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But What About...The Angel of the Lord
Episode 127 – But What About … the Angel of the Lord
Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.
Script:
[Moses] led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. … When the LORD saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
Exodus, chapter 3, verses 1 through 4, New Living Translation
********
VK: Hello. I’m Victoria K and today on Anchored by Truth we are continuing our latest study series brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’ve labeled this series “But what about” because a lot of time you hear questions like “but what about angels and demons” or “what about heaven and hell?” A lot of questions that people have about the Christian faith occur because Christianity has a supernatural dimension as well as a natural one. This can be confusing to people who have not studied Christianity carefully. Some people believe in what they can see and hear but they discount the supernatural entirely. Others embrace the supernatural so completely they lose sight of the proper relationship between the natural and supernatural. We wanted to do episodes on several of these subjects to see what the Bible actually has to say about them. I’m in the studio today with RD Fierro, author and Founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, last time we took a look at what the Bible has to say about demons and Satan. But today you want to take a look at a term that can often be confusing to people – the Angel of the Lord. Right?
RD: Right. But before we get started I want to say a word of greetings to all the Anchored by Truth listeners. Thank you for joining us here today. For people who are serious students of the Bible the Angel of the Lord is one of the most interesting, and perhaps enigmatic, figures that we encounter in the Bible. There aren’t a lot of references in the Bible to the Angel of the Lord but I think we can learn a lot by looking at them. What we see when we do so really opens the door to an increased understanding of the overall picture of redemption.
VK: How so?
RD: Well, many, although not all, commentators see the various references in the Bible to the Angel of the Lord as referring to a pre-incarnate appearance of the 2nd person of the Trinity – in other words Jesus. For instance, the New Geneva Study Bible says this: “In certain instances at least, [the Angel of the Lord] is in some sense God acting as His own messenger, and is commonly seen as a preincarnate appearance of God the son.” If this view is true, and I believe that it is, then God the son, early in the Bible, at times takes on the role of an angel. Naturally, after the incarnation, Jesus’ birth, the son of God takes on a human nature. So, this is a fascinating picture. God the son at times appears an angel. After the incarnation He adopts a human nature so He is seen as a human being. But at all times God the son is fully divine.
VK: Wow. That’s enough to start to give you a brain freeze. This means that studying the Angel of the Lord is sort of a mini-course in all kinds of major Biblical doctrines and themes. There’s a lot there to unpack so where do you want to started?
RD: Well, let’s start with just a brief review of some basic Biblical doctrines. Christians believe that there is one God who exists eternally as three distinct Persons. In other words, God is one What but three Who. The 2nd Person of the Trinity is a single person but (mysteriously) had two natures. He is both fully human and fully divine. In the famous words of the Chalcedonian Creed (paraphrasing) Jesus is both fully human and fully divine with “mixture or confusion, separation oo division” and each nature retains its own attributes. This would be hard enough but now we have to throw angels into the mix.
VK: Angels are the second type of intelligent, personal beings that God created. There are some similarities between men and angels. Angels each have their own personality and are able to exercise freedom of will. Angels experience intellectual emotion and curiosity and they are able to comprehend the difference between good and evil and interact with each other and with human beings. Angels differ from people though. Angels normally inhabit the spiritual realm, although apparently they can cross the boundary between the physical and spiritual when necessary. Angels were created fully formed. They do not age or die and there are no gender distinctions between angels, though there are distinctions of hierarchy and type.
RD: Yes. So, the first thing to note about the Angel of the Lord is that the only appearances of the Angel of the Lord are in the Old Testament. There are no appearances of the Angel of the Lord in the New Testament.
VK: Or – just to be thoroughly clear – the Angel of the Lord does not appear in scripture after the incarnation, after Jesus’ birth. Right?
RD: Right. And most of the references to the Angel of the Lord appear fairly early in the Old Testament – somewhere in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) or the books of Joshua or Judges. There is only one reference to the Angel of Lord later in the Old Testament and that is Zechariah, chapter 1, verse 12. And in Zechariah’s case the Angel of the Lord makes an appearance in a vision. This is quite different from most of the earlier appearances of the Angel of the Lord where the Angel is actually reported as being in contact with a human being in an earthly setting.
VK: So, let’s look at that distinction a little more. The first reported appearance of the Angel of the Lord in scripture is in Genesis, chapter 16, verses 7 through 9. “The angel of the LORD found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied. The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.” That’s from the New Living Translation.
