Hints of the Trinity and Jesus in the Old Testament

Goal

For us too draw closer to our dear God
as we see the unfolding of the mystery
of who he is
and how he relates to us.

Hints of the Trinity and Jesus in the Old Testament

1. The very first clues
2. God with us: “the Angel”
3. God in us: “My Spirit”

Genesis 1:1

• In the beginning, God created
  the heavens and the earth.
• b’rêshîth bārā ĕlōhîm
  ’êṯ hashāmayim w’êṯ hā’ārets.

Genesis continues

• Right from the very first recorded events, we see that things are not totally simple

Deut 6 “The Shema”

4. “Hear (Shema), O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one (echad).
5. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

• one echad —can mean a complex unity

One (echad)

• Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Gen 2:24)
• All the people answered Moses with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.” (Exo 24:3)
• Pharaoh has two dreams. Joseph tells him it is one dream. (Gen 41:25)

Genesis 16 – Hagar sees
the angel of the Lord

7. The angel of the Lord found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.
8. He said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”
   She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”
9. The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority.”
10. The angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.”
11. The angel of the Lord said to her, “You have conceived and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction.
13. So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen the one who looks after me.

Exodus 3 —the burning bush

2. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush…
   …“Take off your sandals from on your feet, because the place on which you are standing, it is holy ground.’

Exodus 23 God speaks to Moses

20. ‘Look, I am about to send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.
21. Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, because he will not forgive your transgression,
    for my name is in him.
22. But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

Joshua 5 – the Angel appears

13. When Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up, and he saw a man standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said, ‘Are you with us, or with our adversaries?’
14. And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and he bowed down and said to him, “What is my lord commanding his servant?”
15. The commander of Yahweh’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Psalm 45

2. You are the most handsome of all men!
     You words are full of grace!
       Therefore God has blessed you forever.
3. Strap your sword to your thigh, O mighty one!
     Appear in your majestic splendor!
4. Appear in your majesty and be victorious!
     Ride forth for the sake of what is right,
       on behalf of justice!
     Then your right hand
       will accomplish mighty acts!
5. Your arrows are sharp
     and penetrate the hearts of the king’s enemies.
     Nations fall at your feet.
6. Your throne, O God, is permanent.
     The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.
7. You love justice and hate evil.
     For this reason God, your God has anointed you

The Spirit of God

• And now the Sovereign Lord has sent me, endowed with his Spirit.”—Isaiah 48:16

Psalm 51

11. Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12. Restore to me the joy of your salvation

2 Corinthians 1

14. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
    and the love of God,
    and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
    be with you all.

Numbers 6
Three-fold Blessing

24. The Lord bless you and keep you; [Father]
25. the Lord make his face to shine upon you
    and be gracious to you; [Jesus]
26. the Lord lift up his countenance upon you
    and give you peace. [Spirit]