Jesus appears in the Old Testament as the Angel of the Lord and he is called God. Here in Exodus 3 we see an indication of a mystery in the Godhead where there are two calling themselves God.
[2] And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
[3] And Moses said, "I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt."
[4] When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here am I."
[5] Then he said, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
[6] And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
We see the same individual in Joshua chapter 5:13
When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood before him with his drawn sword in his hand; and Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?"
[14] And he said, "No; but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and worshiped, and said to him, "What does my lord bid his servant?"
[15] And the commander of the LORD's army said to Joshua, "Put off your shoes from your feet; for the place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so.
Isaiah 44:6 Explicitly spells it out, there are two main characters in the Godhead
6] Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel
and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:
"I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.
One of them came to earth and became Jesus Christ.
It was actually predicted in the book of Daniel chapter 9 in the 70 weeks prophecy about 500 years before Christ.
25] Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time.
[26] And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war; desolations are decreed.
[27] And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week; and for half of the week he shall cause sacrifice and offering to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator."
This prophecy was given to Daniel when the Jewish people were in captivity in Babylon. The Babylonians had conquered the nation of Judah and Daniel was one of the captives.
Daniel prayed for the liberation of his people and God gave him a very precise mathematical prophecy which went far into the future from Daniel's time. This prophecy would pinpoint the arrival of the Messiah at the exact time. It would occur 490 years from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem which was in 457BC.
There was a period of 490 years alloted to the Jewish nation church which began in 457 BC and ended with the stoning of the disciple Steven in 34AD.
FRom 457BC--- up-----to( 27AD=Jesus baptism= 483 years). From (27AD to 31AD was 3 1/2 ) years. Jesus crucifixtion took place in 31AD and (3 1/2 years from 31AD Steven the apostle was stoned in 34AD )and then the gospel according to the book of Acts went out to the gentile nations. All in all a total of 490 years were fulfilled exactly as foretold by Daniel.
Jesus had to arrive on the scene before the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem because the prophecy clearly stated in Daniel 9 says
And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war; desolations are decreed.
The Roman General Titus came to Jerusalem in 70AD and destroyed the City and burned down the temple as foretold by Daniel. Is Jesus the Angel of the Lord of the Old Testament? Yes he is. Keep in mind that angel means messenger. Also keep in mind that Jesus is God.
The prophet Malachi states in chapter 4
1)Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
[2] But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
"For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap;
Who is the messenger of the covenant? It is the Angel of the Lord of the Old Testament, the Captain of the Lord's armies. He is the one who would come from eternity to the temple in Jerusalem.
We know from the gospels that Jesus tried to cleanse the temple. Also keep in mind that Malachi was that last prophet of the Old Testament and then came a period of 400 years and the next thing that was heard was the voice of John the Baptist proclaiming the first coming of the Messiah as stated above in verse one of the book of Malachi.
The book of Micah states that the Messiah is not an ordinary individual he would come from eternity.
2] But you, O Bethlehem Eph'rathah,
who are little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days.
Then in the new testament we find John 1:1
[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
[2] He was in the beginning with God;
[3] all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
[4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
[5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
[6]
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
[7] He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him.
[8] He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.
[9]
The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.
[10] He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not.
[11] He came to his own home, and his own people received him not.
[12] But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God;
[13] who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
[14]