The Incomparable Influence of One Man

No other person on the face of the earth has impacted humanity like Jesus of Nazareth. He altered the keeping of time itself and changed the course of history.

Who else healed deadly diseases instantly with a touch or a command; made the lame to leap, the dumb to speak, the deaf to hear, the blind to see, and the dead to rise. And in whose name, his disciples did the same.

Miracles that proved Jesus is who he said he is: God’s Incarnate Son.

His phenomenal Virgin birth into this world and stunning resurrection from a sacrificial death are still celebrated every year by billions, even those who have never received him as their Savior and Lord.

The Christian faith is global … crossing national, social, and racial lines. No other creed on earth claims followers from virtually every nation; religions are restricted mostly to ethnic groups or within the confines of certain countries. But then the Christian faith is not a religion or cult. It is a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Messiah Jesus.

No other belief system offers a Savior as the exclusive source of salvation, nor do their followers want one. Because that would mean the principles and procedures demanded by their dogmas or religious leaders or philosophical pundits need not be kept and membership in their organization would be unnecessary. If a Redeemer was necessary to do for them what they could not do for themselves, it would mean that the adherents were incapable of earning their god’s favor or meriting eternal life or experiencing a high enough level of self-enlightenment. Which, in turn, would insinuate that their belief system was flawed.

In one of several spectacular visions that John recorded in the book of Revelation, we read this about Jesus Christ and his remarkable redemption for mankind that is truly universal in scope.

“…You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth. Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels… And they sang in a mighty chorus:

‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing’” (Revelation 5:9-12).

This powerful passage is looking back with deep indebtedness to Messiah’s First Advent (appearance); and looking forward triumphantly to his Second Advent (return appearance). Both Advents are the heart and soul of the Christian faith—a New (and better) Covenant birthed from a Judaic Old Testament heritage which also experienced appearances of the Messiah.

(Jesus came first as the sacrificial Lamb of God for redemption. He will return as the Lion from the Tribe of Judah to rule and reign on the earth)

God’s Interaction with People Through the Ages

In last week’s article, we looked at some extraordinary events in which God the Father not only spoke to, but appeared to men, specifically Abraham and Moses. However, when the Lord manifested himself he always concealed his glory (essence of pure light and holiness) mainly through fire or dense clouds. Purpose of which was to protect the on-looker.

We also examined an event in which the Lord appeared up-close and personal to Jacob and even wrestled with him. With convincing evidence that this man was the Lord but could not have been God the Father for the two reasons given: (1) God is Spirit only; (2) unless the Lord veils his glorious presence, no one can look on him and survive.

It was one of several Old Testament events in which the Lord appeared as a man, with the default conclusion that this man could only have been the 2^nd Person of the Trinity, God’s Son, Messiah Jesus. There is no one thing that Judaism takes issue with more than the Christian belief that God has a Son, and his Son was (Virgin) born as a human being. Non-Messianic Jews, both observant and secular, do not believe in the Triune God, despite the Hebrew Scriptures plainly stating that God has a Son.

Messiah Jesus’s pre-birth Epiphanes were prototype previews to prepare the Jews (and Gentiles) for his once-for-all arrival as God the Son in human form. Immanuel … God with us! To overlook or dismiss these marvelous manifestations is to miss the Old Testament revelations of the Pre-Incarnate Messiah—who was, who is, and who is to come again. Whom God’s angels jubilantly heralded at the appointed time in history:

The Jewish author begins the book of Hebrews with:

“Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.” (Hebrews 1:1-4).

Just a brief commentary on that magnificent passage before we examine some of the Pre-Incarnate appearances of Messiah Jesus.

