When we consider the little town of Bethlehem, our first thoughts are probably the birth of a tiny newborn, the arrival of baby Jesus. The prophet Micah, writing some seven hundred years before the birth, prophesied regarding the place and the Person. Micah 5:2 says, “But as for you Bethlehem Ephathrah too little to be among the clans of Judah. From you One will go forth for Me to be a ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago from the days of eternity.” Eternity is described as time without end, endlessness, forever, infinite duration, everlastingness, timeless. We who deal with clocks have a difficult time understanding timeless eternity. And yet the Bible tells us that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are eternal. In other words the newborn baby Jesus preexisted long before Bethlehem.
In John 1:1-3, we read about Jesus, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” The apostle John identifies Jesus as Creator.
The apostle Paul carries forth the same powerful theme concerning Jesus in Colossians 1:15. “ And He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation. For by Him all things were created both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things have been created by Him and for Him, and He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.”
Peter writing about Jesus wrote, “For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world.” 1 Peter 1:20
In the creation account, Genesis 1:26 “God said, “Let Us make man in Our likeness.” The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were there in the beginning! Hebrews 1:2-3 “God appointed Jesus as heir of all things through Whom He made the world. He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature and upholds all things by the Word of His power.”
John 1:18 says no man has seen God at any time and Jesus said in John 14:9 “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”
All through the Old Testament it is stated “The Lord Appeared” This is called a Christophany. There were multiple witnesses!
Here are a few of the many appearances of Jesus long before His incarnation.
ADAM and EVE.
After they had sinned, Adam and Eve heard “the sound of the Lord walking in the garden and hid themselves from His presence.” Their second big mistake! (Gen. 3:8)
ABRAHAM
Gen.12:7 “The Lord appeared to Abram” Gen17:1 “The Lord appeared to Abram and said “I am the Lord Almighty”. Gen 18:1 “The Lord appeared to Abraham”, 18:22 “Abraham was still standing before the Lord”.
ISAAC
The Lord appeared to Isaac Gen. 26:2,4. Jacob wrestled with Him in Gen. 32:30 and said, “I have seen God face to face yet my life has been preserved.”
MOSES
Moses had much interaction with the Lord who also appeared as THE angel of The Lord. Ex.3:2-6 “The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a burning fire, God called to him from the bush, Moses his hid face because he was afraid to look at God.” Numbers 12:5,8. ‘The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent. He said “I speak with Moses mouth to mouth and he beholds the form of the Lord” ‘ Ex 33:11 “The Lord used to speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks to a friend.”
BALAAM and his DONKEY
THE angel of the Lord appeared and interacted with Balaam and his “talking” donkey. Numbers 22 is a great story of how God can use anyone or anything for His purposes!
JOSHUA, SOLOMON, SAMSON’S PARENTS, GIDEON, SAMUEL, DAVID, HAGAR, ELIJAH
The Lord met with Moses and Joshua in the tent of meeting. Deut. 31:14-15. He appeared to Solomon, in 2 Chron.7:12. When THE angel of the Lord met with Samson’s parents, Judges 13:2-23, and Gideon, Judges 6:11,14, He was definitely identified as God. Some other appearances include to Samuel – Sam3:21, David – 2 Chron. 3:1, Elijah – 1KINGS 19:7, Hagar – Gen.16:7, and even Nebuchadnezzar realized he had had an encounter with the Host High God!- Daniel 3:26,28
As theologian John Walvoord wrote, “Christ was exceedingly active and at work throughout the Old Testament dealing with sin, providing for those in need, guiding in the path of the will of God, protecting His people from their enemies, executing the providence of God.”
From the beginning of Genesis to the end of the book of Revelation, Jesus is ever present. But only in Bethlehem does the most spectacular birth event take place as preincarnate Christ became Christ incarnate. The Creator entered His creation as a newborn baby, fully God, fully man, to fulfill a plan of salvation that had been put in place in Eternity, many, many years before Bethlehem!
Long before Bethlehem…it’s all about Him!
