The following is a quick comment I made to a Non-messianic Jew who asked for evidence from the Tanakh [i.e. the Old Testament] for the Christian concept of the Incarnation. I used terms like "Adonai" instead of "Yahweh", and "Tanakh" instead of "Old Testament" so as not to offend their sensibilities.
The incarnation is anticipated in the the Garden of Eden when Adonai is walking in the cool of the day [Gen. 3:8]. That presupposes a theophany of an animal form, and walking is mostly descriptive of the human form. Adonai appears in human form to Abraham in Gen. 18-19. The elders see God in human form [in vision or theophany] in Exo. 24:10.
Exodus 24:9-10 ESV
[9] Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, [10] and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness.
Most Trinitarians believe the pre-incarnate Jesus is both the Angel/malak/messenger of the LORD and the Word of the LORD in the Tanakh. The Angel is called "Adonai" simpliciter in Zech 3:1-2 as well as Judg 6:16. The Word/LORD stood before Samuel and apparently appeared visibly at times [cf. 1 Sam 3; Gen 15:1].
1 Samuel 3:1, 4, 7, 10, 21 ESV
[1] Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent VISION.
[4] Then the LORD called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!”
[7] Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been REVEALED to him.
[10] And the ***LORD CAME AND STOOD***, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”
[21] And the LORD ***APPEARED*** again at Shiloh, for the LORD REVEALED himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD.
Genesis 15:1 ESV
[1] After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a ***VISION***: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
Hagar sees the Malak/Angel in Gen. 16 and says she saw God, and the narrator doesn't correct her, but on the contrary calls him Adonai. Adonai's name/character/nature is in the Angel [Exo 23:20-21] who apparently has the hypothetical ability to forgive sins, and must be obeyed. He apparently is bowed down to in obeisance, if not worshipped in Josh 5:13-15. He claims to be the one who brought Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land, and talks about his covenant in Judg 2:1ff. He's apparently identified as Adonai in Hos 12:4-5 in reference to Jacob's wrestling an angel.
The Messiah has two origins ["comings forth"], a human Israelite one and one that is from ancient times in Micah 5:2. Reminiscent of the incarnation. The Son of Man in Dan. 7:13-14 represents BOTH the Kingdom of the Messiah made up of the saints, as well as representing the Messiah himself. We know this because he's compared & contrasted with the other beastial pagan Kingdoms who represent both the PEOPLE and the KINGS themselves.
Daniel 7:17 ESV
[17] ‘These FOUR great BEASTS are FOUR **KINGS** who shall arise out of the earth.
So, the "Son of Man" figure in Daniel 7 is both the people of the Kingdom AND the Leader/King as well. And as an individual he has both human and divine characteristics reminiscent of the incarnation of having two natures [vera homo, vera deus]. On the one hand he's described as the "son of man" [a common term referring to a human, as Ezekiel was called], yet on the other hand he has the prerogative of deities in the Ancient Near East of riding the clouds. In doing theological battle with their pagan neighbors the Jewish Bible writers described Adonai like the other pagan deities as a cloud rider. But with Adonai as the True Cloud Rider. Six times Adonai is described as such in the Tanakh. One of those times is when it is applied to the Danielic Son of Man to whom dominion of all peoples is given. And he is served [if I'm not mistaken] using a word [in Aramaic?] that has religious connotations of worship.
Even the Targums, the Aramaic paraphrases of portions of the Tanakh, describe the "Word of the LORD" in human-like form and personification. See these excerpts from the Targumim:
Word of the Lord in the Targums
http://juchre.org/articles/word.htm
MUCH more could be said. But that's a brief summary. I don't have time for a debate or an involved back and forth. I've given enough to show that Christians do have some answers, and to whet the appetite of those who read this comment. If anyone wants more, see Anthony Rogers' videos on YouTube, and his online articles.
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