• The many ways in which God spoke to Old Testament men and women included visions, dreams, audible voice, tangible manifestations of his glory (shrouded to protect those to whom he appeared), through his messengers the angels. AND in human form of God the Son.
• Through the prophets refers not only to God speaking directly to the prophets, but also the prophets’ inspired written record of God’s words to our ancestors. Meaning the ancestors of 1^st century Jews, some of whom were not prophets.
• All of which prepared the way for God’s “final days” revelation of himself directly through His Son. The final days apply to the last age or epoch of God’s interaction with humanity via the New Covenant that the Lord promised through Jeremiah. It is the Age of Grace, in which we are still living; one that will lead directly to the soon-to-come Day of the Lord and Kingdom of God on earth.
• What makes this revelation of God through Jesus Christ different than the Pre-Incarnate appearances of Messiah? Answer: It is permanent, in that the Son of God was born as Jesus of Nazareth, who is still alive; having risen from the dead! He is the eternal God/Man radiating God’s own glory and expressing the very character of God.

That is why God the Father’s last appearance was to the prophet Ezekiel, a younger contemporary of Jeremiah, through whom God had announced the New Covenant. Later, we’ll look at Ezekiel’s exceptional encounter with the Lord.

After Malachi there were no more prophets, until God spoke to John the Baptist over 400 years later. Said John the Baptist about the Incarnate Christ:

“I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. I didn’t know he was the one (meaning to begin with), but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God’” (John 1:32-34, italics for emphasis, parenthesis mine).

Do you remember what God proclaimed at Jesus’s baptism in an audible voice for all to hear?

Correct: “…You are my beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased” (Luke 3:22, NASB).

Though Jesus is God the Son, he lived and spoke as the Son of Man; to validate his appearance to and existence in the world was that of flesh and blood. That he came to do the will of his Father, not the least of which was his excruciating death on the Cross for your sins and mine.

John the Baptist also said this about Jesus:

Just a brief pause to more fully express my love for Messiah Jesus and never-ending appreciation for what he did on the Cross. If you are a child of God, I think the following excerpt from my second book, Out of the Abyss will also be meaningful to you. Referring to Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the wilderness and what is called the Passion of the Christ (in italics):

Yet, it was the temptation scene that dealt the first Messianic blow to Satan’s plans, because that was the devil’s first opportunity to create an antichrist right then and there; to, in one fell swoop, twist and turn the true Messiah into Satan’s messiah.

Eternal praise to our God and his Messiah that this did not happen! All glory to Yeshua who did not send a legion of angels to annihilate those who had arrested him in the garden! Everlasting gratitude to our Lord for not saying I’ve had enough and stepping down from the cross! All power and dominion to the Son of Man for arising from the grave and conquering death once and for all! Go ahead, say it aloud with me. Amen! (page 219).

Examples of Messiah’s Pre-Incarnate Appearances

Time/space only permits examination of a few. Two others were covered in last week’s article: (1) Jacob realized that the man he wrestled with was the Lord. The primary purpose: to confirm God’s perpetual covenant made with Jacob’s father Isaac and grandfather Abraham by blessing Jacob.

(2) The appearance of the Lord as a man to Abraham and Sarah along with two angels in the form of men. Purpose of which was to reaffirm God’s guaranty that Sarah would conceive and bear the promised child Isaac … fathered by Abraham, as opposed to Ishmael through Hagar.

Nothing short of astonishing is that the ultimate Promised Child (Messiah Jesus) through Isaac was the very one who appeared to Abraham that day!

These events also were detailed in a previous Eye of Prophecy article, Does God Really Have a Son? Part II (Posted 11-7-15). A third Pre-Incarnate manifestation of God the Son in that article will be the first of the examples presented in this week’s post. I’m using that episode again because it was the first appearance of God (the Son) as man to more than just one or two people at a time. Though the description in Exodus Chapter 24 is brief, it is nonetheless electrifying. Here is an excerpt from the above-mentioned article (in italics):

Moses & The Seventy Elders

Did you know that the Ten Commandments (along with other features of the Mosaic Law) had been given directly by God to Israel even before Moses ascended Mt. Sinai and received the stone tablets upon which the “finger of God” wrote the Ten Commandments? You can read about that in Exodus Chapter 20. In fact, when God delivered the Commandments to the people, his thunderous voice so frightened them that they pleaded with Moses: “…You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!” (Exodus 20:19).

