Jesus was god's angel protecting israel

JESUS WAS GOD'S ANGEL PROTECTING ISRAEL
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Exodus 23:20 Behold, I am sending an angel before
you to protect you along the way and to bring you to
the place I have prepared.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Promises And Warnings
Exodus 23:20-33
J. Orr
These conclude the Book of the Covenant.
I. PROMISES.
1. An angelguide (vers. 20-23). But this angelwas no ordinary or created
angel. He is repeatedly identified with Jehovahhimself. God's "name" - his
essentialnature - was in him. He is one with Jehovah, yet distinct from him -
no mere personification, but a real hypostasis. See the careful treatment of
"the doctrine of the Angel of the Lord," in Oehler's "Old Testament
Theology," vol. 1. pp. 188-196 (Eng. trans.). We view the "angel" as the pro-
incarnate Logos - Christ in the Old Testament. Israel's guide was the Son of
God - the same Divine Personwho is now conducting "many sons unto glory,"
and who is become" the author of eternal salvationto all them that obey him"
(Hebrews 2:10; Hebrews 5:9).

2. Defence againstenemies (ver. 22). If Israelobeyed God's voice, and did all
that God spake, their enemies would be reckonedhis enemies, and their
adversaries his adversaries. And "if God be for us, who can be againstus?"
(Romans 8:31).
3. Aid in the conquestof Canaan(vers. 23, 27-31). Apply throughout to the
spiritual warfare of the individual and of the Church.
(1) The way for the conquestwould be prepared. God would send his fear
before the Israelites (ver. 27) - would, as statedin Deuteronomy, put the dread
of them, and the fear of them, upon the nations that were under the whole
heaven (Deuteronomy 2:25; Deuteronomy11:25; cf. Exodus 15:15, 16). There
is a presentiment of defeatin the hearts of the enemies of God, especiallywhen
the Church is energetic and fearless in her work, which goes farto secure the
victory for the latter. Something whispers to them that their "time is short" (1
Corinthians 7:29; Revelation12:12;cf. Matthew 8:29). Moral forces are all on
the side of the kingdom of God. They assistits friends, and operate to enervate
and discourage its enemies. The Christian workermay rely on numerous
invisible allies in men's own hearts. Workings of conscience,stings of fear,
dread of God, etc. God would also sendhornets before the Israelites, to drive
out the Canaanites from their strong castles (ver. 28). To us there seems no
goodreasonfor taking this declarationotherwise than literally. If taken
symbolically, the "hornets" are equivalent to the stings of fear, etc., above
referred to. A veritable hornet warfare this, and one of greatvalue to the
Gospelcause. Takenliterally, the "hornets" may be regardedas types of
secretprovidential allies - of the co-operationof God in his providence, often
by means of things insignificant in themselves, but working, under his secret
direction, for the furtherance of his kingdom, and the defeatof those opposed
to it. In a million unseen ways - how encouraging the reflection! - Providence
is thus aiding the work of those who fight under Christ's captaincy.
(2) They would be prospered in battle (ver. 27). The individual, in his warfare
with the evil of his own heart - the Church, in her conflict with the evil of the
world - enjoy a similar promise. If Christ inspires, if he, the captain of the
Lord's host, gives the signalto advance, victories are certain. However

numerous and powerful our spiritual enemies, greateris he that is with us
than they that are againstus (1 John 4:4).
(3) The conquestwould be given by degrees. God would drive out their
enemies before them, "little by little" (ver. 30). The reasongiven is, "lestthe
land become desolate, andthe beastof the field multiply againstthee" (ver.
27). The method was a wise one. It doubtless had its dangers. Remaining
idolatry would tend to become a snare. The delay in the extirpation of the
Canaanites had thus its side of trial - it would act as a moral test. In other
respects it was attended with advantage. It would make the conquestmore
thorough. It would enable the Israelites to consolidate, organise, andsecure
their possessionsas they went along. It would prevent the multiplying of the
beasts of the field. And quite analogous to this is God's method of conducting
us unto our spiritual inheritance. The law of "little by little" obtains here also.
"Little by little" the believer gains the victory over evil in self, and the heart is
sanctified. "Little by little" the world is conquered for Christ. In no other way
is thorough conquest possible. Suppose, e.g., that, as the result of
extraordinary shakings ofthe nations, a multitude of uninstructed tribes,
peoples, communities, were suddenly thrown into the arms of Christendom -
even supposing the conversions real, how difficult would it be to prevent
mischiefs from arising! Compare the troubles of the ReformationChurches.
Make the yet more extravagantsupposition that by some supreme moral
effort - the evil of our own hearts being suddenly arousedto intense activity -
it pleasedGod to give us the victory over the whole of this evil at once. How
little could we do with such a victory when we had it! Thrown at once upon
our own hands, how difficult it would be to know what to do with ourselves!
Would not new foes - fantastic conceits - speedily arise from the ground of our
yet undisciplined natures, to give us new troubles? The surestmethod is "little
by little." It is not goodfor any man to have more than he needs - to have a
greatervictory than he canrightly use; e.g., a man who reads more books
than he can mentally digest and assimilate;who has a largerestate than he
can manage;who has more money than he can make a gooduse of. And yet
the factof evil still lurking in our hearts, and continuing in the world around
us, exposes us to many perils. It acts as a moral test, and so indirectly
conduces to the growth of holiness.

4. Materialblessings (vers. 25, 26). In the land to which he was conducting
them, God would give the people of Israel abundance of food and water;
would take away all sicknessfrom their midst (cf. "I am the Lord that healeth
thee." Exodus 15:26);would greatly bless their flocks and herds; and would
lengthen out their days to the full term (cf. Deuteronomy 28:1-14). The
blessings ofthe new covenantare predominantly spiritual (Ephesians 1:3). Yet
even under it, "godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the
life that now is, and of that which is to come" (1 Timothy 4:8). Godliness has a
natural tendency to promote temporal well-being. So ample a measure of
prosperity as that promised in the text could, however, only accrue from
direct Divine blessing. The absolute form of the expressionanswers to the
absoluteness ofthe requirement - "Obey my voice, and do all that I speak"
(ver. 31). Falling short of the ideal obedience, Israelfell short also of the ideal
fulness of the blessing.
5. Expansionof bounds (ver. 31). Only once or twice was this maximum of
possessiontouchedby Israel. Failure in the fulfilment of the condition kept
back fulfilment of the promise. The Church's destiny is to possessthe whole
earth (Psalm 2:8).
II. WARNINGS. If these glorious promises are to be fulfilled to Israel, they
must obey the voice of God and of his angel. Let them beware, therefore, -
1. Of provoking the angel (ver. 21). God's name was in him, and he would not
pardon their transgressions. Thatis, he would not take a light view of their
sins, but would strictly mark them, and severelypunish them. He was not a
Being to be trifled with. If his wrath againstthem were kindled but a little,
they would perish from the way (Psalm 2:12). He was one with Jehovahin his
burning zeal for holiness, and in his determination not to clearthe guilty. See
below. The Gospelis not wanting in its similar side of sternness. There is a
"wrath of the Lamb" (Revelation6:17). There is a "judgment" which "begins
at the house of God" (1 Peter4:17). There is the stem word - "It shall come to
pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed
from among the people" (Acts 3:23). Cf. also Hebrews 2:2, 3; Hebrews 10:26-
39; Hebrews 12:25.

2. They must not serve other gods (ver. 24). Conversely, they were utterly to
overthrow the idol gods, and to break down their images. "Where Jesus
comes, he comes to reign." No rival will be toleratedalongside of him. We
cannot serve
(1) God and Mammon (Matthew 6:24).
(2) God and fashion (1 John 2:15-18).
(3) God and our own lusts (2 Peter1:4; 2 Peter2:20, 21).
(4) God and human glory (John 5:44).
The worship of Jehovahand that of any of the world's idols will not
amalgamate. See reflectedin these commands the principles which are to
regulate the relationof God's servants at this hour to the world and to its evil
-
(1) No tolerationof it (Matthew 5:29, 30).
(2) No communion with it (2 Corinthians 6:14-18;Ephesians 5:3, 11).
(3) Unceasing war againstit (2 Corinthians 10:4; Colossians3:5).
3. They must make no league with the Canaanites (ver. 32). The lessontaught
is, that believers are to seek their friendships, their alliances, their consorts,
etc., elsewhere thanamong the ungodly. We are not only to keepout of harm's
way, and avoid occasionsofsin, but we are to labour to remove from our
midst entirely what experience proves to be an incurable snare. - J.O.
Biblical Illustrator
To bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
Exodus 23:20
Life's pilgrimage

J. B. Brown, B. A.
The angel, the way, the prepared place. It is the Divine key to the mystery of
life. Life is emphatically a way. Not by the way of the sea — a prompt and
easypath — but by the way of the wilderness, of old God led His pilgrims.
The vision of the angelin the way lights up the wilderness. Considerthe
suggestionofthe text as to —
I. The pilgrim's CONDITION.God's children must be pilgrims, because this
world is not goodenough, not bright enough, not capable of being blessed
enough, for the pilgrim in his home. For —
1. The instructed soul sees the touch of essentialimperfectionand the bounds
of close limitation in everything here.
2. There is a constantaching of the heart through memory and hope.
3. Life is a pilgrimage because it is far awayfrom the Friend whom we
supremely love.
II. The pilgrim's GUIDE.
1. God has sent His angelbefore us in the personof His Son.
2. He sends His angelwith us in the person of the Holy Ghost.
III. The pilgrim's WAY TO THE PILGRIM'S HOME.
1. It is a way of purposed toil and difficulty, of wilderness, peril, and night.
Suffer we must in the wilderness;the one question is, Shall it be with or
without the angel of the Lord?
2. It is a way of stern, uncompromising duty. God asks us now simply to do
and to bear, and to wait to see the whole reasonand reap the whole fruit on
high. We must train ourselves to the habit of righteous action, and leave the
results to God and eternity.
3. It is a way of death. God promises to none of us an immunity from death.
The shadow hangs round life as a drear monitor to all of us. He only who can
eye it steadily and fix its form will see that it is angelic and lustrous with the

glory beyond. The grave is but the last step of the way by which the angel
leads us to the place which He has prepared.
(J. B. Brown, B. A.)
Divine guidance
W. Burrows, B. A.
I. THERE IS A DIVINE WAY.
1. Through the wilderness.
2. Besetwith enemies.
3. Many privations.
4. Contrary to mere human liking.God's way is not our way! Ours may be
pleasantat first but bitter at last, but God's way is the reverse;and yet not
exactly, for sweets are graciouslymingled with the bitters. There is hunger,
but there is manna. There is thirst, but there is clearwaterfrom the smitten
rock. There is perplexity, but there is an angelto guide and protect.
II. THIS WAY LEADS TO DIVINELY-PREPARED PLACES. Heavenis a
speciallyprepared place. "I go to prepare a place for you." A place in the best
of all places. A home in the best of homes. A dwelling-place where all the
abodes are mansions. A seatwhere all the seats are thrones. A city where all
the citizens are kings. What matters it though the way be long and sometimes
dreary, so long as the place is so attractive;and we cannotfail to reachit if we
obey Divine directions.
III. THE TRAVELLERS ON THIS WAY ARE FAVOURED WITH A
DIVINE GUIDE. Jesus Christ, the Angel of the new covenant, is fully
competent to direct and protect. He has trodden every inch of the way.
IV. DIVINE PROMISES ARE CONTINGENTON THE FAITHFUL
PURSUIT OF DIVINE METHODS (ver. 21). The Divine methods are —

Caution, obedience, self-restraint, and the entire destructionof all that has the
remotesttendency to damage the moral nature.
(W. Burrows, B. A.)
The angelof the covenant
J. W. Burn.
I. HIS NATURE WAS DIVINE.
1. Equal with God.(1)Bearing the Divine name; "My name is in Him." The
incommunicable covenant name of Jehovah.(2)Performing Divine actions;
"Mine angelshall go," etc., "Iwill cut them off." So New Testament, "Iand
My father are one."
2. Distinct from the personality of the speaker, "Isend," so New Testament,
"The Father which sent Me."
II. HIS OFFICE WAS TO CONDUCT THE COVENANT PEOPLE TO THE
FULFILMENT OF GOD'S COVENANT ENGAGEMENT.
1. Providence. "To keepthee in the way." So Christ "upholds all things by the
word of His power." "In Him all things consist." Generallyand particularly
He preserves those who trust in Him (John 10:28).
2. Redemption. "To bring thee into the place which I have prepared." Israel's
redemption is only half accomplishedas yet. So Christ's eternal redemption is
not complete till the last enemy is destroyed (John 14:2, 3).
III. THE PROPER ATTITUDE TOWARDSHIM.
1. Fear. Carefulness notto displease Him. Christ is the Saviour of those only
who believe in Him. To others He is a "savourof death unto death."
2. Obedience. "ObeyHis voice." So says the Father in the New Testament
(Matthew 17:5); and Himself (Matthew 28:20). This implies
(1)Trust in His person.

