:25, 12:5. Stephen in Acts 7:30-32 recounts this event and equates the angel of the Lord, the voice of the Lord, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus, in response to the Jews reveals that “before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58), equating Himself with the eternally self-existent “I AM” in this passage who we read, was also the angel of the LORD. When someone objects that God is God and therefore cannot be in his creation, we can point to this instance where God appears in the bush, which is a creation. Fire is fire and iron is iron, but iron immersed in fire demonstrates how Christ can be both God and Man—they are distinct (fire doesn’t turn into iron or vice versa), yet are united.

Theophanies in Exodus-Lesson 6

Scriptural Passage for our reading: Exodus 23

Context: In the earlier parts of this chapter, God has given laws concerning justice, mercy, and the Sabbath. He also explains how the 3 Festivals are to be kept.

Questions:

1) Who does God say He is sending to guard and guide the children of Israel?
A: An Angel
2) How does God say they should respond to him?
A: To beware of him and obey his voice
3) What is the reason God gives for this admonition to them?
A: He will not pardon their transgressions
4) Throughout the OT, who is said to be able to pardon transgressions (Exodus 34:9, Numbers 14:20)?
A: The LORD
5) Where does God say His Name is?
A: In the Angel
6) In verse 22, God equates obeying the angel’s voice with what?
A: Doing what God speaks
7) Who does God say will bring them into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites?
A: God’s Angel
8) But Who is the one who is said to bring them into the land of those people in Exodus 13:5,11?
A: The LORD
9) So if it is the LORD who brings them into the land, but yet the Angel brings them into the land, who is the Angel?
A: The LORD

Conclusion and application:
In this passage, we see that the Angel is more than simply “an angel.” The LORD’s Name is in him, he has the power to withhold forgiveness (or grant it by implication), and the people are required to obey him, prerogatives that are attributed to God alone (Exodus 32:32, Deuteronomy 27:10, Psalm 20:5). In the New Testament, Jesus claims the power to forgive sins (Matthew 9:2), that the Father is in him (John 10:38, i.e. His Name is in him) and that He is to be obeyed (Matthew28:20). At the same time, this Angel is distinct from the LORD in that He is sent by the LORD (Exodus 23:20). 1 John 4:9 tells us that the love of God was manifested in that God sent his only begotten Son, and yet the Son equated Himself with God (John 5:18, John 10:30). Therefore, there is an exact parallel between the angel whom God sends in the OT, and His Son whom He sends in the NT, thus establishing the fact that the Son who was sent in the New Testament is the same one who was sent in the Old Testament as the Angel.

Theophany in Numbers- Lesson 7

Scriptural passage for our reading: Numbers 22

Context: Balak, king of Moab, out of fear of the Israelites, for what they had done in conquering the Amorites, sends messengers to Balaam to hire him to curse Israel.

Questions:
1) Who inquired of Balaam who the men were and what did he tell Balaam when Balaam answered?
A: God- He told Balaam not to go with the men to put a curse on Israel since they are blessed.
2) How did Balaam respond to Balak’s officials the next morning?
A: He informed them that he could not go back with them since the LORD refused to let him go back to curse Israel
3) After Balak sends more men to Balaam to petition him with money to go to Balak to curse Israel, how does Balaam respond?
A: That he cannot do anything against the command of the LORD God.
4) Though Balaam already knew God did not want him to return with Balak’s men, he nevertheless asks Balak’s men to stay in order to inquire further of the LORD. What does God then tell him?
A: To go with the men, but to only speak that which God tells him to speak.
5) When Balaam got on his donkey to go to Balak, who does the text say was angry and who stood in his path?
A: God was angry and the angel of the LORD stood in his way.
6) With what did the angel of the LORD oppose Balaam?
A: With a sword drawn in his hand
7) So if the angel of the LORD stood in his path with a sword drawn in his hand, what type of being was he and what else confirms that?
A: Physical- Balaam’s donkey turned off the path into a field to avoid him, since she “saw him” as well as crushing Balaam’s foot against the wall to avoid confrontation with the angel.
8) Who opened the donkey’s mouth and who opened Balaam’s eyes?
A: The LORD
9) Who and what did Abraham see when the LORD opened his eyes?
A: The angel of the LORD, with his sword drawn
10) How does Balaam respond?
A: He falls facedown to the ground
11) What does the angel of the LORD say as the reason he opposed Balaam?
A: “Because your way is perverse before Me.”
12) Who did we see earlier was angry with Balaam’s action of going to Balak?
A: God in verse 22
13) In sending Balaam back to Balaam what does the angel of the LORD say he may speak?
A: “Only the word that I speak to you.”
14) Who had earlier said the same thing to Balaam, concerning only speaking the word that he says to him?
A: God, in verse 20
15) So, if God says Balaam can only speak the word he gives him and yet it is the angel of the LORD that says that Balaam can only speak the word that he gives him what can we infer about the angel of the LORD?
A: That the angel of the LORD is God.
16) How can we further confirm this truth comparing verses 35 and 38?
A: Balaam tells Balak that he can only speak the word which God puts in his mouth, yet it is the angel of the LORD that gives him the words that he may speak.

Conclusion and application:
In this passage we clearly see that the angel of the LORD is identified with God in that what God does (commands to go, but to only speak the word he gives him), the angel of the LORD does. Thus, the angel of the LORD is a manifestation of the LORD and is equated with the LORD in the passages we have previously seen (Genesis 16, 18, and Exodus 3). In the context of the risen Lord Jesus Christ addressing the church at Pergamum in the book of Revelation, Christ mentions the doctrine of Balaam (2:14) and states that he would fight them with the sword of his mouth (2:16), which has an interesting correlation to the episode in this chapter. Since the angel of the LORD takes on a visible manifestation, in that he stands in the way, holds a sword, and is seen. Colossians 1:15 tells us that Christ is the image of the invisible God. Numbers 23:19, therefore cannot be used an objection to argue against God being manifested in the flesh, since the verse does not say “God cannot become a man,” but simply “God is not a man,” in the sense that we looked at earlier, that God is not a man in that he is immutable. Just as the body and soul are a holistic unity, despite being different substances, so too, God can be both God and Man in a holistic unity, with God maintaining his full Deity, while being united to Man, with his full humanity.

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