The Lord Appeared: Jesus as YHWH in the Old Testament

by James Agnew

The Old Testament is filled with appearances of YHWH. Although these appearances are often interpreted as visions, dreams or angelic messengers, many in pre-Christian Judaism attributed them to YHWH’s “Word,” a unique divine person who mediated between YHWH and creation. This “Word” was not considered a separate creature outside of God but rather as an aspect or part of God. By following a trail of data across Israel’s scriptures and its earliest commentators, The Lord Appeared argues that Christians originally viewed Jesus as this “Word” of ancient Judaism.

Drawing on a wide range of scholarly sources, James Agnew presents a rigorous case for the deity of Christ and outlines an intuitive model for understanding Jesus’s relationship to YHWH.

257 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 30, 2025

Reviews

[Tom Wanchick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most brilliant books I’ve read regarding a defense of Christ’s divinity and Trinitarian theology more broadly. It offers some really ingenious arguments and responses to objections that I had never seen.

The author is very capable exegeting the biblical texts but also interacts brilliantly with philosophical claims (a rare combination).

Also, this is FREE on Kindle. A gift to the Church worth checking out.