Friday, December 21, 2018

Genesis 17:1 - Did the Prehuman Jesus Appear to Abraham?

Genesis 17:1 - And when Abram was ninety nine years old, Jehovah appeared to Abram and said to him, I am the Almighty God! Walk before me and be perfect; -- Green's Literal.
Many claim that Jesus is the God of the Old Testament who appeared to Abraham, and thus that in Genesis 17:1, it was Jesus as the second person of the alleged Trinity who appeared to Abraham.

In Genesis 17:1, it is obviously the one person who is "God" in Hebrews 1:1 who is appeared to his prophet Abraham. 

In Genesis 17:2, Jehovah promises to make a covenant with Abraham. Verse 7 shows that this covenant is made not only with Abraham, but also the "seed" of Abraham. The final application of this is to "Christ", the only descendant of Abraham who actually fully kept the Law Covenant. Jesus proved himself to be that true "seed" of Abraham, as the apostle Paul writes:
Galatians 3:16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He doesn't say, "To seeds," as of many, but as of one, "To your seed," which is Christ. 
Galatians 3:17 Now I say this. A covenant confirmed beforehand by God in Christ, the law, which came four hundred and thirty years after, does not annul, so as to make the promise of no effect. -- World English.
Paul is obviously speaking of the covenant that Jehovah spoke of in Genesis 17. Paul does not identify Jesus as being Jehovah who makes this covenant, but rather as Christ with whom the covenant is made.

If Jesus is Jehovah of Genesis 17:1, this would mean that Jesus made a covenant with himself. Actually, Galatians 3:16,17 proves that Jehovah in Genesis 17:1 is not Jesus, but rather it is the God and Father of Jesus. Jesus also spoke of this covenant with Abraham as a covenant for a kindgom:
Luke 22:29 - And, I, covenant unto you - as my Father hath covenanted unto me - a kingdom. -- Rotherham's Emphasized Bible.
Oddly, most translations do not reveal that Jesus was speaking here of a covenant that his Father made with him. That this is the covenant made with Abraham is confirmed in Galatians 3, and Jesus extended this covenant with his followers, so that "If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to promise." -- Galatians 3:29.


It should be apparent that by the above comparison of spiritual revealing with spiritual revealing (2 Corinthians 2:13) that it was the God and Father of Jesus who appeared to Abraham, who made the covenant with Abraham and with Abraham's seed, which is Christ (and all who belong to Christ).

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