(2)Subjection to His authority.
(3)The prosecutionof His commands.
IV. THE REWARD OF OBEDIENCE TO HIM (vers. 22, 23).
1. Identification and sympathy with us in our cause. "Iwill be an enemy," etc.
2. Victory over our foes (1 Corinthians 15:57), world, flesh, devil, death, etc.
3. Inheritance in the promised land.Learn —
1. (2 Timothy 1:9), That God's grace has been manifested in Jesus Christ from
the beginning of the world.
2. That God's grace has been, through Jesus Christ, with His people up to the
present moment.
3. And will be till the end of the world.
(J. W. Burn.)
Christ at the head of the column
M. Simpson, D. D.
It is said when the Duke of Wellington, on one occasion, rode up to his
retreating army, a soldier happened to see him first and cried out: "Yonder is
the Duke of Wellington; God bless him!" and the retreating army had
courage to nerve itself afresh and went forward and drove the enemy away.
One has saidthat the Duke of Wellington was worth more at any time than
five thousand men. So it would be if we had the Captain of our salvationin
front, we would go forward. How gloriouslywould this Church contend if
Christ were visibly in front of them! But the army was sometimes without the
Duke of Wellington. There was a place where he could not be. And if Christ
were visibly present, He would be present at the same time, only at one church
in one locality; it might be in Philadelphia, but what of the thousand other
cities? But an unseenSaviour is at the head of the column everywhere. We
know He is there. The Captain of our salvation is where two or three are

gatheredin His Name to inspire us; and to-day, in every city on the face of this
globe, where the columns meet to march, His voice sounds "Onward!" in their
ears.
(M. Simpson, D. D.)
The angelin life
J. Parker, D. D.
Laws without angels would turn life into weary drudgery. Life has never been
left without some touch of the Divine presence and love. From the very first
this has been characteristic ofour history. The solemn — the grand, factis,
that in our life there is an angel, a spirit, a presence;a ministry without
definite name and altogetherwithout measurableness!a gracious ministry, a
most tender and comforting service, always operating upon our life's necessity
and our heart's pain. Let us restin that convictionfor a moment or two until
we see how we can establishit by references to facts, experiences,
consciousnessagainstwhich there can be no witness. See how our life is
redeemedfrom basenessby the assumption that an angelis leading it. Who
can believe that an angelhas been appointed to conduct a life which must end
in the grave? The anticlimax is shocking;the suggestionis chargedwith the
very spirit of profanity. If an angelis leading, us, is he leading us to the grave?
What is it within us that detests the grave, that turns awayfrom it with
aversion, that will not be sent into so low and mean a prison? It is "the
Divinity that stirs within us." Then again, who could ask an angelto be a
guestin a heart given up to evil thoughts and purposes? Given the
consciousnessthatan angelis leading us, and instantly a series ofpreparations
must be set up corresponding with the quality and title of the leading angelof
our pilgrimage. We prepare for some guests. According to the quality of the
guestis the range and costliness ofour preparation. Whom our love expects
our love provides for. When we are longing for the coming one, saying, "The
presence will make the house the sweeterand the brighter, and the speechwill
fill our life with new poetry and new hope. Oh, why tarry the chariot wheels?"
then we make adequate — that is to say, proportionate — preparation. The

touch of love is dainty, the invention of love is fertile, the expenditure of love is
without a grudge or a murmur, — another touch must be given to the most
delicate arrangement;some addition must be made to the most plentiful
accommodation;love must run over the programme just once more to see that
every line is worthily written. Then the front door must be opened widely, and
the arms and the heart, and the whole being to receive the guestof love. And
that is so in the higher regions. If an angelis going to lead me, the angelmust
have a chamber in my heart prepared worthy of myself. Chamber! — nay, the
whole heart must be the guest-room;he must occupy every corner of it, and I
must array it with robes of purity and brightness that he may feel himself at
home, even though he may have come from heaven to do some service for my
poor life. Any appeal that so works upon every kind of faculty, upon
imagination, conscience,will, force, must be an appeal that will do the life
good. It calls us to perfectness, to preparedness, to a nobility corresponding in
some degree with the nobility of the guestwhom we entertain. The Divine
presence in life, by whatevername we may distinguish it, is pledged to two
effects, supposing our spirit and our conduct to be right. God undertakes our
cause as againstour enemies. Would we could leave our enemies in His hands!
I do not now speak altogetherofmerely human enemies — because where
there is enmity betweenman and man, though it never can be justified, yet it
admits of such modification in the system of words as to throw responsibility
upon both sides — but I speak of other enemies, — the enmity expressedby
evil desire, by the pressure of temptation, by all the array againstthe soul's
health and wealof the principalities of the power of the air, the princes of
darkness, the spirits of evil. Send the angelto fight the angel; let the angelof
light fight the angelof darkness. The secondeffectto which the Divine
presence in our life is pledged is that we shall be blessedwith the contentment
which is riches. Thus we have mysteries amongstus which the common or
carnalmind cannotunderstand. Men asking God's blessing upon what
appears to be unblest poverty — men saying it is enough when we can
discovernext to nothing in the hand uplifted in recognitionof Divine
goodness.Thus we hear voices coming from the bed of affliction that have in
them the subdued tones of absolute triumph; thus the sick-chamberis turned
into the church of the house, and if we would recoverfrom dejection, and
repining, and sorrow, we must go to the bedside of affliction and learn there

how wondrous is the ministry of God's angel, how perfecting and ennobling
the influence of God's grace.
(J. Parker, D. D.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
THE PROMISES OF GOD TO ISRAEL, IF THE COVENANT IS KEPT.
(20-33)The Book of the Covenant terminates, very appropriately, with a
series ofpromises. God is “the rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” He
choosesto “rewardmen after their works,” andto setbefore them “the
recompense ofthe reward.” He “knows whereofwe are made,” and by what
motives we are influenced. Self-interest, the desire of our own good, is one of
the strongestofthem. If Israelwill keepHis covenant, they will enjoy the
following blessings :—(1) The guidance and protectionof His angeltill
Canaanis reached;(2) God’s help againsttheir adversaries, who will, little by
little, be driven out; (3) the ultimate possessionofthe entire country between
the Mediterraneanand the Red Sea on the one hand, the Desertand the
Euphrates on the other; (4) a blessing upon their flocks and herds, which shall
neither be barren nor casttheir young; and (5) a blessing upon themselves,
whereby they will escape sickness andenjoy a long term of life. All these
advantages, however, are conditionalupon obedience, and may be forfeited.
(20) I send an Angel before thee.—Kalischconsiders Mosesto have been the
“angel” or“messenger;” others understand one of the createdangelic host.
But most commentators see in the promise the first mention of the “Angel of
the Covenant,” who is reasonablyidentified with the SecondPersonofthe
Holy Trinity, the Eternal Son and Word of God. When the promise is
retractedon accountof the sin of the goldencalf, it is in the words, “I will not
go up with thee” (Exodus 33:3).

BensonCommentary
Exodus 23:20-21. Behold, I send an Angel before thee — The Angel of the
covenant:accordingly, the Israelites, in the wilderness, are said to tempt
Christ. It is promised that this blessedAngel should keepthem in the way,
though it lay through a wilderness first, and afterward through their enemies’
country; and thus Christ has prepared a place for his followers. Beware of
him, and obey his voice;provoke him not — It is at your peril if you do; for
my name — My nature, my authority; is in him.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
23:20-33 It is here promised that they should be guided and kept in their way
through the wilderness to the land of promise, Behold, I send an angelbefore
thee, mine angel. The precept joined with this promise is, that they be
obedient to this angelwhom God would send before them. Christ is the Angel
of Jehovah; this is plainly taught by St. Paul, 1Co 10:9. They should have a
comfortable settlement in the land of Canaan. How reasonable are the
conditions of this promise; that they should serve the only true God; not the
gods of the nations, which are no gods at all. How rich are the particulars of
this promise! The comfort of their food, the continuance of their health, the
increase oftheir wealth, the prolonging their lives to old age. Thus hath
godliness the promise of the life that now is. It is promised that they should
subdue their enemies. Hosts of hornets made way for the hosts of Israel; such
mean creatures canGod use for chastising his people's enemies. In real
kindness to the church, its enemies are subdued by little and little; thus we are
kept on our guard, and in continual dependence on God. Corruptions are
driven out of the hearts of God's people, not all at once, but by little and little.
The precept with this promise is, that they should not make friendship with
idolaters. Those that would keepfrom bad courses, must keepfrom bad
company. It is dangerous to live in a bad neighbourhood; others' sins will be
our snares. Our greatestdangeris from those who would make us sin against
God.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible

An Angel - See Exodus 3:2, Exodus 3:8; Joshua 5:13; Isaiah63:9.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
20-25. Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keepthee in the way—The
communication of these laws, made to Mosesand by him rehearsedto the
people, was concluded by the addition of many animating promises,
intermingled with severalsolemn warnings that lapses into sin and idolatry
would not be tolerated or passedwith impunity.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
To wit, Christ, the Angel of the covenant, as may be gatheredboth from the
following words, because pardon of sin, which is God’s prerogative, Mark 2:7,
is here ascribedto him, and God’s name is in him, and by comparing other
scriptures, as Exodus 32:34 Acts 7:38,39 1 Corinthians 10:9. See Exodus 13:21
14:19.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Behold, I send an angelbefore thee,.... Nota createdangel, but the uncreated
one, the Angel of God's presence, that was with the Israelites atSinai, and in
the wilderness;who saved, redeemed, bore, and carried them all the days of
old, whom they rebelled againstand tempted in the wilderness;as appears by
all the characters aftergiven of him, which by no means agree with a created
angel:Aben Ezra observes, thatsome say this is the book of the law, because it
is said, "my name is in him", or "in the midst of it"; others say, the ark of the
covenant;but he says this angelis Michael; and if indeed by Michaelis
intended the uncreatedangel, as he always is in Scripture, he is right: Jarchi
remarks, that their Rabbins say, this is Metatron, whose name is as the name
of his master; Metatron, by gematry, is Shaddai, which signifies almighty or
all-sufficient, and is an epithet of the divine Being; and Metatron seems to be a
corruption of the word "mediator":some of the ancient Jewishwriters say
(k), this is the Angel that is the Redeemerof the world, and the keeperof the
children of men: and Philo the Jew (l) applies the word unto the divine Logos,
and says,"he (God)uses the divine Word as the guide of the way; for the
oracle is, "behold, I send my Angel", &c.''whichagrees with what follows:

to keepthee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have
prepared; to preserve the Israelites in their journey through the wilderness,
from all their enemies that should setupon them, and to bring them safe at
last to the land of Canaan, which he had appointed for them, and promised to
them, and had prepared both in his purpose and gift for them, and would
make way for their settlementin it by driving out the nations before them.
(k) In Zohar in Gen. fol. 124. 4. (l) "De migratione" Abraham, p. 415.
Geneva Study Bible
Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keepthee in the way, and to bring thee
into the place which I have prepared.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
20. an angel] such as guided and protectedthe patriarchs (Genesis 24:7;
Genesis 31:11;Genesis 48:16);cf. Exodus 14:19 (on Exodus 32:34, Exodus
33:2, see the notes), Numbers 20:16. It is true, the expressionhere used is ‘an
angel’(so Numbers 20:16 : contrastch. Exodus 3:2); but he appears in v. 21 as
Jehovah’s full representative (see on Exodus 3:2). Elsewhere in JE the pillar
of cloud (see on Exodus 13:21), Hobab (Numbers 10:31), and the ark
(Numbers 10:33), are severallydescribed as guiding Israelin the wilderness.
20, 21. An angelis to guide Israel on its journey to Canaan:his instructions
must be receivedwith the same respectand fearas those of JehovahHimself;
for Jehovahwill Himself be speaking in him.
20–33.Hortatory epilogue. The laws which Israel is to observe have been
defined: and now Jehovahdeclares whatHe will do for His people if it is
obedient to His voice (v. 22): He will give it prosperity, freedom from sickness
and long life, successin its contests with the nations of Canaan, and extension
of territory afterwards. Comp. the similar, but longerand more elaborated,

hortatory discourses (including curses on disobedience), concluding the codes
of H (Leviticus 26:3-45)and Dt. (Deuteronomy 28). It is remarkable that the
commands which Israel is to obey are not those embodied in ch. Exodus 20:22
to Exodus 23:19, but (v. 22)those to be given it in the future by the angel on
the wayto Canaan. Perhaps (Bä.)the passage waswritten originally for a
different context: but even if that were the case, it must be intended, where it
now stands, to suggestmotives for the observance ofthe preceding laws.
Pulpit Commentary
Verses 20-31. -THE REWARDS OF OBEDIENCE. Godalways places before
men" the recompense ofthe reward." He does not require of them that they
should serve him for nought. The "Book ofthe Covenant" appropriately ends
with a number of promises, which God undertakes to perform, if Israel keeps
the terms of the covenant. The promises are: -
1. That he will send an angelbefore them to be their guide, director, and
helper (vers. 20 - 23).
2. That he will be the enemy of their enemies (ver. 22), striking terror into
them miraculously (ver. 27), and subjecting them to other scourges also(ver.
28).
3. That he will drive out their enemies "by little and little" (ver. 30), not
ceasing until he has destroyedthem (ver. 23).
4. That he will give them the entire country betweenthe Red Sea and the
Mediterraneanon the one hand, the Desertand the Euphrates on the other
(ver. 31). And

5. That he will bless their sustenance, avertsicknessfrom them, cause them to
multiply, and prolong their days upon earth (vers. 25, 26). At the same time,
all these promises - exceptthe first - are made conditional. If they will
"beware" ofthe angeland "obey his voice," then he will drive their enemies
out (vers. 22, 23): if they will serve Jehovah, and destroythe idols of the
nations, then he will multiply them, and give them health and long life (vers.
24-26), and "settheir bounds from the Red Sea even unto the Sea of the
Philistines, and from the desertunto the river" (ver. 31). So far as they fall
short of their duties, is he entitled to fall short of his promises. A reciprocityis
established. Unless they keeptheir engagements,he is not bound to keephis.
Though the negative side is not entered upon, this is sufficiently clear. None of
the promises, exceptthe promise to send the angel, is absolute. Their
realisationdepends on a strict and hearty obedience. Verse 20. - Behold, I
send a messengerbefore thee. Jewishcommentators regardthe messengeras
Moses,who, no doubt, was a speciallycommissionedambassadorforGod, and
who might, therefore, well be termed God's messenger. Butthe expressions -
"He will not pardon your transgressions,"and "My name is in him," are too
high for Moses. An angelmust be intended - probably "the Angel of the
Covenant," - whom the best expositors identify with the SecondPersonof the
Trinity, the Ever-BlessedSonof God. To keepthee in the way is not simply
"to guide thee through the wilderness, and prevent thee from geographical
error," but to keepthee altogetherin the right path. s, to guard thy going out
and thy coming m, to prevent thee from falling into any kind of wrong
conduct. The place which I have prepared is not merely Palestine, but that
place of which Palestine is the type - viz., Heaven. Compare John 14:2: - "I go
to prepare a place for you."
Keil and DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament
The Fundamental Rights of Israelin its Religious and TheocraticalRelationto
Jehovah. - As the observance ofthe Sabbath and sabbaticalyear is not
instituted in Exodus 23:10-12, so Exodus 23:14-19 do not containeither the
original or earliestappointment of the feasts, ora complete law concerning
the yearly feasts. Theysimply command the observance ofthree feasts during
the year, and the appearance of the people three times in the year before the
Lord; that is to say, the holding of three national assemblies to keepa feast

