Jesus was the angel of the lord

JESUS WAS THE ANGEL OF THE LORD
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Who Is the Angel of the Lord?
by JaysonBradley
The angelof the Lord is an enigmatic figure who appears in numerous
passagesthroughout the Old Testament. This angelis often believed to be the
secondmember of the Trinity—Jesus Christ himself.
In the Old Testament, the Bible often blurs the line betweenthe angelof the
Lord and God, sometimes calling the angel Godoutright. At other times, the
angelof the Lord is clearly distinct from God.
So are these pre-New Testamentreferences to the Trinity? Who is the angelof
the Lord?
Jesus in the Old Testament
One of the most persuasive arguments for Scripture’s legitimacyis the fact
that as the story progresses,it sheds light on what came before. Throughout
the New Testament, we’re introduced to principles and concepts that
illuminate passagesthat weren’t entirely clearor obvious.
This happens in the form of theophanies—physicalmanifestations ofGod that
we can now recognize as being Jesus. The Old Testament’s angelof the Lord
is a perfect example of a theophany. When you begin to look closerat this
biblical figure, you recognize three crucial truths that identify this character
as Jesus:
He is identified as God.
He is distinct from God.

He fulfills many of the roles and ministries we recognize in Jesus.
Let’s take a closerlook at this enigmatic figure. But first, let’s respond to a
couple of questions you might have.
Aren’t angels createdbeings?!
When we hear the word “angels,” we tend to fall back on the image of winged
beings. We’re conditioned to think of angels as an order of beings createdby
God—and in a lot of instances, that’s probably accurate. The biblical
seraphim (Isaiah 6) and cherubim (Exodus 25:20)would fall in this category.
But that’s not the angelic standard. The Hebrew word translatedas angelis
malakh, and it simply means “messenger.”
Sure. Some angels are createdbeings with wings, but that’s not the norm.
More often than not, angels look just like you and me. When we think of them
as messengers orenvoys, we realize that almostanyone could technically be an
angel.
Fun fact: There are actually eight types of angels and demons in the Bible.
Isn’t there an angelof the Lord in the New Testament?
God has plenty of messengers throughoutScripture. Anyone of them could be
called“an angelof the Lord.” Angels of the Lord appearedin the New
Testamentto Joseph(Matthew 1:20) and Peter(Acts 12:7). But that’s not the
same messengerwe’re talking about here.
The messengerthat plays tour guide to John in Revelationisn’t the angel of
the Lord from the Old Testament. As we’ll see in a moment, the Old
Testament’s angelof the Lord acceptedworship, but look at what the angelof
the Lord in Revelationsays to John:
I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and
saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showedme these
things. But he said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servantof yours and
of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book.
Worship God” (Revelation22:8–9, NASB).

Let’s examine what’s unique about the angel of the Lord. We’ll do a quick
overview of some biblical character’s interactions with the angel, and follow it
up with a cheat-sheetrecapof clues we pick up about the angel’s identity from
eachexchange.
Hagarand the angelof the Lord (Genesis 16:8–14)
When God’s promise of a child to the aging Abram and Saraidoesn’t happen
as quickly as they think it should, Saraisuggeststhat maybe it’s God’s will
that they have a child via her maid, Hagar. Abram agrees,and Hagargets
pregnant. Afterward, Sarai becomes jealous andmistreats her maid.
The angelof the Lord finds Hagar by a spring in the desert, and they have the
following exchange:
He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you
going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence ofmy mistress Sarai.”
Then the angelof the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit
yourself to her authority.” Moreover, the angelof the Lord said to her, “I will
greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count”
(Genesis 16:8–10)
It’s interesting to note that this messengerofGod gives Hagara promise
basedon his own authority. He tells her, “I will multiply your descendants.”
After uttering more prophetic—and let’s face it, omniscient—promises about
her child (verse 12), we see Hagar’s response to the exchange.
Then she calledthe name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who
sees”;for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?”
Therefore the well was calledBeer-lahai-roi;behold, it is betweenKadesh and
Bered(Genesis 16:13–14).
Hagarrecognizes that she’s speaking to divinity and is even surprised that
she’s allowedto live after seeing him. As a testimony to this experience, she
named the spring “the wellof the living one who sees me.”

Cheatsheet:
Omniscience:Tells Hagarthe future of her descendants
Omnipotence: Promises to make a specific future occur
Recognizedas God:Hagar calls the angel “a God who sees”
Correlationwith Christ: This exchange has a familiar tenderness to it that we
recognize from Jesus’comforting presence in the gospels.Like the woman
caught in adultery (John 8:1–11), Hagarhas been misused, and the angel
comes alongside herin a sympathetic and understanding way.
Abraham and the angelof the Lord (Genesis 22:11–12)
The next time we see the angel, Abraham and Isaac are on their way up
Mount Moriahto make a sacrifice. Isaacdoesn’tknow that he is going to be
the sacrifice. GodaskedAbraham to sacrifice his son, and Abraham his
heading up the mountain to show his obedience.
But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham,
Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not stretch out your hand
againstthe lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God,
since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (Genesis
22:11–12)
Remember, God is the one that askedAbraham to sacrifice Isaac. Whenthe
angelstops him, he acknowledgesAbraham’s compliance by referring to God
in the first person: “you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
Cheatsheet
Identifies as God: The angellinks himself as the God who commanded
Abraham’s sacrifice.
Jacoband the angelof the Lord (Genesis 31:13)
Abraham’s grandsonJacobwas traveling and stopped for an evening to rest.
While he was sleeping, he had his famous dream about the ladder (Genesis
28:12). During this dream, God spoke to Jacoband told him that the land he

was lying on would be given to his descendants. Those ancestors wouldbe
abundant, and they would be a blessing to the rest of the world (verses 13–14).
When Jacobawoke the next morning, he put up a pillar of remembrance and
calledthe place Bethel, meaning “the house of God.”
Many years later, Jacobhas married the two daughters of an unscrupulous
man named Laban. After suffering much at Laban’s hand, Jacobfinds
himself being cheatedout of livestock. In another vision, the angel of God
appears to Jacobto help remedy the situation. In the midst of that
conversation, the angelsays something very curious.
“I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow
to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.”
(Genesis 31:13).
The angelidentifies himself as God—the very God that spoke to Jacoball
those years ago, who he memorialized with an altar.
Cheatsheet
Identifies as God: The angeldescribes himself as the God who previously
interacted with Jacob.
Moses andthe angelof the Lord (Exodus 3)
After killing an Egyptian for mistreating Jewishslaves, Mosesfled and took
up a whole new life as a shepherd and husband. One day while pasturing his
father-in-law’s flock, he had a profound experience with the angel of the
Lord.
The angelof the Lord appearedto him in a blazing fire from the midst of a
bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush
was not consumed. So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this
marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.”
When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God calledto him from the
midst of the bush and said, “Moses,Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then

He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the
place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said also, “Iam the God
of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, andthe God of Jacob.”
Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God (Exodus 3:1–6).
If you’re not paying attention, it’s easyto miss the fact that it’s the angelof
the Lord that appears to Moses inthe bush. After all, it only mentions the
word angelonce. Throughout the rest of the exchange, we’re told that Moses
is speaking to God.
In fact, it’s during this exchange that God’s name is revealed:
Then Moses saidto God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will
say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say
to me, ‘What is His name?’What shall I sayto them?” God said to Moses, “I
AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall sayto the sons of Israel, ‘I
AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:13–14).
If Exodus 3 was the only biblical proof that there was something fishy going
on with the “angelof the Lord,” it would be enough. It’s possible that the
angelis operating here as God’s receptionist, grabbing Moses’attentionand
then following it up with a “please hold for the almighty God.” But that’s not
very likely (especiallywith all the other evidence available).
To really graspthe implications of this passage, it’s goodto read the entire
chapter.
Cheatsheet
Identifies as God: If we weren’t told at the beginning this was an angel, we
wouldn’t even know it. The rest of the narrative shows Mosesspeaking to
God.
Recognizedas God:Moses turns his face awaybecause he is afraid to look
upon God (verse 6).
Demands worship: The angel tells Moses to remove his shoes because the
ground in the angel’s presence is holy.

Omniscience:The angel tells Moses he has heard the cries of the afflicted in
Egypt (verse 7).
Omnipotence: The angel’s message is that he will use Moses to deliver his
people. Throughout the exchange, the angelpromises to display his power to
Egypt.
Omnipresence:When Moses expresses doubt, the angelpromises to be with
him (verse 12).
Immutability: When the angelreveals the name of God as “I AM,” it signifies
God’s timeless and unchangeable nature.
Correlationwith Christ: Here we see the angelof the Lord demonstrating a
characteristic we recognize fromJesus’ministry. He is empowering Moses to
release his people from bondage (Luke 4:16–21).
The angelof the Lord as protector (Exodus 14:19–20)
The Israelites might have escapedEgypt, but they’re still incredibly
vulnerable. In Exodus 13, we’re told:
The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on
the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might
travel by day and by night. He did not take awaythe pillar of cloud by day,
nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people (Exodus 13:21–22).
As Pharaoh changes his mind and comes afterthe Israelites, we see God’s
strategyshift from leading Israelto standing guard betweenEgypt’s army
and Israel. Only this time, the identity of the protector changes:
The angelof God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and
went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood
behind them. So it came betweenthe camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel;
and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night.
Thus the one did not come near the other all night (Exodus 14:19–20,
emphasis added).

