The Old Testament has a lot to say about the triune God, more than many of us may realize. One such passage is found in Isaiah 63:7-16, a portion of scripture recalling God's deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt.
I shall make mention of the loving- kindnesses of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has granted them according to His compassion and according to the abundance of His loving-kindnesses.
For He said, "Surely they are My people, sons who will not deal falsely." So He became their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, and He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.
But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.
Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses. Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them? Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses? Who divided the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name.
Who led them through the depths? Like the horse in the wilderness they did not stumble; as the cattle which go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So you led your people , to make for Yourself a glorious name.
Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious habitation; where are Your zeal and Your mighty deeds? The stirrings of Your heart and your compassion are restrained toward me.
For You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not recognize us. You, O, LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is Your name.
(Isaiah 63:7-16 NASB)
In this passage Isaiah is addressing the LORD (YAHWEH). From verse 16 we can see that Isaiah is referring to the Father. It is the Father who had compassion on Israel in their affliction. According to His loving kindness toward them, He became their Savior, redeeming them from slavery in Egypt. The miraculous parting of the waters, the crossing of the Red sea, but now centuries later, Israel has forsaken the LORD their God, their Father.
Who is the angel of His presence? If we go back to the story of the exodus we discover who this angel is.
Moses is pasturing his father-in-law's flock near Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the LORD appeared to Moses in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush.
When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."
Then He said, "Do not come near here; remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
He also said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
(Exodus 3:4-6 NASB)
This is not an ordinary created angel. This angel identifies Himself as God. It is God Himself speaking from the midst of the burning bush. He identifies Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The patriarchs had visitations such as this as well. The LORD appeared to them on various occasions recorded in Genesis. God tells Moses,
"I am the LORD; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, LORD, I did not make Myself known to them.
"I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned.
"Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because of the Egyptians who are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.
"Say therefore, to the sons of Israel, 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgements.
'Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burden of the Egyptians.
'I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession; I am the LORD.'"
( Exodus 6:2-8 NASB)
We see that the LORD God appeared to the patriarchs, made a covenant with them, and has now seen the affliction of their descendants in Egypt. In the past the Word of the LORD appeared to Abram and made a covenant with him (Genesis 15:1-18). The LORD appeared to Abram and gave him the covenant of circumcision (Genesis 17:1-22), and appeared again in the form of a man (Genesis 18:1-33). The angel of the LORD calls out to Abraham from heaven in Genesis 22:1-18, when God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.
The LORD appears to Isaac and reaffirms the covenant made with Abraham (Genesis 26:2-5).
The LORD appeared to Jacob on several occasions during his lifetime. Again, the covenant made with Abraham and passed down to Isaac, is now reaffirmed with Jacob (Genesis 28:12-23). He sees the angel of God in a dream (Genesis 31:10-13), and wrestles with a man (angel), who in reality is God, until daybreak ( Genesis 32:24-30).
When Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph he makes mention of the God who led him all of his life, equating God with the angel who redeemed him from evil (Genesis 48:15-16).
The book of Hosea confirms that the God of Jacob, and the angel with whom he wrestled, were one and the same, the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD is His name (Hosea 12:3-5).
Again, back to the appearance of the angel of the LORD and the burning bush, we read this,
The LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My People who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings."
( Exodus 3:7 NASB)
God is aware of the sufferings that His chosen people have endured. In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them (Isaiah 63:9). This angel of His presence, the angel of the LORD who appeared in the burning bush declares who He is,
Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your father's has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?"
God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM "; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
God, furthermore said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations."
(Exodus 3:13-15 NASB)
The angel of the LORD, with whom Moses was speaking is the LORD God. He takes the name of the LORD, YAHWEH, the eternal one.
As they depart in haste from Egypt the LORD goes before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22).
As they come to the Red sea, we read that it is the angel of God going before the people. With no where to go, the angel moves between them and the approaching Egyptians (Exodus 14:19). Notice in Exodus 14:24 that it is the LORD who is looking down on the army of Egyptians through the pillar of cloud and fire. This is when God parted the sea, delivering His people in a miraculous way.
In Exodus 23:20-23 we read that this angel who is to go before Israel and bring them into the promised land contains the name of the LORD.
After the incident of the golden calf God told Moses to depart with the people to the promised land. He said he would send His angel before them, but He (the LORD) would not go because of their obstinance.
Moses intercedes, he is unsure who God will send to go before them. He has found favor with God, they have spoken face to face. He refuses to go if the LORD Himself will not go with them. God's presence in their midst is the factor that distinguishes them from all the other nations.