before the Lord, or three annual pilgrimages to the sanctuaryof Jehovah. The
leading points are clearlyset forth in Exodus 23:14 and Exodus 23:17, to
which the other verses are subordinate. These leading points are ‫םיטּפׁשמ‬ or
rights, conferredupon the people of Israelin their relationto Jehovah;for
keeping a feastto the Lord, and appearing before Him, were both of them
privileges bestowedby Jehovahupon His covenantpeople. Even in itself the
festalrejoicing was a blessing in the midst of this life of labour, toil, and
trouble; but when accompaniedwith the right of appearing before the Lord
their God and Redeemer, to whom they were indebted for everything they had
and were, it was one that no other nation enjoyed. Forthough they had their
joyous festivals, these festivals bore the same relation to those of Israel, as the
dead and worthless gods ofthe heathen to the living and almighty God of
Israel.
Of the three feasts at which Israelwas to appear before Jehovah, the feastof
Mazzoth, or unleavened bread, is referred to as already instituted, by the
words "as I have commanded thee," and "atthe appointed time of the earing
month," which point back to chs. 12 and 13;and all that is added here is, "ye
shall not appearbefore My face empty." "Notempty:" i.e., not with empty
hands, but with sacrificialgifts, answering to the blessing given by the Lord
(Deuteronomy 16:16-17). These gifts were devotedpartly to the general
sacrifices ofthe feast, and partly to the burnt and peace-offeringswhichwere
brought by different individuals to the feasts, and applied to the sacrificial
meals (Numbers 28 and 29). This command, which relatedto all the feasts,
and therefore is mentioned at the very outsetin connectionwith the feastof
unleavened bread, did indeed impose a duty upon Israel, but such a duty as
became a source of blessing to all who performed it. The gifts demanded by
God were the tribute, it is true, which the Israelites paid to their God-King,
just as all Easternnations are required to bring presents when appearing in
the presence oftheir kings;but they were only gifts from God's own blessing,
a portion of that which He had bestowedin rich abundance, and they were
offered to God in such a way that the offerer was thereby more and more
confirmed in the rights of covenantfellowship. The other two festivals are
mentioned here for the first time, and the details are more particularly
determined afterwards in Leviticus 23:15., and Numbers 28:26. One was

calledthe feastof Harvest, "ofthe first-fruits of thy labours which thou hast
sownin the field," i.e., of thy field-labour. According to the subsequent
arrangements, the first of the field-produce was to be offered to God, not the
first grains of the ripe corn, but the first loaves ofbread of white or wheaten
flour made from the new corn (Leviticus 23:17.). In Exodus 34:22 it is called
the "feastofWeeks,"because, according to Leviticus 23:15-16;Deuteronomy
16:9, it was to be kept sevenweeks afterthe feastof Mazzoth; and the "feast
of the first-fruits of wheatharvest," because the loaves of first-fruits to be
offered were to be made of wheatenflour. The other of these feasts, i.e., the
third in the year, is called"the feastof Ingathering, at the end of the year, in
the gathering in of thy labours out of the field." This generaland indefinite
allusion to time was quite sufficient for the preliminary institution of the feast.
In the more minute directions respecting the feasts given in Leviticus 23:34;
Numbers 29:12, it is fixed for the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and
placed on an equality with the feastof Mazzoth as a sevendays' festival. ‫ּׁשהנּׁש‬
‫תאצּב‬ does not mean after the close ofthe year, finito anno, any more than the
corresponding expressionin Exodus 34:22, ‫הנּׁשּב‬ ‫,ּׁשהנּׁש‬ signifies at the turning
of the year. The year referred to here was the so-calledcivil year, which began
with the preparation of the ground for the harvest-sowing, and ended when all
the fruits of the field and garden had been gatheredin. No particular day was
fixed for its commencement, nor was there any new year's festival; and even
after the beginning of the earing month had been fixed upon for the
commencementof the year (Exodus 12:2), this still remained in force, so far as
all civil matters connectedwith the sowing and harvestwere concerned;
though there is no evidence that a double reckoning was carriedon at the
same time, or that a civil reckoning existedside by side with the religious.
‫תצסטּב‬ does not mean, "whenthou hast gathered," postquam collegisti; for ‫ת‬
does not stand for ‫,רחצ‬ nor has the infinitive the force of the preterite. On the
contrary, the expression"at thy gathering in," i.e., when thou gatherestin, is
kept indefinite both here and in Leviticus 23:39, where the month and days in
which this feastwas to be kept are distinctly pointed out; and also in
Deuteronomy 16:13, in order that the time for the feastmight not be made
absolutely dependent upon the complete termination of the gathering in,
although as a rule it would be almost over. The gathering in of "thy labours
out of the field" is not to be restrictedto the vintage and gathering of fruits:

this is evident not only from the expression"outof the field," which points to
field-produce, but also from the clause in Deuteronomy 16:13, "gathering of
the floor and wine-press," which shows clearlythat the words refer to the
gathering in of the whole of the year's produce of corn, fruit, oil, and wine.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
ADAM CLARKE
Verse 20
Behold, I send an Angel before thee - Some have thought that this was Moses,
others Joshua, because the word ‫ךאלמ‬ malach signifies an angel or messenger; but
as it is said, Exodus 23:21, My name is in him, (‫וברקב‬ bekirbo, intimately,
essentially in him), it is more likely that the great Angel of the Covenant, the Lord
Jesus Christ, is meant, in whom dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. We
have had already much reason to believe that this glorious personage often
appeared in a human form to the patriarchs, etc.; and of him Joshua was a very
expressive type, the names Joshua and Jesus, in Hebrew and Greek, being of
exactly the same signification, because radically the same, from ‫עשי‬ yasha, he
saved, delivered, preserved, or kept safe. Nor does it appear that the description
given of the Angel in the text can belong to any other person.
Calmet has referred to a very wonderful comment on these words given by Philo
Judaeus De Agricultura, which I shall producehere at full length as it stands in Dr.
Mangey's edition, vol. 1., p. 308: Ὡς ποιμην και βασιλευς ὁ Θεος αγει κατα δικην
και νομον, προστησαμενοςτον ορθοναυτουλογον πρωτογονονυἱον, ὁς την
επιμελειαν της ἱερας ταυτης αγελης, οἱα τις μεγαλου βασιλεως ὑπαρχος,

διαδεξεται.Και γαρ ειρηται που· Ιδου εγω ειμι, αποστελω αγγελον μον εις
προσωπον σου, τουφυλαξαι σε εν τῃ ὁδῳ "God, as the Shepherd and King,
conducts all things according to law and righteousness, having established over
them his right Word, his Only-Begotten Son, who, as the Viceroy of the Great
King, takes care of and ministers to this sacred flock. For it is somewhere said, (
Exodus 23:20;), Behold, I Am, and I will send my Angel before thy face, to keep
thee in the way."
This is a testimony liable to no suspicion, coming from a person who cannot be
supposed to be even friendly to Christianity, nor at all acquainted with that
particular doctrine to which his words seem so pointedly to refer.
Verse 21
He will not pardonyour transgressions - He is not like a man, with whom ye may
think that ye may trifle; were he either man or angel, in the common acceptation of
the term, it need not be said, He will not pardonyour transgressions, for neither
man nor angel could do it.
My name is in him - The Jehovah dwells in him; in him dwelt all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily; and because of this he could either pardonor punish. All power is
given unto me in heaven and earth, Matthew 28:18.
RON DANIEL
23:20-23 A Guarding Angel
We've talked many times before in our studies of Genesis and Revelationthat
Jesus Christ is often calledan angel. Notbecause He is a celestial, created
being, but simply because the word "angel" means "messenger." Here we see

that the Lord said, "My name is in Him." This angelwill often be calledin the
Hebrew "Yahweh" and "Elohim." But even the name Jesus includes the
name of God. "Jesus"in Hebrew is "Yah-Shua", meaning "Yahweh is
Salvation." The name of God is in the name Jesus.
Loyalty to God
Series:Exodus
Sermon by J. Ligon Duncan on Sep4, 2002
Exodus 23:20-33
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Exodus 23:20-33
Loyalty to God

If you have your Bibles, please open to Exodus chapter23, beginning at verse
20, hear the word of God:
"Behold, I am going to send an angelbefore you to guard you along the way
and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. "Be on your guard
before him and obey his voice;do not be rebellious towardhim, for he will not
pardon your transgression, since My name is in him. "But if you truly obey
his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an
adversary to your adversaries. ForMy angelwill go before you and bring you
in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the
Hivites and the Jebusites;and I will completely destroy them. You shall not
worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you
shall utterly overthrow them and break their sacredpillars in pieces. But you
shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water;
and I will remove sickness fromyour midst. There shall be no one
miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. I
will send My terror aheadof you, and throw into confusionall the people
among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to
you. and the Hittites before you. I will not drive them out before you in a
single year, that the land may not become desolate andthe beasts of the field
become too numerous for you. I will drive them out before you little by little,
until you become fruitful and take possessionofthe land.
I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea ofthe Philistines, and
from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants
of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. You shall
make no covenantwith them or with their gods. They shall not live in your
land, because theywill make you sin againstMe;for if you serve their gods, it
will surely be a snare to you."
Amen. This is God's Word. May He add His blessing to it. Let's pray.
Our Father, we thank you for Your word and we ask that You would teachus
from it. In Jesus'name, Amen.
Here we have before us a promise, a command, another promise and another
command. But the focus of the whole sectionis that we would honor God, that

we would glorify God, that we would be loyal to God, and that we would be
obedient to His commands, and in that obedience that we would find blessing.
And you’ll appreciate why this messageis so important. In less than ten
chapters, Israelwith the word of God from Mount Sinai still ringing in their
ears, while they’re still encamped within the plain of Sinai will violate every
command in this passage.She’llgo after other gods, she’ll make a golden calf;
she’ll follow the detestable ritual practices ofthe Canaanites in the very
presence ofGod in Sinai. So it is vital that God give this reiterative warning to
Israelat the very end of this covenantthat He is making with them. I want
you to see three or four things which still speak to us.
I. God will finish what He starts but He expects obedience from His people.
First, if you’ll look at verses 20-23, you’ll see God's promise and provision of
His angelto guide and bring Israel into the land of promise. We learned
something from this section. We learned that God will finish what He starts.
God doesn't start a projectand then forgetabout it; He doesn'tstart a project
and leave it undone. He will finish what He starts. But He expects obedience
from His people. In verse 20 God reiterates His commitment to Israelby
assuring them of His supernatural intervention on His part. He says, “I'm
going to send an angelto guard you along the way and to bring you into the
place which I have prepared.” He has been promising to bring His people into
the place which He prepared for them eversince He calledAbraham out of
the Ur of the Chaldees. Everysince Genesis 12:1-3, He's been promising to
bring His people into the place which He has prepared for them. And in fact,
He promised Abraham that His children would sojourn in Egypt and then be
brought back to the place which God had prepared for Him. And all along the
way in the wilderness, Godhas been promising to bring His children, His
people, into the land and into the place He has prepared for them. Here He
reminds them that He will give them a supernatural guide into the land. “I am
going to send an angelbefore you to guard you along the way.”
Now, if you haven't been paying close attentionto Exodus, you may be
scratching your head real quickly and saying, “Wait a minute–an angel–I
don't remember this.” Well, it's been a little while, but the angelhas been
there before. The first time in the Book ofExodus that an angelshows up is at

the burning bush. In Exodus 2:3, the angel of the Lord appears to Moses
himself in a blazing fire from the midst of the bush. The next time that an
angelshows up is in Exodus 14:19 as the pilgrimage across the wilderness
begins and God says, “The angelof God who had been going before the camp
moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them
and stoodbehind them.” And so, it's not just that this pillar of fire and pillar
of cloud are guiding Israelby day and night; it's the angelof God there as
well. And that angel's presence is reiterated in Exodus 23 not once, but twice,
in verse 20 and then again in verse 23. In verse 20 he is called an angel, but in
verse 23 he is calledmy angel. “My angelwill go before you and bring you
into the land.” This is not the lasttime that the angelwill appear.
Significantly, the angelwill reappear in Exodus 32 and 33. Don't forget that.
In Exodus 32:34 we will read, “Behold, my angel shall go before you.” In
Exodus 33:2, “I will send an angelbefore you and I will drive out the
Canaanite.”
But I won't spoil the significance ofthose passagesfor you. The point is that
God had supernaturally been guiding His people and now He is reminding
them againof that and saying, “I'm going to complete the task which I
promised. I'm going to bring you into the land through the intervention of My
angel.” You see, that angel's presence is reflective of and an extensionof the
Lord's ownpresence. The New Testamentwriters are not hesitant at all to
identify the angel of the Lord with a pre-incarnate manifestation of our Lord
Jesus Christ. The point is this: God is in your midst. I am with you. My own
angelis with you; I am with you. I'm going to complete the project that I've
begun. God doesn't getinto the middle of a projectand give up; He follows
through. That is why Paul could say, “I know whom I have believed and I am
convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him againstthat
day.”
If you go to the city of Edinburgh, on the hill on the northeastside of town,
Calton Hill, you’ll see a monument to the Napoleanic veterans. It's supposed
to be a replica of the Parthenon. But if you've ever seena picture of the
Parthenon or the ruins of the Parthenonitself, you will notice as you look at
this monument in Edinburgh that it is only half there. That's because the
Scots gothalfway into the building of it and they ran out of money, and they

certainly weren't going to build it on faith. They never completed it; it's half
done. They gotinto the project but they couldn't complete it. There are
monuments like that all over the world. People startthem; they don't count
the cost, they never finish them. God is saying here, I'm not going to get into
the middle of a project and not bring it to completion.
Now that is vitally important for you to remember when you do get to Exodus
32 and 33. God is telling you here now of His purposes to complete that which
He has begun. And so, when you get to Exodus 32 and 33, and the people of
God rebel againstHim and He says to Moses, “OK, that's it; I'm done with
them. I'm going to bring you into the land of Canaanand make you a great
nation.” You need to remember God's prior commitments to understand what
is going on there. God is not changing His mind when He gets to Exodus 32
and 33, and He's tipping you off to that right here in Exodus chapter23. The
strong language ofverse 22, the strong language of conditionality, “If you
obey; if you do all I say—thenI will be an enemy to your enemies.”
This strong language of conditionality helpfully emphasizes the requirements
of the covenant. Obedience is not an option for Israel. And in light of what
Israelis about to do in just a few chapters, this is all the more poignant. Verse
23 recollects the promise of God to Abram in verses 16-21.“Myangelwill go
before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites and the Hittites and
the Perrizites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.”It's just
what God had promised to Abraham. I want you to understand that the
destruction of these people here is not some sortof a tyrannical, amoral,
genocidalactionby a satanic deity. It is a moral visitation of judgment against
sin. God said that to Abraham 550 years before it happened, “the iniquity of
the Amorite is not yet complete.” That's why I haven't yet brought judgment.
I'm waiting for the Amorites to repent. Now, however, judgment is coming—
550 years later. Don't tell me that God is not a patient God. He waits 550
years before the judgment and then the judgment comes. This is not some sort
of a capricious, arbitrary, mean-spirited, small-minded actionof a vindictive
deity. This is the moral judicial and penal judgment of God againstsin.
But you see that this whole passageis a warning to the people of God. He
expects obedience from them. “If God is for us, then who can be againstus,”

