"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son ..."
Heb 1:2 KJV

Last week we looked at God's Sustaining Power, a short follow-up to the previous week where we briefly examined God's Creative Power. After marvelling at how God created substance out of absolutely nothing, we went on to discuss how God's Word holds all things together - both His creation and our individual lives.

Following the chronological course of events in our time-space world, the revelation of God's Creative Power came before the revelation of God's Sustaining Power. As we continue to look at what happens When God Speaks, we all should be able to agree that the most dramatic way in which God has spoken to man is through His Incarnate Son. But before we jump ahead chronologically to the advent of Christ, let's first look at a few instances of pre-incarnate appearances of Christ in the Old Testament. Perhaps we'll see that even before the wise men followed the star to find the baby Jesus in a manger, God was speaking prophetically through His pre-incarnate Son.

The Pre-Incarnate Christ. What did the prophets mean when they said, "the word of the Lord came to me, saying ..."? This phrase can be found more than 100 times in the Old Testament. Samuel, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel used this kind of sentence construction. So did Nathan, Abraham, Solomon and many of the Minor Prophets. Close evaluation of the language leads one to think that the Word itself (Himself?) is speaking - as in "the word said."

Here is an even more fascinating passage. The prophet Elijah, fearing Jezebel who had threatened to kill him, fled to a cave near Mount Horeb where he heard the word of the Lord. "...and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?" (I Kings 19:9 KJV). In this passage, the Word appears to possess a gender. Did God Himself appear to Elijah?

Scripture provides several more, even clearer glimpses of the manifested, pre-incarnated Word, or as scholars call them, "Christophanies."

1. Abraham encountered Melchizedech, a priest who, according to the writer of Hebrews, continues yet in his priesthood. He had no father or mother, no beginning of days, nor end of life. Melchizedech shared bread and wine with Abraham and received his tithe. He is also called the king of Salem, meaning peace. Jesus is, of course, the Prince of Peace. Many Christians believe that this mysterious Old Testament figure was in fact, Christ Himself. (Genesis 14:18-20)

2. Abraham's grandson Jacob wrestled with the "Angel" of the Lord, a figure many scholars believe to be Christ. The "Angel" touched him in the thigh which some say wounded him for life, gave him a blessing, and changed his name to Israel.(Genesis 32:24-32)

3. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to worship Nebuchadnezzar, were seen walking around in the furnace with a mysterious, fourth man. The flames harmed none of the men. (Daniel 3)

4. While in the midst of a prolonged fast, Daniel met and spoke with a man who could only have been the pre-incarnate Christ. "His body was ... like ... beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude." (Daniel 10:5 KJV)

God's Word coming to earth in human form is inconceivable to the human mind. And the human heart can barely comprehend it either. But God has spoken! He has spoken powefully, dramatically and completely through Christ, the Incarnate Word. Take time soon to ponder afresh upon this wonderful mystery.

Can you think of other Old Testament examples of Christ's pre-incarnate appearance? How has Christ's inacarnation spoken to you? And here's an intersting question: When fiction writers create a character and that character embodies some Christlike qualities, might that be considered an incarnation (small i) of sorts? And what about when God's Word takes up residence in our own lives and transforms us? Might that also be considered a "small i" incarnation? Send us your comments and feedback and we will post them on our site.

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Why did Christ become the Word incarnate? That question is far too deep to be answered in a few short paragraphs. But next week, we will look just a little bit into one of the primary reasons He came when we read about the Restorative Power of God's prophetic Word.

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GroundWorks is an imprint of Reconciliation Press. The name has been chosen to reflect the biblical idea of roots and foundations in Christian life and culture. As you read these weekly articles, look for words and imagery in the text that illustrate these themes.

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