The Theophanies and Christophanies of Christ: A Scriptural Study of the Apperances of Jesus Christ from the Old Testament to the New Testament

Long before He was born in Bethlehem, He was already there.

He shared a meal with Abraham beneath the trees at Mamre. He wrestled with Jacob through the night at Peniel, leaving him renamed and limping into his destiny. He met Moses in the fire of a burning bush and told him His name. He stood before Joshua outside the walls of Jericho with a sword drawn in His hand. Scripture calls Him "the Angel of the LORD" — and yet He accepted worship, forgave sin, and bore the divine Name, rights that Scripture reserves for God and God alone.

Who was this? And why does He look, sound, and act so much like Jesus of Nazareth?

The Theophanies and Christophanies of Christ: A Scriptural Study of the Appearances of Jesus Christ from the Old Testament to the New Testament traces this thread carefully and reverently from Genesis to Revelation, asking a question every serious reader of Scripture eventually faces: when God appeared, visibly and personally, to the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament, who was it that appeared?

Drawing on Scripture itself, ancient Jewish sources, and the New Testament's own testimony about who Christ is and has always been, this non-denominational study builds a careful, well-documented, and honest case: the God who appeared throughout the Old Testament and the Jesus of the New Testament are one and the same — the eternal Son, active and visible long before His incarnation at Bethlehem.

Inside, you will walk through:

• The appearances at Mamre, Peniel, the burning bush, and before Joshua — examined verse by verse, in their original context, without skipping the difficult questions each one raises
• The identity of "the Angel of the LORD," and why the titles He carries and the worship He receives point to deity rather than a created angelic being
• How the Old Testament itself hints at plurality within the one God, preparing the way for the fuller revelation of the Trinity that unfolds in the New Testament
• The New Testament's own witness — how the Gospels, the writings of Paul, and the letter to the Hebrews identify Christ as the one who was present and active throughout Israel's history
• A full chapter on the risen Christ's appearance to Thomas in John 20, examining what it means to move from doubt to belief, and why the wounds themselves became the proof that convinced a skeptic
• An appendix tracing Christ's presence through every book of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation
• A complete Scripture index for personal study, teaching preparation, and reference

Written for personal devotion, small group discussion, and pulpit preparation alike, this book does not ask you to take a leap of faith apart from the text. It asks you to read carefully, weigh the evidence Scripture itself provides, and see what the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles already testified: that the Christ of the New Testament did not begin at Bethlehem. He was there at the beginning, walking and speaking with His people long before the world knew His name.

Whether you are a longtime student of Scripture or encountering these theophanies for the first time, this study will deepen your understanding of who Jesus Christ truly is — not only Savior of the New Testament, but the God who has been revealing Himself to His people since Genesis. It is written for believers of every denominational background who want to see, directly from the biblical text, the unbroken thread that runs from the God who appeared to Abraham to the Christ who was crucified and rose again.

"He always was, He is now, and He always will be — and Scripture has been saying so since Genesis."

Stephanie Floyd Bradley is an ordained Minister of the Gospel and a Christian writer of more than twenty years, with a background in biblical studies. She writes to help readers encounter Scripture with clarity, honesty, and a deeper love for the God it reveals.