Prior to that God had given explicit instructions to Moses that the people were not to ascend Mt Sinai or even touch the mountain—upon the pain of death. But then the Lord made a temporary exception that Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders could accompany Moses in a climb up the mountain; for the express purpose of meeting with God to worship him and to celebrate the Covenant that all the people had agreed to, “…do everything the Lord has commanded” (Exodus 24:3). Listen to the short, but stunning description of what transpired:

“Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain again. There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!” (Exodus 24:9-11).

Later, God again veiled his presence in a dense cloud of fire and smoke on the mountain. God called (and spoke) to Moses from within that cloud.

Although Moses doesn’t provide a detailed description of “The God of Israel” in this scene, it is fully obvious that who/what they saw was a man… Why can I say that? Because the passage says, “under his feet…” with the clear connotation that they were the feet of a man….

Yet we also know that Moses, himself, was not allowed to look on (the face of) God directly. That fact is inescapably evident from the equally well-known story of what happened when Moses subsequently pleaded with God to, “…show me your glorious presence” (Exodus 33:18).

Why would God make an exception and allow Moses and a group of more than seventy Israelites to stare directly at him and survive? …Or a better question: Was it an exception at all?

There is only one explanation.

Which is the same answer for all the Old Testament appearances of God in human form: It is not God (Spirit) the Father, but rather God the Son who physically appeared to Abraham, to Jacob, to Moses and the elders. And later to Joshua, Gideon, Daniel, Zechariah, and others. Then to arrive for the final time in human form as Jesus of Nazareth…. With the providential purpose to demonstrate that God would appear in human flesh once and for all.

Purpose/Timing of Messiah’s Appearance on Mount Sinai: To ratify and celebrate the Covenant of the Law that included the Jewish festivals and Levitical sacrificial system. Which would be a foreshadow pattern of a far better Covenant, mediated by the heavenly High Priest who came to earth and provided the final (perfect) sacrifice of all time as God’s Son Incarnate. Messiah Jesus was the one man who would perfectly keep and faithfully fulfill the Law of Moses. How appropriate for God’s Son to meet with Moses and the elders on this momentous occasion!

Gideon and Samson

Those who have read the book of Judges know that between Israel’s previous national leader Joshua and Israel’s first king Saul, God chose eleven men and one woman (Deborah) over a period of about 300 years to rescue Israel from her enemies; whom God had allowed to conquer portions of the Promised Land because of Israel’s disobedience. For two of these judges (Othniel & Jephthah) we read that, “The Spirit of the Lord came upon him,” and “At that time the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah” (Judges 3:10 & 11:29, respectively).

Yet regarding Gideon directly and Samson indirectly, something even more dramatic occurred. Most Jews and born-again believers, but also secular Jews and millions upon millions of Gentile unbelievers know at least something about Gideon and/or Samson.

Concerning Gideon, what was that saga? Correct: Gideon twice testing the Lord’s promise through the wool fleece. Also, the Lord whittling Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 10,000 men; then down to 300 elite warriors.

And Samson? An even easier answer: His supernatural strength to (for a time) bring an entire nation to its knees. Philistia—the Philistines, Israel’s archenemy. Until that is: he let Delilah cut his hair. Even then, the Lord returned Samson’s strength to him one last time. With each of his hands pushing against a pillar, Samson brought down a pagan temple, killing more Philistines as he died than when he lived.

Yet, I would venture to say that most people, including observant Jews (even Rabbis) and Christian students of Scripture pay little attention to who it was that appeared and what took place when these two Jewish heroes were chosen to deliver Israel.

Gideon

Beginning with: “The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years” (Judges 6:1).

As the Israelites did before and would happen after Gideon’s tenure as Israel’s 5^th judge: “When they cried out to the Lord because of Midian, the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites…” (Verses 7-8).

Followed by the Lord reminding his people that even though He had delivered them from Egyptian slavery, they still followed pagan gods and would not listen to him (Verses 8-10).

