Question:
Can you explain John chp. 1 in relationship to Exodus chp. 24:10 ?
Answer:
Exodus 24:9-11 says, “Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.” John 1:18 says, “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” So we know that in Exodus 24:9-11, they were seeing Christ.
I Corinthians 10:1-4 says, “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of THAT SPIRITUAL ROCK THAT FOLLOWED THEM: AND THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST.”
John 14:6-9 backs this up further when it says, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. IF YE HAD KNOWN ME, YE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN MY FATHER ALSO: AND FROM HENCEFORTH YE KNOW HIM, AND HAVE SEEN HIM. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? HE THAT HATH SEEN ME HATH SEEN THE FATHER; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?”
These references to people seeing God in the Old Testament are often called “preincarnate appearances of Christ.” That means that Christ appeared in a form which allowed man to see Him before He took upon Himself actual human flesh when He was born of the virgin Mary. John 1:14 says, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Hebrews 2:16,17 says, “For verily HE TOOK NOT ON HIM THE NATURE OF ANGELS; BUT HE TOOK ON HIM THE SEED OF ABRAHAM. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” So when He was born upon earth, He took a real body of human flesh. But in the Old Testament, He did not have that human body of flesh when He appeared unto man.
For more verses and questions about other passages dealing with this subject, please click here.