With the above in mind, let us examine the scriptures where it is claimed that Jesus appeared as as the angel of Yahweh, and as supposedly as "Yahweh", in the Old Testament.

Genesis 16:7-14
7 The angel of Yahweh found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. 8 He said, "Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, where did you come from? Where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai." 9 The angel of Yahweh said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands." 10 The angel of Yahweh said to her, "I will greatly multiply your seed, that they will not be numbered for multitude." 11 The angel of Yahweh said to her, "Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard your affliction. 12 He will be like a wild donkey among men. His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him. He will live opposite all of his brothers." 13 She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, "You are a God who sees," for she said, "Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?" 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

The first time that the expression, "angel of Yahweh", appears in the Bible is in Genesis 16:7. Indeed, it is the first mention of an "angel" at all in the Bible. The angel speaks to Hagar, who was fleeing from the harsh treatment of Sarai, Abraham's wife. (Genesis 16:6) It is claimed that in these verses, Hagar calls the "angel of Yahweh" by the name "Yahweh", and that therefore the "angel of Yahweh" is the same being as Yahweh. (Genesis 16:13) At most this would only indicate this and nothing more, since there is nothing here that links this "angel of Yahweh" to a supposed second person of the trinity.

Without interjecting trinitarian philosophy, however, one would conclude that the "angel of Yahweh" is not Yahweh of whom the angel is. In other words, the expression itself tells us that the "angel" or "messenger of Yahweh" is not Yahweh, for Yahweh is the one that sent the messenger, and that thus the messenger speaks the words of Yahweh. Thus logically, we would conclude that the author of Genesis 16:13 actually refers to Yahweh, who was the one who spoke by means of his angel, and not to the angel, the messenger, himself, who was sent by Yahweh. (A similar example is where angels are referred to as men.) Additionally, the author could have been expressing the matter as it appeared to Hagar, who might have thought that the angel of Yahweh was Yahweh himself.

We know that Hagar did not actually see Yahweh himself, although she evidently thought she had seen Yahweh. No human can see Yahweh and yet live. The World English Bible translation, and some others, makes it appear that Hagar thought she had actually seen Yahweh himself, and have made it appear that Hagar was glad that she was still alive, even after having seeing God Almighty. The King James Verion translates the related words like this: "Thou God seest (Strong's #7210, yar] me: for she said, Have I also here looked [Strong's #7200, har] after him that seeth [Strong's #7210] me?" This could be read as an acknowledgement by Hagar that although Yahweh had looked after her, and had seen her plight and also seen the future of her descendants, that she had failed in looking after Yahweh. "She rebukes her own dullness and acknowledges God’s graces, who was present with her everywhere."*
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Beza, Theodore. "Commentary on Genesis 16". "The 1599 Geneva Study Bible".
http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/GenevaStudyBible/ gen.cgi?book=ge&chapter=016.
1600-1645.

Genesis 18:1,22; 19:1,17,22,23 are some scriptures that are often presented to supposedly show that the three angels who visited Abraham were in fact the three persons of the alleged trinity of persons in one God. Of course, not one of these scriptures ever speak of these three angels, also referred to as "men", as three persons of Yahweh, thus such a thought has to be read into what is said. We have discussed these scriptures more fully in the section entitled, "Abraham and the Three Angels", and so will not go into more detail in this section.

Genesis 21:17 (****Comments to be added later.)

Genesis 22:11-14
11 The angel of Yahweh called to him out of the sky, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" He said, "Here I am." 12 He said, "Don't lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." 13 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh-jireh. As it is said to this day, "In Yahweh's mountain it will be provided."

Some have read these verses, and claim that since Abraham called the place "Yahweh-jireh" [Yahweh provides], and since it was allegedly the angel that actually provided that ram, that this means that Abraham was actually attributing the name "Yahweh" to the angel of Yahweh, and further that this angel of Yahweh was actually a person of Yahweh, that is, the Lord Jesus in his prehuman existence. This really reads a lot into the verse that just isn't there. Whether Yahweh directly provided the ram, or whether Yahweh used the angel to provide the ram, this still does not mean that the angel of Yahweh was actually Yahweh, as Yahweh often takes the credit for the work done by those whom he sends. (Exodus 3:10,12; 12:17; 18:10; Numbers 16:28; Judges 2:6,18; 3:9,10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:24,25; 14:6,19; 15:14,18; 16:20,28-30, 2 Kings 4:27; Isaiah 43:11, 45:1-6; etc.) As stated earlier in this section, the angel of Yahweh could have been Jesus, but more than likely it was Gabriel, even as in Luke 1:11,19.