Paul asks. Butyou can turn that around. If God is againstus, then who canbe
for us? And if we are againstHim while declaring that we are for Him, then
how we can expectother than for Him to bring judgment againstus as
traitors and hypocrites. That's why He can sayin verse 21, “Be on your guard
before him and obey His voice;do not defy Him; do not be rebellious toward
Him, for He will not pardon your transgression….”If you rebel againstthe
angelof the Lord, if you rejectthe presence of the Lord, it you turn your back
on the God of your salvation, can you but expect judgment? That's the
warning of this passage. That's the first thing I want you to see.
II. God expects an absolute uncompromising loyalty to Himself in our
obedience to the first command.
The secondthing is this; look at verse 24. Obedience to the first
commandment requires the rejectionof the gods of the Canaanites, and of the
way of worship of the Canaanites. In verse 24 we learn that God expects an
absolute, uncompromising loyalty to Himself in our obedience to the first
command.
There are four directions given in verse 24. First: There is to be no
participation in the religious worship of the Canaanites gods. “Youshall not
worship their gods.” Second:There is to be no following after the religion of
the Canaanite gods. “Youshall not worship them nor serve them.” Third:
There is to be no emulation of their worship practices nor do according to
their deeds. Fourth: Canaanite worship sites are to be obliterated. You shall
utterly overthrow them and break their sacredpillars in pieces.” Yousee, this
is another one of those passages thatteaches us that the Exodus was all about
God's glory. The Exodus is all about bringing into being a people who will
glorify Godand syncretism doesn't glorify God. Mixing loyalty to the one true
God and to false gods doesn't glorify God, and so God wants everything wiped
out that would detract from His glory. And at the very heart of covenant
loyalty to God is our commitment to worship Him and worship Him alone.
And not only are we to worship Him alone, we are to worship Him as He
commands and not according to the way of the nations around us. This is the
absolute uncompromising loyalty that God is calling for and againit is
preciselythat which will be violated in Exodus chapter32. Its mind boggling,

isn't it? It's almost like they went through this passageand said, “OK now,
what have we forgotten? Which command have we not violated yet.” Step by
step they go through this passageandignore its warnings and ignore its
demands.
III. Faithfulness to God's covenantmeans blessings forGod's people.
Third. If you look at verses 25-31, youwill see a very important theme in the
five books ofMoses;the theme of the connectionbetweenobedience and
blessing. The obedience blessing principle is set forth here in Exodus 23:25-31,
and it simply teaches us that faithfulness to God's covenantmeans blessing for
God's people. And we learn severalthings here. In verses 25-27, we simply
learn this. Obedience is goodfor you. You remember Satanhad tempted Eve
to believe that obedience was bad for her. Do you mean to tell me that He told
you that you couldn't eat from any of the trees? Now, never mind that that is
not what God said. The point of that statement by Satanwas to cause Eve to
begin to doubt in her heart whether God's commands were goodor goodfor
her. Here in verses 25-27,Godis simply reiterating that My commands are
not like the commands of an arbitrary tyrant which serve only his interests;
My commands will serve your interests.
Look at what He says. “Obeyand this is what will happen. I’ll feedyou, I’ll
make you healthy, I’ll prevent miscarriage, I’ll give you long life, and I will
scare your enemies to death.” And He doesn't stop. In verses 28-31,He says,
“You obey and not only will I defeat your enemies, but I’ll do it in the best
possible way for you. If I wiped them all out now there wouldn't be enough of
you to go into the land and possess itand you’d have lions and tigers and
bears everywhere. So I'm going to wipe them out little by little so you cango
in and inhabit the place. So I'm not only going to defeat your enemies but I'm
going to defeat them in the best possible wayfor you.”
And it is vital for us to see that this passageis not about the health and wealth
gospel. This is preciselythe kind of passagethat health and wealth teachers go
to and say, “See, you obey God and you get blessing. You obey God and
everything will be greatin your life.” This is a passageaboutloyalty to God
and about the goodnessofGod's will and about the blessing of obedience and

about the particular situation in redemptive history that Israel found herself
in. SoonIsraelwas going to violate all of these directives. And God is warning
her now, and He is reminding her of the blessing of obedience and the curse of
disobedience. Trustand obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus
but to trust and obey. You could have summed up the passagejustlike that.
IV. God expects an exclusive covenant loyalty to Him and no human
relationship must detract from it.
And there is one last thing in verses 32 and 33. Godagain demands exclusive
covenantloyalty from His people. “You shall make no covenantwith them or
with their gods.” Godexpects and exclusive covenantloyalty to Him and no
human relationship must detract from it. In verse 32, in addition to the
directions that He had given Israelin verse 24, Israelis here forbidden to
enter into a covenantrelationship with the occupants of the land. They are not
only not to worship their gods, they are not only not to use the wayof worship
that the Canaanites used, they are not only to refuse to engage in the cultic
practices ofthe Canaanites, theyare not only to tear down the sanctuaries of
the Canaanites;they are not to make treaties or agreements with the
occupants of the land. That's going to be significant later too. In Joshua 9,
somebody is going to realize that Israeldidn't break that particular command
in Exodus 32, and they’re going to say, “Oops!We missedthat one; we need to
go ahead and break that one quickly too.” You see, allof these things set up
things that are going to happen on the way into the land. All of these
commands of God look into the future and speak to the situations that Israel
will face on its way into the land. The reasonfor this command is plainly
statedin verse 33. “Theyshall not live in your land because they will make
you sin againstMe. And if you serve their gods it will surely be a snare to
you.”
And doesn't that speak to us today of how human relationships can still be a
snare to the people of God? A young Christian woman falling in love with a
pagan; she loves him, he loves her. They serve different Gods. She consigns
herself to a life of misery. He is a snare to her because she made a covenant
with someone who did not love the Lord, her God. And we could repeat that

story in 5,000 variations. The commands of God are still applicable today to
the people of God. May God grant that we would be loyal to Him. Let us pray.
JOHN GILL
Verse 20
Behold, I send an angelbefore thee,.... Nota createdangel, but the uncreated
one, the Angel of God's presence, that was with the Israelites atSinai, and in
the wilderness;who saved, redeemed, bore, and carried them all the days of
old, whom they rebelled againstand tempted in the wilderness;as appears by
all the characters aftergiven of him, which by no means agree with a created
angel:Aben Ezra observes, thatsome say this is the book of the law, because it
is said, "my name is in him", or "in the midst of it"; others say, the ark of the
covenant;but he says this angelis Michael; and if indeed by Michaelis
intended the uncreatedangel, as he always is in Scripture, he is right: Jarchi
remarks, that their Rabbins say, this is Metatron, whose name is as the name
of his master; Metatron, by gematry, is Shaddai, which signifies almighty or
all-sufficient, and is an epithet of the divine Being; and Metatron seems to be a
corruption of the word "mediator":some of the ancient Jewishwriters
sayF11, this is the Angel that is the Redeemerofthe world, and the keeperof
the children of men: and Philo the JewF12 applies the word unto the divine
Logos, and says,"he (God)uses the divine Word as the guide of the way; for
the oracle is, "behold, I send my Angel", &c.'whichagrees with what follows:
to keepthee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have
prepared; to preserve the Israelites in their journey through the wilderness,
from all their enemies that should setupon them, and to bring them safe at
last to the land of Canaan, which he had appointed for them, and promised to
them, and had prepared both in his purpose and gift for them, and would
make way for their settlementin it by driving out the nations before them.

Verse 21
Beware ofhim,.... Of his face or countenance;observe his looks towards you
in a providential way, whether frowning or smiling; observe his directions and
instructions, laws and commands:
and obey his voice; hearkento what he says, and cheerfully, readily, and
punctually do as he orders:
provoke him not; by unbelief, by murmurings and complaints, by unbecoming
words and actions, by transgressing his commands, and acting contrary to his
will:
for he will not pardon your transgressions:or suffer them to pass unchastised
and uncorrected, but will, as he did, take vengeanceontheir inventions, and
on them because ofthem, though he forgave their iniquities; for that he was
such an Angel as could forgive sin, which none but God can do, is evident;
because it would be absurd to sayhe will not pardon, if he could not pardon
their transgressions, seeMatthew 9:6,
for my name is in him; the Father is in the Son, and the Sonin the Father; the
nature and perfections of God are in the Word and Son of God, and so his
name Jehovah, which is peculiar to him; Christ is Jehovah our righteousness:
or "though my name is in him"F13;as Abendana and others, his name the
Lord God, gracious and merciful, pardoning iniquity, transgressionand sin,
as afterwards proclaimed in him; and yet, notwithstanding this, he would not
clearthe guilty, or suffer the Israelites to go unpunished, if they offended him:
the Targum of Onkelos is,"orin my name is his word,'he is my ambassador
and speaks in my name.

The Battle belongs to the Lord
by Scott Grant
The details are covered
As I prepared to leave for a ministry in Brazil, I was really concernedwith
only one thing: teaching Ephesians. That's not the only thing that needed to be
done, of course. A trip like this involves a plethora of preparations. But those
preparations were made by the organizationthat had arrangedfor our trip,
the JapaneseEvangelicalMissionarySociety. JEMS wentbefore us, so to
speak, and took care of all the details. I'm thankful for this, because I'm not a
details person. Knowing that JEMS was taking care of all the details liberated
me to focus on the one thing I knew I was calledto do: teach.
As anyone familiar with the New Testamentknows, we are in a spiritual war.
The details of that war can be overwhelming. They would be, in fact, if not for
the factthat God has gone before us and fights for us. Like JEMS, he takes
care of all the details. This frees us up to do the one thing we know we're
calledto do: worship the Lord. In spiritual warfare, God fights for us while
we worship.
Exodus 23:20-33 contains echoesofthe Lord's dealings with Abraham.
Abraham was told of judgment upon the Amorites (Genesis 15:16, Exodus
23:23). The Israelites would serve a foreign nation, but they were not to serve
the gods of the nation (Genesis 15:13-14, Exodus 23:24). God would bless
them and they would not be barren (Genesis 15:2-3, Exodus 23:25-26). Their
number would be great(Genesis 15:5, Exodus 23:26). They would live in the
land (Genesis 15:18-21,Exodus 23:31). God made a covenantwith Abraham
to give him and his descendants the land, and the people were to make no
covenantwith those who lived there (Genesis 15:18, Exodus 23:32-33). Justas
the Lord promised to be faithful to Abraham, and was faithful to Abraham,

he promises to be faithful to Israel, and will be faithful to Israel. In their
upcoming battles, then, it will be important for them to remember God's
historic faithfulness. Likewise in our spiritual battles, it is important for us to
remember God's historic faithfulness, as recordedin the scriptures, as
demonstrated in history and as proved in our own lives. The recordis there.
God is faithful.
The structure of Exodus 23:20-33 is built around what God will do and what
the people will do. Therefore, we will considerthe text thematically:
A 23:20-23WhatGodwill do
B 23:24-26Whatthe people will do
A' 23:27-31WhatGodwill do
B' 23:32-33Whatthe people will do
What is it that God does? He fights on our behalf.
God fights (23:20-33, 27-31)
God promises the people that he will send an angelbefore them. This is likely
the same angelthat is connectedwith the cloud that guided and protected
Israel, inasmuch as similar terminology is used (Exodus 14:19). At any rate,
the important thing to note is that the Lord has tremendous resources.Angels
elsewhere in scripture are called"hosts," ortroops. God is "the Lord of
hosts," who commands armies of angels. In light of the battles that lie before
them, this is important for the Israelites to know.
The angelis going to bring them to the place that the Lord has prepared, a
reference to Canaan. The people are in the wilderness now but are on their
way to Canaan, the land promised to Abraham and his descendants.
The people are warned about being "rebellious" towardthe angel. The angel
is God's representative;this is the meaning of the Lord's name being in the
angel. So any rebellion againstthe angelis a rebellion againstthe Lord.
Obviously, a serious rebellion is in view here, because it will not be pardoned.

Nothing less than a rejectionof a relationship with the Lord is in view. The
Lord is telling them, "Do not break off relationship with me."
Instead, they should "be on guard," which is further defined as obedience to
his voice. The base meaning of the word translated "obey" is "listen." Instead
of rebelling againstthe angel, they should listen to him, and by extension, the
Lord. The wayto guard againstrejecting the Lord is to listen to him. What
does the Lord have to say? He has already said it, and he is about to say it
again:"Don't worship other gods; do worship me." If they worship the Lord
and him alone, he promises to be an enemy to their enemies, and he promises
complete victory.
The Lord prepared the land of Canaanfor the Israelites. Whathas he
prepared for us? He has prepared Christ for us. Just as the Lord placedthe
Israelites in the land, he has placedus in Christ (Galatians 3:27). Restis not in
the land, as it was for the Israelites, but in Christ (Matthew 11:28).
Inheritance is not in the land, as it was for the Israelites, but in Christ
(Ephesians 1:11). Those ofus who believe in Christ are in him presently. But
just as the Israelites enteredthe land and had battles to fight, so do we.
Who are our enemies? Notthe Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the
Canaanites, the Hivites or the Jebusites. The New Testamentadvocates
engaging in no battles againstany human foe. But it does speak profuselyof
spiritual foes:"Forour struggle is not againstfleshand blood but againstthe
rulers, againstthe powers, againstthe world forces of this darkness, against
the spiritual forces ofwickedness inthe heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). So
this is one of those sections in the Old Testament where we learn about
spiritual warfare -- how to do battle with Satanand his spiritual entourage.
First, we need to note two little words that appear 11 times together in these
verses:"I will." Before we considerour part in spiritual warfare, we need to
considerGod's part.
Demons operate best in the dark, in hidden places where they go undetected.
What is more hidden than the future? Notknowing the future, we may be
inclined to fear it. Demons themselves would promote that fear. Eight times
the Lord says that he, or his angel, will go "before" or "aheadof" the people.