The pillars of cloud and fire that had been leading the Israelites were linked to
the Lord, but then it’s identified with the angel of the Lord. This is another
clearexample where the two identities are used interchangeably.
Cheatsheet
Identified as God: At one moment the guiding phenomenon is linked to God,
and later identified as the angelof the Lord.
The angelof the Lord and Balaam(Numbers 22:22–35)
Balaamwas an unfaithful prophet who used God’s powerto make money as a
soothsayerto Balak, the king of Moab. To Balaam’s credit, where Balak
wanted him to curse the Israelites, Balaamcontinually pronounced God’s
words of blessing over them.
But the fact that Balaamkept interacting with Balak’s elders—andeven
wanted to pronounce a curse on Israel to earn some extra coin (Deuteronomy
23:3–6)—made Balaama terrible prophet whose main concernwas “the
wages ofunrighteousness” (2 Peter2:15–16).
On a trip to visit Balak, Godintervened:
But God was angry because he was going, and the angelof the Lord took his
stand in the way as an adversaryagainsthim. Now he was riding on his
donkey and his two servants were with him. When the donkey saw the angel
of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn swordin his hand, the donkey
turned off from the way and went into the field; but Balaamstruck the
donkey to turn her back into the way. Then the angel of the Lord stood in a
narrow path of the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side.
While we often see the angelof the Lord speaking as God—andbeing
recognizedas such, we can clearlysee a distinction being made betweenGod
and the angel of the Lord. We canpotentially see this contrastas a pre-New
Testamentclue to the Trinity.
The donkey is aware ofthe angel’s presence, but Balaamis not. Unable to get
around the divine obstacle, the donkey lays down. And in his anger to getthe
donkey to move, Balaambegins striking the donkey.

God opens the mouth of the donkey and immediately the frustrated animal
begins chewing out the prophet, “What have I done to you, that you have
struck me these three times? Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden
all your life to this day? Have I ever been accustomedto do so to you?”
(Numbers 22:28–30).
God immediately opens Balaam’s eyes so he can see what’s going on:
Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angelof the Lord
standing in the way with his drawn swordin his hand; and he bowedall the
way to the ground. The angelof the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck
your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary,
because your way was contrary to me. But the donkey saw me and turned
aside from me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, I would
surely have killed you just now, and let her live’ (Numbers 22:31–33).
As we’ve seenin past examples, the angel takes Balaam’s disobedience
personally. He doesn’t merely speak on God’s behalf; he says, “your way was
contrary to me” (verse 32). To add an extra layer of autonomy and authority
to the discussion, the angelsays that he planned to kill the prophet if things
had gone another way.
Cheatsheet
Distinct from God: Here we see both God and the angel of the Lord as
separate agents in the same story.
Identified as God: The angelidentifies Balaam’s sin as a personal affront.
Sovereignty:The angeltalks about potentially taking Balaam’s life, but it
doesn’t appearto be an order. The comment is delivered in a way that
indicates the angel’s ownauthority.
The angelof the Lord confronts Israel (Judges 2:1–5)
Judges is a book that chronicles Israel’s tendencytoward rebellion. Right out
of the gate, the angelof the Lord rebukes the waywardnation:

Now the angelof the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I
brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to
your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you, and as for
you, you shall make no covenantwith the inhabitants of this land; you shall
tear down their altars.’But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have
done?
Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they will
become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’” When
the angelof the Lord spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people
lifted up their voices and wept. So they named that place Bochim; and there
they sacrificedto the Lord (Judges 2:1–5).
Notice the angelof the Lord points to himself as the one who delivered Israel
from the Egyptians, is the keeperofIsrael’s covenant, and requires obedience.
As a consequence oftheir insubordination, the angelinforms the Hebrew
nation that he’s withdrawing his protection from them.
Cheatsheet
Identifies as God: Throughout this passage, the angeltakes credit for things
the entire biblical witness associateswith God.
The angelof the Lord commissions Samson(Judges 13)
Before the mighty Samsonwas born, the angelof the Lord came to Manoah
and his wife to inform them that their son would deliver Israelfrom the
Philistines. He first appearedto Manoah’s wife, and she describedhim to her
husband as looking like a man, but having the appearance ofan (awesome)
angelof God (Judges 13:6).
So despite the factthat this messengerdoesn’thave wings, there is something
in the angel’s appearance andauthority that indicates that he’s more than
human. After an intense experience (seriously, you just need to read the whole
thing), Manoahtells his wife, “We will surely die, for we have seenGod”
(verse 22).

At one point during their exchange, Manoahaskedthe angelfor his name.
The angel replied, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” The
word the angelused for wonderful is closelyrelatedto the word Isaiah uses to
describe the coming Messiah:
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And His name will be calledWonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace(Isaiah9:6, emphasis added).
Cheatsheet
Sovereignty:The angelinforms Manoahand his wife how he plans to use
Samson.
Identified as God: Monoahrecognizes thatthey have seenGod (verse 22).
Accepts worship: When Manoahoffers to sacrifice a goatto the angel, the
angeltells him to sacrifice it to the Lord. But the author of Judges tells us that
the angelonly said that because Manoahdidn’t understand who he was
talking to (verses 15–16). Whenit’s all over and Manoahis worried about
being killed for seeing God, his wife tells him “If the Lord had desired to kill
us, He would not have accepteda burnt offering and a grain offering from our
hands . . .” (verse 23).
Correlationwith Christ: The angel of the Lord refuses to give Manoahhis
name because it is wonderful (or incomprehensible), which seems to hint to his
identity as Wonderful, Counselor, and Mighty God(Isaiah 9:6).
The angelof the Lord and David’s disobedience (1 Chronicles 21)
First Chronicles 21 tells us that Sataninfluenced David to number Israel. It
seems that David wantedto celebrate in the strength of his army. In his anger,
the Lord allows David to choose fromthree equally terrifying judgments:
three years of famine, three months of being overrun by enemies, or three
days of pestilence and destruction in Israel. David chose the latter (1
Chronicles 21:11–13).

After 70,000 Israelite males fellto illness, God sent the angelof the Lord to
destroy Jerusalem, but at the lastmoment called off the destruction (verse 15).
David in seeing the angelof the Lord with his sword drawn over Jerusalem,
repented and beggedfor God to take his wrath out on David’s household and
not on Israel.
The angelof the Lord commanded David to build an altar on the threshing
floor of a Jebusite named Ornan. So David negotiateda fair price for the site,
built the altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. When he had
done this, God commanded the angelof the Lord to sheathhis sword(verses
18–27).
In this story, we see the angel of the Lord executing God’s judgment. This is in
keeping with some of the language and imagery of the New Testament
regarding Jesus. In Revelation19, we see Jesus returning as the earth’s judge.
And Jesus himself says that the Father doesn’t judge anyone, but that
judgment belongs to the Son (John 5:22).
Cheatsheet
Correlationwith Christ: The angel of the Lord executes judgment over
Jerusalem—a role associatedwith Jesus.
The angelof the Lord and Zechariah(Zechariah 1:12, 3:4)
Zechariah’s prophecies give us the clearestpicture of the angelof the Lord
operating in a way we normally associate withJesus.
The book begins by spelling out God’s frustration with Israel. Zechariah
experiences a vision of the angelof the Lord, and at one point, the angel
speaks to heaven, “O Lord of hosts, how long will You have no compassionfor
Jerusalemand the cities of Judah, with which You have been indignant these
seventy years?” (Zechariah1:12)
Here we see the angelof the Lord operating as an intermediary betweenGod
and his rebellious people. This is the role that Jesus plays. As Paul tells
Timothy, “Forthere is one God, and one mediator also betweenGod and men,
the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).

In Zechariah’s third chapter, we see this scene:
Then he showedme Joshua the high priest standing before the angelof the
Lord, and Satanstanding at his right hand to accuse him. The Lord said to
Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has chosen
Jerusalemrebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
Now Joshua was clothedwith filthy garments and standing before the angel.
He spoke and saidto those who were standing before him, saying, “Remove
the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have takenyour
iniquity awayfrom you and will clothe you with festal robes.” ThenI said,
“Let them put a cleanturban on his head.” So they put a cleanturban on his
head and clothed him with garments, while the angelof the Lord was standing
by.
And the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, “Thus says the Lord of
hosts, ‘If you will walk in My ways and if you will perform My service, then
you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will
grant you free accessamong these who are standing here (Zechariah 3:1–7).
If there is a more perfectimage of Christ’s ministry in the Old Testament, I
don’t know what it is. Here we see the angelof the Lord standing between
Satan’s accusations and Joshua the high priest. Then the angeltakes away
Joshua’s iniquity, which is symbolized by filthy garments.
The prophet Isaiahuses the same metaphor when he says, “Forall of us have
become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy
garment” (Isaiah 64:6a). It’s Jesus whose righteousnessreplacesour inequity,
and this is expressedwith a similar metaphor in Revelation:
He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase
his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father
and before His angels (Revelation3:5, emphasis added).
Cheatsheet

