At a conference it was preached that Christ appeared in the Old Testament in Genesis 18:1-15, Genesis 32:22-31, Joshua 5:13-15, and Daniel 3. What is your take? -- Derek (San Antonio)
Maybe--and it is certainly a popular view. But I think it's doubtful. Even if true, I don't see any way to prove it. Nowhere does the NT -- or even the OT -- identify any of these appearances as Messianic.
Further, in Hebrews 1 the writer argues that Jesus is superior to the angels. But if he is an angel...! You see the difficulty. Also, what about the incarnation? If Jesus came to the earth before his "first coming," theologians have a lot to untangle.
Despite the temptations to see Christ in these angelophanies, we should be cautious about reading more into the record than is there.
