Did Yahshua the Messiah first appear as an infant in a manger, or was He a created Being in the Old Testament?

We believe Yahshua was a created being according to Revelation 3:14, where He is called the “first of the creation of Yahweh.”Proverbs 8 is an entire chapter that speaks of Yahshua. In verse 22 we read, “Yahweh possessed me in the beginning of His way.” Possessed means made (from the Heb.Qanah, which Strong’s says means “create,” as in other passages where it is used, likeDeuteronomy 32:6. The Tanakh translates “possessed” in Proverbs 8:22 as “created.”)

Then in Proverbs 8:23 we read, “I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.” “Set up” means brought into existence. The Tanakh reads, “In the distant past I was fashioned, at the beginning, at the origin of the earth.” From vv. 31 and 35 we can see that this chapter is speaking of Yahshua, which can only apply to the one who was made flesh and who offers salvation.

Micah 5:2 tells us that Yahshua’s beginnings are rooted in the ancient past. The Tanakh says, “whose origin [starting point or creation] is from of old, from ancient times.”

Yahshua was the Spokesman, agent, and representative for Yahweh in the Old Testament. In the Hebrew the word is Dabar and means much the same as the Greek Logos of John 1, meaning the “Word” as the active agent (Yahshua). Yahshua was the Word who came down from heaven (John 3:13), being sent here by His Father, John 3:16.

As the Dabar, He acted for the Father in the Old Testament, as Paul reminds us in 1Corinthians 10:4. His word had the same force and effect as if it were the Father’s. When an emissary of a king comes and says, “The king commands you,” we know that the emissary is not the king, but that he speaks with the very authority and power of the king. An ambassador of the U.S. at a foreign embassy speaks for the president in the same way. That is the essence of Dabar.

Yahshua was the acting agent for the Father. Yahweh seems too holy for direct contact with sinful man, which is why we need a go-between in the person of Yahshua, even as did ancient Israel. It is only after the earth is cleansed of all sin that the Father will bring His throne to earth, Rev. 21:2-3. Yahweh says He hates sin.

Yahshua had the same glory that the Father had (John 17:5, Heb. 1:1-3*) while in heaven. As for Isaiah 42:8, Yahweh was speaking about not giving glory to a strange g-d (Companion Bible note, as well as Isa. 44:6). He did not withhold glory from His very own Son. If He did, then Yahshua lied in John 17:5.

Moses was only permitted to look on His backside of the heavenly Being, because to look on the intensity of His full glory would have no doubt killed the patriarch (Ex. 33:20). Again, this had to be Yahshua because no man has seen the Father’s shape,John 5:37 (also John 1:18, 6:46, 1John 4:12 and 1Tim. 1:17) and Moses was permitted to His back (obviously not in full glory, which is the reason Moses was covered by the hand of Yahshua as He passed by, Ex. 33:22).

The term Elohim, when used in places like Exodus 24:9 does not necessarily signify the Father. Elohim is used in the Hebrew for either Yahweh, Yahshua (as in plural for both) and even for angels. This brings to mind Abraham’s contact with the three men (angels) in Genesis 18:1. It says, “And Yahweh appeared unto him [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre…and when he saw them [three angels] he [Abraham] ran out to meet them from the tent door … and said, My Yahweh, if I have found favor in thy sight…”

This is a perfect example of messengers as representatives of Yahweh being considered equal in significance to Yahweh, even being called “Yahweh!” Obviously they were not Yahweh, but were His agents and as such were known as Yahweh. This has great implications for the many passages where Yahshua in the Old Testament is called Yahweh, although is not actually Yahweh the Father.