This message starts with the image of our Abba Father presented when the people of Israel came up to Mt. Sinai to meet with him. Exodus 19:9 NKJV, “And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you and believe you forever.” Exodus 19:18 NKJV, “Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.” Exodus 19:21 NKJV, “And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the LORD, and many of them perish.” Exodus 33:20 NKJV, “But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!“
That is our Abba Father, beyond containment, beyond description, beyond comprehension. We start there and somehow get to us here on earth, and we need to bridge that huge gap.
Look at John 1:18 NKJV, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” John 6:46 NKJV, “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father.” John 5:37 NKJV, “And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.”
The New Testament no longer needs to hide the identity of the Messiah, so the whole truth is expressed. John 1:18 NKJV, “No one has seen God at any time.” Got it? 1 John 4:12 NKJV, “No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.” 1 John 4:20 NKJV, “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.“
Our Abba Father not being seen is a foundation of our faith. What the people in the Old Testament believe they actually are seeing is not. That is ELB and must be corrected. We must bridge that gap between him and us in the Old Testament to grow our faith. I draw a few conclusions from this dive into the Scripture:
We are explaining the supernatural world we also live in and must embrace. The Old Testament must be somewhat confusing and obtuse about the Messiah to never reveal his true identity.
Any encounter where we see Yahweh on earth in human form is the pre-incarnate Jesus referenced as the Angel of the LORD and the word of the LORD. Ephesians 4 NKJV, “one God and Father in all and through all,” brings a great deal of understanding to the Old Testament that the 3-in-1 doctrine can never explain with its ELB simplicity. I have said many times, including in seminary, with unanswered questions about the Scripture, that I am content to wait until I meet Jesus and ask him. But the search always build our faith.
Our Abba Father Talking
We can see that our Abba Father talks to humans in the Old Testament, and a closer look at how that happens will give a deeper understanding of our Abba Father and the Holy Three. We spent significant time in S4M5 presenting the divine assembly and the divine spirit world of our Abba Father to bring to life his world and how it works overall. We will continue in that direction with his interactions with his people in the Old Testament.
In Genesis 2, we see our Abba Father talking to Adam and Eve. He is with them in Eden (they hear his footsteps) and talks to them. Since our Abba Father gave no warning not to look and they heard footsteps, I see the pre-incarnate Jesus there.
In Genesis 4, our Abba Father talks to Cain, no longer in Eden, and in Genesis 6, he talks to Noah, all with no indication of how he does it. Does he shout from Heaven, or is he there with them? Or is he talking through a divine spirit being? (I know, I ask a lot of questions) Up to the flood, there is not much about the Abba Father to work with except disobedience and evil, and I can see an enemy smelling victory. But the enemy was so wrong.
After the flood, Genesis 11:5-7 NKJV is interesting, “But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. . . Come, let Us go down and there and confuse their language . . .” Given our journey through Chapter 3, I see the “us” (almost all translations do not capitalize it) as a team of divine spirit beings, the bene elohiym (S3M4) with Yahweh to confuse the language and scatter them. That is divine spirit work. The passage, “But the LORD came down,” draws our attention here.
How Yahweh came down is not revealed in more detail, but as we move forward, new revelations are abundant. Our Abba Father cannot ever shrink to a defined form, which is why Jesus and the Holy Spirit must play a role. How does he “come down?” Bridging the gap from infinite God to individual humans is our goal.
The Old Testament is a progressive reveal, and we receive more information as we continue. There is no evidence Yahweh interacted with anyone during the visit to Babylon, and divine spirits would have done the scattering. The encounters after the Tower of Babel story start the launch of the next phase of the plan with Abram and Israel and more about the Holy Three. I see our Abba Father everywhere, there is no “come down” for him, and he works through the Holy Spirit and the other divine helpers.
The Angel of the LORD
Genesis 12 is the first mention of an encounter between Yahweh and Abram in the Old Testament. Abram is in Haran. Abram had already had an in-person meeting with Yahweh in Abram’s home country, Mesopotamia, when Yahweh told him to pick up and go. Abram obeyed and moved to Haran. We need to spend more effort visualizing these encounters because no one teaches us how to see them.
Genesis 12:1-3 NKJV, “Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.” Steven referenced this encounter when the Romans martyred him in Acts 7. Now, look at Genesis 12:7NKJV, “Then the LORD (Yahweh) appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants, I will give this land.” Yahweh appears to Abram again on earth and speaks to him without any verbal response revealed from Abram.