Correlationwith Christ: Zechariahportrays the angelof the Lord as a
mediator for Israel, an opponent of Satan, and a purifier of the righteous.
These are all ministries associatedwith Jesus in the New Testament.
Is the angelof the Lord Jesus?
This is just a smattering of encounters with the angelof the Lord. But it’s
fairly evident that these are actuallystories of pre-incarnate encounters with
Jesus. Theyfeature all the hallmarks of the secondpersonin the Trinity.
The angelof the Lord is God
He speaks ofAbraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac as obedience to him
(Genesis 22:12).
The angelidentifies himself to Moses as “IAM” (Exodus 3:14).
After his experience with the angel, Manoahis afraid that he won’t live after
looking upon God (Judges 13:22).
The angelof the Lord is distinct from God
The angelshows up with Balaamin response to God’s anger(Numbers 22:22).
God dispatches the angelof the Lord to carry out justice (1 Chronicles 21)
The angelentreats God on behalf of Israel(Zechariah 1:12).
The angelof the Lord carried out work associatedwith Christ
The angeldisplays the same kind of comfort with Hagarthat we associate
with Jesus (Genesis 16:7–14).
The angelis a deliverer from bondage in Egypt, just as Jesus delivers people
from physical and spiritual shacklesin the New Testament(Exodus 3:8).
The angelremoves the stain of the high priests sin similar to Christ’s ministry
to us. (Zechariah 3:4).
Stories of the pre-incarnate Christ

It’s no wonder that early church fathers like Tertullian and Justin Martyr
recognizedthese encounters as glimpses of the timeless Christ. And it’s
revelations like these—onesthatcome in retrospect—thatgive the Bible a
sense ofcoherence and trustworthiness.
If the Trinity is true and Jesus is a member of the godhead, you would expect
to see him at work throughout the story of Israeltold in the Old Testament.
And as it turns out, you do. Jesus is at work as the angelof God, carrying out
a very similar ministry that we recognize in his incarnation!
Question:"Who is the angelof the Lord?"
Answer: The precise identity of the “angelof the Lord” is not given in the
Bible. However, there are many important “clues” to his identity. There are
Old and New Testamentreferencesto “angels ofthe Lord,” “anangel of the
Lord,” and “the angelof the Lord.” It seems when the definite article “the” is
used, it is specifying a unique being, separate from the other angels. The angel
of the Lord speaks as God, identifies Himself with God, and exercisesthe
responsibilities of God (Genesis 16:7-12;21:17-18;22:11-18;Exodus 3:2;
Judges 2:1-4; 5:23; 6:11-24;13:3-22;2 Samuel 24:16;Zechariah 1:12; 3:1;
12:8). In severalof these appearances,those who saw the angel of the Lord
fearedfor their lives because they had “seenthe Lord.” Therefore, it is clear
that in at leastsome instances, the angelof the Lord is a theophany, an
appearance ofGod in physical form.
The appearancesofthe angelof the Lord ceaseafterthe incarnation of Christ.
Angels are mentioned numerous times in the New Testament, but “the angel
of the Lord” is never mentioned in the New Testamentafter the birth of
Christ. There is some confusionregarding Matthew 28:2, where the KJV says

“the angelof the Lord” descendedfrom heaven and rolled the stone away
from Jesus’tomb. It is important to note that the original Greek has no article
in front of angel;it could be “the angel” or“an angel,” but the article must be
supplied by the translators. Other translations besides the KJV say it was “an
angel,” which is the better wording.
It is possible that appearances ofthe angelof the Lord were manifestations of
Jesus before His incarnation. Jesus declaredHimself to be existent “before
Abraham” (John 8:58), so it is logicalthat He would be active and manifest in
the world. Whateverthe case, whetherthe angelof the Lord was a pre-
incarnate appearance of Christ (Christophany) or an appearance ofGod the
Father (theophany), it is highly likely that the phrase “the angel of the Lord”
usually identifies a physical appearance ofGod.
https://www.gotquestions.org/angel-of-the-Lord.html
Is Jesus Christ The Angel of The Lord? – Finding Christ In The Old
Testament
June 19, 2014 By Beginning and End
Who did Mosessee in the burning bush? It was Jesus Christ.
Is Jesus The Angel of The Lord? Does Jesus ChristAppear In The Old
Testament? WhatWas Jesus Doing During Old TestamentTimes?-A Biblical
Study
Searchthe scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternallife: and they are
they which testify of me. – Jesus Christ, John 5:39.
When Jesus Christ made the statementabove, the “scriptures” atthe time
consistedsolelyof the Old Testament. And it raises a question that is often
askedin the church – where is Jesus Christ in The Old Testament? Was Jesus

sitting in Heaven just observing the world during the time of the Old
Testamentor was He actively interacting with humanity and appearing all
throughout the Scriptures? This article will show that Jesus Christindeed
appears throughout the Old Testamentand that the conceptof God existing in
more than one personwas well-understood in ancient Jewishculture. And the
mysterious Angel of The Lord, featured in the Old Testament, is indeed the
Savior, Jesus Christ.
The Testimony of Jesus ChristHimself
The Book ofJohn provides the answerall on its own.
No man hath seenGod at any time, the only begottenSon, which is in the
bosom of the Father, he hath declaredhim. – John 1:18.
Not that any man hath seenthe Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen
the Father. – John 6:46.
These two verses alone provide compelling Biblical evidence that Jesus Christ
physically appears in the Old Testament. In both verses above The Lord Jesus
Christ quite clearlystates that no man has ever seenGod The Fatherexcept
for Him. Thus it would automaticallyfollow that any physical appearance by
God in the Old Testamentwas not Godthe Father and thus was The Son,
Jesus Himself. But this study will look at many examples to provide further
proof of this.
Abraham Meets God Before the Judgment of Sodomand Gomorrah
Jesus was among the three visitors who came to Abraham’s tent.

Genesis 18 is an amazing chapter of Scripture. Abraham, the father of what
would become the children of Israel, and heir to the promise that his lineage
would bring forth the Messiah, met The Lord in person. Prior to this point,
Abraham had audible conversations with God, who spoke to the patriarch
from Heaven. But in chapter18, God literally shows up at Abraham’s
doorstep:
And the LORD appearedunto [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre: and he sat
in the tent door in the heat of the day; And [Abraham] lift up his eyes and
looked, and, lo, three men stoodby him: and when he saw them, he ran to
meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And
said, My LORD, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray
thee, from thy servant:
Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest
yourselves under the tree: And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye
your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your
servant. And they said, So do, as thou hastsaid. And Abraham hastened into
the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make readyquickly three measures of fine
meal, kneadit, and make cakes uponthe hearth. And Abraham ran unto the
herd, and fetch a calftender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he
hasted to dress it. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had
dressed, and set it before them; and he stoodby them under the tree, and they
did eat. – Genesis 18:1-8.
In verse 3, when Abraham used the phrase “My LORD”, the Hebrew term is
Adonnai, which is a title only used for God. So the Bible is clear that not only
did Abraham see and speak to God and the two angelic beings present with
Him, he ate with them and had his servants cleantheir feet. So how canwe be
sure this was GodThe Son? In addition Jesus’owntestimony that “no man
hath seenthe Father..” we can also look to the description of Jesus in
Scripture. Colossians 2 says of Jesus:“Forin him dwelleth all the fulness of
the Godheadbodily.” Jesus is the physical form of the triune God.
Hebrews 1 says:

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the
fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spokenunto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,
and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, satdown on the right hand of the Majestyon high: –
Hebrews 1:1-3.
God the Father on other hand, is a Spirit: “Godis a Spirit: and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.“ (John 4:24).
Now contrastthat description of God the Father with Jesus’owndescription
of spirits in general. The Lord Jesus Christ gives an explanation in Luke 24
after His resurrection:
And as they thus spake, Jesus himselfstoodin the midst of them, and saith
unto them, Peacebe unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and
supposedthat they had seena spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye
troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and
my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see;for a spirit hath not flesh and
bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewedthem his
hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he
said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a
broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eatbefore them. –
Luke 24:36-43.
Jacob’s Dreamof The Divine Ladder
A depiction of Jacob’s dreamof the ladder.
In Genesis 28, Jacob, the grandsonof Abraham and father of the twelve tribes
Israel, had a dream in which the promise of the Messianic blessing was given
to him directly from God:

And [Jacob]dreamed, and behold a ladder setup on the earth, and the top of
it reachedto heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending
on it. And, behold, the LORD stoodabove it, and said, I am the LORD Godof
Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac:the land whereonthou liest, to
thee will I give it, and to thy seed;And thy seedshall be as the dust of the
earth, and thou shalt spreadabroad to the west, and to the east, and to the
north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shallall the families of the
earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keepthee in all places
whither thou goest, andwill bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave
thee, until I have done that which I have spokento thee of.
And Jacobawakedout of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this
place;and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this
place!this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
And Jacobrose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put
for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And
he called the name of that place Bethel:but the name of that city was called
Luz at the first. – Genesis 28:12-19.
In verse 13, the Bible states that it was “the LORD” who appearedand when
God speaks, the text reads “I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and
the Godof Isaac:the land whereonthou liest..” The term “Lord God” is
YHWH, or Jehovahwhich is often referred to as the proper title of God.
Again it is clearthat Jacobwas speaking directly with God. But in chapter 31
of Genesis, Jacobencounters “the Angel of God” and is given a very
interesting revelationthrough a seconddream:
And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob:And I said,
Here am I. And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, allthe rams which
leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seenall
that Laban doeth unto thee. I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the
pillar, and where thou vowedsta vow unto me: now arise, getthee out from
this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.- Genesis 31:11-13.

