Now, I am going to throw two theological words out there that you might hear. They are: “Theophany and Christophany.” Here are its definitions:

• Theophany (THEE-ah-feh-nee): A visible appearance of God or a god to humans (literally seeing). And can also refer to an audible (hearing) manifestation.

• Christophany refers to either a visible or auditory appearance of the “preincarnate Christ.” A Christophany is one interpretation of a theophany.

   These words are simply attempting to explain and define the alleged ‘appearances’ of God that is not understood.

   Where it concerns "theophany," we saw previously that none of the verses had anything to do with God literally physically showing Himself or manifesting Himself to anyone. It was through angels, divinely appointed ‘agents’ (emissaries) that God used to communicate with the people.

   When it comes to “Christophany,” we are to believe that this is the “pre-incarnate” Christ appearing in human form in the Old Testament. This is based on the assumption that Jesus pre-existed prior to his birth here on earth. That is all it is, an assumption. It is nothing more than a doctrine that is built on preconceived ideas that are nothing more than a fable based on empty wishes that cannot be verified in scriptures.

   In the previous chapter, you will have gathered it was not uncommon that angels were depicted as men in the Hebrew Testament. The New Testament gave further information. Moses and others were not seeing God Himself, but an agent (angels) of God.

   Many under the influence that Jesus is God, often read Jesus into the Old Testament. Besides the example of Jacob, I will give you another example. Here we will also see where an angel is called Yahweh.

   Many are familiar with the account where three men appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18:1-3. (Keep in mind that LORD, with all capital letters, in the Hebrew is “Yahweh” or “YHWH.” We normally say, God.):

And the LORD appeared to him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2 And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, 3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:

   Now, when it comes to the trinitarian belief, I was taught that it is the “holy trinity” who addresses Abraham because the first verse does say LORD (Yahweh). The three men supposedly symbolize the trinity. One of the three is said to be God the Son, the pre-incarnate Christ, who stayed behind with Abraham.

   The first thing to note is that Abraham addresses these three men as “My Lord” (v.3). The word for “Lord” in the Hebrew is the singular word “adoni.” What we have is Abraham addressing these men (plural) as if they were one person (“My Lord –Adoni). We see this again in 19:18 where Lot says to the two angels, “my Lord, please no!” Again we see that “Lord” is the singular word “adoni,” and these two men (plural) are addressed as if they are one. All this has nothing to do with a trinity doctrine made up by man.

   Secondly, if you have not caught it yet, I would like you to note that Genesis 18:2 says, “three men.” We can safely say that these three men were angels sent by God. We can come to this conclusion because in Genesis 19:1 the other two men were called angels. We read:

And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom…

   Why should we assume the other man is not an angel? On what grounds do trinitarians have as evidence that the man who stayed behind was the “pre-incarnate Christ,” as they claim?

   In Genesis, 18:33, it does say “Yahweh” or “the LORD” went away after communing with Abraham. It states in the WEB translation:

Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

   Now, how does one who holds to the trinitarian teaching handle this dilemma who claim it was Jesus who stayed behind with Abraham? Yahweh/ LORD means God the Father. Trinitarians do not believe Jesus is the Father, so they cannot claim it was Jesus! Furthermore, where is the holy spirit in all this mix? The shy member of the trinity (holy spirit) is hardly ever mentioned.

   These three men were not God. God did not send Himself as three men that supposedly represent the trinity doctrine.

   Angels sent by the LORD are at times addressed as "LORD” in the Hebrew scriptures.¹⁴ Nowhere does it mean the angels were actually the LORD, but rather they spoke for Him. This is the “Law of Agency:”

Agent (Heb. Shaliah): The main point of the Jewish law of agency is expressed in the dictum, “a person’s agent is regarded as the person himself” (Ned. 72B; Kidd, 41b). Therefore any act committed by a duly appointed agent is regarded as having been committed by the principal, who therefore bears full responsibility for it with consequent complete absence of liability on the part of the agent.^₁₅

   We can compare this concept when a person is given “Power of Attorney” for someone. They have full rights to speak on behalf of that person and take care of all his affairs in all matters as if he were the person himself. So a person’s agent is regarded as the person himself. These three men (angels) were simply God’s messengers.

   We will go over a few more examples of the Hebraic concept of “agency.” You already know about the story of Jacob who wrestled with “a man” all night until dawn and said he had seen “God face to face” (Gen. 32:24-30). However, we learn from Hosea 12:3-4 that Jacob struggled with the angel. The angel was the “agent” who represented the LORD.

