NT Framework - The Angel of Yahweh: Tracing Christ Through Scripture

To what extent was the Angel of Yahweh in the Old Testament preparing God's people for the manifestation of God as a Man?

More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com 

This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).

Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and
our series on the New TestamentFramework.
Today a smaller, bite-sizedpiece from the larger lesson.
We hope you enjoy it.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
So the question becomes in our minds who is this
angel of Yahweh?
Right when you come to the NewTestament?
And really we're supposed tofocus on the Old Testament?
But isn't the Old Testament asetup for the New Testament?
How can we understand the NewTestament if we don't have the
Old Testament?
It seems silly to have to saythis today to many theologians

(00:30):
who think that we have to havethe New Testament interpret the
Old Testament.
For us, that makes no sense.
The Old Testament was givenfirst.
In any book you should read inthe order of the chapter.
You shouldn't start withchapter 22 and then read to
chapter 30 and then back up andstart reading at chapter 1.
I mean, unless I don't know,you just like to do weird things

(00:51):
, but typically the author istrying to build a story.
I mean, how many of you startwatching a movie at an hour and
a half in and then back up afteryou finish the movie and watch
the first hour and a half?
Or do you say, well, it's allruined.
Now I already know what's goingto happen.
See, so you don't read that way.
And the Old Testament is thesame way.
In the New Testament you readthe Old Testament.
That prepares you for the NewTestament.

(01:13):
And what the Old Testament isdoing.
It's setting us up forunderstanding the Trinity, which
becomes clearer in the NewTestament.
So we've got A, we've got echadright, this unified oneness.
It doesn't exclude diversitybut it's emphasizing the unity.
You have yakid, never used, ofGod, which is the word for

(01:37):
absolute oneness, which all Jewsand anti-Trinitarians want to
find, to the extent that theystarted changing formulas in
Jewish liturgy to add Yaqid,which the Holy Spirit never used
, yaqid of God.
But they have to be polemicagainst Christianity because
we're the Trinitarian people,right.
Then you've got the pluralpronouns let us create.

(01:58):
And you've got Elohim, which isa.
Okay, but with singular verbs.
Usually you put a plural verbwith a plural, the subject's
plural, so not in agreement.
But what is this saying aboutGod?
And now you're coming to thisconcept of the angel of Yahweh,
this individual who's differentfrom Yahweh, but he's also

(02:21):
identified with Yahweh.
So who is he?
He, we come to the NewTestament.
Let's go to John 1.18.
John 1.18.
No one has seen God at any time,the only begotten God who is in
the bosom of the Father.
He has explained it, and this,of course, is speaking of the

(02:46):
second person of the Trinityright.
He came into this world andhe's explaining, or exegeting
who the Father is, to whatextent.
Okay, well, john 6, verse 46.
John 6, verse 46.
And we read about this person.

(03:09):
Well, the Lord Jesus Christtells us about himself.
Not that anyone has seen theFather, except the one who is
from God.
He has seen the Father.
So there's a distinction here,obviously, but it's a close
connection.
And then we come over to chapter14, john 14.

(03:32):
John 14.
And you begin to wonder, whenhe shows up and he starts to say
these things, if he wasn'tmaybe the angel of Yahweh in the
Old Testament.
John 14, verses 8 through 10.
Philip said to him Lord, showus the Father, it's enough for
us.
And Jesus said to him have Ibeen so long with you, thomas,

(03:52):
and yet you've not come to knowme?
Or Philip, excuse me, he whohas seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say show us theFather?
Do you not believe that I'm inthe Father and the Father's in
me?
The words that I say to you?
I do not speak on my owninitiative, but the Father,
abiding in me, does his works.
Now, these verses actually showunity with the Father, but also

(04:18):
distinction from the Father.
Isn't that what we found aboutthe angel of Yahweh in the Old
Testament, that at times he'sunited and he is Yahweh.
Other times he's separate anddistinct.
But here he's saying if you seeme, me, you've seen the father.
That's showing the unity, butit's also clear that he's
distinct because he also saysthe words.

(04:40):
I speak.
I don't speak on my owninitiative, but the father
abiding in me does his works, sohe's distinct from me.
Was the Lord Jesus Christ theangel of Yahweh in the Old
Testament?
That's at least what it lookslike in hindsight, because the
Old Testament prepared us tounderstand this by giving us

(05:04):
this confusing picture of theangel of Yahweh, so that we want
to discover who he is.
And then he comes and it's asif we do know who he is.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with
Jeremy Thomas.
If you would like to see thevisuals that went along with
today's sermon, you can findthose on Rumble and on YouTube
under Spokane Bible Church.
That is where Jeremy is thepastor and teacher.
We hope you found today'slesson productive and useful in

(05:32):
growing closer to God andwalking more obediently with Him
.
If you found this podcast to beuseful and helpful, then please
consider rating us in yourfavorite podcast app, and until
next time, we hope you have ablessed and wonderful day.