This is the first appearance ofthis “Angel” in Scripture. And notice how He
introduces Himself to Jacob. The Angel says that He was the same God who
appearedto Jacobin the dream of the ladder. The Angel’s words confirms
that it is God, or one with God.
Moses At The Burning Bush
“Godcalled unto him out of the midst of the bush..” – Exodus 3:4.
In Exodus chapter 3, Mosesencounters Godin a burning bush. This bush was
burning with supernatural fire that did not consume the branches and bark of
the bush while it burned. It was here that Moses receivedhis mission to be the
leaderof the Israelites as God would judge their Egyptian slave masters with
a series ofplagues. And this passageleavesno doubt that the Angel of the
Lord is indeed God:
Now Moses keptthe flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and
he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of
God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the LORD appearedunto him in a flame
of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned
with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn
aside, and see this greatsight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD
saw that he turned aside to see, Godcalledunto him out of the midst of the
bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not
nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereonthou
standestis holy ground. Moreoverhe said, I am the God of thy father, the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his
face;for he was afraid to look upon God. – Exodus 3:1-6.
Once the bush had caughtMoses’attention, the Angel identifies Himself as
“the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, andthe God of Jacob.” Noticethis is
the same introduction that the Angel used with Jacob, exceptonly naming
Abraham and Isaac. And all through this passage, the Bible identifies the
Angel of the Lord as God. Again, Scripture confirms that rather than being a
normal angel, the Angel of The Lord is indeed God.

In Exodus 13, God had just completedHis final punishment on the Egyptians
at the first Passover. Pharaoh, now defeated, letthe Israelites leave Egypt. In
the wilderness, Godled the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land:
“And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them
the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and
night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by
night, from before the people.” (Exodus 13:21-22).
God provided pillars of cloud and fire to lead Israel. But who was the Angel
with Him?
God provided a literal cloud pillar (the cloud used throughout Exodus to
concealHis Presence from the Israelites – reinforcing that God the Fatheris
not to be viewed by anyone but the Son) during daytime to lead the Israelites.
In Exodus 14, Pharaoh, in his final attempt to slaughterthe children of Israel,
renegedon his promise of freedom and brought the full force of his army to
the wildness in order to attack the Israelites:
And Moses saidunto the people, Fearye not, stand still, and see the salvation
of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye
have seento day, ye shall see them againno more for ever. The LORD shall
fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. And the LORD said unto Moses,
Wherefore criestthou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go
forward… And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have
gottenme honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and
went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and
stoodbehind them: And it came betweenthe camp of the Egyptians and the
camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by
night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night. – Exodus
14:13-20.

Both the Angel of God and God in the pillar of the cloud, moved from their
position in front of the entire Israelite nation to behind them to provide a
defense againstthe encroaching Egyptian army. So not only is the Angel of the
Lord identified as God, He and God the Father both appearand operate at
the same time. This passageshows the Old Testamentdistinction betweenGod
The Fatherand The Son.
In Exodus 23, God The Fatherspecificallyrefers to the Angel:
Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keepthee in the way, and to bring thee
into the place which I have prepared. Beware ofhim, and obey his voice,
provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions:for my name is
in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak;then I
will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversaryunto thine adversaries.
– Exodus 23:20-22.
Notice the Angel has God’s “name in him.” This is a confirmation that this
Angel is no lowerranking being, but is Divine Himself (in fact“the Name” is
even a title for God in Scripture and Hebrew culture in general). This is
further confirmed when Godwarns the Israelites that if they do not obey the
voice of this Angel and provoke Him, “he will not pardon your
transgressions.”So this Angel has full authority to forgive sin. From
Scripture, Jesus Christ, during His Earthly ministry, not only forgave sins,
but was criticized for ‘trying to be God’ when He did so:
And when [Jesus]saw their faith, he saidunto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven
thee. And the scribes and the Pharisees beganto reason, saying, Who is this
which speakethblasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? – Luke
5:20-21.
So it was well known in Jewishculture that only God had the power to forgive
sins and in their opposition to Jesus, the Pharisees calledHim a blasphemer
because He dares to proclaim a man forgiven. Just as during His appearances
as the Angel of The Lord, Jesus canforgive sin, because He is God.
Joshua And The Captain Of The Host

And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes
and looked, and, behold, there stooda man over againsthim with his sword
drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and saidunto him, Art thou
for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of
the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did
worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the
captain of the LORD’s host saidunto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy
foot; for the place whereonthou standestis holy. And Joshua did so. – Joshua
5:13-15.
In this passage, the “Captain of the host of the Lord” gives Joshua the same
command the Angel of God gave to Moses atthe burning bush – to remove his
shoes becausehe was standing on holy ground. The Captain also received
Joshua’s worship-something normal angels repeatedlyrefuse to do
throughout Scripture. This was yet another appearance ofChrist in The Old
Testament.
Book ofJudges
The Angel of The Lord gives more confirmation of His Divinity in Judges
chapter 2: “And an angelof the LORD came up from Gilgalto Bochim, and
said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land
which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant
with you.” (Judges 2:1). Notice the Angel says that it was He who led the
Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land and He who made the Mosaic
covenantwith the Israelites. He is claiming responsibility for the exactsame
greatworks that are clearly attributed to Yahweh in the book of Exodus. How
can this be possible? Jesus,in the New Testamentprovides the explanation:
I and my Father are one. – Jesus Christ, John 10:30.
Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith
unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not knownme,
Philip? he that hath seenme hath seenthe Father; and how sayestthou then,
Show us the Father? Believestthou not that I am in the Father, and the
Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the
Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the

Father, and the Fatherin me: or else believe me for the very works’sake. –
John 14:8-11.
Like Jesus did in the New Testament, the Angel acts with the full authority of
God. Becausetheyin essenceare the same though different in person. Thus
the idea of the Angel of God being God is not polytheism and ancient Jews
never consideredthis belief as being the worship of “many gods.” It was the
worship of One God who exists as Father, Sonand Holy Spirit.
The Parents of Samson
Manoahidentified the Angel who announced Samson’s birth. (image:
www.samsontn.com).
Samson, the final judge over Israel in the book of Judges, was a child of
promise. His mother was unable to bear children but receiveda prophecy that
she would indeed have a child who was to be dedicatedto The Lord. In
chapter 13, the Angel of God makes anotherappearance, repeating the
instructions initially given to Samson’s mother on how the child should be
raised. But up to this point, the two parents thought this Angel was a human
“man of God” and not Divine:
And Manoahsaid unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee,
until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. And the angelof the LORD said
unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eatof thy bread: and if thou
wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. ForManoah
knew not that he was an angelof the LORD. And Manoahsaid unto the angel
of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may
do thee honour?

And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askestthou thus after my
name, seeing it is secret? So Manoahtook a kid with a meat offering, and
offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angeldid wondrously; and
Manoahand his wife lookedon. For it came to pass, when the flame went up
toward heavenfrom off the altar, that the angelof the LORD ascendedin the
flame of the altar. And Manoahand his wife lookedon it, and fell on their
faces to the ground. But the angelof the LORD did no more appear to
Manoahand to his wife. Then Manoahknew that he was an angelof the
LORD. And Manoahsaid unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have
seenGod. – Judges 13:13-22.
By the end of the encounter, Manoahrealized that the “man of God” who
entered his home was GodHimself.
Shadrach, Meshachand Abednego
Jesus saves his believers from the fire of God’s judgment.
Shadrach, Meshachand Abednego were Jewishteens living in the palace of
King Nebuchadnezzar during the Babylon captivity of Israel. After refusing to
worship a statue of the pagan king, the young men were sentencedto be
thrown into a fiery furnace for execution. When they were confrotned about
their “crime” the young men boldly proclaimed: “If it be so, our God whom
we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will
deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king,
that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast
setup.” (Daniel 3:17-18). In the face of a literal death sentence, the three
showedpowerful faith in The Lord.
When they were sent to “their deaths” the King was stunned by God’s grace
on these three youths:
And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound
into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzarthe king
was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors,
Did not we castthree men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered

and said unto the king, True, O king. He answeredand said, Lo, I see four
men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the
form of the fourth is like the Son of God… Then Nebuchadnezzarspake, and
said, Blessedbe the God of Shadrach, Meshach, andAbednego, who hath sent
his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changedthe
king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship
any god, except their own God. – Daniel 3:22-28.
The Babylonian King made the first identification of the Angel in the furnace
with the three men being “the Sonof God.” And thus there is even stronger
Biblical confirmation of Jesus’presencein the Old Testament. And this
accountalso provides a beautiful type and shadow of Christ’s work as Savior,
saving all who believe from the flames of Hell and the Lake of Fire.
The Testimony of Isaiah
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne,
high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stoodthe
seraphims: eachone had six wings;with twain he coveredhis face, and with
twain he coveredhis feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto
another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is
full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that
cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am
undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seenthe King, the LORD of hosts. –
Isaiah6:1-5.
Isaiahwas one of a handful of Biblical prophets who were given a direct vision
into the throne room of God. In this passagethe prophet describes the majesty
and awe-inspiring nature of viewing The Lord. So was Isaiahactually able to
see Godthe Father? Is this who saton the throne? In the New Testamentwe
get the answer:
Then Jesus saidunto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while
ye have the light, lestdarkness come upon you: for he that walkethin
darkness knowethnot whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the
light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and

departed, and did hide himself from them. But though he had done so many
miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: That the saying of Esaias
[Isaiah] the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath
believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
Therefore they could not believe, because thatEsaias [Isaiah]said again, He
hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see
with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I
should healthem. These things said Esaias,whenhe saw his glory, and spake
of him. – John 12:35-41.
Despite Jesus performing miracles that proved He was the prophesied
Messiahofthe Old Testament, many did not believe. In John Chapter 12,
Jesus was in Bethany eating with Lazarus – the same man Jesus had earlier
raisedfrom the dead. And just prior to the passage above, Godthe Fatherhad
just spokenfrom Heavento state that He would glorify Jesus. And yet, despite
these supernatural confirmations, some still did not believe. Why did they
resist? John quotes Isaiah chapter 6 for the answer. God“..blinded their eyes,
and hardened their heart…” – these were the words God spoke from the
throne in Isaiah6. But notice John’s conclusion:Isaiahwrote those words
when he saw “His glory, and spake ofHim.” The “Him” is Jesus Christ. So
not only was Jesus atwork on Earth as the Angel of God, we also receive
confirmation that He sits as God on the throne in Heaven.
Conclusion
From the testimony of Scripture, Lord willing, it is now clearthat the Angel of
The Lord was indeed Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Ratherthan sitting
in a reserve role until the New Testament, Christ The Lord was very active in
the greatplan of salvationthat would be fulfilled through Him and achieved
by Him. The Bible truly is all about Jesus Christ, from Genesis to Revelation.
And understanding this Biblicaltruth develops a deeperinsight into the
compassion, care andlove The Lord has for all of us. At no time did God ever
leave His people abandoned and without hope. And when strong confirmation
was needed, the Angel of God, the express of image of God Himself, appeared
to reassure, leadand empower. And today, Jesus Christ, now revealed as the