When we move forward into the future, the Lord is there already. We
therefore need not fear the future.
Demons would not only inspire fear, they would inspire terror. Yet the Lord
says that his "terror" will go ahead of the people, and that their enemies will
be in terror. James says the demons "shudder" (James 2:19). We need not be
terrified of demons, because they are terrified of the Lord.
The Lord says he will confuse Israel's enemies. Satanis brilliant, but he
commits cosmic blunders. His wits are no match for the Lord's. His intent was
to crush the seedof Eve, both Christ and his people (Genesis 3:15), but every
effort has been thwarted. Everything he tries backfires. That's because the
Lord uses Satan's evil schemes for goodpurposes. Satanentered into Judas
(John 13:27), whose betrayal led to the crucifixion of Jesus, the worstthing
that could have ever happened to Satan, as he discoveredwhen Christ rose
from the dead. He must be the most confusedbeing in the universe. Satanis
brilliant, but God's wisdom confounds him every time. Therefore, we need not
fear Satan's schemes, forthe Lord will turn them againsthim.
The Lord will make the enemies of the people turn their backs in flight. The
New Testamentspeaks ofSatanand his demons running in defeat. After
failing in his battle with Jesus in the wilderness, the devil "left him" (Matthew
4:11). James says, "Resistthe devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). In
the end, Satanalways runs away, because he can't win. Therefore, we need
not fearthat Satan will ever be triumphant. He will flee in defeat time after
time.
The Lord promises that he will drive out the enemies of the people, but not all
at once. He will not do it in a single year but "little by little." We may feelthat
spiritual "victories" are few and far between. If God is so greatand can
vanquish Satan with the blink of an eye, we may reason, why do we still feel so
oppressed? Where is the victory in this supposedvictorious Christian life?
And for that matter, why do we have to face these spiritual enemies, anyway?
What are they doing in our way?
The answerto these questions is in Exodus 23:29-30. Note that God takes
responsibility for the pace. So if we don't feel the waris going so well, could it

be that God is responsible? Could it be that, from our perspective, he's taking
his ownsweettime about things, allowing demons to continually bombard us
with thoughts raised up againsthim and to place before us golden
opportunities to rejectthe Lord? It's not only possible, it's true.
Why is the Lord so deliberate? He's deliberate, strange as it may seem, for
our sakes. If he were to drive out Israel's enemies in a single year, they would
not be able to control the numerous "beasts ofthe field" simply because there
are not enough people to do so. At this point, they don't have enough people to
take possessionofthe land. But as they "become fruitful," meaning
reproduce, the Lord will increasinglydrive out the enemies. The Lord will
later tell the people that he is leaving enemies in the land to teachthem war
(Judges 2:20-3:4). The Lord, then, is using the enemies of Israelfor its benefit
-- to keepthe animals from ravaging the land and to teachIsraelwar.
How does the Lord use our spiritual enemies -- Satanand his demons -- for
our benefit? First, like the Israelites, we would not be able to dealwith instant
freedom from enemies. Like a newly releasedprisoner who can't deal with life
"on the outside," we'd have a difficult time with all the choices thatfreedom
allows. We need to become more spiritually fruitful. We need to learn
spiritual warfare. The Lord uses evil, then, to teachus spiritual warfare that
we might become spiritually fruitful that we might be mature. The Lord, then,
is using Satan for the sake ofour maturity. Maturity comes not in a single
year but little by little, as we believe truth by truth, as we have our "senses
trained to discern good and evil" (Hebrews 5:14). So because ofthe Lord's
graciousness,we're in a war, an inch-by-bloody-inch war, that is contributing
to our spiritual maturity.
The Lord promises the people that one day they will be fruitful enough to take
possessionofthe land, their inheritance. One day, too, we will be spiritually
mature enough to take full possessionofour spiritual inheritance. That will be
the day when Jesus Christreturns for us to set up his eternalkingdom, when
we live forever in the land that God brings down from heaven (Revelation
21:1-2). Just as the Lord fixed the boundaries of the promised land, so he will
fix the boundaries of the heavenly land, where we will be safe from any
further attack. Justas the Lord would completely drive out the enemies of

Israel, he will completely drive out our spiritual enemies (1 Corinthians 15:25,
Revelation20:10). He will "sooncrush Satanunder your feet" (Romans
16:20). These spiritual enemies, therefore, are being used by God to getus
ready for heaven, to bring us to maturity, to the point where we are prepared
to know and worship the Lord for all eternity in the particular way he has for
eachof us.
Exodus 23 illustrates the greattruth of Romans 8:37-39:"But in all these
things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. For I am
convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, norprincipalities, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
createdthing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus."Satanand his demons are numbered among principalities,
powers and createdthings. Simply, Satanis againstus, but God is for us, and
God is bigger than Satan -- way bigger. God is so big, in fact, that he uses
Satan's resistance to the favor of those who love Jesus. Thatmeans, where
spiritual warfare is concerned, there's nothing to worry about. There is little
for us to do in this sectionof Exodus but to believe it -- believe that God fights
for us and is defeating and will defeatSatan.
In the early 1970s,British journalist MalcolmMuggeridge learnedfrom
Anatoli Kuznestov, an exile from the Soviet Union who was living in England,
that the intellectual elite were experiencing a spiritual revival in the Soviet
Union. Muggeridge recalls, "Iaskedhim how this could have happened given
the enormous anti-religious brainwashing job done on the citizenry, and the
absence ofall Christian literature, including the gospels. His reply was
memorable; the authorities, he said, forgotto suppress the works of Tolstoy
and Dostoevsky, the most perfect expositions of the Christian faith of modern
times." Satan can't win. Every move he makes backfires. Godfights for us.
That means we can focus on what we're supposedto focus on: worshiping the
Lord.
We worship (23:24-26, 32-33)
The previously consideredsections were dominated by the words "I will," in
reference to what God will do. These sections are dominated by the words

"You shall," in reference to what the people should do. They appear together
four times in five verses. In 23:21-22, the people were told to listen to what the
Lord says. These sectionscontainwhat he says. The Lord says to worship him,
not other gods.
Satan, in his war againstGodand God's people, has one goal, really. It is to
turn people away from God (2 Corinthians 11:3). In order to do this, he offers
an array of other gods that parade before us a host of promises (1 Corinthians
10:20). Not surprisingly, then, the Lord tells us not to worship other gods but
to worship him. This is the essenceofspiritual warfare, really. Our part is
simply to worship the Lord. He fights; we worship.
But how easilywe are drawn away from the worship of the Lord to the
worship of other gods. The people of Israelwere easilydrawn away, also.
That's why the Lord takes a no-prisoners approachto idolatry. The people
who worship other gods are to be overthrown, no covenant is to be made with
them, and they should not be allowedto live in the land. The pillars used in
the worship of these gods are to be crushed, and no covenants are to be made
with these gods, either. From a New Testamentperspective, we can
understand the people as demons and the gods as those offered by demons.
We are to make no provision whatsoeverfor other gods.
What are these gods? The people of the land worshiped various pagandeities
and made idols in devotion to them. Such obvious worship of other gods is still
with us today in the form of Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Mormonism,
astrology, fortune telling and scores ofother headings. Much of it is gathered
today under the banner of what is called the New Age. Perhaps more insidious
in our culture are the gods that might go by the names of Success,
Materialism, Sex, Self-fulfillment and Control.
Whateverpoison we choose, it's still poison. And that's why God is so ruthless
when it comes to idolatry. He tells us not to worship other gods because they'll
kill us. Keeping other gods around is a "snare" that would trap and kill. The
word that is translated "snare" was usedof bait in a fowler's trap. The
intention, in setting up the trap, was to kill the bird. Idolatry is poisonous.

If idolatry is so lethal, why then do we opt for it? We worship other gods for
one simple reason:We think they will bless us. We think that Successwill
finally make us feel goodabout ourselves. We think that Materialismwill add
spice to life. We think that Sex will meet our relational needs. We think that
Control will protectus from harm. When we think this way, we're thinking
exactly the way Satanwants us to think. Those gods meet none of those needs.
They hold forth the promise of blessing, but they never deliver. They don't
bless;they kill.
The antidote for worshiping other gods is worshiping the true God. Godgives
us plenty of help here by showing himself as the true source of blessing. He
tells the Israelites that he will bless them. Gods who don't bless are not worthy
of worship. The Lord blesses.He will bless their food, he'll remove sickness,
none will miscarry and they'll live full life spans. This didn't happen, of
course, becausethe people, once in the land, sought after other gods for such
blessings.
How are we to understand such blessings from a New Testamentperspective?
The Old Testamentphysicalblessings are given to us as a picture of the far
more important spiritual blessings. Paulsays in Ephesians 1:3, "Blessedbe
the Godand Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessedus with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." God promised physical
blessings to Israel, though such blessings were to lead them to understand how
he had blessedthem spiritually in their relationship with him. He promised
them blessings in the land -- their inheritance, though David and others
declaredthat the Lord himself, not the land, was their portion (Psalm142:5).
Our blessings are not physical but spiritual, they are not earthly but heavenly
and they are not in the land but in Christ. Paul then goes onto sing about
them in Ephesians 1:4-14. They include being adopted as sons, being
redeemedand being given an eternal inheritance, and they all gather around
the conceptof knowing God through Jesus Christ, and knowing him forever.
God has ultimately blessedus by giving us himself. The source ofblessing is
God, and the blessing is God. He is what we want; he is what we were made
for. What do the other gods have to offer in comparisonthe blessings in
Christ? They're peddling junk jewelry, and the Lord is offering the realthing.

The best thing we can do in this spiritual war, then, is recognize the Lord as
the true source of blessing and worship him. That means we don't have to be
paranoid about what the enemy is up to. We don't have to be looking for him
everywhere and figuring out where he is. We don't have to be looking all over
the place for demons to castout. It is incumbent on us to worship the Lord.
When I was a sophomore journalism major in college, I took a required
editing course along with the other aspiring journalists. As young journalists
are wont to be, we were an ambitious lot, with big dreams of working on big
stories and changing the world. There were thousands of battles to fight out
there, and we wanted to fight them. Our first assignmentin the editing class
was to take a grammar test. Without exception, we all failed miserably. We
were journalism majors, and we failed a grammar test! What happened? We
were distracted by everything "out there." The basics ofgrammar didn't
interest us, but that was the main thing we needed to do. Similarly, we can get
distracted from our main purpose in spiritual warfare. We can be paranoid
about demons, and that paranoia distracts us from worshiping the Lord. But
if we worship, like focusing on the basics of grammar, everything else will take
care of itself.
Believe and Worship
So what do we do with what the Lord tells us in Exodus 23? First, believe that
he fights for us, and that Satanis grosslyoutmatched. Second, worshipthe
Lord, not other gods. In spiritual warfare, the Lord fights for us while we
worship.
MATTHEW HENRY
I. It is here promised that they should be guided and kept in their way
through the wilderness to the land of promise: Behold, I send an angelbefore
thee (Exodus 23:20), my angel(Exodus 23:23), a createdangel, saysome, a

minister of God's providence, employed in conducting and protecting the
camp of Israel that it might appear that Godtook a particular care of them,
he appointed one of his chief servants to make it his business to attend them,
and see that they wanted for nothing. Others suppose it to be the Son of God,
the angelof the covenantfor the Israelites in the wilderness are said to tempt
Christ and we may as well suppose him God's messenger, andthe church's
Redeemer, before his incarnation, as the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. And we may the rather think he was pleasedto undertake the
deliverance and guidance of Israel because theywere typical of his great
undertaking. It is promised that this blessedangelshould keepthem in the
way, though it lay through a wilderness first, and afterwards through their
enemies'country thus God's spiritual Israel shall be kept through the
wilderness of this earth, and from the insults of the gates of hell. It is also
promised that he should bring them into the place which God had not only
designedbut prepared for them: and thus Christ has prepared a place for his
followers, and will preserve them to it, for he is faithful to him that appointed
him. The precept joined with this promise is that they be observant of, and
obedient to, this angelwhom God would send before them (Exodus 23:21):
"Beware ofhim, and obey his voice in every thing provoke him not in any
thing, for it is at your peril if you do, he will visit your iniquity." Note, 1.
Christ is the author of salvationto those only that obey him. The word of
command is Hear you him, Matthew 17:5. Observe what he hath commanded,
Matthew 28:20. 2. Our necessarydependence upon the divine power and
goodness shouldawe us into obedience. We do well to take heed of provoking
our protectorand benefactor, becauseif our defence depart from us, and the
streams of his goodnessbe cut off, we are undone. Therefore, "Bewareofhim,
and carry it towards him with all possible reverence and caution. Fearthe
Lord, and his goodness." 3. Christ will be faithful to those who are faithful to
him, and will espouse their cause who adhere to his: I will be an adversary to
thine adversaries, Exodus 23:22. The league shall be offensive and defensive,
like that with Abraham, I will bless him that blesseththee, and curse him that
curseth thee. Thus is God pleasedto twist his interests and friendships with
his people's.

F. B . MEYER
Exodus 23:22
An enemy unto thine enemies.
F B Meyer - Our Daily Homily
It is a most helpful thought that the angel of the covenant in whom is God’s
name, always precedes us. In our march through the wilderness we perceive
his form, which is viewless to others, and realize that his strong hand prepares
our path. Let us be very carefulnot to grieve or disobey Him, lest we lose his
mighty championship. Strict obedience to his slightestwhisper secures the
certainty of his vindication of us from the wrongs we suffer at the hands of
our foes. A little further on the same voice promises to send a hornet before
the chosenhost(Exodus 23:28). He who is an angelto the saint is a hornet to
his foes. A swarm of bonnets is the most relentless and irresistible foe that
man can face.
Have you enemies? Be sure that they hate you only for the truth’s sake,and
because darkness mustalways be in antagonismto light. “Who is he that will
harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for
righteousness’sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be
troubled.” But see to it that you cherish no spirit of hatred or retaliation
towards them. Think of the misery of their heart, which is full of jealousy,
envy, and bitterness. Pity and pray for them.
When we are right with God we shall have many new enemies. All who hate
Him will hate us. But this is rather to our credit than otherwise. Those who
have defamed the masterof the household will be hostile to his servants. But
when our cause is one with God’s, and his foes ours, our foes are his, and He
deals with them; He stands betweenus and their hate. He will not leave us in
their hands; He will give us vindication and deliverance.