Abruptly, God ends his verbal chastisement of the people with a promise to mercifully rescue Israel yet again, this time through Gideon; with a dynamically different beginning to this deliverance. You may want to read the entire account, as only a portion will be provided for sake of time/space:

“Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah … Gideon was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress…. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!’” (Judges 6:11-12, emphasis added to show that “the” angel of the Lord appeared as opposed to an angel).

Following Gideon’s response, we read, “Then the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!’” (Verse 14). The Lord also said, “…I will be with you…” (Verse 16). *Note: The Lord would use (enhance) whatever courage and initiative Gideon possessed to accomplish a stunning victory over the Midianites.

In this astonishing appearance of the Lord to Gideon, it’s crystal clear that he is not God the Father. Instead, it was a man (the angel of the Lord … also referred to as the Lord) who “sat beneath the great tree…” and spoke with Gideon face to face. None other than the Pre-Incarnate Son of God.

During this opening scene (even before Gideon twice asked God for more signs … the fleece), Gideon also asked for a sign. Here’s what happened after Gideon asked the Lord to wait while he prepared an offering:

“Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff in his hand, and the fire flamed up from the rock and consumed all he had brought. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he cried out, ‘Oh, Sovereign Lord, I’m doomed! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!’” (Judges 6:21-22).

Do you see what’s going on here? Like those before him, Gideon knew that no one could meet with God “face to face” and live. Whom they described as the angel of the Lord, or a man, or the Lord, or even as God; because they didn’t yet grasp that God also was appearing to them as the 2^nd Person of the Trinity—Messiah Incarnate. Nor did God expect them to know at that time. The Father was preparing them and their descendants for the permanent arrival of his Son in the flesh.

However, by the time the entire Old Testament had been written, the people could and should have made the general composite connection of these appearances to the coming Messiah. Then, specifically after Jesus was born of a Virgin (conceived by the Holy Spirit) and indisputably provided first-hand evidence of his divinity (profound teaching, powerful miracles) neither Jews nor Gentiles to this very day have a valid reason for their unbelief. There are only inexcusable excuses. Especially after Messiah Jesus arose from the dead.

Samson

God’s choice of Samson to be Israel’s 12^th Judge also began with the angel of the Lord appearing. But not directly to Samson; instead to his mother (before Samson was born) and then to his mother and father together. The following verses are enough to show that it was a phenomenal appearance of God’s Son, the Incarnate Messiah.

“The woman ran and told her husband. ‘A man of God appeared to me! He looked like one of God’s angels, terrifying to see… he didn’t tell me his name” (Judges 13:6, italics for emphasis to verify that the person she saw was a man, whose majestic form she could only describe as an angel of God, of which there’s no record that she had ever seen an angel before).

Later, when her husband, Manoah, also met the Man of God and asked him to reveal his name, the Man replied: “Why do you ask my name? … It is too wonderful for you to understand” (Judges 13:18).

(Who else had asked the man who appeared to him for his name, with the Pre-Incarnate Son of God effectively inferring it wasn’t yet time to know his name? Answer: Jacob).

Continuing with the passage: “The angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the Lord, and said to his wife, ‘We will certainly die, for we have seen God!’” (Verse 21-22, emphasis added).

His wife wisely replied that if the Lord had intended to kill them he wouldn’t have accepted their offering. As with Gideon the Lord consumed their offering with fire, but also disappeared just like he did in front of Gideon.

Purpose/Timing of Messiah’s Appearance to Gideon and Samson’s Parents

Returning to Messiah’s Pre-Incarnate appearance to Gideon:

“It is all right, the Lord replied. Do not be afraid. You will not die. And Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and named it Yahweh-Shalom (which means ‘The Lord is peace’)” (Judges 6:23-24, parenthesis in the text).

Almost always when the Bible speaks of peace in Israel (and the whole world) it is in the immediate context of the Messiah. For it is only the Son of God, Messiah Jesus who will finally rescue and save Israel (and the whole world from extinction during the Tribulation). Who will establish God’s Kingdom on earth—a kingdom of justice, righteousness, and shalom … peace.

