Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy approaches Bible teaching with a passion for getting the basic doctrines explained so that the individual can understand them and then apply them to circumstances in their life. These basic and important lessons are nestled in a framework of history and progression of revelation from the Bible so the whole of Scripture can be applied to your physical and spiritual life.
Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
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.
Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament Framework. Today a smaller, bite-sized piece from the larger lesson. We hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 2:So the question becomes in our minds who is this angel of Yahweh? Right when you come to the New Testament? And really we're supposed to focus on the Old Testament? But isn't the Old Testament a setup for the New Testament? How can we understand the New Testament if we don't have the Old Testament? It seems silly to have to say this today to many theologians who think that we have to have the New Testament interpret the Old Testament. For us, that makes no sense.
Speaker 2:The Old Testament was given first. In any book you should read in the order of the chapter. You shouldn't start with chapter 22 and then read to chapter 30 and then back up and start reading at chapter 1. I mean, unless I don't know, you just like to do weird things, but typically the author is trying to build a story. I mean, how many of you start watching a movie at an hour and a half in and then back up after you finish the movie and watch the first hour and a half? Or do you say, well, it's all ruined. Now I already know what's going to happen. See, so you don't read that way. And the Old Testament is the same way. In the New Testament you read the Old Testament. That prepares you for the New Testament.
Speaker 2:And what the Old Testament is doing. It's setting us up for understanding the Trinity, which becomes clearer in the New Testament. So we've got A, we've got echad right, this unified oneness. It doesn't exclude diversity but it's emphasizing the unity. You have yakid, never used, of God, which is the word for absolute oneness, which all Jews and anti-Trinitarians want to find, to the extent that they started changing formulas in Jewish liturgy to add Yaqid, which the Holy Spirit never used, yaqid of God. But they have to be polemic against Christianity because we're the Trinitarian people, right. Then you've got the plural pronouns let us create. And you've got Elohim, which is a. Okay, but with singular verbs. Usually you put a plural verb with a plural, the subject's plural, so not in agreement.
Speaker 2:But what is this saying about God? And now you're coming to this concept of the angel of Yahweh, this individual who's different from Yahweh, but he's also identified with Yahweh. So who is he? He, we come to the New Testament. Let's go to John 1.18. John 1.18.
Speaker 2: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 second person of the Trinity right. He came into this world and he's explaining, or exegeting who the Father is, to what extent. Okay, well, john 6, verse 46. John 6, verse 46. And we read about this person. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ tells us about himself. Not that anyone has seen the Father, 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.
Speaker 2:And then we come over to chapter 14, john 14. John 14. And you begin to wonder, when he shows up and he starts to say these things, if he wasn't maybe the angel of Yahweh in the Old Testament. John 14, verses 8 through 10. Philip said to him Lord, show us the Father, it's enough for us. And Jesus said to him have I been so long with you, thomas, and yet you've not come to know me? Or Philip, excuse me, he who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say show us the Father? Do you not believe that I'm in the Father and the Father's in me? The words that I say to you? I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father, abiding in me, does his works.
Speaker 2:Now, these verses actually show unity with the Father, but also distinction from the Father. Isn't that what we found about the angel of Yahweh in the Old Testament, that at times he's united and he is Yahweh. Other times he's separate and distinct. But here he's saying if you see me, me, you've seen the father. That's showing the unity, but it's also clear that he's distinct because he also says the words. I speak. I don't speak on my own initiative, but the father abiding in me does his works, so he's distinct from me. Was the Lord Jesus Christ the angel of Yahweh in the Old Testament? That's at least what it looks like in hindsight, because the Old Testament prepared us to understand this by giving us this confusing picture of the angel of Yahweh, so that we want to discover who he is. And then he comes and it's as if we do know who he is.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spokane Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app, and until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.