RD: Yes. Hagar was the servant of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. Sarah hadn’t had any children at that point so she had encouraged Abraham to have a child with Hagar. According to the custom of the day that child would have been reckoned as Sarah’s child. But once Hagar got pregnant, Hagar began to show contempt for Sarah. Sarah retaliated with harsh treatment so Hagar ran away. None of this was consistent with God’s will so God interceded to begin to restore some justice. One well known Bible commentator Albert Barnes puts it this way: “The angel of the Lord either represents the Lord, or presents the Lord in angelic form. The Lord manifests himself to Hagar seemingly on account of her relationship to Abram, but in the more distant form of angelic visitation.”
VK: So, in the first encounter we have with the Angel of the Lord in scripture the Angel of the Lord appears to a distraught servant to bring to remedy an entire series of bad choices. Sarah shouldn’t have encouraged Abraham to have relations with her servant girl. Hagar shouldn’t have begun to despise her mistress and Sarah shouldn’t have retaliated when she had created the problem to begin with. So, to begin restoration the Angel of the Lord appears to Hagar as she is fleeing. And note the Angel ended His intercession by promising something that only God can promise. The Angel says, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.”
RD: Exactly. And the same kind of pattern is repeated in one of the next encounters we see in scripture – in this case in Genesis, chapter 22, verses 15 through 18.
VK: Those verses say “Then the angel of the LORD called again to Abraham from heaven. “This is what the LORD says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. … And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”
RD: This is the famous episode where Abraham had been told to sacrifice his only son by Sarah, Isaac, and he was about to do so. But the Lord stopped Abraham at the last second. Notice that the Angel of Lord is said to call to Abraham from heaven but Abraham and Isaac are very much on earth. And notice that again the Angel is conveying promises that only God can make. The Bible tells us that only God can provide children in families.
VK: And we should also notice that God prevented Abraham from sacrificing his son Isaac, but later God would carry through with sacrificing His only son, Jesus.
RD: Exactly right. So, again we see the Angel of the Lord acting on earth to further God’s plan – in this case to keep the promised line of descent for the Messiah alive. And we continue to see this same pattern repeated as there are other appearances of the Angel of the Lord. Certainly, one of the most famous appearances of the Angel of the Lord was Moses encounter with God at the burning bush.
VK: We heard a portion of that encounter in our opening scripture but let’s just repeat that here as a refresher. [Moses] … came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. ... Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. … When the LORD saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
RD: Notice the scripture says it was the Angel of the Lord appearing to Moses in the blazing fire but then it says that it was God who called out to Moses. Later in this encounter Moses will ask God what God’s name is?
VK: That’s Exodus, chapter 3, verses 13 through 15. Again, in the New Living Translation those verses say, “But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ … God replied to Moses, ‘I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you … Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.’ ”
RD: So, just to reinforce the point we have been making. We are first told that the Angel of the Lord was the One appearing in the blazing fire, but then we immediately find out that it is God who is doing the talking. And this is one of the most important sections in all of scripture because in these verses God reveals His personal name to Moses. In ancient Hebrew the name would have been written Y-H-W-H because ancient Hebrews only used consonants and not vowels. Those characters are most frequently translated as Yahweh in Hebrew or Jehovah in Latin.
VK: And this is a very important revelation because with it God identifies Himself by the attribute of His self-existence. The ATS Bible Dictionary puts it this way: “…it denotes the self-existence, independence, immutability, and infinite fullness of the divine Being ...”
RD: Right. So, it is very significant that in this one portion of scripture we see the Angel of the Lord being identified immediately afterward as God Himself. So, the question becomes how we can understand this juxtaposition. One clear possibility is to recognize that in delivering this very important message to Moses, God chose to eliminate all intermediaries and do it directly from a Member of the Triune Godhead. The most likely Member who would have done that is the 2nd Person who would later come to earth physically as a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – Jesus.
VK: Well, let’s be sure that everybody is aware of what we’re talking about. In the earliest parts of scripture – Genesis and Exodus – God found it necessary to occasionally intervene directly in the affairs of one of His servants to ensure that His plans either stayed on track or were put back on track. The Angel of the Lord appeared to Hagar because Hagar was significant in the life of Abraham. Obviously, keeping Isaac alive was significant to the plan of salvation. In Moses’ case God was going to use Moses to free His chosen people from bondage in Egypt. This was both necessary physically to return the Jews to their promised land but also as a forerunner of what would happen in Jesus’ life. So, the Angel of the Lord is essentially acting as an instrument of the Lord’s plans to ensure they stay on track.