F. B. Meyer
Exodus 23:20-33 THE PREPARED PLACE AND THE ANGEL-GUIDE
"BEHOLD, I send an Angel before thee, to keepthee in the way, and to bring
thee into the place which I have prepared" (Exo 23:20). The Prepared Place
for the Hebrews.
I. The Prepared Place.
In the dawn of history we see the patriarchal family leaving the Euphrates
Valley and making across the desert for the land of which God had spoken.
"The Lord said unto Abram, Getthee out of thy country, and from thy
kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee So
Abram departed as the Lord had spokenunto him And the Lord said unto
Abram, after that Lot was separatedfrom him, Lift up now thine eyes, and
look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward,
and westward;for all the land that thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy
seedfor ever" (Gen 12:1; Gen 13:14-15). This promise which Jehovahmade
with Abraham He now confirmed to Israelfor an everlasting covenant,
saying, "Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of thine inheritance."
--And for us. "Now these things happened unto them by way of example, and
they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are
come" (1Co 10:11, R.V.). For the Hebrews the prepared place was "the good
land beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon," of which Moses
spoke so pathetically; the land flowing with milk because ofits pastures, and
with honey because ofits flowers;"the glory of all lands," because ofits
fountains and springs, its mountains and vales, and its impregnable fastnesses.
It gleamedbefore the eye of the pilgrim-host as the Highland valley to that of
the far-travelled emigrant returning to see the place of his birth. It behoved

them from afar to press on through vicissitudes and perils, undaunted and
resolute.
For the young, the prepared place seems to be success, love, and home: when
the results of strenuous toil begin to be assured, and the firm land appears.
Thus in the story of Creation, when chaos began to give place to order and
beauty, the smile of Paradise answeredto the love of the one man for the one
woman.
For the saint, it is, generallyspeaking, the place of which the Mastersaid, "In
my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you,
I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again, and receive you unto myself."
In that Land We shall be Perfected. The attractiveness ofthe fair land of
Heaven arises from three anticipations.
(1) We shall be perfected. There is not one of us that is not weary of the
constantfret of the inward conflict. If only we could realise our ideals, if only
we were always what we are in our best moments, if only the will were never
uncrowned, if only the throne of consciencewere neverupturned. Our
consciousnessofGod's presence is so fitful and the springs of eternity so
intermittent. But there the vision of our Lord will be unimpaired. We shall see
Him, and be like Him. We shall be perfectly good, desiring and realising only
the best. Our whole being will be responsive to the summons of His will, and
never get jangled and out of harmony. We shall hunger no more, neither
thirst any more, because He will make us exceeding glad with His
countenance.
And shall be in Accordwith Our Surroundings.
(2) We shall be in accordwith the Nature of things. Beauty is the remaining
trace of the Creator's originalworkmanship. It is the hallmark of the Eternal.
And when we are in perfect accordwith Him, she drops her veil and makes us
beside ourselves with ecstasy. Have you never walkedto and fro, or sat
quietly, amid some scene ofnatural beauty, like a summer morning on the
hills, so intoxicated with the inner view of Nature that you hardly knew

whether you were in the body or out? And have there not been other
experiences, whenthe beauty of some natural law, or Divine handiwork, or
moral splendour has brokenfreshly upon the eye of your mind, and you have
been filled with speechlessawe andreverence? These are rare and memorable
experiences, andforeshadow the perfect unveiling of things as they are, when
the mountains shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall
clap their hands. Creationis now subjected to vanity. She groanethand
travaileth in pain, but when she is delivered from the bondage of corruption
into the liberty of the glory of the children of God, when the sons of Godare
manifested, and the new heavens and earth are born, then God will destroy
the face of the covering that is castover all the peoples, and the veil that is
spread over all nations, and will swallow up death in victory.
And shall have Fellowshipwith the Blessed.
(3) We shall have uninterrupted fellowship with the blessed. Without us they
cannot be made perfect, and are awaiting us. To sit at the feetof Paul, to talk
with John, to hear the story of Creationor Redemption from the lips of one of
the Elders, like him who questioned about the greatmultitude--"one of the
elders answered, saying unto me"--to greetthe holy dead, to resume the long-
interrupted converse, to take up the broken and snapped threads of
friendship and fellowship, without the possibility of misunderstandings,
heartbreaks orseverance--surelyallthis, in the sweetsocietyof Paradise, is
enough to quicken our footsteps. Some lonelypeople amongstus may even
thank God for their lonely hours, for they will realise the joys of heavenly
fellowship as none else can. To no feet are grass and moss so soft as to those
which have climbed long and arduously the difficult flint-paved path.
The Possibilities ofthe Present. Suchare some of the thoughts that cluster
around the place that Christ has prepared for them that love Him. But how
greata mistake it is to postpone these blessings till we have passedthrough the
Doors of the West! Many, for instance, read those inspiring words of 1
Corinthians 2:9–10 as if they referred only and solelyto the other life; they
somehow miss the explanatory clause which follows immediately. Let us read
the passage again:"Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, and which
entered not into the heart of man, whatsoeverthings God prepared for them

that love Him. But unto us God revealedthem through the Spirit" (R.V.). The
latter words prove that they have been revealedto some, as is certainly on
record; but if to some, why not to all? Why should we not receive, here and
now, the Spirit which is of God, that we may know the things which are freely
given to us by God? The one condition is that we should not be carnal, but
spiritual, and that the eyes of our heart are enlightened that we may know.
The trouble is, with most of us, that from the earliestinfancy many loving
friends have helped us to make use of the body, by which we know the world
around us; and so few have helped us to recognise anduse the Spirit, by which
we come to know the Unseen, the Infinite, and the Divine.
Why Wait Till Death? It is not needful to waitfor death ere we enter on the
enjoyment of the good things prepared for us before the foundations of the
earth were laid. Our eternity does not begin from death, but from the soul's
secondbirth. We begin to live the religious life, which means that we live, and
move, and have our being in the Presence ofGod, and in constant touch with
Him. Forgiveness, Salvation, the New Birth are all preliminary to this. They
are the vestibule to the Palace. Suddenly the soul finds that God is all and in
all, that it is a child in the Divine Love, who need go no more out, and it hears
the assurancewhichis borne in perpetually on its inner consciousness, "Son,
thou art everwith me, and all that I have is Thine."
Then those three experiences, which we have locatedin the other world, begin
to be habitual possessionof the soul. In union with Christ, it comes to itself, it
obtains the child's open vision of Nature, and it knows that it has become one
with the Holy Catholic Church, and is admitted to the communion of saints.
"All things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, orthe world, or
life, or death, or things present, or things to come:all are yours, and ye are
Christ's; and Christ is God's" (1Co 3:22-23).
The Angel-Guide. II. The Angel Convoy. This Angel was no ordinary or
createdangel. He is repeatedly identified with JehovahHimself. God's name--
His essentialnature---is in Him. The martyr Stephen, in his defence, speaking
of Moses, said, "This is He that was in the assembly in the wilderness with the
angelwhich spake to him in the Mount Sinai" (Act 7:38, R.V.). Now, we know
Who that Angel was, and what He said. "Whenthe Lord saw that he turned

aside to see, Godcalled unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, The
place whereonthou standestis holy ground" (Exo 3:4-5). Malachidescribes
Him as "the messengerofthe Covenant" (Mal3:1), whose waywas to be
prepared by John the Baptist. We can have no difficulty, therefore, in
accepting the generalconsensus ofChristian opinion, which has identified this
Angel who was to help Israelin the way, and bring them to the prepared
place, with Jesus Christ, the ever-blessedSonof God, to Whom is given the
prerogative of pardoning or refusing to pardon sill.
For the Soul's Pilgrimage. The Lord Jesus is the supreme Guide of the Soul's
Pilgrimage. To abide in Him is to be savedfrom walking in darkness, andto
have the light of life. He is the door and the way. As we yield ourselves to Him
we are led into the deep things of God. But in order to appreciate Christ's
guidance in "the Way"--the phrase by which Christianity was knownin its
earliestyears (Act 9:2, R.V.)--we must be born of the Spirit, live in the Spirit
and walk in the Spirit. The natural man lives only in the sensuous and
intellectual realms. His outlook into the spiritual world is through a window of
horn, or some similar almostopaque medium. The higher faculties, which the
Apostle calls the eyes of the heart, must be opened before we know the hope of
His calling, or the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, or the
exceeding greatnessofHis powertoward them that believe. We canonly know
what Christ wafts to unfold, as fastas and to the degree in which we increase
in spiritual perception; and our spiritual faculties can only mature, as our
physical faculties did, through use, i.e. through obedience.
Submission to His Control. If any man is willing and resolvedto do His will,
he shall know, and shall follow on to know the Lord whose advent and work
are prepared as the morning. Take heedthen to the Christ above you, and
more especiallyto the Christ within you. Hearkenunto His voice speaking in
the Horeb-Cave of your soul. Be not rebellious againstHim, for if you will
indeed hearkento His voice and do all that He speaks, then you will be
brought into union with God and the nature of things. The stars in their
courses will fight for you. The mountains shall bring peace, and the little hills
righteousness. Godwill be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to
your adversaries. ForChrist Himself shall go before you, and bring you in to
possessthose parts of your own nature which have hitherto been held by the

Amorite, the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the
Jebusite. Those who obey Christ find Him to be as the Angel, whilst those who
refuse Him discoverHim to be as a hornet. God wafts to bless, but if a man
refuses and resists Him, He whets His sword.
Progressand Means.
III. The RoyalProgress ofthe Soul.
The way to Canaanwas infestedby enemies, and the land itself was held by
the nations already enumerated, but so long as Israelfollowed the Angel-
Guide there was no power amongstthem all that could resistthem. The one
condition was obedience--the hearkening to His voice;and for us there is no
other. Obey the voice that speaks inScripture: obey the voice that speaks in
moral intuitions: above all, obey the voice of the GoodShepherd, in the depths
of the soul, of which Jesus said:"My sheep hearMy voice, and I know them,
and they follow Me." As we obey Him, we climb the mountain, and as we
climb we see the ever-extending panorama of truth, which is a far-reaching
continent, only trodden by those who are willing to go in and possessit by the
obedient following of Christ.
But notice the promises which will be fulfilled in our experience.
(1) Guidance. "Mine angelshall go before thee Exo 23:23). It was superhuman
guidance. He preceded them in the Pillar of Cloud and Flame, indicating the
safestand directestof the desert-tracks,as no Arab or Bedawincould; and
whereverthe cloud brooded the manna fell and the water flowed. The" inner
guidance of the Spirit of Jesus was ofpriceless value to Paul, as much in the
paths He blockedas those He opened(Act 16:6, Act 16:7, Act 16:10). And it is
promised to every soul that will lay aside its own plans, and be still.
(2) Material Blessing (Exo 23:25-26). There would be bread and water,
immunity from disease,fertility of cattle, and the fulfilment of the term of life.
It is not necessaryto spiritualise all these, though they have their spiritual
counterparts. But godliness has the promise of this life as well as of the next. It
is a greatword which is spokenof Abraham, when we are told that "Abraham
died in a goodold age, an old man, and full." Surely this is what under normal

conditions a child of God, who has followedthe laws of Christ, may attain to--
a full life, overflowing with grace and truth, strength and sweetness, and
perfectly satisfied.
(3) The Conquest of Canaan(Exo 23:27, etc.). This was to be a gradual
process, "little by little," but it would be sure. If the Israelites had been asked
which they preferred, they would doubtless have replied, let it be done "at
once." But that policy would have led to the incursion of wild animals and the
deteriorationof the cultivated soil, and it was better in every way for the
Divine purpose to be executedwith Divine deliberation. This made the
conquestmore thorough and lasting. It also enabled the Israelites to
consolidate and organise their conquests, as they went from one point to
another. "Little by little" does the work of God proceedthrough the
individual soul. "Little by little" do the conquests of the Cross win over the
world. "Little by little" is the unfolding purpose of Redemption made
manifest to men and angels. Supposing it were otherwise, and that as the
result of some extraordinary outpouring of God's Spirit whole nations and
continents should suddenly turn to Him, how impossible it would be for the
Church to overtake, supervise, instruct, and consolidate. There would be
profound peril of error creeping in, and of the wrong leaders coming to the
front. It is not goodfor the whole responsibility of a Kingdom to be caston a
child, it is better for him to grow into it little by little. And the constant
necessityfor watchfulness, fordiscipline, and for the practice of the warrior's
outfit, is a greatasset. The factthat all our enemies are not suddenly
extirpated forbids the sleepof the enchantedground and the enervationof the
heated plain. It is goodeven to have an incentive, and to be compelledto own
"that we are not already perfect, but we follow on."
NeededWarnings. It should be noticed that the injunctions againstidolatry
are constantlyrepeated. We find them in Exodus 23:24 and againin Exo
23:32-33. The stringencyof these reiteratedcommands apparently could not
be too strongly emphasised, because of the filthy rites with which the worship
of Baaland Ashtoreth, of Chemosh and Rimmon, and of Canaanite deities
was celebrated. It would be shameful even to mention the things that were
done in their temples; and the emblems which the Israelites were commanded
to destroy were highly indecent. Alas, that they disobeyedthese commands,

and that the story of the chosenpeople is one long series ofprovocations to the
Angel of the Covenant. Thus the full limits of God's promise, mentioned here,
were not realiseduntil the reign of Solomon, and even then for but a little
while, and it remains for yet another King to reign from the River to the end
of the World. But let us take the warning seriouslyto heart, lest by our
disobedience and failure we also limit the Holy One of Israel, and curtail the
measure of influence, usefulness, and efficiency, which otherwise might be
ours.
EXPOSITION OF EXODUS Pg. 260
Message#45
Exodus 23:20-33
When you start out in life, you have no idea as to where you will end up. Life
is a big adventure and it sure is a big adventure when you have a relationship
with God.
Now let’s remember what has happened to Israelin a relatively short period
of time. God has takenher out of Egypt and led her to a mountain in the
Sinai Peninsula and He starts giving her a series oflaws that were
overwhelming.
Israelhas no idea where she is heading. She has no idea as to the adventure
that lies before her and she also has no idea about the dangers she would face.

But God knew about all of this and he wantedher to know this very simple
principle that is applicable to any dispensation for the people of God.
IF GOD’S PEOPLE CHOOSE TO OBEY GOD’S WORD, GOD WILL DO
WONDERFUL THINGS FOR HIS PEOPLE.
This is as simple as it gets. It does not matter who we are, without God we are
nothing and without God we will accomplishnothing. However, with God we
may fulfill everything God wants us to fulfill. If we will purpose to obey
God’s Word, we will see Goddo some amazing things.
Now there are four main realities that Godwanted His people to know as they
got started:
REALITY #1 – God was going to send His angelto guard and lead His
people. 23:20
Now this first reality is important. God was going to send His angelbefore
His people. That angelwould guard them and leadthem and bring them to
the place God wanted. Notice He would go “before” them, not just along with
them.
Now this angelis none other than the “angelof the LORD,” who is none other
than Jesus Christ. We do know that Jesus Christwas intimately connectedto
these very events of Israel (I Cor. 10:4, 9-10).

So God is promising that His angel, who is specificallyJesus Christ, is going to
protect them and leadthem. Just think of this. It is possible to actually have
Jesus Christ as your Personalguide through life. In fact, it is interesting that
when Jesus was here, He specificallysaid that he had protectedand guarded
His own and not one of His own perished (John 17:12).
This is a greatmotivation for obeying the Word of God. When we choose to
obey the Word of God, we have the personalprotection and the guidance of
God.
Pg. 261
REALITY #2 – God’s people need to obey His angel and not rebel against
Him. 23:21
Now God tells His people that they need to guard themselves before Him and
obey Him and not rebel againstHim and His Word because this angelis God
and He will not pardon your transgressions.
Now what this would actually mean in this context is that if Israel did not obey
God, God would not just overlook this and pour out His blessings on this
nation. He would not do the wonderful things He promises to do if she would
not obey Him.
It is clearthat this angeldoes have the ability to “pardon transgressions.” But
God warns that if they wanted to enjoy the blessings and the benefits of His
presence, they neededto obey and not rebel.