Son of God and soonto be revealedin His full glory, makes the same promise
to all who believe.
“and, lo, I am with you always, evenunto the end of the world. Amen.” –
Jesus Christ, Matthew 28:20.
https://beginningandend.com/is-jesus-christ-the-angel-of-the-lord-finding-
christ-in-the-old-testament/
September 2, 2018 by Christian Apologist
Clues that Jesus is the Angel of the LORD of the Old Testament
“On that day the Lord will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the
feeblestamong them will be like David, and the house of David will be like
God, like the angelof the Lord going before them” (Zechariah 12:8).
What is surprising to some is that the Trinitarian view of the Lord is
manifested throughout the Old Testament. While Jewishpeople acknowledge
the presence ofthe Holy Spirit in the Old Testament(c.f., the Jewish
Passover), Rabbinic Jews do not acknowledgethe presence of Jesus Christ.
Though they are familiar with passagesthatindicate that no one who has seen
the Fathercan live (c.f., Exodus 33:20), they may not realize that many have
witnessedthe Son who is the Lord’s earthly manifestation.
The intention of this blog is to enlighten those unfamiliar with the passages
concerning the angel of the LORD. Much of my work here is directly
attributable to and in appreciation of the work of PastorMike Winger. See his
video on this topic here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryCyQ
HYPERLINK "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryCyQ4N08Q0"
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HYPERLINK "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryCyQ4N08Q0"N

HYPERLINK "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryCyQ4N08Q0"Q
THE ANGEL OF THE LORD
Jesus Christ is the angel of the LORD, witnessedby Abraham, Hagar, Moses,
Gideon, and others. The Hebrew word used for the word “angel,”mal’akh,
translates to “messenger,”“representative”orone who is “sent.” The word
mal’akh appears in the Hebrew Scriptures 214 times. In 33% of those
instances, the word mal’akh best translates as “the angelof the LORD rather
than an angel. According to the Jews forJesus
(https://jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/issues-vHYPERLINK
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messenger/"06HYPERLINK
messenger/"/who-is-the-messenger/)the angelof the LORD is given the name
Metatronin the Talmud, which “indicates a specialrelationship with God.”
The Jews forJesus state:“One meaning of meta and thronos, two Greek
words, gives the sense of“one who serves behind the throne” of God. So the
angelof the Lord is the primary messengerofGod, the one sentby God, the
one who represents God.”
I have pasted passagesfrom the Old Testamentthat indicate (1) the angelof
the LORD appears visibly and audibly to people;(2) the angel of the LORD
refers to Himself as both apart from God in the third person and as Godin
the first person; (3) the angelof the LORD provides and blesses,not as a
representative of God but as God Himself; (4) the angelof the LORD is
omniscient; (5) the angelof the LORD is omnipotent; (6) He accepts worship
and sacrifice and (7) those to whom He appears recognize Him as God. In
summary, the angel of the LORD who bears the qualities of the LORD is the
LORD. He has defined Himself that way.
THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
Genesis 16:7-13
The angelof the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the
spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai,
where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I’m running awayfrom my mistress Sarai,” she answered.
Then the angelof the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to
her.” The angeladded, “I will increase your descendants so much that they
will be too numerous to count.”
The angelof the Lord also said to her:

“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be againsteveryone
and everyone’s hand againsthim,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers.”
She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees
me,” for she said, “I have now seenthe One who sees me.”
Genesis 22:11-17
But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham!
Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I
know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son,
your only son.”
Abraham lookedup and there in a thickethe saw a ram caught by its horns.
He went overand took the ram and sacrificedit as a burnt offering instead of
his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day
it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
The angelof the Lord calledto Abraham from heaven a secondtime and said,
“I swearby myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and
have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make
your descendants as numerous as the stars in the skyand as the sand on the
seashore.

Exodus 3:2-16
There the angelof the Lord appearedto him in flames of fire from within a
bush. Moses sawthat though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So
Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does
not burn up.”
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God calledto him from
within the bush, “Moses!Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
“Do not come any closer,” Godsaid. “Take offyour sandals, for the place
where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your
father the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”At this,
Moses hid his face, becausehe was afraid to look at God.
The Lord said, “I have indeed seenthe misery of my people in Egypt. I have
heard them crying out because oftheir slave drivers, and I am concerned
about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of
the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a goodand spacious
land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites,
Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the
Israelites has reachedme, and I have seenthe way the Egyptians are
oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaohto bring my people
the Israelites outof Egypt.”
But Moses saidto God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaohand bring the
Israelites out of Egypt?”
And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I
who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will
worship God on this mountain.”
Moses saidto God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and sayto them, ‘The God
of your fathers has sentme to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’
Then what shall I tell them?”

God said to Moses,“Iam who I am. This is what you are to sayto the
Israelites:‘I am has sent me to you.’”
God also said to Moses,“Sayto the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your
fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has
sent me to you.’
“This is my name forever,
the name you shall callme
from generationto generation.
“Go, assemble the elders of Israeland say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of
your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac andJacob—appearedto me and
said: I have watchedover you and have seen what has been done to you in
Egypt.
Judges 6:11-24
Now the angelof the Lord came and satunder the terebinth at Ophrah, which
belongedto Joashthe Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat
in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angelof the Lord
appearedto him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of
valor.” And Gideon said to him, “Please,my lord, if the Lord is with us, why
then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that
our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from
Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsakenus and given us into the hand of
Midian.” And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and
save Israelfrom the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” And he said to him,
“Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakestin
Manasseh, andI am the leastin my father’s house.” And the Lord said to him,
“But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” And
he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign
that it is you who speak with me. Please do not depart from here until I come
to you and bring out my present and setit before you.” And he said, “I will
stay till you return.”

So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goatand unleavened
cakes froman ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he
put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented
them. And the angelof God saidto him, “Take the meat and the unleavened
cakes,and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did
so. Then the angel of the Lord reachedout the tip of the staff that was in his
hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up
from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the
angelof the Lord vanished from his sight. Then Gideon perceivedthat he was
the angelof the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have
seenthe angel of the Lord face to face.” Butthe Lord said to him, “Peacebe to
you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” Then Gideonbuilt an altar there to the
Lord and calledit, The Lord Is Peace.To this day it still stands at Ophrah,
which belongs to the Abiezrites.
CONCLUSION
The above passages make it clearthat the angelof the LORD is the LORD,
yet some remain skeptical. Atheists such as BartEhrman point to Galatians
4:14 to claim that the Apostle Paul’s conceptionof Jesus was as “anangelof
God.” Paul said “Instead, you welcomedme as if I were an angelof God, as if
I were Christ Jesus himself.” While Paul was offering a compliment to the
Galatians for their warm welcome and appreciation, atheists claim he was
reducing Jesus’status to an angel.
Not only does this claim fail to take into accountthe contextof the Galatians’
welcome for Paul, the claim fails to take into accountthe eighty-one times in
the Gospels in which Jesus referredto Himself as the Son of Man. The words
“Sonof Man” were even more significant to Jews than “Sonof God” would
have been, since the former had divine implications in the Book of Daniel(c.f.,
Mark 14:62; Daniel7:13). For this reason(as noted in Mark 14:62), the
Pharisees declaredJesus to be blasphemous and calledfor His execution.
Jesus was well-awareofHis position in the Trinity. John 1:18 indicates that
“No one has ever seenGod, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and
is in closestrelationshipwith the Father, has made him known.” As the angel

of the LORD, Jesus made Himself known in the Old Testamentto Hagar,
Abraham, Moses, Gideon, andothers. As Christ incarnate, Jesus made
Himself known to hundreds in the New Testament. He even referencedHis
earlier words as the greatI AM in statements such as the following (John
8:58): “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I
am!”
Today, Jesus still makes Himself knownto any and all who call on Him. If you
haven’t yet done so, considercalling on Jesus today. He is the way, the truth,
and the life. No one comes to the Father exceptthrough Him.
https://christian-apologist.com/HYPERLINK "https://christian-
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testament/"/jesus-the-angel-of-the-lord-of-the-old-testament/
How do we know the Angel of the Lord is Jesus?
Who is Jesus?
In many places, youteach that the Angel of the Lord is always the Second
Personof the Godhead, that is the pre-incarnate Christ. How do you know
this is to be so?
Scripture clearly shows the Angel of the Lord is the part of the Godhead, and
in particular the pre-incarnate Christ.
The term “the Angel of the Lord” first appears in Genesis 16:
“7 Now the angelof the LORD found her by a spring of waterin the
wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid,
where have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am
fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” 9 Then the angelof the
LORD saidto her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her
authority.” 10 Moreover, the angelof the LORD said to her, “I will greatly
multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.” 11 The
angelof the LORD saidto her further, “Behold, you are with child, And you
will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has
given heed to your affliction. 12 “He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand
will be againsteveryone, And everyone’s hand will be againsthim; And he
will live to the eastof all his brothers.” 13 Then she calledthe name of the
LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees”;for she said, “Have I
even remained alive here after seeing Him?” 14 Therefore the well was called
Beer-lahai-roi;behold, it is betweenKadesh and Bered.”