RD: Exactly. So, let’s skip forward a little. After Moses led the Hebrews through the desert he died. Then, Joshua actually led them into the land they would occupy. To strengthen Joshua for the tasks that lay ahead of him, a slightly mysterious figure appears to Joshua as the Hebrews are beginning to drive the pagan nations out. Scripture describes as “the commander of the LORD’s army.” Most commentators identify this figure as a “Christophany.” It was this figure who gave Joshua the specific instructions for how to defeat the city of Jericho.
VK: A “theophany” [THE-OFF-O-KNEE] is a manifestation of God in the Bible that is tangible to the human senses. A Christophany is a manifestation of Christ to human senses other than when Jesus was physically on the earth. Many commentators will use the term “Christophany” to refer to a visible appearance of Christ in the Old Testament because obviously, at that time, Jesus was not yet born.
RD: Yes. So, if this is a Christophany, then this is also a pre-incarnate appearance of the 2nd Person of the Trinity on the earth. This, by the way, is the only time in scripture that this specific title is used for Jesus.
VK: But the term “Angel of the Lord” will be used a few more times in the book of Judges and a couple of times in the books of Kings and Chronicles. Just as a refresher the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, are called the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch is immediately followed by the book of Joshua and Joshua is immediately followed by Judges. So, as we mentioned earlier, most of these references occur very early in the scriptures.
RD: Yes. So, all of these references to either the Angel of the Lord or the Commander of the Lord’s armies tell us something very important.
VK: Which is?
RD: Jesus was very active in the plan of salvation long before He adopted a human nature and was born as a baby in Bethlehem. This is important to understand for a couple of reasons. First, it reinforces the eternality of Jesus. Scripture makes reference to this but it can tend to slip our minds.
VK: We see Christ’s eternality as part of the Triune Godhead in the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” That’s the New International Version.
RD: Right. And there are other places in scripture such as Colossians 1:16 that make the same point. But while we may intellectually know that the 2nd Person of the Trinity is eternal, we may not always think that He has always been active in directing the progress of the plan of salvation. But, of course, He was. Certainly, Jesus’ most visible role in the Bible is in the Gospels which record His life on this earth and his life, ministry, death, and resurrection. But it would be an error to think that Jesus’ role in our salvation did not start until He was born. It began long before – even before, as the Bible puts it, “the foundation of the world.”
VK: Well, this observation points out the need for us to read and become familiar with the entire Bible. There are no appearances of the Angel of the Lord or the Commander of the Lord’s armies in the New Testament. There are some Christians who think that you can gain all you need to know about the Christian faith from the New Testament. But this study on the Angel of the Lord points out the fallacy in that view. We cannot have a truly comprehensive view of the role Jesus played in our salvation if we don’t go all the way back to the beginning of the Bible. Again, these appearances of the Angel of the Lord are in the very first books of the Bible.
RD: That’s a great observation. So, another point we need to keep in mind is that Christ acting as the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, but not doing so in the New, helps us see the unity of scripture and the coherence of the Christian faith. Of course all the Members of the Trinity have always been active in creation and redemption. But each has their own role they play in the grand, cosmic drama. And, in their actions, they complement one another to achieve a single purpose, but they don’t step on each other. They act in perfect harmony. Each Person performs their own duties, if you will, but they are perfect in complementing each other and in keeping the plan moving toward the goal of saving the elect.
VK: I see what you’re saying. Christ, the 2nd Person of the Trinity, was chosen to be the Person who would assume a human nature. Then, because He retained His divine nature, Christ was perfectly suited to be a mediator between God and man as the books of 1 (first) Timothy and Hebrews put it. But even before that time arrived in the history of salvation Christ was appearing at certain times and places to keep the plan on track.
RD: Right. The Angel of the Lord appeared to some of the most important people in the Bible such as Abraham, Moses, and David. But He also appeared to ordinary people - a servant girl and to Samson’s parents to tell them of Samson’s upcoming birth. In the book of Numbers the Angel of the Lord appears to a wicked prophet named Balaam when Balaam is about to make a very bad mistake and He appeared to King David after David had committed one of his more egregious sins. In those appearances the Angel of the Lord has a drawn sword in his hand – a suitable accompaniment for preventing or correcting sin. All of this reminds us that God and Christ are concerned with the affairs of both the high and the low. And they are as able to influence the history of the biggest plan in all of history – the redemption of God’s elect – all the while acting in seemingly the most simple of ways such as helping a distressed servant girl.
