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3) Theophanies, where Christ appears in the form of the "Angel (or Messenger) of the Lord." a) The Old Testament presents striking examples of a Being who, although He appears in

the form of a man, acts and speaks like God and is referred to as God. Mysteriously, He

is both identified as God and distinguished from God. We find this in passages such as

Genesis 16:7-13; 18-19; 22:11-18; Exodus 3:2-6; 23:20-23; Judges 6:11-14, 20-22; 13:21-

23). Note also how Zechariah 12:8 equates God and the Angel of the Lord. TheseTheophanies were prepartory for the incarnation in that they anticipated the coming of

a Heavenly Visitor who would one day be both truly God and man.

4) The "Son" passages:a) The Old Testament describes a Being who is uniquely a human-divine Son. In the light of

the New Testament we see that Jesus in His Being is the fulfillment of the Son of Man,

the Son of God, and the Son-King (of which Solomon was a foreshadowing).

i) Proverbs 30:4ii) Isaiah 9:6 He is a son and child, but also the "mighty God."iii) Psalm 2:7-12 (although the translation of "son" in verse 12 can be disputed) This

Psalm describes a Son-King who receives the nations as His inheritance.iv) Daniel 7:13-14 This passage forms the background behind Christ's use of the

Messianic title "Son of Man." Note that the contexts of Psalm 2 and Daniel 7 have

identical strands of thought: the inheriting of all the kingdoms of the earth. The

word "Son of Man" does not here mean "a mortal man"--one from among the "sons

of men." The point here is not that the Person is perfectly human. The significance of

the title "Son of Man' in this passage is fourfold:

(1)His exalted personality as the One who comes from heaven and opposes thebeastly human powers, which come from earth (Daniel 7:3)

(2)His advent in conjunction with the reappearance of the theophanic glory cloud(7:13),

(3)His free access to the 'One who is an ancient of days' (God the Father, 7:13), and(4)His universal and everlasting reign (7:14). (J. B. Payne, Theology of the Older

Testament, p. 265.)

5) The use of pronouns suggesting more than one Person within God.a) The LORD talking, uses both "Me" and "Him" referring to the same Being (Christ) in

Zechariah 12:10, And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of

Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they

pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him

as one grieves for a firstborn

b) The Angel of the Lord speaking, uses both "from Me" and "fearer of God" in referring tothe same entity (Genesis 22:12, And He said, Do not lay your hand on the lad, or doanything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your

son, your only son, from Me).

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6) Passages that identify two Beings as God or LORD (YHWH).a) Genesis 18 & 19 (YHWH in heaven versus YHWH on earth)

i) Genesis 18: 1, Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, ashe was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.; 18:13, And the LORD said to

Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?

ii) Genesis 19:23-25, The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. 24 Thenthe LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of

the heavens. 25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the

cities, and what grew on the ground.

b) Psalm 45:6-7 (God referring to Another as "God") ; Your throne, O God, is forever andever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love righteousness

and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of

gladness more than Your companions.

c) Zechariah 3:1-2 (YHWH calling upon YHWH: "Then he showed me Joshua the high prieststanding before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose

him. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who haschosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Isthis not a brand plucked from the fire?"

7) The Holy Spirit is linked with God and given attributes of personality.a) Isaiah 63:8-10, For He said, Surely they are My people, Children whowill not lie. So

He became their Savior. 9 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. 10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy

Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, AndHe fought against them.

b) All three Persons of the Trinity can be seen in Isaiah 63:8-10, but most importantly wesee here the personality of the Holy Spirit. He is "vexed, grieved" by disobedience. This

verb in Hebrew is always used in conjunction with persons (or God and gods); never of

inanimate things.

Comment: I used this Internet Resource:The Trinity in the Old Testament

http://www.biblicalresources.info/pages/ot1/trinityot.htmlhttp://www.biblicalresources.info/pages/ot1/trinityot.htmlhttp://www.biblicalresources.info/pages/ot1/trinityot.htmlhttp://www.biblicalresources.info/pages/ot1/trinityot.html