Notice a few things here. First, the Angel of the Lord tells Hagarthat He will
“greatlymultiply your descendants.” An ordinary angelcannot do that, for
only the Lord God cangive life (Deuteronomy32:39). Also, this statementis
very similar to what God told Abraham (Genesis 15:5).
Second, the Angel of the Lord knew Hagar was with child, that the child was a
son, and what he would be like. Only God is omniscient to know the future
(e.g., Hebrews 4:3), though ordinary angels canbe told the future by God.
Third, in v. 11, the angelsays “the LORD has given heed to your affliction”
when it was the Angel of the Lord who had given heed.
Finally, in v. 13, the text says “the name of the LORD who spoke to her,"
clearly indicating that Hagarwas speaking to God. Furthermore, Hagar calls
the Angel "God" and can’t believe she remained alive after seeing Him!
Indeed, the word Beer-lahai-roimeans, “wellof the Living One seeing me.”
Next, we look at Genesis 22:
“1 But the angelof the Lord calledto him from heaven and said, “Abraham,
Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
12 He said, “Do not stretchout your hand againstthe lad, and do nothing to
him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son,
your only son, from Me.”… 15 Then the angelof the Lord calledto Abraham
a secondtime from heaven, 16 and said, “ByMyself I have sworn, declares the
Lord, because youhave done this thing and have not withheld your son, your
only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your
seedas the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore;and
your seedshall possessthe gate of their enemies. 18 In your seedall the
nations of the earth shall be blessed, because youhave obeyed My voice.”
In both of these passages, it’s clearthat the Angel of the Lord is also God. In
v. 12 He says you have not withheld your son “from Me,” obviously referring
to God. In vs. 15 and 16, the Angel of the Lord says of Himself “by
Myself…declaresthe Lord.” Again, it’s clearthe Angel of the Lord and God
are One and the same.

Next, considerExodus 3:
“1 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of
Midian; and he led the flock to the westside of the wilderness and came to
Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 The angelof the Lord appearedto him in a
blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was
burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. 3 So Moses said, “I must
turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.”
4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God calledto him from the
midst of the bush and said, “Moses,Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5
Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet,
for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He said also, “Iam
the Godof your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the Godof
Jacob.” ThenMoseshid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.”
The Angel of the Lord in v.2 is clearly equated with God in v.4. In v.6, He
makes clearHe is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, andMoses
understands, for he is afraid to look at God (remember Hagar above).
There are many, many more passagesthatdemonstrate that the Angel of the
Lord is, in fact, God Himself.
But how do we know this appearance of God is always the pre-incarnate
Jesus?
First, we know the Godheadis the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but in
John 6: 46, Jesus says, “46 Notthat anyone has seenthe Father, except the
One who is from God; He has seenthe Father.” Since no one has seenthe
Father, and since people did see the Angel of the Lord, we can, therefore,
know that the angelof the Lord cannotbe the Father.
Second, the Holy Spirit never takes human form, and rarely does the Spirit
take any form. He took the form of a dove when Jesus was baptized (Matthew
3:16), and as tongues of fire at Pentecost(Acts 2:3-4), but He is never shownin
scripture to assume the form of man. Therefore, we have no reasonto assume
these OT appearancesofthe Angel of the Lord are the Spirit.

Finally, Paul says that Jesus has always been the "image of the invisible God"
in Colossians:
Col. 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
Col. 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on
earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
authorities — all things have been createdthrough Him and for Him.
Col. 1:17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Col. 1:18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in
everything.
Col. 1:19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in
Him,
Col. 1:20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made
peace through the blood of His cross;through Him, I say, whether things on
earth or things in heaven.
Consequently, the Angel of the Lord is the image of the invisible God in the
days before Jesus took on flesh, which is why we sayHe is the “pre-incarnate”
Christ. Furthermore, the Angel of the Lord never appears in the New
Testament, once Jesus took onflesh (became incarnate), nor after His
resurrection. The only mention of such a personin the New Testamentis
describedas “an” angelof the Lord, but never “the” Angel of the Lord. Once
God the Son appeared as flesh, there was no longera need for Him to appear
in any other form as “the Angel of the Lord”.
Finally, it's interesting to considerthat the word “angel” means messenger. A
messengeris one who is sent from someone else to deliver a message, and of
course, Jesus fits this perfectly. He says in John 8:18, “I am He who testifies
about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” Justas the
Father sentJesus, so also did He send the Angel of the Lord. Basedon all the
above, we conclude that the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus was the Angel of the
Lord.

The Angel of the Lord
His Identity, Manifestations, and Roles
By Dr. David R. Reagan
Severalyears ago I receiveda letter from a fellow in Champaign, Illinois in
which he askedme a number of very thought provoking questions about Jesus
before He became incarnate in the flesh. Since that time, a number of other
people have contactedme with a variety of questions concerning the same
subject. Listed below are the questions and my responses to them.
Questions and Answers
Question:Did Jesus make appearancesbefore His incarnation?
Answer: Definitely. A goodexample is found in Isaiah 6. King Uzziah, who
had reigned for 52 years in Judah, had just died, and Isaiah, who was
probably only a teenagerat the time, went to the Temple to mourn the king’s
death.
Isaiahwas surprised by a vision in which he saw the Lord — the King of kings
— “sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted” (Isaiah6:1). In John 12:41 we are
told that what Isaiahsaw was Jesus in “His glory” — the glory He had before
He became incarnate (Philippians 2:5-8).
Question:I have heard that “the Angel of the Lord” who is often referred to
in the Old Testamentwas reallyJesus making preincarnate appearances. Is
this true?
Answer: “The Angel of the Lord” is referred to 56 times in 51 verses in the
Hebrew Scriptures. The first reference is found in Genesis 16:7-12 where it
says that “the Angel of the Lord” appeared to Hagaras she was fleeing in the
wilderness from the rage of Abraham’s wife. The Angel told her to go back
home, and then He revealedto her that she was pregnant with a sonwhose
name would be calledIshmael.

A study of the subsequent appearances ofthe Angel of the Lord makes it very
clearthat they were pre-incarnate appearances ofJesus.
A goodexample is found in Exodus 3. There we are told that the Angel of the
Lord appeared to Moses inthe burning bush (verse 2). Then we are later told
that the Angel spoke to Moses and said, “I am the God of your father, the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (verse 6).
In Exodus 23 we are told that God the Fatherspoke to Moses andsaid He
would send an angelto guide and protect the Children of Israelin the
Wilderness. He refers to this angel as “My angel” and states that “My name is
in Him” (Exodus 23:20-23). This is obviously no ordinary angel.
In Judges 13 we are told that the Angel of the Lord appearedto Manoah and
his wife to inform them that they would have a child named Samson. When
Manoahaskedthe Angel for His name, He replied, “Why do you ask my
name, seeing it is wonderful?” (Judges 13:18). Manoahgot the point of this
statementimmediately, for he turned to his wife and said, “We shall surely
die, for we have seenGod” (Judges 13:22).
The Angel’s deity is also attestedto by the factthat on two occasions He
acceptedworship. When He appearedto both Moses (Exodus 3:1-5) and
Joshua (Joshua 5:14-15), they were told to remove their sandals for they were
“standing on holy ground.”
Question:But couldn’t these appearances ofGod in the form of “the Angel of
the Lord” have been God the FatherHimself instead of Jesus?
Answer: No, because there are many reports of people seeing the Angel of the
Lord, and John 1:18 says, “No one has seenGod at any time.” The verse then
continues to make a very important point: “The only begottenSon, who is in
the bosomof the Father, He has declaredHim [God].” Thus, according to
John, the people in the Old Testamenttimes who saw God really saw Jesus in
a pre-incarnate form “declaring” God.
This conclusionis confirmed by a statementwhich God the Father made to
Moses atMt. Sinai: “You cannot see My face, for no one may see Me and live”