VK: So, part of what you’re saying is that scripture is very consistent as it reports the actions of God and even of the individual members of the Trinity. After God the Son assumed His human nature in Jesus He never again appeared as the Angel of the Lord. This doesn’t mean He couldn’t. Only that He didn’t. The most prominent appearance of a Christophany after Jesus ascended was to the Apostle Paul on the Road to Damascus. And when Paul asked, who was the one appearing to him in the blinding heavenly light, Jesus plainly stated “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!” That’s Acts, chapter 9, verse 5. The fact that the appearances of the Angel of the Lord are all in the Old Testament seems to be significant. God is a God of order. Before Jesus adopted His human nature the Angel of the Lord was an appropriate way for Jesus to reveal himself at selected times and places. After Jesus assumed His human nature He will now possess that nature for all time. And it is Jesus with His human nature who is said to be seated in the place of honor – at the right hand of God in heaven.
RD: Right. The Angel of the Lord is slightly enigmatic, but a very significant figure in the Bible. The appearances of the Angel of the Lord as pre-incarnate appearances of God the Son make perfect sense in the overall plan of redemption and salvation. Christ used the role as the Angel of the Lord to help direct the plan of salvation before He took on His human nature. And as the Angel of the Lord Christ used whatever appearance made sense for the situation. When He wanted to get the attention of a sinner, even David, He appeared with a sword. But in the appearance to Hagar or to Samson’s parents there was no need for a sword. On those occasions He was there to provide counseling or encouragement. And when Joshua was embarking on a military quest to conquer Canaan Christ appears as the Commander of the Lord’s Armies. The appearance is always suitable for the person and the occasion – just what you expect from a God who both superintends the ends but never loses sight of the means and always expresses love for His children.
VK: Well, next time we’ll turn our attention to another subject that can cause some confusion in the minds of believers as well as unbelievers – the Holy Spirit and the role this 3rd Person of the Trinity plays in the plan of salvation and the life of Christians. This sounds like a good time for a prayer. Since there is a desperate need in our nation for the wisdom of God to light a path to truth and freedom, today let’s pray a prayer for the restoration of the worship of the One True God.
---- PRAYER FOR RESTORATION OF THE WORSHIP OF THE ONE TRUE GOD (MARCUS).
We hope you’ll be with us next time and we hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show.
If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!”
(Bible Quote from the New Living Translation)
Revelation, chapter 14, verses 17 and 18, New International Version
Topical Bible: Angel (biblehub.com)
Topical Bible: Satan (biblehub.com)
Topical Bible: Lucifer (biblehub.com)
Joshua 5:14 Commentaries: He said, "No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, "What has my lord to say to his servant?" (biblehub.com)
How Jesus is Both God and Man: The Chalcedonian Creed & The Two Natures of Christ — SOLA
What is a theophany? What is a Christophany? | GotQuestions.org
Expositions Of Holy Scripture, Alexander MacLaren
You will observe that there run throughout the whole of the Old Testament notices of the occasional manifestation of a mysterious person who is named ‘the Angel,’ ‘the Angel of the Lord.’ For instance, in the great scene in the wilderness, where the bush burned and was not consumed, he who appeared is named ‘the Angel of the Lord’; and his lips declare ‘I am that I am.’ In like manner, soon after, the divine voice speaks to Moses of ‘the Angel in whom is My name.’
When Balaam had his path blocked amongst the vineyards, it was a replica of the figure of my text that stayed his way, a man with a drawn sword in his hand, who spoke in autocratic and divine fashion. When the parents of Samson were apprised of the coming birth of the hero, it was ‘the Angel of the Lord’ that appeared to them, accepted their sacrifice, declared the divine will, and disappeared in a flame of fire from the altar. A psalm speaks of ‘the Angel of the Lord’ as encamping round about them that fear him, and delivering them. Isaiah tells us of the ‘Angel of his face,’ who was ‘afflicted in all Israel’s afflictions, and saved them.’ And the last prophetic utterance of the Old Testament is most distinct and remarkable in its strange identification and separation of Jehovah and the Angel, when it says, ‘the Lord shall suddenly come to His Temple, even the Angel of the Covenant.’ Now, if we put all these passages-and they are but select instances-if we put all these passages together, I think we cannot help seeing that there runs, as I said, throughout the whole of the Old Testament a singular strain of revelation in regard to a Person who, in a remarkable manner, is distinguished from the created hosts of angel beings, and also is distinguished from, and yet in name, attributes, and worship all but identified with, the Lord Himself.