Genesis 16:7-11 NKJV brings us another encounter with a new twist, “Now the Angel of the LORD (the Malak of Yahweh) found her (Hagar) by a spring of water in the wilderness . . . And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” The Angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.”
“Then the Angel of the LORD (the Malak of Yahweh) said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” And the Angel of the LORD (the Malak of Yahweh) said to her: “Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has heard your affliction.“
The Malak of Yahweh is quite impressive. He gives both orders and promises to Hagar. But who does Hagar see? Genesis 16:13-14 NKJV, “Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You Are the God Who Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” Hagar believes she is talking to her God and then gives us the descriptive name, El Roi, “the God who sees.” S7M3 presents the list of descriptive names for our Abba Father. Since we are spectators to this event in the Scripture, we have more information about what is happening.
Keep going, Genesis 18:1, “The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre . . . Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord (Adonai, not all caps), do not pass your servant by . . . and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat” “Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”
Abraham calls Yahweh “Adonai,” a respectful name for Yahweh as master. Yahweh appears on earth looking like a man, AND Abraham recognizes him! All three “men” are embodied divine spirits, malak, that spoke, ate, and washed their feet. Genesis 18:10 NKJV is interesting, “Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.“
One of the three men is a manifestation of Yahweh through the pre-incarnate Jesus that Abraham recognized. Interestingly, the “one of them” is not identified, but if we jump ahead to Genesis 21:1-2 NKJV, “And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.“
Genesis 18:16 NKJV is also interesting, “When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” The LORD sought advice from his companions. Our Abba Father is “all everything,” what is he doing asking for advice? Our Abba Father is committed to working with and through his creation. That is consistent with the divine council interactions we saw in S3M4.
Let’s keep going with Moses leading Abraham’s descendants out of Egypt, our Abba Father’s most intensive personal interaction with his people. Exodus 3 is one of the most famous passages in the Scripture when elohiym (God) reveals his relationship name, Yahweh, to Moses to begin the next phase of his plan, to move his people out of Egypt to establish Israel.
Let’s get started. Exodus 3:1-3 NKJV, “. . . And he (Moses) came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the LORD (the Malak of Yahweh) appeared to him (Moses) in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So when the LORD (Yahweh) saw that he turned aside to look, elohiym called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
God and the bush are what studies teach. In the above passage, the Angel of the LORD (the Malak of Yahweh) appeared, the LORD saw, and Elohiym called from the bush. That is quite a passage with three images that people do not react to in ELB because we know what a burning bush is and that draws all of our attention.
We also do not appreciate the difference between elohiym and Yahweh in our relationship. I can imagine the LORD (Yahweh) seeing Moses with great love in his relationship and “God” (elohiym) seeing Moses in his title name commanding him. The LORD sees what the Angel of the LORD sees. That reminds me of a security camera system and “above all, in all and through all” in Ephesians 4.
The name switch with Yahweh and elohiym often appears in the Scripture to emphasize the full majesty of our Abba Father. We can find great richness in this verse, knowing the meaning behind the two names used so often. Please make that your understanding. The LORD (Yahweh) and God (Elohiym) are the same entity with different relationships, but what is the Angel of the LORD (the Malak of Yahweh)?
Like most Christians, Moses had no idea that the Angel of the LORD existed, and he saw a small fire that talked. My best understanding is that the Angel of the LORD is manifesting the fire, and LORD God is speaking through him. That is consistent with the description of how all the malak serve our Abba Father in S3M5.
God continues from the bush, telling Moses his plan to leave Egypt, and then, we are off to see the Pharaoh. Israel moves out of Egypt in Exodus 13:20-21 NKJV, “So they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.“
The LORD himself is with them, manifested by the pillar of the cloud. It still needs to be clarified how the LORD is in the cloud. In Exodus 14:19-20 NKJV, they arrive at the Red Sea to start the crossing. “And the Angel of God (same Malak), who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.” That verse tells us a form of the LORD (the pillar of cloud) AND the Angel of the LORD (the Malak of Yahweh) went with the caravan together and provided a visible presence.
V14:24-25 NKJV, “Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the LORD looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. And He took off their chariot wheels so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.“
The LORD looked down through the pillar of fire and cloud. And most likely through the Angel of the LORD (the Malak of Yahweh) with more divine spirit army beings doing the troubling. After three months, Israel makes it to Mt. Sinai, and we have another appearance of the LORD to deliver the commandments and the first expression of the law.
