A Holy One among men
(Old Testament revelation and realization)
a priest
“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought our bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said,
‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;’
Abram gave him a tenth of all” (Gen 14:18-20).
a visitor
“Now the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, . . . and . . . behold, three men were standing opposite him” (Gen 18:1).
“Then the men turned away form there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the Lord. Abraham came near and said, ‘Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?’”
“. . . As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the Lord departed, and Abraham returned to his place” (Gen 18:22-23, 33).
an opponent
“Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.”
“He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.’ . . . And he blessed him there.”
“So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, ‘I have seen God face to face’” (Gen 32:24, 28-30).
a fire
“The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of the bush; . . . God called to him from the midst of the bush . . . Then he said, ‘Do not come near here; remove your sandals . . . , for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’”
“He said also, ‘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.” (Exod 3:2, 4-6).
“Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently” (Exod 19:18).
a captain
“Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, ‘Are you for us or for our adversaries?’”
“He said, ‘No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord.’”
“And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, ‘What has my Lord to say to his servant?’ The captain of the Lord’s host said to Joshua, ‘Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.’ And Joshua did so” (Josh 5:13-15).
(Spotlight 3, Lesson 3 in Doctrine 101: Learning about God)