Another claim some make concerning these verses is that Abraham offered the ram up to the angel as a burnt offering, thus proving that the angel of Yahweh was actually Yahweh himself, or as they claim, a "person" of Yahweh, that is Jesus in his prehuman existence. Again, nothing is said about the ram being offered to the angel, although, acting as Yahweh's representative, it would have been proper for the angel to receive the offering on behalf of Yahweh. This still would not make the angel of Yahweh into Yahweh himself.

Genesis 22:15-19
15 The angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time out of the sky, 16 and said, "I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 that in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies. 18 In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."

Here the angel of Yahweh quotes Yahweh, thus this should show that the angel of Yahweh is not Yahweh, and with injecting trinitarian thought into what is said, this would be logical conclusion.

Some point to Numbers 12:8, which reads: "with him will I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches; and the form of Yahweh shall he see: why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?" It is claimed that this is proof positive that the "angel of Yahweh" is Yahweh. We need to point out that this "proof positive" is based upon the assumption that the "angel of Yahweh" is actually Jesus. Also it based on the assumption that "face to face" is to be taken literally, and Moses actually looked upon the face of Yahweh, the Almighty Most Powerful Supreme Being of the Universe. We find this idea to be absurd, especially in view of the fact that Yahweh directly told Moses: "You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live." -- Exodus 33:20

However, we can let scripture interpret scripture here and come to a conclusion. Let us look at Exodus 33:11: "Yahweh spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." Here we learn what this term "face to face" is meant to convey: "as a man speaks to his friend." Matthew Henry* states concerning Exodus 33:20: "God talked with Moses (v. 9), spoke to him face to face, as a man speaks to his friend (v. 11), which intimates that God revealed himself to Moses, not only with greater clearness and evidence of divine light than to any other of the prophets, but also with greater expressions of particular kindness and grace. He spoke, not as a prince to a subject, but as a man to his friend, whom he loves, and with whom he takes sweet counsel."

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*Henry, Matthew. "Commentary on Exodus 33".
"Matthew Henry Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible".
http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/MatthewHenryComplete/mhc-com.cgi?book=ex&chapter=033>.
1706.

Additionally, we can see that this is also confirmed by the statement in Geneva Study Bible notes for Exodus 33:11. There we find:

33:11 And the LORD spake unto Mosesd face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. (d) Most clearly and familiarly of all others, (Numbers 12:7,8; Deuteronomy 34:10)

Thus we find nothing in Numbers 12:8 that would show that Jesus is Yahweh.

It is claimed by some that to call the angel of Yahweh by the name "Yahweh", and to bow down to this angel as though he was Yahweh, is a "clear" violation of the second commandment. If bowing down to angel is to be considered to be a clear violation of the second commandment, then we must assume that many who bowed downed to kings, elders, judges, etc., all through the Old Testatment were breaking the second commandment. Of course, this is ridiculous. (See our document: The Worship Due to Jesus) It is true that if one should actually give to the angel the exclusive worship that only belongs to the Most High, that this would be setting such an one up in the station of Yahweh himself, and thus would be a violation of the second commandment. ***

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***We still have more work to do on this study. Please check back later. Updated slightly: July 4, 2006.

Jesus and His God Index Page

GOD By Paul S.L. Johnson.

CHRIST-SPIRIT-COVENANTS By Paul S.L. Johnson.

Two Babylons or the Papal Worship by Alexander Hislop

Concepts of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by Matthew Alfs
Subtitled "A Classification and Description of the Trinitarian and Non-Trinitarian Theologies Existent Within Christendom," this is a theological and historical handbook of how the variety of Christian denominations have defined and viewed God the Father, Christ the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit. Detailed and penetrating, it demonstrates how Christendom's many denominations and sects have differed and even powerfully clashed in explicating this so-called "central doctrine of the Christian faith," often with heated verbal sparring and sometimes by inflicting physical violence on opposers. Objective in tone, which is rare for a work of this sort, this careful study encourages the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. Unlike apologetic works, which often quote what critics say about variant denominational theologies, this work allows the plethora of denominations to speak for themselves. The author further solicited comments from many denominational headquarters to clarify and expand upon material from their available published works. It can truly be said that no stone has been left unturned in order to provide the reader with full and complete coverage of the subject. Includes 355 references and a detailed index. Sturdy libary binding, brown cloth with gold-embossed ccover illustration. 104pp.