After Moses delivers the ten commandments and the law, Exodus 23 makes a profound statement regarding entering the promised land, v23:20-23 NKJV, “Behold, I send a Malak before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My Malak will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I will cut them off.“
First, that passage is what Israel lost faith in, and Yahweh punished them with a forty-year walk in the desert. Now notice “Obey his voice” (the Malak) and “all that I speak” (Yahweh). We have an image forming of Yahweh working through the Malek of Yahweh, sometimes with words and sometimes in human form. Please pray on that.
I hunger for all the information I can find about our Abba Father. Not so I can believe, but so I can relate as fully as possible. In S3M4, I presented how the supernatural world of our Abba Father functions through divine spirit beings with different titles and names. I emphasized the word malak above because the English word “angel” has too many conventional thoughts. The Hebrew word malak allows us to recalibrate our thoughts to the highest divine spirit beings.
We saw the Angel of the LORD (the Malak of Yahweh) as one of the three men in Genesis 18, recognized as elohiym by Abraham. In Genesis 18:10, “Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Genesis 21:1-2, “And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.“
The Malak of the LORD is a divine spirit being who has the power to appear to us on earth as fellow humans. And this Malak is exceptional and very close to our Abba Father. The above verses show how the creation works in the Old Testament.
In the burning bush, Exodus 3, the Malak of the LORD is in the bush, and our Abba Father speaks. But his words are heard through the Malak. Let’s look at John 8:54-56 NKJV where Jesus is challenged in the temple, “Jesus replied, . . . Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” John tells us Jesus was there with Abraham in the Old Testament. But not only that, Exodus 3:14 is the famous (through the Malak of Yahweh) verse, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'” Now, look at John 8:58, “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM.“
That is where it gets tricky. Is Jesus saying he IS Yahweh? We recognize “I AM” as the name “Yahweh,” back in Exodus. Some denominations take that position. The 3-in-1 doctrine also touches that position, so I ask its proponents to present their journey path in the Scripture to get there.
I see that the Malak of Yahweh (the Angel of the LORD) is the pre-incarnate Jesus, not Yahweh, our Abba Father. Jesus only said, “I AM,” he did not say, as Yahweh said, “I AM WHAT I AM.” Look again at Exodus 23:20-23 NKJV, “Behold, I send a Malak before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him.“
That confirms Ephesians 4 with God the Father above all, in all and through all. Jesus’ name in Hebrew is “Yahshua,” meaning “Yahweh Saves.” Mathew 1:21 NKJV, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.“
Now look at Mathew 1:22-23 NKJV, “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Hold onto the phrase, “by the Lord (not all caps) through the prophet,” for later.
Let’s look at more about pre-incarnate Jesus in John 5:36-47 NKJV, “But I have a greater witness than John (the Baptist); for the works which the Father has given Me to finish— the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.” I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me . . . For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
That is a powerful message about pre-incarnate Jesus being fully active in the Old Testament, as written by Moses. Also, look at Colossians 1:15-18 NKJV, “He (Yahshua) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.“
The final glory is in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 NKJV, “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.“
That is strong evidence that the Angel of the LORD in the Old Testament is pre-incarnate Jesus, who at times appears as a man and speaks the words of Yahweh to people, “and that Rock was Christ.” Remember, Yahweh cannot reveal who the Messiah is under any circumstances in the Old Testament. And, after Jesus comes, there also must be a trail back to him. We must interpret in that context.
Our Abba Father has a narrative problem with pre-incarnate Jesus because he cannot reveal the Messiah but needs to put down a marker of him to return to later. ELB minimizes all that. All Israel can know is Yahweh. The “Malek of the LORD” is his solution, inserted enough to make his point for us today. That is a huge faith builder that gives me goosebumps every time.
The Word of the LORD
His Words
Our Abba Father’s words created the universe and everything in it, but they are also a metaphor for him and Jesus. We need to dramatically raise our game with our Abba Father’s words in the Scripture because it is all he has to work with. We had to see the stars and the heavens to see his infinite magnificence and we need to see that in his words as well.
Look at Deuteronomy 11:18 NKJV, “You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.” Psalm 12:6 NKJV, “The words of the LORD are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.“
“The words of the LORD” are meant to guide our GCS and control our lives. In ELB, too many believers let the world guide our lives and add our Abba Father as an accessory. Sanctification (S5M1) is our next life step after being redeemed, and it is seen as a process without a real goal or reward because we cannot achieve perfection.
We miss the goal and reward because it is written in the Old Testament Deuteronomy. That was the law, but it was also a way to love our Abba Father. Loving our Abba Father is first demonstrated by obedience. Israel missed it completely, don’t feel too bad. But we miss it too in ELB by cleaving the Old and the New so completely. Jesus transformed the law into love in the New Testament. When we start with Jesus in Mathew, we miss the continuation of his work in the Old Testament. Israel did not have that knowledge. When we see pre-incarnate Jesus at work in the Old Testament, we start Mathew with an existing relationship which strengthens our faith.