The LORD's reply? My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest (Exodus 33:14, see Exodus 32:1-33:15).
The angel of the LORD states in Judges 2:1 that it was He who brought them out of Egypt and into the land which He swore to give their fathers. So who is this angel of the LORD who speaks for God and as God? He is the angel of His presence.
I'm Malachi 3:1 we read this prophecy,
"Behold I am going to send My messenger, and He will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts.
This was fulfilled as John the Baptist, the messenger or forerunner of Jesus came and prepared the way for Jesus (Mark 1:1-4). Jesus is the Lord who suddenly came to His temple (John 2:13-17). Jesus is the messenger of the covenant of whom Malachi speaks. He is the angel of the LORD who appeared to the patriarchs, to Moses, who led Israel out of Egypt, and into the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
John 1:18 states that no one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
Jesus explains to His disciples that He is the revelation of the Father in John 14:7-11. This allows us to harmonize all of the divine appearances mentioned in the Old Testament with the above statement, "No one has seen God at any time." The patriarchs and prophets saw God. Hagar saw God. When Moses and Aaron, Nadab, Elihu, and seventy elders of Israel ascended mount Sinai, they saw God. In fact they ate with Him ( Exodus 24:9-11). Who they saw in these appearances was the pre-incarnate Son, Jesus, the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15), the I AM who existed from eternity past, before Abraham was born (John 8:58).
Jesus is the glorious arm of the LORD who went at the right hand of Moses (Isaiah 63:12). We read this in Isaiah 53, a Messianic prophecy fulfilled in Jesus, "Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?" (Isaiah 53:1)
The message was about Jesus the Messiah, and He was the arm of the LORD revealed to Israel, who according to prophecy, rejected Him ( John 12:37-42). He came to His own and His own did not receive Him (John 1:11).
Jesus the Son of God is pre-existant. He has always been, yet He did not merely dwell unknown in heaven until His incarnation. Many of us understand the prophecies concerning Him, His birth, ministry and miracles, death, resurrection, and second coming. However, how many of us realize that the Old Testament records multiple instances of His appearing to various individuals? When Jesus stated that the scriptures spoke of Him, (remember this would be the Old Testament), He is including all of these appearances we have been discussing. The Old Testament scriptures are filled with Jesus (Luke 24:27).
In spite of all that God did in redeeming Israel out of slavery in Egypt they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit, the Spirit who was in their midst (Isaiah 63 10-11). When we read the account of the Exodus we see the children of Israel constantly grumbling, complaining, and ultimately refusing to go into the land promised them. The had been gloriously delivered, seen miracles, experienced God's provision time and time again. The angel of the LORD ( Christ) personally led them the whole time. All of this grieved His (God's) Holy Spirit.
(See Psalm 106:32-33).
The author of Hebrews, quoting Psalm 95:7-11, states this, Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, "TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED ME BY TESTING ME, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS. THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, 'THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS'; AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, 'THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.'"
(Hebrews 3:7-11 NASB)
Speaking for God, and as God we see that the Holy Spirit was provoked. It was the Holy Spirit who was tested by the actions of His rebellious people. In a similar passage we see that when Ananias and Sapphira lied to the apostles it was the Holy Spirit that they were actually lying to. Peter tells them that they did not lie to men, but to God (Acts 5:3-4). These are two important passages. God's Spirit cannot be separated from God. The Holy Spirit is not a force, or an angel, or some other created being, or even another God. The Holy Spirit is God. You cannot separate the Spirit of God from God.
Numbers 14:11-14 records Moses pleading with the LORD on behalf of the nation of Israel who had just refused to enter the promised land,
The LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they."
But Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from their midst, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, for You, O LORD, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night."
(Numbers 14:11-14 NASB).
Here we see that it was the LORD in the midst of the people, leading them in the pillar of cloud and fire. This ties it up. There is only one LORD (YAHWEH). We have seen the Father referred to as the LORD, the pre-incarnate Son referred to as LORD, and the Holy Spirit as LORD as well. One LORD, not three LORDS. The one LORD bringing out His people from Egypt, performing miracles, His presence in their midst, He Himself going before them in the cloud.
Again, as I initially stated, the Old Testament does say much about the triune God. This doctrine is not a new innovation. There are those who erroneously claim that the doctrine of the triune God (trinity) was unheard of until the Nicean council, where "christianized" pagans invented a way to worship multiple gods. This could not be further from the truth. The concept of the triune God is rooted in the Old Testament and is woven throughout the scriptures. God has not left us without witness, He has revealed Himself to us by His Spirit, through His word.