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Episode 127 – But What About … the Angel of the Lord
Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.
Script:
[Moses] led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. … When the LORD saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
Exodus, chapter 3, verses 1 through 4, New Living Translation
********
VK: Hello. I’m Victoria K and today on Anchored by Truth we are continuing our latest study series brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’ve labeled this series “But what about” because a lot of time you hear questions like “but what about angels and demons” or “what about heaven and hell?” A lot of questions that people have about the Christian faith occur because Christianity has a supernatural dimension as well as a natural one. This can be confusing to people who have not studied Christianity carefully. Some people believe in what they can see and hear but they discount the supernatural entirely. Others embrace the supernatural so completely they lose sight of the proper relationship between the natural and supernatural. We wanted to do episodes on several of these subjects to see what the Bible actually has to say about them. I’m in the studio today with RD Fierro, author and Founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, last time we took a look at what the Bible has to say about demons and Satan. But today you want to take a look at a term that can often be confusing to people – the Angel of the Lord. Right?
RD: Right. But before we get started I want to say a word of greetings to all the Anchored by Truth listeners. Thank you for joining us here today. For people who are serious students of the Bible the Angel of the Lord is one of the most interesting, and perhaps enigmatic, figures that we encounter in the Bible. There aren’t a lot of references in the Bible to the Angel of the Lord but I think we can learn a lot by looking at them. What we see when we do so really opens the door to an increased understanding of the overall picture of redemption.
VK: How so?
RD: Well, many, although not all, commentators see the various references in the Bible to the Angel of the Lord as referring to a pre-incarnate appearance of the 2nd person of the Trinity – in other words Jesus. For instance, the New Geneva Study Bible says this: “In certain instances at least, [the Angel of the Lord] is in some sense God acting as His own messenger, and is commonly seen as a preincarnate appearance of God the son.” If this view is true, and I believe that it is, then God the son, early in the Bible, at times takes on the role of an angel. Naturally, after the incarnation, Jesus’ birth, the son of God takes on a human nature. So, this is a fascinating picture. God the son at times appears an angel. After the incarnation He adopts a human nature so He is seen as a human being. But at all times God the son is fully divine.
VK: Wow. That’s enough to start to give you a brain freeze. This means that studying the Angel of the Lord is sort of a mini-course in all kinds of major Biblical doctrines and themes. There’s a lot there to unpack so where do you want to started?
RD: Well, let’s start with just a brief review of some basic Biblical doctrines. Christians believe that there is one God who exists eternally as three distinct Persons. In other words, God is one What but three Who. The 2nd Person of the Trinity is a single person but (mysteriously) had two natures. He is both fully human and fully divine. In the famous words of the Chalcedonian Creed (paraphrasing) Jesus is both fully human and fully divine with “mixture or confusion, separation oo division” and each nature retains its own attributes. This would be hard enough but now we have to throw angels into the mix.
VK: Angels are the second type of intelligent, personal beings that God created. There are some similarities between men and angels. Angels each have their own personality and are able to exercise freedom of will. Angels experience intellectual emotion and curiosity and they are able to comprehend the difference between good and evil and interact with each other and with human beings. Angels differ from people though. Angels normally inhabit the spiritual realm, although apparently they can cross the boundary between the physical and spiritual when necessary. Angels were created fully formed. They do not age or die and there are no gender distinctions between angels, though there are distinctions of hierarchy and type.
RD: Yes. So, the first thing to note about the Angel of the Lord is that the only appearances of the Angel of the Lord are in the Old Testament. There are no appearances of the Angel of the Lord in the New Testament.
VK: Or – just to be thoroughly clear – the Angel of the Lord does not appear in scripture after the incarnation, after Jesus’ birth. Right?
RD: Right. And most of the references to the Angel of the Lord appear fairly early in the Old Testament – somewhere in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) or the books of Joshua or Judges. There is only one reference to the Angel of Lord later in the Old Testament and that is Zechariah, chapter 1, verse 12. And in Zechariah’s case the Angel of the Lord makes an appearance in a vision. This is quite different from most of the earlier appearances of the Angel of the Lord where the Angel is actually reported as being in contact with a human being in an earthly setting.
VK: So, let’s look at that distinction a little more. The first reported appearance of the Angel of the Lord in scripture is in Genesis, chapter 16, verses 7 through 9. “The angel of the LORD found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied. The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.” That’s from the New Living Translation.