Look at Ezekiel 12:25 NKJV, “For I the LORD will speak, and whatever word I speak will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it,” declares the LORD God.”
Ezekiel spoke in the time of the exile of the Jews. One prophet’s words of our Abba Father still traveled around the world. Daniel speaks of reading Jeremiah’s prophecies. It helps to think about those times to bring them to life.
It also helps to see that our Abba Father gave these words to Ezekiel; they were not broadcast from a loudspeaker in the heavens. People had to do their job in the Family business to spread the word. By the time we get to Ezekiel, Genesis is in the past. But I cannot help but also see in Ezekiel, “God said, let there be light,” speaking the world into existence. A new plan is coming, and we can now see that our Abba Father’s words are in our presence. Please pray on that.
Let’s expand on his words. Psalm 119:105 NKJV, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Jeremiah 23:29 NKJV, “Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?” John 3:34 NKJV, “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.”
Hebrews 4:12 NKJV, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Matthew 4:4 NKJV, “But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
John 6:63 NKJV, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” That is an amazing verse and why I moved out of ELB and into our Abba Father’s world. It is also why I disdain man’s words in doctrine and creeds. The idea of a man’s words that replace the Scripture makes me cringe.
That passage also illustrates how the Holy Three work as a team. Our Abba Father creates his words, Jesus translates them into human language, and the Holy Spirit plants them in us when heard, read, or planted directly. But our GCS still has to choose them. That is what my heart has knitted together from the Scripture for me, the engineer.
I am not writing a doctrine here and telling you to follow it. I am showing you where the Holy Spirit has led me. Talk to him and see where you end up in your understanding. Please don’t just read the words in the Scripture to recite them; they are “spirit and life.”
Please spend some time in the above verses before continuing. The words of the LORD are his everything. They are Yahweh’s words. His words brought everything into existence, and his words are the pathway from this life into his life.
The Word
We are still bridging the Old and New with the pre-incarnate Jesus. Look at Revelation 19:13 NKJV, “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.” That is Jesus, as also seen in John 1:1 NKJV, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1 means the same as Ephesians 4, “one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.“
Let’s look at Genesis 15:1-8 NKJV, “After these things (Abram rescues Lot) the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” Previously, we saw the Angel of the LORD coming to Abram. This time, “the word of the LORD came to Abram . . .” That scene is the only occurrence of the Hebrew word “bam-maḥăzeh,” translated as “vision.” The “maḥăzeh” means “vision,” and the “bam” makes it unique in that the vision is not in our mind like all the other “maḥăzeh” visions; it is outside the body, suggesting more than spoken words in play. (A side note, that verse is the origin of the word “bam.” Such as, I was standing there, and “bam,” they knocked me over.)
Keep going in Genesis 15 NKJV, “But Abram said, “Lord God (Lord is Adonai, Master) what will You give me, seeing I go childless . . . ?” The “word of the LORD” is talking to Abram, but who does Abram believe Abram is talking to? The same being as before, his God. Abram believes he is seeing Yahweh, but that is not possible.
We can see the words in the Scripture that describe two versions of the visitor, but Abram can’t distinguish them. We should always bring the Scripture to life through the subject’s eyes, what we see as the spectator, and what it means to our relationship with our Abba Father. We are again seeing the events of the time cloaked with a message to us in the future. We are establishing pre-incarnate Jesus as fully active in the Old Testament.
Keep going, Genesis 15:4-5, “And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir . . . Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them. . . .” (side note, it’s day time). There is no doubt, the “word of the LORD” is in person and takes Abram outside. But Abram is only aware of his God. Yahweh.
The word of the LORD “coming” and Yahweh speaking through him matches the Angel of the LORD. That is because the “word of the LORD came” is the same being, the pre-incarnate Jesus. In the above verse, he is the shield and reward for Abraham. I have yet to discover how each version was selected but working on it. Our point here is to bring it to life.
Samuel
Moses turned over the reins to Joshua, and after Joshua died, Israel worshipped other gods, and our Abba Father punished them with other nations. That would have been through the bene elohiym, the sons of God, assigned to the other nations. Our Abba Father sent the Judges to rescue Israel when they cried out to him. The last Judge before the King period was the profit, Samuel.