   Now let us turn to some other passages. When Israel started their journey through the wilderness we read in Exodus 13:21:

And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of to cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, give them light; that they might go by day and by night:

   However, in Exodus 14:19 we read:

The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them.

   Here we have the LORD who went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud and the other passage says it was the angel of God. The angel of God is the angelic representative of the LORD as if the angel is the LORD.

   In Deut. 29:2-3 we read:

And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land,

   Now note what Moses says in verse 6:

You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.

   No one would have mistaken Moses was claiming to be the LORD their God. Moses, as God’s “agent,” speaks as though he is the LORD.

   Question: What about in the New Testament where it says in 1 Cor. 10:4 that the Israelites drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ? Doesn’t this prove Jesus pre-existed?

   Answer: Paul was using a “typology” with reference to Christ. He is not claiming that Christ pre-existed and wondered in the desert with the Israelites. The context shows Paul is speaking typologically. Here is the context:

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and they all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank out of the spiritual rock that followed them, but that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them for they were strewn about in the wilderness. Now these things occurred as types of us so that we would not lust after evil things as they lusted. Do not be idolaters like some of them were, as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to play." Neither let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them fell. Neither let us test the Lord as some of them did, and perished by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them grumbled, and perished by the destroyer. These things happened to them as types and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the ends of the ages has arrived. Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a communion in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a communion in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one bread.

   Paul is warning the Christians of the consequences of idolatry and does so by using the language of typology (most translations use the word “examples”). Paul was using typology with reference to Christ accompanying Christians in their own lives. He draws an illustration of how the literal rock (that Moses struck – Num. 20:11), that the Israelites literally drank from, spiritually represents Jesus (1 Cor. 10: 6-11). Christ is our nourishment and our strength (John 6:35; Phil 4:13). Paul is giving an example by referring them back to the nation of Israel for the benefit of the Christian (v.6).

   There is nothing in scriptures about a Theophany and Christophany that is supposed to be ‘appearances’ of the LORD and of Christ. Nowhere did Jesus appear or speak with anyone. Hebrews 1:1-2 reveals that the LORD did not speak through His Son in the Old Testament times. Jesus was not yet alive until he was brought into existence (begotten) in Mary’s womb (Matt. 1:20; Luke 1:35).

   The angel of the LORD is never the LORD Himself or Jesus. The angel is always the agent of the LORD and stands for the LORD Himself. This is made clear in Exodus 23:20-21:

I am going to send an angel [agent] before you to protect you as you journey and to bring you into the place that I have prepared. Take heed because of him, and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him.

   Notice the angel has the power to “pardon transgressions.” This rather puts a damper with those who would side with the unbelieving Jewish leaders who said, “Only God can forgive sins” (Mark 2:7).

   An angel is the LORD’S chosen representative and speaks whatever he is told to say and the people must fully obey. This is not only true with angels, but mortal men are also at times chosen as the LORD’s representative, such as Moses. In fact, in the Hebrew culture, people are referred to as "god" whom God chooses as His representatives. We see in scripture that the Judges of Israel and the King of Israel were called God (Exodus 7.1; 22.8-9; Psalm 45.6; 82.6). Jesus himself spoke of the judges of Israel who are called Gods in the representational sense when confronted by the religious rulers. (John 10.33-36).

Jesus was a chosen agent with all authority and rule from the LORD and had the power to forgive sins as well. In these last days Jesus, a man, was the ultimate representative of God and given all authority by Him. “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18).

   Angels Do Not Have Wings

  It's important to clarify that angels, as messengers of God, do not possess wings. Regardless of how frequently they may resemble winged infants in Catholic art or the ceramic figurines available in local gift shops, none of them actually have wings. Angels are depicted as men who intervene in human affairs when they meet with people. We can now understand Hebrews 13:2 where it says that we may entertain angels without knowing it. They are “ministering spirits” according to Hebrews 1:14 (See also Mark 1:13 where Jesus was ministered by angels).

   One might ask about Isaiah chapter 6 where it says that Seraphim have 6 wings and Ezekiel chapter 1 (and 10) that Cherubim have 4 wings (and 4 faces).

   Seraphims and Cherubims are entirely a whole new creature. It is common to assume they are angels, but scripture never mixes these terms.

   Often times you might hear Satan referred to as an angel, but Satan is not an angel, and never referred to as an angel. He is a Cherub. He was the anointed Cherub in Ezekiel 28:13-15 until iniquity was found in him. In the book of Ezekiel, it refers to him as Lucifer. He is described as a dragon as well as a serpent called the devil or Satan in Rev. 12:9.