The immediate purpose for the Messiah’s Pre-Incarnate appearances to Gideon and Samson’s parents was to demonstrate that he would (through these two judges) deliver his people and restore peace again to Israel. He can do such things against all odds, i.e. Gideon’s 300 men against a vast army, or with just one man’s supernatural strength against an entire nation—Samson.

The period of the Judges was a representative forerunner of the subsequent era in Israel’s history with no kings and/or prophets—all the way from Malachi to the present time. Interrupted by the appearance of the Incarnate Messiah himself (Jesus) who would have rescued Israel from Rome had his people not rejected him. They were managed by governors and religious leaders … as it was in the period of the Judges. Even during Israel’s two exiles (Babylonian for 70 years and Diaspora for 1,900 years) Jews sometimes served in high-profile positions as advisors, assistants, administrators, and ambassadors … as did Daniel and Nehemiah.

So, too, modern-day Israel is led by (elected) officials but with one major difference—as a sovereign state reborn from the floods of dispersion and the fires of Nazi death camps. A nation and people now defended by a mighty military … the Israeli Defense Force. Still, the principle is like the time of the Judges. Israel’s sovereign protection is ultimately through God the Father … not by military might alone. And her redemptive rescue (past and future) through the angel of the Lord—God’s Son, the Incarnate Messiah Jesus. With Israel’s final restoration, both physical and spiritual, achieved by that same Messiah upon his return … Israel’s final king, the King of all kings!

Ezekiel’s Remarkable Meetings with God the Father and God the Son

One of the most astounding appearances of God the Father was his last, when Ezekiel gazed upon God’s glory more than once. What made these events even more amazing is that both the Father and the Son (Pre-Incarnate Messiah) were there! It is another familiar passage of Scripture, to include the four angelic Cherubim—the same living beings seen by John as described in the book of Revelation.

In his initial appearance to Ezekiel, God called him to be a prophet. Ezekiel (at the age of 30) even gives us the place and date on which his prophetic ministry began … calculated to be July 31, 593 B.C.

Wrote Ezekiel: “…while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God” (Ezekiel 1:1).

The second appearance took place on September 17, 592 B.C, about six years before the Babylonian Empire destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple. During this gap of a little over a year between visions, the Lord instructed Ezekiel—who had been taken captive in Nebuchadnezzar’s second invasion of Israel—to warn Judah of its final destruction, which occurred in 586 B.C.

The following passages demonstrate that both God the Father and Son were present in these two majestic manifestations to Ezekiel, the second of which was a detailed account of God’s Shekinah glory (presence) leaving Solomon’s Temple.

God the Father: Confirming it was the Father because his glory was (similar to Moses) enshrouded by, “…a huge cloud that flashed with lightning and shone will brilliant light. There was fire inside the cloud, and in the middle of the fire glowed something like gleaming amber” (Ezekiel 1:4).

Then in the second incident we read: “Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel was there, just as I had seen it before in the valley” (Ezekiel 8:4).

Before God’s presence departed from the Temple, we read, “Then the glory of the Lord rose up from above the cherubim and went over to the door of the Temple. The Temple was filled with this cloud of glory, and the courtyard glowed brightly with the glory of the Lord” (Ezekiel 10:4).

God the Son: In these startling scenes there is someone else that Ezekiel beholds. Our first clue is Ezekiel 1:4, already quoted, where he sees in the magnificent cloud of fire and light, “something like gleaming amber.”

Then, he beholds the source of this gleaming amber.

“Spread out above them (the cherubim) was a surface like the sky, glittering like crystal” (Ezekiel 1:22, parenthesis mine).

“Above this surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue lapis lazuli (remind you of Moses and the seventy elders seeing that same kind of beauty). And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground…” (Ezekiel 1:26-28, parenthesis mine).

In the subsequent episode, Ezekiel again saw the cherubim, the glory of the Lord, and this (same) man whom Ezekiel also described as a burning flame from the waist down and gleaming amber from the waist up (Ezekiel 8:2).

Later, the man appears once again with the Lord (the Father). Ezekiel writes: “Then the glory of the God of Israel rose up from between the cherubim, where it had rested, and moved to the entrance of the Temple. And the Lord called to the man dressed in linen who was carrying the writer’s case” (Ezekiel 9:3).