Look at 1 Samuel 3:1 NKJV, “Now the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.” 1 Samuel 3:10, “Now the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” 1 Samuel 3:21 NKJV, “Then the LORD appeared again in Shiloh. For the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.”
Verse 1 Samuel 3:21 is clear about our Abba Father appearing through “the word of the LORD. 1 Samuel 15:10-11 NKJV, “Now the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” Our Abba Father’s words were delivered by the pre-incarnate Jesus.
Look at 2 Samuel 7:4-5 NKJV, “But it happened that night that the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying, “Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Would you build a house for Me to dwell in?” Again we see Yahweh speaking through the word of the LORD and making a request to Nathan. Nathan is a prophet in the time of David and Solomon.
Look at 2 Samuel 22:31 NKJV. David is praising our Abba Father in his song, “As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” In proper grammar, the last “He” and “Him” refer to the “word of the LORD.” But David does not know the difference between the LORD and the word. I see the majesty of our Abba Father here with one meaning for David and one for those who come after Jesus.
That is what I love about “the word” in the Old Testament. Every time I see it, I think of Jesus first, then sort it out. Seeing Jesus at work in the Old Testament is incredible beyond words for me and my relationship with our Abba Father. Now ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and search him out; I predict your faith will grow dramatically.
Jeremiah
The word of the LORD worked closely with most of the prophets, major and minor. The exceptions are Amos, Obadiah, and Nahum, which feature, “thus says the LORD.” Let’s take a look at one prophet, Jeremiah. Jeremiah experiences the “word of the LORD,” who comes to him, talks, and touches him. The others are similar.
It is easy to understand a General making an order and a Colonel delivering it as the order of the General. We can see the difference, but nothing strange happens in Jeremiah’s mind. A careful reading shows “the word of the LORD came,” but all Jeremiah sees and hears is the LORD, or we would expect Jeremiah would have said something about it. The “word of the LORD” delivers the words of the LORD to the people.
Jeremiah 1:1-5, “The words of Jeremiah . . . to whom the word of the LORD came . . . Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (The “word of the LORD came” and talked to Jeremiah.)
Jeremiah 1:6-8, “Then said I: “Ah, Lord God! (Adonai God, my Master, Jeremiah talking) Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” But the LORD said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD.”
Jeremiah 1:9-10, “Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant.” (Jeremiah believes Yahweh is touching him, but that is impossible.)
Jeremiah 1:11-12, “Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word.” (First the word of the LORD, then the LORD, the same one in Jeremiah’s mind.)
The Archangel Michael
I placed this message here because I see Michael as the third reference to pre-incarnate Jesus in the Old Testament. It is what I see, and I’m not concerned that others may not; it is my relationship. I encourage you to make yours.
Look at Daniel 10:11-13 NKJV, “Then he (angel Gabriel) said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel . . . I have come because of your words (Daniel’s prayer). But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.“
Gabriel was with Persia’s kings, but the “prince of Persia” held him up. The prince of Persia would be one of the bene elohiym (sons of God) put in charge after the Tower of Babel. Michael is presented as one of the “chief princes.” That appears to be a smoke screen of his real identity.
Daniel 10:20-22, “Then he (Gabriel) said, “And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia . . . But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince).” Only Michael defends Gabriel against the other nation’s princes. Also, notice the reference to Michael as “Daniel’s prince.” Remember, our Abba Father kept Israel for “his portion” at the Tower of Babel. I do not see him working with anyone else at this high level of spirit warfare with Israel except pre-incarnate Jesus. Keep going.
Daniel 12:1, “At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered. Everyone who is found written in the book.”
That is the end time and must be Jesus. The Scripture describes Michael as the “great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people,” which is Israel. Hebrews 1:3, “when He (Jesus) had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” When Jesus returned to Heaven, he sat down on the throne. When he started the end time, he stood up to go to work. (We will see that in S6 with Daniel.) That is strong evidence that Michael is the pre-incarnate Jesus.
Jude 9, “But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” That is one of only two references to an archangel in the Scripture. It is also the only four words uttered by Michael.
But why is anyone fighting with the devil over the body of Moses? Moses killed a person, and that sin was never atoned for, so the devil has a valid claim. But in Mathew 17, we see Jesus transfigured, and Moses was there. Our Abba Father and Jesus are the only two who give life, so when Michael says, “The Lord rebuke you,” he is pre-incarnate Jesus talking, but the Scripture can’t reveal it in real-time.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.” John 5:25-29, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth.” The name Michael means “who is like God.” That is another reveal of Michael as pre-incarnate Jesus. There is simply no room in the Scripture for a “Jesus light” that does the things Michael does.
