Do Jehovah's witnesses believe that Jesus appeared in the Old Testament?
Upvote:3
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus was the Archangel Michael before the incarnation so the answer would be that it would have been Michael (pre-incarnate Jesus).
"Likewise, the Bible indicates that Michael is another name for Jesus Christ, before and after his life on earth." JW.org
"The foremost angel, both in power and authority, is the archangel, Jesus Christ, also called Michael. (1 Thessalonians 4:16; Jude 9) " The Watchtower, November 1, 1995).
Also, according to JW's, the only time recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures that Michael appeared was in Joshua 5:13-15
"before the siege of Jericho, it was doubtless Michael, the “prince of the army of Jehovah,” who appeared to Joshua to reassure him of divine backing" JW.org
Outside of this they would consider the other appearances to have been an 'angelophany' since Jehovah is spirit and not man, dwells in unapproachable light, and whom no one can see or has seen (1 Timothy 6:16). If it were possible for Jehovah to become human that would mean that the theology and divinity of Jesus was indeed possible.
Upvote:4
Beyond the general belief related to the Archangel Michael, Jehovah's Witnesses do believe that Jesus makes an appearance in the Old Testament.
Under the article "The Word" in the JW reference work Insight on the Scriptures Vol. II page 1203 it says this: "In a similar way God’s firstborn Son doubtless served as the Mouth, or Spokesman, for his Father, the great King of Eternity. He was God’s Word of communication for conveying information and instructions to the Creator’s other spirit and human sons. It is reasonable to think that prior to Jesus’ coming to earth, on many of the occasions when God communicated with humans he used the Word as his angelic mouthpiece."
Citing a number of scriptural citations, the article assumes that Jesus was the angel that: stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac; spoke to Moses through the burning bush; may have been the angel that was charged with leading the nation of Israel through the wilderness. In all except the latter case, the scriptures referenced specifically mention "Jehovah's angel."
So the Jehovah's Witnesses belief that Jesus appears in the OT is primarily based on Jesus identity as "The Word" as well as the OT wording "Jehovah's angel."
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