3 Appearances of Christ in The Old Testament

3 Appearances of Christ in the
Old Testament
 Clarence L. Haynes Jr.Contributing Writer
 20216 Dec
When many people think about Christ, they think of him as we see him
in the New Testament. Because we see his birth presented in the New
Testament some may think that Jesus’ existence began at his birth
however this is not the case. Though we see the story of Jesus’
physical birth in the New Testament, a further study of Scripture will
show that he existed before that. This is known as his pre-incarnate
existence. A simpler way of understanding this term is to say he
existed before his physical birth. To understand this, you must turn to
the pages of the Old Testament, and you will discover instances where
we see these pre-incarnate appearances of Jesus. Whenever any of
these occurrences happened, they are known as a Christophany, which
is an appearance in the Old Testament of the pre-incarnate Christ.
What Does Christophany Mean?

The word Christophany is a combination of two Greek words Christos
which means Christ and phainein which means to appear. When you
put them together you get Christophany or Christ appears. Closely
related to Christophany is the word theophany which means God
appears. In various places in the Old Testament, there are instances
where God appears to men in human form. These appearances of God
are indicators, pointing to the coming incarnate Christ or God in the
flesh.
3 Examples of Christophanies in the Old

Testament
One of the most common references that could point to a Christophany
in the Old Testament is when we see the term the angel of the LORD.
LORD in all caps in the Bible is a placeholder for Yahweh or YHWH.
Here are two examples.
1. The Angel of the LORD and Hagar
"The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was
the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, 'Hagar, slave of
Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?' 'I’m
running away from my mistress Sarai,' she answered. Then the angel
of the LORD told her, 'Go back to your mistress and submit to her.' The
angel added, 'I will increase your descendants so much that they will
be too numerous to count.'” – Genesis 16:7-10
To understand how this points to the Lord you must pay attention to
what the angel of the LORD says. He not only comforts Hagar but he
promises that he will increase her descendants which is something no
angel can do of their own accord, which means this is not just an angel
speaking but God himself. What brings it all together and causes us to
know it is a theophany or Christophany is Hagar’s response to the
angel of the LORD.
She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God
who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
– Genesis 16:13
Clearly from her statement, Hagar had an encounter with God in a

physical form and since Christ is God in physical form this can be
referred to as a Christophany.
2. The Angel of the LORD and Gideon
"The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah
that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was
threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When
the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, 'The LORD is with
you, mighty warrior.' 'Pardon me, my lord,' Gideon replied, 'but if the
LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his
wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the
LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us
and given us into the hand of Midian.' The LORD turned to him and
said, 'Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand.
Am I not sending you?'” – Judges 6:11-14
Again, we see a clear interaction between Gideon and the angel of the
LORD. As you read the passage what points to this being a
Christophany is when you compare verse 12 and verse 14. Verse 12
says the angel of the LORD is speaking and verse 14 says the LORD is
speaking and they are referring to the same person. We know from the
verses the angel of the LORD sat down, appeared to Gideon, and spoke
to him, engaging in conversation. Here again, we see God in physical
form. Here is an important thing to note as you are doing your own
Bible study. There is a difference between the angel of the LORD and
simply an angel of the LORD. As you look at the passage in context you
will be able to establish whether it is simply a messenger of God, which
is what an angel is, or it is God himself. Typically, the angel of the
LORD is a reference to God himself.
Here is how the Lexham Bible Dictionary talks about the angel of the
LORD:
"A study of these passages reveals that the Angel of the Lord appeared
in human form (cf. Gn 18:2, 22; Heb 13:2) and performed normal
human functions (Gn 32:24; Nm 22:23, 31), yet he was an awe-
inspiring figure (Gn 32:30; Jgs 6:22; 13:22) exhibiting divine attributes
and prerogatives including predicting the future (Gn 16:10–12),
forgiving sin (Ex 23:21), and receiving worship (Ex 3:5; Jg 13:9–20).
The title Angel of the Lord is particularly striking because it is used in
many of these passages interchangeably with the terms Yahweh
(Jehovah) and God in such a way as to leave little doubt that the angel
is a manifestation of God himself. 1
3. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Fire
This last example many consider to be possibly the clearest example of

a Christophany in the Old Testament. We find this in the story of the
three Hebrew young men (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), friends
of Daniel, and the fiery furnace.
"Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and

asked his advisers, 'Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw
into the fire?' They replied, 'Certainly, Your Majesty.' He said, 'Look! I
see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and
the fourth looks like a son of the gods.'” – Daniel 3:24-25
"Then Nebuchadnezzar said, 'Praise be to the God of Shadrach,

Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his
servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were
willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god
except their own God.'" – Daniel 3:28
This fourth man in the fire is thought of by many to be Christ.

Tying it All Together
It is wonderful to know that we can see Christ throughout the entire
Bible. The Christophanies that we see in the Old Testament are
powerful reminders that point to Christ’s eternal nature. This also
brings clarity and makes sense of many of the things written in the
gospels and throughout the New Testament. For example,
consider John 8:56-58,
"'Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he

saw it and was glad.' 'You are not yet fifty years old,' they said to him,
'and you have seen Abraham!' 'Very truly I tell you,' Jesus answered,
'before Abraham was born, I am!'”
Without Christ having an eternal nature and a pre-incarnate existence

then this Scripture does not make any sense. As you continue to read
and study, I would encourage you to not just look for Christ in the New
Testament, but look for him in the Old Testament. The full revelation of
Jesus happens in the New Testament, but we see the foreshadowing of
his appearing all throughout the Old Testament. When you understand
what a Christophany is then you will see Christ as the one who was,
who is, and who is to come.
Note:
1. Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Theophany. In Baker
encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 2, p. 2051). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Book House.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/NiseriN

Clarence L. Haynes Jr. is a speaker, Bible teacher, and
co-founder of The Bible Study Club. He is the author of The Pursuit of
Purpose which will help you understand how God leads you into his
will. He has also just released his new book The Pursuit of Victory: How
To Conquer Your Greatest Challenges and Win In Your Christian
Life. Do you want to go deeper in your walk with the Lord but can’t
seem to overcome the stuff that keeps getting in the way? This book
will teach you how to put the pieces together so you can live a
victorious Christian life and finally become the man or woman of God
that you truly desire to be. To learn more about his ministry please
visit clarencehaynes.com.

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3 Appearances of Christ in the

What Does Christophany Mean?

3 Examples of Christophanies in the Old

1. The Angel of the LORD and Hagar

Clearly from her statement, Hagar had an encounter with God in a

2. The Angel of the LORD and Gideon

3. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Fire

This last example many consider to be possibly the clearest example of

"Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and

"Then Nebuchadnezzar said, 'Praise be to the God of Shadrach,

This fourth man in the fire is thought of by many to be Christ.

"'Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he

Without Christ having an eternal nature and a pre-incarnate existence

Photo credit: ©GettyImages/NiseriN

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