Excellent arguing points. I absolutely agree that the OT anthropomorphisms of God are figurative ways of speaking of immaterial energies, though what we can say about immaterial energies and how they interact in the realm of created matter is likely the stuff of much discourse. My tendency is to try to see Christ in every verse of Scripture, so I will make the connection that we can speak anthropomorphically about God because God can reside with us as one of us, a man, which is realized in Christ. I also tend to avoid talking about OT language as figurative, in here, in order to avoid being accused of teaching that everything in the OT is to be held to be mere allegory. That's all.
I did not mean to say that Christ is Incarnate before the ages (even though Christ is said by us to be "boundless") I mean that the Incarnation, the Death of Christ, and Paradise (where occurred the fall of man) are key points of intersection between the Eternal realm (Heaven -- the timeless abode of God) and the horizontal time line that exists with Creation, beginning to end, causing these to be Mysteries with consequences far beyond out ability to comprehend. We may have theories of Creation, of the Paradise where occurred the fall, of Redemption, (theories about how these work) but these are merely theories, because as Mysteries, they defy cognitive circumspection.
Note that a point on the horizontal axis of a chronological timeline where heaven (figuratively seen as a vertical line coming from above) Mysteriously intersects it, takes the form of a cross. Is it any surprise to us that the cross is the symbol of Christ's death, having been the instrument used? Which is understood to be the exact point in time where God (Paradise) is reconnected to Creation by the Atoning Sacrifice? And yet no one can define how the death of Christ redeems. Anselm of Canterbury tried, and ended up producing an idol, because he would not respect the great mysteries in reverent awe and silence, having preferred to explain the inexplicable.
My suggestion is this: we cannot comprehend the great Mystery of Redemption because it is ontologically interwoven with man's fall out of Paradise, Both of these things being beyond cognitive circumspection. And on this note, I am resolved to leave these things in the realm of Mystery, and humbly withdraw from further comments in this thread.
Thanks again for the terrific discussions. It is always a great pleasure to hear from you all, and to know that you're all still doing well enough in your lives to be able to continue commenting in TAW. Glory to Jesus Christ!