RD: Yes. Hagar was the servant of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. Sarah hadn’t had any children at that point so she had encouraged Abraham to have a child with Hagar. According to the custom of the day that child would have been reckoned as Sarah’s child. But once Hagar got pregnant, Hagar began to show contempt for Sarah. Sarah retaliated with harsh treatment so Hagar ran away. None of this was consistent with God’s will so God interceded to begin to restore some justice. One well known Bible commentator Albert Barnes puts it this way: “The angel of the Lord either represents the Lord, or presents the Lord in angelic form. The Lord manifests himself to Hagar seemingly on account of her relationship to Abram, but in the more distant form of angelic visitation.”
VK: So, in the first encounter we have with the Angel of the Lord in scripture the Angel of the Lord appears to a distraught servant to bring to remedy an entire series of bad choices. Sarah shouldn’t have encouraged Abraham to have relations with her servant girl. Hagar shouldn’t have begun to despise her mistress and Sarah shouldn’t have retaliated when she had created the problem to begin with. So, to begin restoration the Angel of the Lord appears to Hagar as she is fleeing. And note the Angel ended His intercession by promising something that only God can promise. The Angel says, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.”
RD: Exactly. And the same kind of pattern is repeated in one of the next encounters we see in scripture – in this case in Genesis, chapter 22, verses 15 through 18.
VK: Those verses say “Then the angel of the LORD called again to Abraham from heaven. “This is what the LORD says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. … And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”
RD: This is the famous episode where Abraham had been told to sacrifice his only son by Sarah, Isaac, and he was about to do so. But the Lord stopped Abraham at the last second. Notice that the Angel of Lord is said to call to Abraham from heaven but Abraham and Isaac are very much on earth. And notice that again the Angel is conveying promises that only God can make. The Bible tells us that only God can provide children in families.
VK: And we should also notice that God prevented Abraham from sacrificing his son Isaac, but later God would carry through with sacrificing His only son, Jesus.
RD: Exactly right. So, again we see the Angel of the Lord acting on earth to further God’s plan – in this case to keep the promised line of descent for the Messiah alive. And we continue to see this same pattern repeated as there are other appearances of the Angel of the Lord. Certainly, one of the most famous appearances of the Angel of the Lord was Moses encounter with God at the burning bush.
VK: We heard a portion of that encounter in our opening scripture but let’s just repeat that here as a refresher. [Moses] … came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. ... Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. … When the LORD saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
RD: Notice the scripture says it was the Angel of the Lord appearing to Moses in the blazing fire but then it says that it was God who called out to Moses. Later in this encounter Moses will ask God what God’s name is?
VK: That’s Exodus, chapter 3, verses 13 through 15. Again, in the New Living Translation those verses say, “But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ … God replied to Moses, ‘I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you … Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.’ ”
RD: So, just to reinforce the point we have been making. We are first told that the Angel of the Lord was the One appearing in the blazing fire, but then we immediately find out that it is God who is doing the talking. And this is one of the most important sections in all of scripture because in these verses God reveals His personal name to Moses. In ancient Hebrew the name would have been written Y-H-W-H because ancient Hebrews only used consonants and not vowels. Those characters are most frequently translated as Yahweh in Hebrew or Jehovah in Latin.
VK: And this is a very important revelation because with it God identifies Himself by the attribute of His self-existence. The ATS Bible Dictionary puts it this way: “…it denotes the self-existence, independence, immutability, and infinite fullness of the divine Being ...”
RD: Right. So, it is very significant that in this one portion of scripture we see the Angel of the Lord being identified immediately afterward as God Himself. So, the question becomes how we can understand this juxtaposition. One clear possibility is to recognize that in delivering this very important message to Moses, God chose to eliminate all intermediaries and do it directly from a Member of the Triune Godhead. The most likely Member who would have done that is the 2nd Person who would later come to earth physically as a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – Jesus.
VK: Well, let’s be sure that everybody is aware of what we’re talking about. In the earliest parts of scripture – Genesis and Exodus – God found it necessary to occasionally intervene directly in the affairs of one of His servants to ensure that His plans either stayed on track or were put back on track. The Angel of the Lord appeared to Hagar because Hagar was significant in the life of Abraham. Obviously, keeping Isaac alive was significant to the plan of salvation. In Moses’ case God was going to use Moses to free His chosen people from bondage in Egypt. This was both necessary physically to return the Jews to their promised land but also as a forerunner of what would happen in Jesus’ life. So, the Angel of the Lord is essentially acting as an instrument of the Lord’s plans to ensure they stay on track.
