THE ANGEL OF THE LORD
What does the Bible teach about the “Angel of the Lord”? Not angels in general. That is another discussion. No, there is someone in the Old Testament who is consistently called “THE” Angel of the Lord. Who is He and what do we learn from Him? Well, it’s in the Bible, so you know it has something to do with our Lord Jesus Christ.
People have been talking about the identity of this person for centuries. There is no doubt that there is some mystery involved as to exactly who He was. But He is definitely a prominent figure in the Old Testament narrative, and there is much to learn, I believe, upon a closer look. It is not something to argue about. It is not merely a theological doctrine. It has something to do with Jesus, and anything that has to do with Jesus, I want to know about.
He is definitely different from other angels. The word angel means messenger, and angels are created beings who go forth to do the work of God. Again, the Bible has much to say about angels. But this situation is unique. This individual, the Angel of the Lord, is not just an ordinary messenger. He speaks and acts with divine authority. There is something very different and unusual about Him.
One clue as to His identity is the fact that He is referred to as the Lord. While that may not be as cut and dried as to His identity as it sounds, it is definitely a clue. Hagar met this Angel of the Lord when she went into the wilderness, and she said to Him, “You are the God who beholds me” (Genesis 16:13). We also see this Angel making covenant promises with divine authority. And He is portrayed as being omniscient—that is, knowing all things.
It was the Angel of the Lord who spoke at the last moment to stop Abraham from offering Isaac. He said to the great patriarch, “For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me” (Genesis 22:12). That sounds like far more than other angels we read about in the Bible.
In the story of Moses at the burning bush, great insight appears to be given to the Angel’s identity. At first, it is the Angel of the Lord who is speaking to Moses, but then we are quickly informed that it is the Lord Himself who is speaking. Because when Moses asked who He was, He said: “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). Now, it is possible that the Lord was simply speaking through the Angel of the Lord, but the interchange here of the Angel of the Lord and God seems to suggest that this is God Himself.
The Angel of the Lord here also requires Moses to remove his sandals because he is standing on “holy ground” (Exodus 3:5). Such a directive supports the fact that this was the presence of God in the burning bush. It was a sacred time. No other Angel spoke this way about being in His presence.
In the wilderness, when Moses was leading the people to the land of promise, the Angel of the Lord was in the driver’s seat. He was the one leading Moses and the Israelites. He proceeds behind them as a pillar of cloud and fire to protect them from the Egyptians (Exodus 14:19). So He was the one who led the people of God. He did not just deliver messages to the people of God or help the people of God, but He led them. He was a mediator and He had judgmental qualities that only God should possess. So He was not just a protector, but He was a very important leader.
One of the most amazing references to the Angel of the Lord takes place in one of the prophet Zachariah’s visions. The angel was an advocate for Joshua, the high priest, in a courtroom against Satan. Satan accuses Joshua, and the Angel takes Joshua’s sin from him and replaces his “filthy clothes” with clean ones (Zechariah 3:1-7). So consider what that means. The Angel of the Lord has the ability to cleanse one from their sins. To make people clean and whole and purified. Something that we see Jesus doing in His ministry upon this earth.
We see the balanced character of God in the Angel of the Lord, because we also see Him as a deliverer of God’s judgment and wrath. King David committed sin and the Angel brought judgment upon Jerusalem, which was only restrained by the authority of God (1 Chronicles 21:15). God is a God of judgment, and this is portrayed by the actions of the Angel.
So the indication is that the Angel has two responsibilities: to judge and to deliver. John the Baptist said of Jesus that He baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11). In other words, the Son of God is either your Savior or your Judge. This seems to be foreshadowed in the work of the Angel of the Lord.
Therefore, it is not surprising that many Bible students and teachers take the position that the Angel of the Lord was a pre-incarnate (before He became a man in Bethlehem’s manger) appearance of Jesus Christ. Theologically that is called a Christophany. Is that who the Angel of the Lord was? Was this Jesus Himself before He became known as Jesus and became flesh and blood and lived on this earth an entire human life?
If so, this explains many things. It explains why He is the only Angel who accepted worship. And it explains why He speaks with authority, has the authority to judge, and is an agent of divine wrath, and yet is also not the same being as God the Father.
What we see the Angel doing in the Old Testament, such as giving Gideon the power that he needed (Judges 6:11-24) and making the divine promise of Samson’s birth (Judges 13:3-22), is definitely consistent with a foreshadowing of the ministry of Jesus, which we see later in the Bible.
It is also very enlightening to notice that the Angel of the Lord is not mentioned in the New Testament after Jesus was born. Why is that? Is it because the role that He played before He became a human was no longer needed AFTER He became a human? That He represents us and does the things that the Angel of the Lord did in the Old Testament now as God in the flesh?
What we definitely learn from the Angel of the Lord is that God has always worked in the lives of His people in the same way that He works now. He warns against rebellion against Him and forgives those who turn away from that rebellion. He has always done mediatorial and sacrificial work that is akin to the work that Jesus Himself did.
If the Angel of the Lord is indeed Christ before He became Jesus of Nazareth, then we must not make the colossal mistake of thinking that Jesus is an “angel” like other angels. Again, the word Angel means messenger, so He could just as easily be called the Messenger of the Lord. If the Angel of the Lord is Jesus, He is far more than an angel like Michael or Gabriel and all the other angels who are created by God. Jesus is not a created being. Jesus is the Son of God. He is the eternal “I AM.” He is far more than a “deified angel.” He is literally God in human form. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift and the way that He relates to us through His Son Jesus Christ.
Bryan Dewayne Dunaway
