2 Tim 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
Calendar
THE THEOPHANIES
LORD’S DAY, OCTOBER 4
Exodus 3:1-6
Philippians 2:6-11
“…but Jesus never!”
THE THEOPHANIES
In this devotional series, we are endeavouring to bring to mind once again truths from the Scripture concerning our Lord so that we can have a closer walk with Him.
We have been considering the important truth that Christ existed from the beginning because He is the eternal God. The truth is intimated in the Old Testament theophanies. The theological term “theophany” means a manifestation of God. A Christophany then would be a manifestation of Christ. There are many reasons to believe that the appearances of the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament were actually Christophanies. One of the reasons for believing this is that the Angel of the Lord was God. Hagar recognised this truth (Gen 16:10-13). When Abraham offered Isaac, he recognised that the Angel of the Lord who appeared to him was indeed God (Gen 22:11-12). This is evident also in the miracle of the burning bush when the Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses (Exod 3:2-4).
This truth that the Angel of the Lord was God, coupled with the two following facts must lead us to conclude that the Angel of the Lord was actually an appearance of Christ. The Angel of the Lord was a visible manifestation of God. The Lord Jesus is not only the visible manifestation of God in the New Testament, but also proclaimed that no man had seen God other than through His manifestation of Him (John 1:18). Since Christ has come in the flesh to manifest God to the world, we see no further appearance of the Angel of the Lord.
Christ’s appearances as the Angel of the Lord give further proof of His existence as God from the beginning. Just as the Angel of the Lord appeared to God’s people of old in their time of need, even so today the Saviour meets our every need as we walk in obedience to Him. May we be encouraged by this truth.
THOUGHT: What do these facts about the Angel of the Lord teach?
PRAYER: Father, I thank Thee for meeting the needs of Thy children.