Melchizedek caution, way long!

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Timothy Litteral wrote:

Jesus told the Pharisees that Abraham "was glad to see ***HIS*** day" and
when pressed by them, told them that indeed BEFORE Abraham was "I AM".
Now, this is a clear (to me anyway) statement by Jesus that HE had spoken
to Abe IN PERSON.  When?  In what FORM/MANIFESTATION?

Me:

When we read these words - "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he
saw it, and was glad." [John 8:56], are we not to conclude that this was the
Eternal Spirit [God] speaking through His own flesh [Christ Jesus], and
asserting that He had fulfilled the "promise" made unto Abraham [see Genesis
12:3], wherein through his [Abraham's seed], all of the earth would be
blessed?  And how was the earth blessed through Abraham's seed?  In the person
of the Lord Jesus, who, as a man, was a direct descendant of this Hebrew
patriarch.

The question here [as I see it, at least], is not whether Christ Jesus was
inferring that He [Spirit] had appeared in some visible human manifestation
unto Abraham, but that Abraham had looked forward with great joy to that future
moment whenever one of his own descendants would become the "man" in whom would
reside the Eternal Spirit [without measure].

Did Abraham actually "see," which is to say, witness the actual occurrence of
this momentous event? Well, the answer to this question depends upon whether
one believes in what is called "soul sleep."  If it be that the soul of every
man enters into a suspended state of animation [called "sleep"] at the moment
of the cessation of all normal body functions, then, of course, one must
conclude that it would have been quite impossible for Abraham to have actually
"seen" the day in which this promise that God made unto him was fulfilled.
However, if it be that God has granted an exemption from the experience of
"soul sleep" to Abraham, then it is altogether possible that this patriarch was
able to witness the glorious birth of Christ Jesus [albeit from an invisible
spiritual realm to which we are not presently capable of experiencing].  It is
a personal view [although perhaps not shared by many of my apostolic brethren],
that this is precisely that which our Lord was asserting whenever He uttered
the statement found recorded in John 8:56.

Insofar as the manifestation which the Eternal Spirit employed when He appeared
to Abraham and uttered the promise that He would someday inhabit the physical
body of one of this patriarch's descendants, I would not venture to speculate.
However, regardless of the form that he chose when accomplishing this feat, we
know that it was only temporary, and employed only for the time period
involved, after which it simply ceased to exist.  Seeing that nothing is
impossible with God, one must wonder whether it is even possible [or even
necessary] that we possess knowledge of the means through which He appeared to
Abraham [or others].  This I do know for certain;  the only manner in which He
had ever appeared [in visible form] to me, has been through the visions of
dreams [see Job 33:14-20].

These are just some personal thoughts on the matter, to which you may [or may
not] choose to respond.  As others have already stated, there are lots of
things that we do not fully understand yet, and perhaps this is simply one more
to add to the list.

May God Bless!
Bro DEvans