Doctrine of Trinity, Free Online Course, Lesson 1C
Doctrine of Trinity, Free Online Course, Lesson 1C
Appearance of God in Human Form
We read in Exodus 33: 17—23 that it is not possible for man to remain alive, seeing God in all His glory. However we read about God appearing to Abraham in human form; we are told, “And Jehovah appeared unto him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood over against him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, and said, My lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:” [Gen: 18: 1—3]
It is to be noted here that we are not told, “ Jehovah and ‘two other beings’ appeared unto Abraham.” To the question, “Who appeared unto Abraham?” the answer is, “Jehovah.” To the question, “Who did Abraham see?” the answer is, “three men.” So, to the question, “Who were those three men?” the answer cannot but be, “Jehovah.” Thus we see that those three men were Jehovah and Jehovah was those three men. This means, it was as three men that Jehovah appeared to Abraham in human form. To the question why Jehovah appeared to Abraham as three men instead of one man, what is the answer? The only reasonable answer is that Jehovah God is one God Who exists as three Persons.
We find Jehovah telling Abraham about the wickedness of the people of Sodom: “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know”[Gen: 18: 20—21]. We learn from Gen: 18: 33 that the Person Who said these words did not go to Sodom; instead it was the other two Persons, described as ‘angels’ in chapter 19: 1 Who went to Lot’s house. When we consider that all these statements are true, we cannot but say: Jehovah told Abraham that He would go to Sodom; accordingly He went there; it was two ‘angels’ who went there;
Jehovah was those angels and those angels were Jehovah. If it is argued that the ‘angels’ were not Jehovah we will have to say that Jehovah did not keep His promise to Abraham, which amounts to declaring that God lied to His ‘friend’ about going to Sodom. The only conclusion we can arrive at, is that the Person Who talked with Abraham was Jehovah and the ‘angels’ who went to Lot’s house also were Jehovah, even though they were different Persons. This means the three Persons Who appeared to Abraham were in essence, one and the same Jehovah God. The fact that it was as three Persons in human form this God appeared to Abraham, is an important proof that the one God of the Bible exists as three Persons, which is the concept of Trinity.
It has been interpreted that the two men who went to Sodom were in fact two angels sent by Jehovah to that city and that it is incorrect to conclude Jehovah went there. We read in Heb: 13: 2, “Forget not to show love unto strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” It is quite reasonable to conclude that this is a reference to Abraham’s entertaining the ‘three men’ by the oaks of Mamre. The description of these men as angels by the writer of the Hebrews is regarded as conclusive proof that they were no more than true angels and not Jehovah.
In order to justify this interpretation, it has been argued that Jehovah’s sending angels on His behalf fulfilled His promise to Abraham that He would go to Sodom; or we can think that Jehovah by exercising His ability as the omnipresent and omniscient God saw what happened in Sodom and in that sense ‘went’ there without actually going there. But we have to note that what Jehovah said to Abraham was, “I will go down now, and see…” [Gen: 18: 21]. These words of Jehovah rule out the possibility of His sending someone else on His behalf out of question. The argument that it was in the sense of Jehovah being omnipresent that He said to Abraham about going to Sodom is quite unreasonable because Jehovah in His capacity as the omnipresent God was already there in Sodom and there was no need for Him to go there. [It may be noted here that it was in His capacity as a righteous judge who punishes the guilty only after verifying evidence, that Jehovah wanted to go to Sodom]. Therefore the only reasonable conclusion is that in keeping with His promise to Abraham Jehovah did go to Sodom and the two angels who reached Sodom according to Gen: 19: 1 were Jehovah. Now quite naturally the question arises: If it was Jehovah Who came to Sodom, why is He referred to as ‘two angels’ in Gen: 19: 1 and why is the same wording used in Heb: 13: 2? Let us find out whether there is an answer to this question in the Word of God.
When we examine the narrative style of the different books of the Bible we see that persons are often spoken about in two ways—as they actually are and as they are seen to be. The Holy Spirit might have done this in order to give a full, comprehensive understanding of the persons concerned, their circumstances and the people around them. As an example first let us examine the reference to Joseph in Luke 2: 33 and 2: 48; in both these verses Joseph is referred to as the father of Jesus. However, it is clearly stated in the first chapter of this Gospel that it was after Virgin Mary conceived Jesus that Joseph became her husband; so it is factually incorrect to refer to Joseph as the father of Jesus. But after the marriage of Joseph and Mary they lived together; after the birth of Jesus, Mary had children by Joseph; everyone who knew their family thought that Joseph was the father of all those children including Jesus; that is why we read in Matt: 13: 55–56, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?” and in Luke 4: 22: “…Is not this Joseph’s son?” The fact that it was a normal and happy family life that Joseph and Mary led is further made clear by Mary’s words, “Son, why hast thou dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing” Luke 2: 48. [The context is Mary and Joseph searching for their ‘missing son’ and finding him finally, at the Temple]. We see that Joseph was looking after Jesus as one of his own children in obedience to the divine instruction he had received [Matt: 1: 20]. The statement in Luke 3: 23, “And Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years of age, being the son {as was supposed} of Joseph…” proves this fact beyond all doubt. Thus it was seen that Joseph was the father of Jesus. That is why we find Mary referring to her husband as the father of Jesus. We do not consider that Mary’s description of Joseph as the father of Jesus contradicts the scriptural truth that Jesus is the Son of God and He cannot have an earthly father.
Just as the Word of God has stated what Joseph actually was and what he was seen to be, the Holy Spirit has stated what the three men who appeared to Abraham actually were [Gen: 18: 1—2 & 18: 20—21] and what they were seen to be [Gen: 19: 1]. Since the two men who went to Sodom conveyed to Lot the divine message of judgment upon the city, they acted as, and were seen to be messengers [angels] of God. That is why they are referred to as angels. In the book of Judges also we come across the same sort of description. We read, “And Jehovah looked upon him, and said, “Go in this thy might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian” [Jud: 6: 14]. In this verse we see that it was Jehovah who spoke these words to Gideon. But in the verses 11 & 12 it is stated that the speaker was “the angel of Jehovah.” This identification of Jehovah with “the angel of Jehovah” is to be explained in the light of the fact that Jehovah is spoken about here in both ways—as He actually is and as He was seen to be [angel carrying a divine message]. So we can conclude that the descriptions of Jehovah as “three men” in Gen: 18: 2 and as “two angels” in Gen: 19: 1 are quite right and reasonable.
The question whether it was in actual human form that Jehovah appeared to Abraham can be answered easily. We read in John 1: 32 that the Holy Spirit descended as a dove out of heaven and abode upon Jesus. This is proof that God can take any form He pleases; so it is quite reasonable to believe that it was as three human beings possessing all human faculties that Jehovah appeared to Abraham. [However this does not mean Jehovah became ‘three men’ as a result of this appearance, as also the Holy Spirit did not become a dove as result of descending upon Jesus in that form. What we have to understand is that God, whose face men cannot see and live {Ex: 33: 20} appeared before His ‘friend’ in a suitable form to tell him what He was going to do]. Since it was as three men instead of only one man that Jehovah appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, it indicates that Jehovah, the God of Abraham is One Who exists as three Persons.
It may be noted that there is no means of ascertaining which Person in the Triune God stood before Abraham and which Persons went to Sodom. As we, human beings cannot unveil what God has chosen not to reveal, it is futile and unwise guessing it.
Doctrine of Trinity, Free Online Course, Lesson 1C
Appearance of God in Human Form
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