(Exodus 33:20). Likewise, Paulstates in 1 Timothy 6:16 that God the Father
“dwells in inapproachable light whom no man has seenor can see.”
In Genesis 32 we are told that Jacobwrestledwith a “Man” (verse 24)who
identified Himself as God (verse 28). In fact, Jacobsays, “Ihave seenGod face
to face…” (verse 30). Since we know from John 1:18 that no one has seenGod
the Father, Jacobmust be talking about Jesus in a pre-incarnate appearance.
This is made clearin Hosea 12:3-4 where we are told that the God-Man Jacob
wrestledwith was “the Angel.” In verse 5 Hosea identifies the Angel as “the
Lord, the God of hosts.”
In Malachi3:1, in a prophecy about the First Coming of the Messiah, Godthe
Father is quoted as promising to send His Son: “Behold, I am going to send
my messenger…” The wordtranslated “messenger”is the Hebrew word,
malakh, which literally means “angel.”
Further evidence that the Angel of the Lord was the preincarnate Jesus is the
fact that the Angel ceasedto appear after Jesus became incarnate in the flesh.
At that point in time, the Angel Gabriel took over the responsibility of serving
as God’s chief messenger.
Question:Does the title, “the Angel of the Lord,” mean that Jesus is a mighty
angellike Gabriel or Michael?
Answer: Not at all. In fact, we are told point blank that Jesus is “much better
than the angels” (Hebrews 1:4) because He is the one and only Son of the
Father (Hebrews 1:1-5). Therefore, the angels worshipHim (Hebrews 1:6-7).
Also, the angels were createdat a point in time (Psalm 148:1-6)whereas Jesus
has existedeternally (John 1:1-14). In fact, the Bible asserts thatJesus
Himself was the one who createdthe angels (Colossians 1:16).
Question:If Jesus is not an angel, then why was He given the title of “the
Angel of the Lord” in His pre-incarnate appearances?
Answer: The title is both a term of endearment and a description of Jesus’
primary role in these appearances.Justas my wife is my “angel,” so also is the
Son the Father’s “angel.” Jacobusedthis type of terminology when he blessed

his sons on his death bed. In blessing Joseph, he referred to God as “the angel
who has redeemedme from all evil” (Genesis 48:15-16).
Again, the term, angel, means “messenger.”And that is the role that Jesus
most often played in His pre-incarnate appearances. Therefore, the title was
most appropriate.
The imagery is carried over to the New Testamentin a vision that John
records in Revelation10. John is given a flash-forward to the end of the
Tribulation. He sees a “strong angel” coming down out of Heaven. The angel
has the title deed of the earth in his hand. He puts one footon land and the
other in the sea and lifts the title deed in the air as a symbol of his claiming all
of creationfor himself.
I don’t think there is any doubt that this “angel” is Jesus. He is clothed in a
cloud, crownedwith a rainbow, and has a “face like the sun” — all of which
are symbols of deity (see Revelation1:13-17). His feetare like “pillars of fire,”
indicating He has come in judgment — and all judgment has been given to
Jesus (John 5: 22). Mostimportant, He holds open in His hand the title deed
of the earth (Revelation10:2), a deed which we are told in Revelation5:5-7
that only Jesus is worthy to open.
Some object to the identification of this angelas Jesus because He makes an
oath by the name of God (Revelation10:6). They ask, “How can Godswearby
God?” But in Hebrews 6:13 we are told that when Godmade His promises to
Abraham that “He swore by Himself” because “He could swearby no one
greater.” We see the same thing in Jeremiah22:5 where God says, “Iswearby
Myself.”
It is only appropriate that the imagery of “the Angel of the Lord” should be
used in the book of Revelationbecause it is a book steepedin the Hebrew
Scriptures. Revelationcontains over 300 quotes or references to Old
Testamentpassages, more than any other New Testamentbook.
Question:What was the pre-incarnate name of Jesus? Couldit possibly have
been “Israel” in light of 2 Chronicles 7:14, Exodus 4:22, and Hosea 11:1?

2 Chronicles 7:14 — “[If] My people who are calledby My name [will]
humble themselves and pray…”
Exodus 4:22 — “Then you [Moses]shallsay to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord,
“Israelis My son, My first-born.”‘”
Hosea 11:1 — “WhenIsrael was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called
My son.”
Answer: God the Fatherloves names because He is a personalGod (1 Peter
5:7). He Himself has a personalname, Yahweh, which He revealedto Moses at
the burning bush (Exodus 6:2-3). This name is used in the Hebrew Scriptures
6,668 times. Unfortunately, it is camouflagedin most English translations by
the use of the word, LORD — all in capital letters.
During biblical times, God often changed the names of people as their roles
would change. When He calledthe man who was to become the father of the
Jewishpeople, He changedhis name from Abram, meaning “exaltedfather,”
to Abraham, meaning “father of a multitude” (Genesis 17:5). Likewise, He
changedthe name of Abraham’s wife from Saraito Sarah, meaning
“princess” (Genesis17:15). Whenstubborn and deceiving Jacobfinally
yielded to the Lord, his name was changedto Israel, meaning “he who strives
with God” (Genesis 32:28). In New Testamenttimes, Saul’s name was
changedto Paul, and Simon’s name to Peter(Acts 13:9 and Mark 3:16).
In Revelation2:17 we are told that when the Redeemedstand before the
judgment seatof Jesus, eachone will be given a white stone (a symbol of
innocence)on which will be written a new name. Yes, we are going to have
new names in the Eternal State. These names will probably relate to our
Christian lives. Thus, some may be named Faith, while others might be called
Perseverance orLove.
Jesus’name — Yeshua in Hebrew — means “the salvationof the Lord”
(Matthew 1:21). His name expresses the purpose of His First Coming. We are
told in Revelation19:12 that when He returns to reign He will be given a new
name. This name will undoubtedly relate to His new role as King of kings.
Jeremiah23:6 hints that His new name may be Yahweh-Tsidkenu, meaning

“The Lord’s Righteousness.”Thatwould be an appropriate name because He
is returning to bring peace, righteousnessandjustice to this world.
Considering all these points, it certainly makes sense to assume that Jesus
might have had some other name before He became incarnate. But what it
may have been, the Bible does not reveal. “Angel of the Lord” is a title, not a
name.
It certainly was not Israelbecause that name means “one who strives with the
Lord.” How could that be the name of one who co-exists in perfectunity with
God the Father? In fact, Jesus saidthat He and the Fatherare One (John
10:30).
In Exodus 4:22 God told Moses to sayto Pharaoh, “Israelis my son, My first-
born.” This phraseologywas selectedin order to emphasize to Pharaoh how
important the Jewishpeople were to God. But it is a metaphor, similar to the
New Testamentconceptthat the Church is the Bride of Christ (Ephesians
5:25-26 and Revelation19:7).
Hosea 11:1 quotes God the Father as saying, “When Israelwas a youth, I
loved him, and out of Egypt I calledMy son.” Again, the Lord is speaking
metaphorically of Israel as His son, just as He refers to Israelelsewhere as His
wife (see Jeremiah3:1-5, Jeremiah31:32, and Ezekiel16:15-34).
In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God refers to Israel as “My people, which are called by
My name.” Literally, this passage says,“Mypeople over whom My name is
called.” The point here is not that God’s name is Israel. Rather, the point is
that the Jewishpeople are the people of Yahweh.
Question:What other roles did the Angel of the Lord fulfill besides that of a
messenger?
Answer: Delivering messageswas certainlyHis primary role. He appearedto
the prophet Balaamand gave him orders (Numbers 22:22-35). He instructed
Gideon to deliver Israelfrom the Midianites (Judges 6). He prophesiedthe
birth of Samson(Judges 13), and He commanded David to build an altar in
Jerusalem(1 Chronicles 21:18).

Sometimes He provided guidance. He led the Children of Israelin the
wilderness as a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night (Exodus 14 and Judges
2:1). He directed Elijah when he fled to Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19).
Occasionally, He served as an avenger, executing judgment upon the enemies
of Israel. When the Assyrians threatenedto destroyJerusalem, it was the
Angel of the Lord who killed 185,000ofthem in one night, forcing those
remaining to retreat(2 Kings 19:35). In times like this, He also served as a
protectorof Israeland is lauded in the Psalms as such: “The angelof the Lord
encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them” (Psalm 34: 7).
wikipedia
Angel of Yahweh[edit]
Examples of use of the Hebrew term ‫ַמ‬‫ל‬‫מ‬‫ַא‬ ‫ְי‬ ‫וא‬‫הי‬ are found in the following
verses, here given in the King James Version translation:
Genesis 16:7–14. The angelof the Lord appears to Hagar. The angelspeaks as
God in the first person, and in verse 13 Hagar identifies "the LORD that
spake unto her" as "ThouGod seestme".
Genesis 22:11–15. The angelof the Lord appears to Abraham and refers to
God in the first person.
Exodus 3:2–4. The angelof the Lord appears to Moses in a flame in verse 2,
and God speaks to Mosesfrom the flame in verse 4.
Numbers 22:22–38. The angelof the Lord meets the prophet Balaamon the
road. In verse 38, Balaamidentifies the angelwho spoke to him as delivering
the word of God.
Judges 2:1–3. An angelof the Lord appears to Israel.
Judges 6:11–23. An angelof the Lord appears to Gideon, and in verse 22
Gideon fears for his life because he has seenan angelof the Lord face to face.