RD: Exactly. So, let’s skip forward a little. After Moses led the Hebrews through the desert he died. Then, Joshua actually led them into the land they would occupy. To strengthen Joshua for the tasks that lay ahead of him, a slightly mysterious figure appears to Joshua as the Hebrews are beginning to drive the pagan nations out. Scripture describes as “the commander of the LORD’s army.” Most commentators identify this figure as a “Christophany.” It was this figure who gave Joshua the specific instructions for how to defeat the city of Jericho.
VK: A “theophany” [THE-OFF-O-KNEE] is a manifestation of God in the Bible that is tangible to the human senses. A Christophany is a manifestation of Christ to human senses other than when Jesus was physically on the earth. Many commentators will use the term “Christophany” to refer to a visible appearance of Christ in the Old Testament because obviously, at that time, Jesus was not yet born.
RD: Yes. So, if this is a Christophany, then this is also a pre-incarnate appearance of the 2nd Person of the Trinity on the earth. This, by the way, is the only time in scripture that this specific title is used for Jesus.
VK: But the term “Angel of the Lord” will be used a few more times in the book of Judges and a couple of times in the books of Kings and Chronicles. Just as a refresher the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, are called the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch is immediately followed by the book of Joshua and Joshua is immediately followed by Judges. So, as we mentioned earlier, most of these references occur very early in the scriptures.
RD: Yes. So, all of these references to either the Angel of the Lord or the Commander of the Lord’s armies tell us something very important.
VK: Which is?
RD: Jesus was very active in the plan of salvation long before He adopted a human nature and was born as a baby in Bethlehem. This is important to understand for a couple of reasons. First, it reinforces the eternality of Jesus. Scripture makes reference to this but it can tend to slip our minds.
VK: We see Christ’s eternality as part of the Triune Godhead in the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” That’s the New International Version.
RD: Right. And there are other places in scripture such as Colossians 1:16 that make the same point. But while we may intellectually know that the 2nd Person of the Trinity is eternal, we may not always think that He has always been active in directing the progress of the plan of salvation. But, of course, He was. Certainly, Jesus’ most visible role in the Bible is in the Gospels which record His life on this earth and his life, ministry, death, and resurrection. But it would be an error to think that Jesus’ role in our salvation did not start until He was born. It began long before – even before, as the Bible puts it, “the foundation of the world.”
VK: Well, this observation points out the need for us to read and become familiar with the entire Bible. There are no appearances of the Angel of the Lord or the Commander of the Lord’s armies in the New Testament. There are some Christians who think that you can gain all you need to know about the Christian faith from the New Testament. But this study on the Angel of the Lord points out the fallacy in that view. We cannot have a truly comprehensive view of the role Jesus played in our salvation if we don’t go all the way back to the beginning of the Bible. Again, these appearances of the Angel of the Lord are in the very first books of the Bible.
RD: That’s a great observation. So, another point we need to keep in mind is that Christ acting as the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, but not doing so in the New, helps us see the unity of scripture and the coherence of the Christian faith. Of course all the Members of the Trinity have always been active in creation and redemption. But each has their own role they play in the grand, cosmic drama. And, in their actions, they complement one another to achieve a single purpose, but they don’t step on each other. They act in perfect harmony. Each Person performs their own duties, if you will, but they are perfect in complementing each other and in keeping the plan moving toward the goal of saving the elect.
VK: I see what you’re saying. Christ, the 2nd Person of the Trinity, was chosen to be the Person who would assume a human nature. Then, because He retained His divine nature, Christ was perfectly suited to be a mediator between God and man as the books of 1 (first) Timothy and Hebrews put it. But even before that time arrived in the history of salvation Christ was appearing at certain times and places to keep the plan on track.
RD: Right. The Angel of the Lord appeared to some of the most important people in the Bible such as Abraham, Moses, and David. But He also appeared to ordinary people - a servant girl and to Samson’s parents to tell them of Samson’s upcoming birth. In the book of Numbers the Angel of the Lord appears to a wicked prophet named Balaam when Balaam is about to make a very bad mistake and He appeared to King David after David had committed one of his more egregious sins. In those appearances the Angel of the Lord has a drawn sword in his hand – a suitable accompaniment for preventing or correcting sin. All of this reminds us that God and Christ are concerned with the affairs of both the high and the low. And they are as able to influence the history of the biggest plan in all of history – the redemption of God’s elect – all the while acting in seemingly the most simple of ways such as helping a distressed servant girl.
