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What significance did John attach to God's revelation in the history of Israel as recorded in the Scriptures? To answer this question, a distinction has to be made between the text of Scripture and the history narrated in this text. In John's view, the text of the Old Testament contains testimonies on behalf of Jesus, awaiting to be filled with the reality of the Jesus event. As regards the events of Old Testament history, John considers some theophanies as communications with the pre-existent Jesus in heaven, but he does not consider the pre-existent Jesus as the real actor in Old Testament theophanies on earth. For the rest, Old Testament history is meaningful to the evangelist in so far as it provides 'types' of Jesus. To him, the Scriptures legitimate Jesus, but real revelation of God is to be found exclusively in Jesus.