No one in his right mind can expectthe blessings ofGod and the benefits of
God if they are going to live in rebellion againstGod and His Word.
REALITY #3 – God will do wonderful things for His people if they obey
Him. 23:22-33
There are four main statements that Godmakes to His people about what He
will do if His people obey Him. These guaranteesare only operative if His
people obey Him:
Statement #1 - If God’s people obey God, His people’s enemies will be His
enemies. 23:22
Think about this for a moment. If God’s people obey Him, then their enemies
become God’s enemies. If you are obeying God, leave your enemies to God
because He will take care of every one of them.
Now at this point, Israelhad no way of knowing who all her enemies would be
anymore than we canknow who all our enemies will be. But it doesn’tmatter
who or what the enemy, as long as we are obeying God’s Word, He fights for
us.
Statement #2 - If God’s people obey God, His angelwill bring Israel to her
land and destroy all enemies living in the land. 23:23

The six groups mentioned in this verse are a representative of various “sub
groups” who lived in the PromisedLand, who were broadly called
“Canaanites.”
The Canaanites were the dominant group of people who controlledthe
PromisedLand that God was going to give to Israel.
Now the promise of God is that if Israelwould obey the Word, He would
“completelydestroy” these people and rout them out of the land. Obviously
something has gone wrong, because Israelhas never lived in the land out from
under the threat of various land intruders, who still are in it.
Pg. 262
In fact, right in Jerusalemtoday is the hellish Muslim shrine the Dome of the
Rock, that is a demonic religion that has no business being in that land
anywhere.
So what we literally see today is Israeldoes have a PromisedLand, but He has
not “completelydestroyed” all the enemies who are in the land.
Why? How come it is He hasn’t run those Arab Muslims right out of every
inch of Israel? The reasonis because Israelhas rejectedGod’s Word and
rejectedGod’s Son.
Statement #3 - God’s people are not to worship false gods but destroy them.
23:24

This is a key demand of God. Godkeeps repeating do not worship some false
deity. This was the first of the Ten Commandments and God has brought this
up multiple times. Why? This was a big threat to Israeland God knew it.
It is clearthat Israelhas not kept her focus on worshipping the true God of
the Bible. What God wanted was this. Once Israelgot into the Promised
Land, He wanted to be worshipped and he also wanted the people to
completely destroy their idols and places of worship.
The sacredstones orpillars of the Canaanites were something God wanted
removed from His land. He did not want them moved, He wanted them
destroyed.
Statement #4 - If God’s people serve the Lord, He will bless His people in
many ways. 23:25-31
When God’s people would finally get to the PromisedLand, if they would
obey Him and serve Him and worship Him according to His Word, He
promised that He would bless Israel in eight specific ways. These wouldbe
real incentives for obeying God:
(Way #1) - His people will have an abundance of food and drink . 23:25a
In other words, Israelwould have plenty to eat and drink.
(Way #2) - His people will not experience sickness. 23:25b

God is actually promising to Israelas a nation that if she will obey Him, He
would remove sickness fromher midst. In other words, He would grant
health to everyone.
(Way #3) - His people will not miscarry . 23:26a
Children would be born healthy and would grow up in a healthy environment.
Pg. 263
(Way #4) - His people will not be barren in the land. 23:26b
What this means is that when Israelgot into the land she would be fruitful.
(Way #5) - His people will fulfill the number of their days. 23:26c
In other words, God would not cut short the life of anyone and all would live
to a full and fulfilling life.
Now one thing is very clearfrom these first five things listed and that is it is
possible to experience many physical blessings of God before we die if we obey
God.

(Way #6) - God will send confusion to all enemies and they will run from His
people. 23:27
God would fight for His people if they were faithful to Him. He would direct
His people to outwit and outsmart their enemies and He would cause them to
be afraid and would even confuse their plans. He would put them into the
land of Israel and would make it their land.
(Way #7) - God will send hornets to drive out all enemies, not at the same
time. 23:28-30
God’s principle of development is “little by little.” God develops us little by
little, not all at once. He wants us always growing and depending on Him all
the waythrough life.
God would not drive them out all at once so that the land would not become
desolate. Godwould drive out the enemies little by little until they are
completely eliminated.
As this text says, Goduses terror and fear, confusionand helplessness,defeat
in battles and He will use insects to defeat Israel’s enemies.
I believe there are enemies within a church and God typically does not remove
them all at once. He does it little by little.
(Way #8) - God would give Israelthe totality of the PromisedLand. 23:31

Now gaze your eyes on this verse–the PromisedLand dimensions run from the
Red Sea and Nile River area to the Mediterranean(sea of the Philistines) to
the Euphrates River. This completely coincides with the land boundaries God
promised to Abraham (Gen. 15:18).
Israelhas never had the totality of this land. When will she have it? The day
is still in the future. She did not obey God and she rejectedHis Word and she
rejectedHis Son.
Pg. 264
REALITY #4 – God’s people are not to enter into any covenantrelationship
with any other people because they will cause the people to
sin againstHim. 23:32-33
Again God warns do not getinto fellowship with these people and their false
deities. God does not want them in the Promised Land because those people
would make them sin againstHim.
When God’s people obey the Word, they have a lot to gain. When they don’t,
they have a lot to lose.

GREAT LESSONS TO LEARN:
1. God will guide us all the way through life if we will purpose to obey Him.
2. God will give us many material blessings in life if we will purpose to obey
Him.
3. God will give us victory over many enemies in life if we will purpose to obey
Him.
4. Life is a journey and obedience to God is the keyto a greatjourney.
An "Angel" NamedYahweh
by Bob Pickle
The "Angel" in the Pillar of Cloud
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.

For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and
the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, andthe Hivites, and the
Jebusites:and I will cut them off. (Ex. 23:20-23)
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. (Ex. 13:21)
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 to pass, that in the morning watch the
LORD lookedunto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of
the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians. (Ex. 14:19, 24)
And the LORD said unto Moses,Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come
not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which
is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy
seat. (Lev. 16:2)
And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stoodin the door of
the tabernacle, and calledAaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.
(Num. 12:5)
And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that
thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seenface to face, and
that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goestbefore them, by day
time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. (Num. 14:14)
Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God, Who went in the way
before you, to searchyou out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to
shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day. (Deut. 1:32, 33)
For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was
their Saviour. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angelof his
presence savedthem: in his love and in his pity he redeemedthem; and he
bare them, and carriedthem all the days of old. (Isa. 63:8, 9) (The Hebrew
word for "presence"is the same as the word translated "before" in some of
the previous verses.)

And the LORD appearedin the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar
of the cloud stoodover the door of the tabernacle. (Deut. 31:15)
Repeatedly, the Being in the cloud who led the Israelites in the wilderness is
calledthe LORD, yet God makes it quite clearthat the Being is His "Angel,"
and this "Angel" has His name. In other words, God is declaring that His
"Angel" is named LORD or Yahweh too. ("LORD" in all caps in the KJV
means that the Hebrew word in the original is Yahweh, commonly
pronounced "Jehovah." "LordGOD" in the KJV means that the Hebrew
word translated "GOD" (allcaps)is Yahweh, while "Lord" is translatedfrom
a different Hebrew word.)
The "Angel" and Hagar
And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit
thyself under her hands. And the angelof the LORD said unto her, I will
multiply thy seedexceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and
shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath
heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be againstevery
man, and every man's hand againsthim; and he shall dwell in the presence of
all his brethren. And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her,
Thou God seestme: for she said, Have I also here lookedafter him that seeth
me? (Gen. 16:9-13)
And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angelof God called Hagarout of
heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath
heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in
thine hand; for I will make him a greatnation. (Gen. 21:17, 18)
Twice we have the "Angel" of the LORD speaking to Hagar as if He Himself
is the Lord.
The "Angel" and Abraham

And the angel of the LORD calledunto him out of heaven, and said,
Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand
upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou
fearestGod, seeing thou hastnot withheld thy son, thine only son from me. . . .
And the angel of the LORD calledunto Abraham out of heaventhe second
time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou
hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in
blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seedas the
stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore;and thy seed
shall possessthe gate of his enemies;And in thy seedshall all the nations of
the earth be blessed;because thou hast obeyed my voice. (Gen. 22:11, 12, 15-
18)
To Abraham also this "Angel" spoke as if He was GodHimself.
The "Angel" and Jacob
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. (Gen. 31:11-13)
Not only did this "Angel" speak to Jacobas if He was God, He also here
claims that He is God.
And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said,
Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou
powerwith God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacobaskedhim, and
said, Tellme, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou
dost ask after my name? And he blessedhim there. And Jacobcalledthe
name of the place Peniel: for I have seenGod face to face, and my life is
preserved. (Gen. 32:27-30)

Yea, he had powerover the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made
supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us.
(Hos. 12:4)
Jacobsaidhe wrestledwith God, but Hosea saidhe wrestled with the
"Angel." They must be one and the same.
And he blessedJoseph, and said, God before whom my fathers Abraham and
Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, The Angel
which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on
them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;and let them grow into
a multitude in the midst of the earth. (Gen. 48:15, 16)
Jacobhere identifies the "Angel" that redeemed Him with God Himself.
The "Angel" in the Bush
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. (Ex. 3:2-4)
Was an angel in the bush, or was the Lord GOD in the bush? Or was this the
"Angel" who is God, none other than Christ?
The "Angel" and Balaam
Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angelof the
LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed
down his head, and fell flat on his face. And the angel of the LORD said unto
him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went
out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: And the ass saw
me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me,

surely now also I had slain thee, and savedher alive. And Balaamsaidunto
the angelof the LORD, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodestin the
way againstme: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will getme back again.
And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the
word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaamwentwith
the princes of Balak. . . . And Balaamsaidunto Balak, Lo, I am come unto
thee: have I now any powerat all to say any thing? the word that God putteth
in my mouth, that shall I speak. (Num. 22:31-35, 38)
And Balaamsaid unto Balak, Standby thy burnt offering, and I will go:
peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoeverhe sheweth
me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place. And God met Balaam:and
he said unto him, I have prepared sevenaltars, and I have offered upon every
altar a bullock and a ram. And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and
said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. (Num. 23:3-5)
Here have an "Angel" speaking to Balaamwho appears to be identifying
himself with God.
The "Angel" and the Erring Israelites
And an angel of 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 covenantwith you. And
ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down
their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?
Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they
shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. (Jdg.
2:1-3)
Again we have an "Angel" speaking as if He is God, this time to quite a few
people all at once.
The "Angel" and Gideon

And there came an angelof the LORD, and satunder an oak which was in
Ophrah, that pertained unto Joashthe Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon
threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel
of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee,
thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the
LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his
miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up
from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsakenus, and delivered us into the
hands of the Midianites. And the LORD lookedupon him, and said, Go in this
thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have
not I sentthee? And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save
Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, andI am the leastin my
father's house. And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and
thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. . . . And the angelof God said
unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavenedcakes, andlay them upon this
rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. Then the angelof the LORD put
forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the
unleavened cakes;and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the
flesh and the unleavened cakes. Thenthe angelof the LORD departed out of
his sight. And when Gideon perceived that he was an angelof the LORD,
Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seenan angel of the
LORD face to face. (Jdg. 6:11-16, 20-22)
Twice, this passagespecificallycalls the "Angel" who appearedto Gideonthe
LORD, or Yahweh.
The "Angel" and Samson's Parents
But the angel of 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. But his wife said
unto him, If the LORD were pleasedto kill us, he would not have receiveda
burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have

shewedus all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things
as these. (Jdg. 13:21-23)
Manoahsaid that the "Angel" was God.
The "Angel" and Nebuchadnezzar
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 Sonof God.
Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, andsaid, Blessedbe the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abed-nego, 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, excepttheir own God.
(Dan. 3:25, 28)
Nebuchadnezzarknew that the "Angel" of God in the furnace was the Son of
God, the one we call Jesus Christ.
Some translations will translate the Hebrew words for "Sonof God" as "son
of the gods." The confusionis simple to understand. The typical Hebrew word
for "God" is elohim, the plural form of el. This plural word is usually
translated into our singular word "God." So even though Nebuchadnezzar
used the plural word for "god," he was still talking about the one true God of
heaven.
The "Angel" Forgives and Transforms
And he shewedme Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the
LORD, and Satanstanding at his right hand to resisthim. And the LORD
said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan;even the LORD that hath
chosenJerusalemrebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
Now Joshua was clothedwith filthy garments, and stoodbefore the angel. And
he answeredand spake unto those that stoodbefore him, saying, Take away
the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused

thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
(Zec. 3:1-4)
The "Angel" speaks as if He is God. He gave Joshua a change of raiment and
pardoned his iniquities. But it is Jesus who pardons our sins and who offers to
sell us white raiment (Rev. 3:18)
Being as Strong as the "Angel," as God
In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem;and he that
is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David
shall be as God, as the angelof the LORD before them. (Zec. 12:8)
The word for "before" is the same as the word for "before" usedin the verses
talking about the wilderness sojourn. God and the "Angel" are againtalked
about as if they are the same person.
The "Angel" and Stephen's Sermon
And when forty years were expired, there appearedto him in the wilderness
of mount Sina an angelof the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. . . . This Moses
whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did
God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angelwhich
appearedto him in the bush. . . . This is he, that was in the church in the
wilderness with the angelwhich spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our
fathers: who receivedthe lively oracles to give unto us. (Acts 7:30, 35, 38)
If Stephen had finished his sermon instead of cutting it short, I think he would
have made it clearthat this "Angel" who spoke to Mosesand the Fathers, who
led the Israelites through the wilderness, was the One who became flesh and
died on Calvary. His whole sermon was supposedto be a defense of his belief
in Christ. Only by understanding that he is referring to Christ in these verses
do we find how his sermon indeed was a defense of his faith in Christ.

The "Angel" and the Ancient Rabbis
Some of the ancient Rabbis identified this "Angel" with Michael, whom they
said was their divine high priest interceding for them with God in the
heavenly temple. You see, many of the Jews understoodmore than we realize
about the plan of salvation. They knew that there was one God, but they also
knew that there was a Father and a divine "Messenger,"whomChristians
typically call the Son. This "Messenger,"they believed, was appointed to be
their mediator. Since Jesus fit their theologyso closely, why did they not
acceptHim?
The "Angel" is the High Priest
And another angelcame and stoodat the altar, having a golden censer;and
there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the
prayers of all saints upon the goldenaltar which was before the throne. And
the smoke ofthe incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended
up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angeltook the censer, and
filled it with fire of the altar, and castit into the earth: and there were voices,
and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. (Rev. 8:3-5)
And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim woodshalt
thou make it. . . . And Aaron shall burn thereonsweetincense every morning:
when he dresseththe lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. (Ex. 30:1, 7)
And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and
shall make an atonementfor himself, and for his house, and shall kill the
bullock of the sin offering which is for himself: And he shall take a censerfull
of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full
of sweetincense beatensmall, and bring it within the vail. (Lev. 16:11, 12)
Aaron representedChrist to the Israelites. He burned incense in certain ways
during services atthe sanctuary. Revelationpictures an "Angel" doing exactly
what the high priest used to do. Since Jesus is our high priest, this "Angel"
must be Jesus.