Judges 13:3–22. The angelofthe Lord appears to Manoahand his wife and, in
verse 16, tells them to offer to the LORD if they are to make an offering
("And the angelof the LORD said unto Manoah[...] if thou wilt offer a burnt
offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. ForManoahknew not that he was
an angel of the LORD."). Later Manoahthought he and his wife will die for
they "have seenGod"
Zechariah 1:12. The angelof the Lord pleads with the Lord to have mercy on
Jerusalemand the cities of Judah.
Zechariah 3:4. The angelof the Lord takes awaythe sin of the high priest
Joshua.
The Greek translationof the Old Testamentknownas the Septuagint[4]
translates the Hebrew phrase ‫ַמ‬‫ל‬‫מ‬‫ַא‬ ‫ְי‬ ‫וא‬‫הי‬ as ἄγγελος Κυρίου, "angelof the
Lord" or as ὁ ἄγγελος Κυρίου, "the angel of the Lord". "Owing to the
Hebrew idiom, this may mean no more than 'an angelof God', and the
Septuagint renders it with or without the article at will."[5]
The KJV and NKJV capitalize "Angel" in the Old Testamentreferences to
"the Angel of the Lord", while using lower-case "angel" in the Old Testament
references to "an angelof the Lord" (and in the New Testamentreferences).
Mostversions, including NASB, RSV, ESV, etc., do not capitalize "angel" in
the mentions of "angelof the Lord".
Angel of Elohim[edit]
The term "angelof God" (Heb. mal'akh 'Elohim) occurs 12 times (2 of which
are plural). The following are examples:
Genesis 31:11. The angelof God calls out to Jacobin a dream and tells him "I
am the God of Bethel".
Exodus 14:19. The angelof God leads the camp of Israel, and also follows
behind them, with the pillar of fire.
Judges 13:9. The angelof God approachedthe wife of Manoahafter the Lord
heard Manoah.

David is depicted interceding for the people to end the plague (1 Chronicles
21) in this 1860 woodcutby Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld
In addition, there are mentions of God "sending an angel", ofwhich the
following are examples:
Exodus 23:20-21. The LORD says he will send an Angel before the Israelites,
and warns them to obey the Angel's voice, and that the Angel "will not pardon
transgressions" becausethe LORD's "name is in him".
Exodus 33:2. God says he will send an angelbefore the Israelites, and that
God will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, the Hivites,
and the Jebusites.
Numbers 20:16. The LORD sent an angeland brought the people of Israel
forth from Egypt.
1 Chronicles 21:15. God sentan angelto destroy Jerusalem, but then repented
and told the angelto stayhis hand.
2 Chronicles 32:21. The LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men
of valour and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria.
New Testament[edit]
In the New Testamentthe Greek phrase ἄγγελος Κυρίου (aggeloskuriou –
"angelof the Lord") is found in Matthew 1:20, 1:24, 2:13, 2:19, 28:2; Luke
1:11, 2:9; John 5:4; Acts 5:19, 8:26, 12:7, and 12:23. Englishtranslations
render the phrase either as "an angelof the Lord" or as "the angelof the
Lord".[6] The mentions in Acts 12:11 and Revelation22:6 of "his angel" (the
Lord's angel)can also be understood as referring either to the angel of the
Lord or an angelof the Lord.
An angelof the Lord who is mentioned in Luke 1:11 identifies himself as
Gabriel in Luke 1:19.

Interpretations[edit]
Mostappearances ofthe "angelof the Lord" leave the readerwith the
question of whether it was an angelor YHWH who appeared. Apart from the
view that "the angelof the Lord is just that – an angel",[7]a wide array of
solutions have been offered, such as making the angel an earthly
manifestation of God, some kind of avatarof Godor the pre-incarnated
Christ.
In the Catholic Encyclopedia (1907)Hugh Pope writes: "The earlier Fathers,
going by the letter of the text in the Septuagint, maintained that it was God
Himself who appearedas the Giver of the Law to Moses. It was not unnatural
then for Tertullian [...] to regard such manifestations in the light of preludes
to the Incarnation, and most of the EasternFathers followedthe same line of
thought." Pope quotes the view of Theodoretthat this angelwas probably
Christ, "the Only-begotten Son, the Angel of great Counsel", andcontrasts
Theodoret's view with the opposite view of the Latin Fathers Jerome,
Augustine, and Gregorythe Greatthat it was no more than an angel, a view
that, he says, "was destinedto live in the Church, and the Scholasticsreduced
it to a system". As an exponent of this view he quotes Augustine, who declared
that "the angelis correctlytermed an angel if we considerhim himself, but
equally correctlyis he termed 'the Lord' because Goddwells in him." He
indicates, however, that within the Catholic Church the opposite view was also
upheld.[5]
The appearancesofthe "angelof the Lord" are in factoften presented as
theophanies, appearancesofYHWH himself rather than a separate entity
acting on his behalf.[8] In Genesis 31:11–13, "the angelof God" says, "I am
the Godof Beth-el". In Exodus 3:2–6 "the angelof Yahweh" (‫ךְוה‬ ַ‫)מלמ‬
appearedto Mosesin the flame of fire, and then "Yahweh" (ַ‫)מלמ‬ says to him:
"I am the God of thy father". Compare also Genesis 22:11;Judges 6:11–22.
At times the angelof the Lord speaks in such a way as to assume authority
over previous promises (see Gen. 16:11 and 21:17). According to the New
American Bible, the visual form under which God appearedand spoke to men
is referred to indifferently in some Old Testamenttexts either as God's angel
or as Godhimself.[9]

Another interpretation builds on the usage by which ancient spokesmen, after
an introductory phrase, used the grammaticallyfirst person in proclaiming
the point of view of the one they represent.[10]
Another proposalis Samuel A. Meier's interpolation theory,[11] which holds
that, originally, stories in which there is ambiguity betweenYahweh and the
"angelof Yahweh" were written with Yahweh himself delivering the message.
Later, copyists inserted the term mal’akh before the divine name to modify
the narratives, in order to meet the standards of a changing theologywhich
more strongly emphasized a transcendent God. If the term mal’akh is
removed from these passages, the remaining story fits neatly with a "default"
format in NearEasternliterature in which the deity appears directly to
humans without an intermediary. The addition of mal’akh does not require
any change in the form of the verbs connectedto it, since both mal’akh and a
deity such as Yahweh or Elohim are of masculine grammaticalgender and
since the noun before which mal’akh is introduced remains unaffectedon the
consonantallevel. On the other hand, the removal of the word mal’akh from
the narration usually makes it more coherent and in line with its Ancient Near
Eastliterary context.[12]
Although WojciechKosiorfavours this interpolation theory, he mentions
some unsolved difficulties connectedwith it: the large number of similar
theophanies in which the word mal’akh has not been added to the names of
Yahweh and Elohim and the fact that it is never associatedwith names such
as El-Elyon, El-Shadday or El-Ro’ehworshipped by the biblical Hebrews.[13]
Possible christophany[edit]
Further information: Christophany and Pre-existenceofChrist
The early Fathers of the Church, such as Justin Martyr, identify the angelof
the Lord as the pre-incarnate Christ[14] whose appearance,i.e. Christophany,
is recordedin the Hebrew Bible. On the reasonwhy some early Christians
viewed Jesus as the angelof the Lord, SusanGarrett says:
[The logic behind the] reading of Jesus into accounts ofthe angelof the LORD
went deeper. Many Jews before and during the time of Jesus were deeply

interestedin angels. Some understoodthe angelof the LORD as a being
completely separate from God—a sort of angelic vizier or righthand angel,
who servedas head of the heavenly host and in other important capacities,
including as a mediator betweenGod and humans. Further, some Jews
routinely appropriated language usedin Scripture to describe the angelof the
LORD and used it to characterize certainof God’s attributes, including God’s
word, glory, wisdom, spirit, power, and name—almostas if these aspects of
the Deity were themselves independent angels. In other words, quite apart
from Christianity there was talk among ancientJews of God’s word, God’s
glory, and so forth in terms highly reminiscent of the angelof the LORD. So,
when early Christian authors like Justin Martyr connectedJesus withGod’s
word and that word, in turn, with the angelof the LORD, they were not
inventing from scratchso much as adding a new layer to well-established
ways of reading Scripture.[15]
The Hellenistic Jewishphilosopher Philo identified the angel of the Lord (in
the singular) with the Logos.[16][17]
In Baker's EvangelicalDictionaryof Biblical Theology, Louis Goldberg
writes: "The functions of the angelof the Lord in the Old Testamentprefigure
the reconciling ministry of Jesus. In the New Testament, there is no mention
of the angelof the Lord; the Messiahhimself is this person."[18]
On the other hand, Knofel Statonsays:"The idea that this angelwas Christ is
unlikely for many reasons, whichinclude the following: 1) God never said to
any angel(including the 'angel of the Lord') 'you are my son' (Heb 1:5)
...";[19]Ben Witherington says:"The angelof the Lord is just that – an angel.
[... T]he divine son of God [...] was no mere angelof the Lord, nor did he
manifest himself in some observable form prior to the Incarnation."[20]
Jehovah's Witnessesteachthat the angelwho brought the Israelites into their
promised land and would not pardon transgressionbecause God's name was
in him (Exodus 23:20-21)was "God's firstborn Son", the pre-existent Christ,
also calledthe archangelMichael, the Prince of the people of Israelmentioned
in Daniel 10:21, a createdbeing called"the Son of God" because createdwith
qualities like those of his Father.[21][22]

Abrahamic / Middle Eastern
Christianity
Angel of the Lord
Who was the mysterious visitor featured throughout the Old Testament?
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by
Mary Fairchild
Updated June 25, 2019
The mysterious angelof the Lord appeareddozens of times in the Old
Testament, usually as a messengerbut sometimes as a fierce executioner. Who
was he and what was his purpose?
In his earthly appearances, the angelof the Lord spoke with the authority of
God and actedas God. It's easyto become confused about his true identity
because the writers of those Bible books switchedbetweencalling the speaker
the angelof the Lord and God. Bible scholars clearthings up by suggesting
those visits were actually theophanies or manifestations of God in a physical
body. But why didn't God just show up as himself?

Jesus was the angel of the lord

Jesus was the angel of the lord

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