Did God literally appear to Abraham?

 Did God literally appear to Abraham?

First, we need to reconcile such a notion with:

Gen 17:1

"And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be thou perfect." ASV

Ex 33:20

"But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” NIV

John 1:18

"No one has seen God at any time..." NKJV

So, how are we to actually understand Gen 17:1 and similar texts?

Let's take Gen 31:10-13. The scene is where Jacob is instructed by God to return to the land of his own land and in v 11 in a dream an angel spoke to Jacob and said in v 13 "I am the God of Bethel".

So, here we see that an angel says he is "The God of Bethel"!

In the burning bush, it seems as though God spoke to Moses from within it, however, scripture shows that the Law was transmitted through or by means of an angel!

So, what is going on here?

In scripture a person can act as a "Shaliah"; that is, one who is sent (by the MeShaliah) to act in his stead, and an example of such a Shaliah is seen in the character of Eliezer the house manager for Abraham, sent to procure a wife for his son Isaac! Eliezer was given full plenipotentiary power and authority to act as though he was Abraham, here Eliezer was Legally Abraham, just as an Ambassador from the UK to France is legally the king of the UK and can act in his stead!

Thus, the angel who spoke to Moses from the burning bush and the angel who spoke to Jacob in a dream were legally "God" (Yehova/Jehovah)

Other than the 10 main laws given to Moses by the angel, the other laws were transmitted by angels!

We read in Gal 3:19 and Acts 7:53:

"Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator." NIV

"you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” ESV

So, when Abraham entertained three persons and one spoke as though Jehovah, that person was an angel, acting in the stead of Jehovah and legally so, the angels were the collective "Shaliah" of Jehovah, the "MeShaliah"!

I suspect not many Trinitarians are aware of this aspect of Jewish Halachic Law!

NB,

The Shaliah and the MeShaliah are as though one!

If the Shaliah is slapped in the face, it is as though the MeShaliah feels the pain!

If the Shaliah is cut, it is as though the MeShaliah is the one who bleeds, that is how close the two are!

The Shaliah is as though an extension of the MeShaliah!