God the Father spoke to Ezekiel on subsequent occasions, as well as other contemporary and post-exile prophets but he did not appear to them. However, the Pre-Incarnate Christ continued his appearances up to the time of Malachi, again to Ezekiel on April 28^th, 573 B.C. The setting was Ezekiel’s vision of what would be (in the end times Tribulation) another Temple. In this vision from God, Ezekiel again saw, “…a man whose face shone like bronze standing beside a gateway entrance. He was holding in his hand a linen measuring cord and a measuring rod” (Ezekiel 40:3).

Purpose/Timing of Messiah’s Appearances to Ezekiel

To prepare Israel for the Old Covenant yielding to the New Covenant prophesied by Jeremiah a few years earlier. Exemplified by the fact that the Lord’s glory (presence) had left the Temple and wouldn’t reappear until (in the form of) the Messiah would arrive as prophesied by Isaiah and other prophets. But only for a short time, because the 2^nd Temple would also be destroyed (foretold by Daniel, also by Messiah Jesus) and the Temple would then be embodied as Messiah himself.

Jesus is the heavenly Temple, of which the earthly tabernacle and temple were but patterns. With the 3^rd person of the Triune God, the Holy Spirit, indwelling all believers in Messiah. Concerning Jewish and Gentile believers alike: “Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord” (Ephesians 2:20-21).

Individually, believers are:

That’s why both God the Father and God the Son appeared to Ezekiel! For Israel to carefully consider and prayerfully ponder how much better the New Covenant would be. Even more important: to recognize the Messiah of that New Covenant when he arrived as God (the Son) Incarnate.

Still, the Lord gave his people another 600 years or so to prove to themselves and to him that they could keep the Law of Moses as what they perceived to be their source of right standing with God. Which they couldn’t or wouldn’t … nor their ancestors or descendants, right up to this day.

One day soon all that will change. The tens of thousands of Messianic Jews on this planet will become millions upon millions. For you see it won’t be long until, “…all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say, ‘The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness. And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins’” (Romans 11:26-27).

That began when the Incarnate Son of God died on the cross and three days later arose from the dead. And now our generation has experienced the rebirth of national Israel, with the return of Messiah as imminent as ever before. To rescue the remnant of Jews from the Antichrist and Gentile nations during the Great Tribulation and restore Israel spiritually to her God.

All who have believed and received Messiah Jesus as personal Savior will see him as he really is: fully glorified as he was in Old Testament times and on the Mount of Transfiguration.

We will see him as John saw him: “…He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves… And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance” (Revelation 1:13-16).

John continues: “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he … said, ‘Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last'” (Revelation 1:17).

And then Jesus said:

Things to Ponder

Of Jesus, the Apostle John wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1, NASB).

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14, NASB).

There are other Pre-Incarnate appearances of Messiah Jesus. Like the episodes we’ve examined, each was for a special reason. With the ultimate purpose: To demonstrate that neither Judaism nor the Jews should be surprised, dismayed, or even insulted that Jesus of Nazareth claimed to be the Son of God. For at least three reasons:

First: the Hebrew Scriptures irrefutably declare that God has a Son. Second: This Son is the Messiah, because the Bible is equally transparent that Messiah would be divine (Isaiah 9 and other passages). Third: Jesus fulfilled all Messianic prophecies in meticulous detail.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). And then he said, “…Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!” (John 14:9).

The Jewish Apostle Paul, who saw the risen Christ after Jesus had ascended to heaven, boldly and beautifully proclaims: “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God…” (Colossians 1:15).

And, “For God in all his fulness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross” (Verse 19-20).

Do you really want to know the Lord and his great love for you? Do you understand God’s only requirement for your redemption?

“Jesus told them, ‘This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:29).

Do you believe Jesus? Do you believe in Jesus?

Then open the door of your heart and invite him to be your Savior and Lord. If you do, God will immediately give you eternal life, because:

“…this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life (I John 5:11-12).