VK: So, part of what you’re saying is that scripture is very consistent as it reports the actions of God and even of the individual members of the Trinity. After God the Son assumed His human nature in Jesus He never again appeared as the Angel of the Lord. This doesn’t mean He couldn’t. Only that He didn’t. The most prominent appearance of a Christophany after Jesus ascended was to the Apostle Paul on the Road to Damascus. And when Paul asked, who was the one appearing to him in the blinding heavenly light, Jesus plainly stated “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!” That’s Acts, chapter 9, verse 5. The fact that the appearances of the Angel of the Lord are all in the Old Testament seems to be significant. God is a God of order. Before Jesus adopted His human nature the Angel of the Lord was an appropriate way for Jesus to reveal himself at selected times and places. After Jesus assumed His human nature He will now possess that nature for all time. And it is Jesus with His human nature who is said to be seated in the place of honor – at the right hand of God in heaven.
RD: Right. The Angel of the Lord is slightly enigmatic, but a very significant figure in the Bible. The appearances of the Angel of the Lord as pre-incarnate appearances of God the Son make perfect sense in the overall plan of redemption and salvation. Christ used the role as the Angel of the Lord to help direct the plan of salvation before He took on His human nature. And as the Angel of the Lord Christ used whatever appearance made sense for the situation. When He wanted to get the attention of a sinner, even David, He appeared with a sword. But in the appearance to Hagar or to Samson’s parents there was no need for a sword. On those occasions He was there to provide counseling or encouragement. And when Joshua was embarking on a military quest to conquer Canaan Christ appears as the Commander of the Lord’s Armies. The appearance is always suitable for the person and the occasion – just what you expect from a God who both superintends the ends but never loses sight of the means and always expresses love for His children.
VK: Well, next time we’ll turn our attention to another subject that can cause some confusion in the minds of believers as well as unbelievers – the Holy Spirit and the role this 3rd Person of the Trinity plays in the plan of salvation and the life of Christians. This sounds like a good time for a prayer. Since there is a desperate need in our nation for the wisdom of God to light a path to truth and freedom, today let’s pray a prayer for the restoration of the worship of the One True God.
---- PRAYER FOR RESTORATION OF THE WORSHIP OF THE ONE TRUE GOD (MARCUS).
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(Bible Quote from the New Living Translation)
Revelation, chapter 14, verses 17 and 18, New International Version
Topical Bible: Angel (biblehub.com)
Topical Bible: Satan (biblehub.com)
Topical Bible: Lucifer (biblehub.com)
Joshua 5:14 Commentaries: He said, "No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, "What has my lord to say to his servant?" (biblehub.com)
How Jesus is Both God and Man: The Chalcedonian Creed & The Two Natures of Christ — SOLA
What is a theophany? What is a Christophany? | GotQuestions.org
Expositions Of Holy Scripture, Alexander MacLaren
You will observe that there run throughout the whole of the Old Testament notices of the occasional manifestation of a mysterious person who is named ‘the Angel,’ ‘the Angel of the Lord.’ For instance, in the great scene in the wilderness, where the bush burned and was not consumed, he who appeared is named ‘the Angel of the Lord’; and his lips declare ‘I am that I am.’ In like manner, soon after, the divine voice speaks to Moses of ‘the Angel in whom is My name.’
When Balaam had his path blocked amongst the vineyards, it was a replica of the figure of my text that stayed his way, a man with a drawn sword in his hand, who spoke in autocratic and divine fashion. When the parents of Samson were apprised of the coming birth of the hero, it was ‘the Angel of the Lord’ that appeared to them, accepted their sacrifice, declared the divine will, and disappeared in a flame of fire from the altar. A psalm speaks of ‘the Angel of the Lord’ as encamping round about them that fear him, and delivering them. Isaiah tells us of the ‘Angel of his face,’ who was ‘afflicted in all Israel’s afflictions, and saved them.’ And the last prophetic utterance of the Old Testament is most distinct and remarkable in its strange identification and separation of Jehovah and the Angel, when it says, ‘the Lord shall suddenly come to His Temple, even the Angel of the Covenant.’ Now, if we put all these passages-and they are but select instances-if we put all these passages together, I think we cannot help seeing that there runs, as I said, throughout the whole of the Old Testament a singular strain of revelation in regard to a Person who, in a remarkable manner, is distinguished from the created hosts of angel beings, and also is distinguished from, and yet in name, attributes, and worship all but identified with, the Lord Himself.