The "Angel's" Head, Face, and Feet
And I saw another mighty angelcome down from heaven, clothed with a
cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun,
and his feet as pillars of fire. (Rev. 10:1)
And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there
was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. (Rev.
4:3)
And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his
raiment was white as the light. (Mat. 17:2)
And in the midst of the sevencandlesticks one like unto the Son of man,
clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a
golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow;
and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they
burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in
his right hand sevenstars:and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged
sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. (Rev. 1:13-
16)
In Revelation10:2, one last time we have Christ referred to as an "Angel."
We know this because the appearance ofthe "Angel" is similar to the
appearance ofChrist.
Again, why is Christ referred to as an "Angel" when He is not an angel and is
divine? BecauseHe, more than any other being in the entire universe, is the
One who reveals the Father to us. This important work of Christ fits the
meaning of the Hebrew and Greek words for "angel."

Angel Of The Lord
By Heinrich Vogel
However, the greaternumber of the church fathers, Irenaeus, Cyprian,
Chrysostorn, Eusebius, Hilary, Clement of Alexandria, and Theodoret, as well
as most orthodox Lutheran dogmaticians such as Abraham Calov in his Biblia
Illustrata, Johann Gerhard in his Loci Theologici,and Johann Quermtedt in
his TheologiaDidactico-Polemica,understand the Angel of the Lord in these
Old Testamentpassagesto be identical with the Logos ofthe New Testament,
in other words, to be the pre-incarnate Christ, a manifestation of the second
person of the Trinity before his incarnation. With these men agree E. W,
Hengstenberg in his Christologie des Alten Testaments, evenFranz Delitzsch
at leastin his Biblisch-prophetische Theologie,J. K. F. Keil in his Geschichte
des Alten Bundes, 1. Aufl., K. F. A. Kahnis, in his Lutherische Dogmatik, K.
L. Nitzsch in his System der christlichen Lehre, F. W. K. Umbreit in his Der
Brief an die Roemer, G. Thomasius in his Christi Personund Werk, and F. A.
Philippi in his Kirchliche Glaubenslehre. Men like E. R. Stier, H. A. C.
Haevernick, J. T. Beck, and K. A. Auberlen are also in agreementwith them.
This is a rather formidable list of the outstanding Old Testamentscholars and
exegetesofthe past century.
To reach a conclusionin a matter of this type, consulting specialists and
inquiring concerning their opinions is not a reliable procedure, however,
especiallyin view of the fact that some of them can be quoted on both sides of
the question depending upon which work of theirs or which edition one reads.
One could easilycome to either conclusiondepending upon whom you consult
and whose views you are willing to share. Here the only safe way is to
approachthe problem from the principles of biblical interpretation, to
examine the pertinent passagesin their immediate and wider context, and to
determine in this manner whether the “Angel of the Lord” in eachcase is a
createdangelsent by God or the pre-incarnate Christ
This is the method JohannQuenstedt used in approaching the question,
“Whether the Angel of the Lord who appeared to the fathers in the Old
Testamentand who sometimes is himself describedas God, was a createdor
an uncreated angel, namely the Son of God?” His thesis is: “Wheneverand
wherevereither the name of Jehovahor a divine attribute or work and divine
worship are ascribedto the angel who appearedto the patriarchs and to other
believers, there not some createdangelis to be understood, but the uncreated
angel, namely the Son of God, the leader of the heavenly host, the Lord of all

the angels, forin fact he frequently appeared in some assumedvisible form to
the fathers in the Old Testamentby some unspeakable condescension, and
thus this was a foregleamof his future incarnation.”1
The word rendered “angel” in our English Bible is the Hebrew mal’akh,
derived from an unused Hebrew root la’akh, which, however, occurs in both
Arabic and Ethiopian and in these languages means “to send.” The meaning
of mal’akh, formed from this rootby means of the preformative mem which
makes a noun out of the verbal stem, is “one who is sent,” or “a messenger.”
“Angel of the Lord” or “angelof God” then means “one who is sent by God,”
or “messengerof God.”
In every passage ofthe Old Testamentwhere the expression“ Angel of the
Lord” or “Angelof God” occurs, it designates someonewho is an emissary of
God, someone sentby God. It is obvious that this expressionis capable of
severaldifferent meanings, depending upon the individual who is sent by God.
Examples of the various uses of this term will demonstrate this truth. For
example, in Haggai1:13 the prophet calls himself a mal’akh YHWW. “the
Lord’s messenger.” That is exactly what the prophets were. They were sent
by God to his people to proclaim God’s Word to men. In this sense they were
messengersofGod. In Malachi2:7 we read, “Forthe priest’s lips should keep
knowledge, andthey should seek the law at his mouth, for he is the messenger
of the Lord of hosts, (mal’akh YHWH-tsebha’ oth).” Here the priest is called
the messengerofthe Lord of hosts because it is his duty to teach God’s law to
God’s people. Forthis purpose he is sent. In the very next chapter (3:1)
Malachipredicts the coming of John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Lord,
with the words” “Behold, I will send my messenger(mal’akhi), and he shall
prepare the waybefore me.” For this purpose John was sentto God’s people
before Jesus himself taught publicly, to prepare the way into men’s hearts for
the messagewhichJesus would bring them. In this sense John was the
messengerofGod. So was Jesus, foras we read on in the same verse we hear,
“And the Lord, whom ye seek, shallsuddenly come to his temple, even the
messengerofthe covenant, whom ye delight in, behold, he shall come, saith
the Lord of hosts,” Here we have a passagein which very obviously both John
the Baptist, the forerunner and Jesus himself are referred to as messengersof
God, eachin a slightly different way, since eachhad a different task to
perform, but both were alike in this that they served as messengersofGod to
men and are therefore designatedas mal’akhi and mal’akhi habberith
respectively.
In the books ofGenesis, Job, and Psalms there are thirteen occurrencesofthe
word “angel” (mal’akh) in the plural.2 All of these refer to createdangels. Of

this there can be no doubt. These passagesdo not come into considerationfor
the purposes of our study, therefore.
Severaltimes in the Old Testamentthe word mal’akh is used to ascribe some
angelic quality to a human being, as in 1 Samuel 29:9, where David, who at
the time was fleeing from Saul, went to Achish, the king of the Philistines, and
offered to serve him. King Achish had to refuse the services ofDavid because
the Philistine lords were suspicious of David, but Achish said to David, “I
know that thou art goodin my sight as an angelof God” (kemal’ahh ‘elohim).
Angels were knownfor their holiness, their goodness, anda flattering
compliment paid by Achish to David compares him with one of these heavenly
creatures for goodness. A similar use of the word is found in 2 Samuel 14:17,
where we hear of the attempt of Joabto reconcile David with his son Absalom.
He sent a wise woman of Tekoahto David to flatter him for his wisdom, and
she saidto David, “As angelof God (kemal’akhha’elohim), so is my lord the
king to discern goodand bad.” In both of these passages the reference is
simply to a createdangel, one of the attributes of which is predicated of David
in both instances. These passagestherefore also contribute nothing to the
solution of our problem.
Besides these passages, however, there is quite a number, particularly in the
books of Genesis,Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, and Judges, which are of such a
nature that they do not necessarilyrefer to a createdangelor in many
instances cannotrefer to a createdangelfor one reasonor another. It is with
these passages thatwe are concernedin our study of the expression, “Angelof
the Lord.” In the lists of these passagesfound in Quenstedt;Gerhard, Philippt
or in Hoenecke’s Dogmatik, there is no exactuniformity, some omitting one
and others another, but in the main there is a very definite number of
passagesthat have the characteristics whichenable us to determine who the
Angel of the Lord is in eachcase.
The first of these is the appearance ofthe Angel of the Lord to Hagarin the
wilderness reported in Genesis 16. In verse 7 we read that the Angel of the
Lord found Hagarby a fountain of waterin the wilderness, and after asking
the reasonfor her being there advised her to return to Saraiher mistress,
promising her (verse 10), “I will multiply thy seedexceedingly, so that it shall
not be numbered for multitude.” Here the Angel of the Lord makes Hagara
promise which no createdangelcould make—he promises that he will give
her an exceedinglygreatprogeny. This is a divine attribute by which Hagar
“calledthe name of the Lord (YHWH) that spake to her, Thou God seestme;
for she said, Have I also here lookedafter him that seethme?” Had Hagar
merely seena createdangel, she would not have been surprised to be alive
after the vision. She was astonishedthat she had seenGod and lived. In this

instance it is obvious that the Angel of the Lord was no creature, but God
himself.
The secondsuchoccurrence is the appearance ofthe Angel of God to Hagar in
the wilderness ofBeersheba reportedin Genesis 21 afterAbraham had sent
Hagarand Ishmael away. Hagar fearedthat Ishmael would die and withdrew
a short distance from him, so as not to see the death of the child, and wept.
Now we read in verses 17 and 18, “And God heard the voice of the lad, and
the Angel of God calledto Hagarout of heaven, and said to her, What aileth
thee, Hagar? fearnot; for Godhath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great
nation.” In verse 17 the Angel of God seems to distinguish betweenhimself
and God, of whom he speaks in the third person, “Godhath heard the voice of
the lad.” But then he continues in the next verse to repeat the promise made
before, “I will make of him a great nation.” The speakerhere is God himself,
yet a persondistinct from God. This apparent contradictionhas disturbed
many exegetes.It appears to be an inconsistency. Yet it is not when we
remember that God is portrayed also in the Old Testamentas triune, when we
recallthat the three persons of the Trinity were known to Old Testament
believers, then we see
here merely added evidence of the three persons in the one Godhead. The
Angel of God is doubtless the secondpersonof the Trinity referring to the
first personas “God.” Actually we would not have to read any farther to
ascertainthat the Angel of the Lord or the Angel of God is not a createdangel
but the uncreated pre-incarnate secondperson of the Godhead. But there is
much more evidence of this in the Old Testament.
In Genesis 22 we read that God told Abraham to sacrifice his sonIsaac to him
as a burnt offering in the land of Moriah. When Abraham arrived at the site
on the third day, made the necessarypreparations and was about to slay his
son, “The Angel of the Lord calledAbraham out of heaven, and said. . . Lay
not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I
know that thou fearestGod, seeing thou hast not withheld thy sort, thine only
son from me” (verses 11 and 12). Again the Angel of the Lord speaks ofGod
in the third person, “I know that thou fearestGod,” but then adds, “ thou hast
not withheld thy son, thine only sonfrom me.” Here too the Angel of the Lord
distinguishes betweenhimself and God while at the same time identifying
himself with God. Again we are forcedto the conclusionthat this is another
person of the Godhead other than God the Father. In verses 15 to 18 “The
Angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the secondtime, and
said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thouhast done this
thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son; that in blessing I will

bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seedas the stars of the
heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore;and thy seedshall
possessthe gate of his enemies;and in thy seedshall all the nations of the
earth be blessed;because thou hast obeyed my voice.” Thesewords might
indeed, be construedas direct quotations transmitted by a heavenly
messenger, who then would be a createdangel. But why would God use this
means in communicating with Abraham, to whom he had appearedseveral
times before both in person and in a vision (Ge 12:1; 15:1; 17:1; 18:1)? It
would be very strange if after such direct communication with Abraham God
would now speak to him through the mediation of a creature.
Jacob, too, had an encounter with the Angel of the Lord as he relates to
Racheland Leah in Genesis 31, “The Angel of God spake unto me in a dream,
saying, Jacob, I am the God of Bethel, where thou annointedst the pillar, and
where thou vowedsta vow unto me; now arise, getthee out of this land, and
return unto the land of thy kindred” (verse 11-13). Here the Angel of God
very clearly identifies himself as the God of Bethel, whom Jacobhad
encounteredon his way to Mesopotamia, andto whom he had made a vow.
This passagemore clearly than any other reveals the true identity of the Angel
of God. It is God himself. There is one further reference to this encounterof
Jacobwith the Angel of the Lord in the blessing, which in his old age he spoke
on Josephand his sons. He said on that occasion(Ge 48:15-16), “God, before
whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my
life long unto this day, the Angel which redeemedme from all evil bless the
lads . . . .” Here he too makes the identification of the Angel “which redeemed
me from all evil” with the God of his fathers.
Also in the book of Exodus there are references to this Angel of the Lord.
When “Moses ledthe flock of Jethro to the backside ofthe desert, and came to
the mountain of God, even to Horeb, the Angel of the Lord appearedunto him
in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush” (Ex 3:2). When Moses turned
aside to see why the bush was burning but was not consumed by the fire,
“Godcalled unto him out of the midst of the bush” (verse 4). Here againthe
Angel of the Lord is clearly identified with God, who then introduces himself
as “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob” (verse 6). Farther on in this same chapter God reveals to Moses
his distinctive name, I AM THAT I AM (verse 14). In this incident it is again
obvious that the Angel of the Lord was no creature, but God in person.
At the occasionofthe Exodus from Egypt “the Lord said unto Moses,
Wherefore criestthou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go
forward” (Ex 14:15). Then he explained that he would lead the children of
Israelon dry ground through the midst of the sea. In verse 19 we read, “And

the Angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went
behind them.” From this accountit is apparent that the Angel of God which
went before the children of Israel made his presence perceptible by the pillar
of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night which led them through the
wilderness and on this occasionprotectedthem from the pursuing Egyptians.
Again the Angel of Godis seento be God himself, and not a createdangel.
In the divine legislationon Mt Sinai God told Moses among otherthings
“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.
For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring them in unto the Amorites,
and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites,the Hivites, and the
Jebusites;and I will cut them off” (Ex 23:20-23). It is this promise that helps
us understand the problem Moses encounteredafterthe incident of the golden
calf. Moses had pleaded with the Lord to forgive the sin of the
people, and if that were impossible, to blot Moses outof the book which God
had written. The Lord replied that “Whosoeverhath sinned againstme, him
will I blot out of my book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of
which I have spokenunto thee; behold mine angelshall go before thee;
nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them” (Ex 32:33-
34). The Lord repeatedthis offer to Moses (Ex33:2), “I will send an angel
before thee, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite,
and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite; unto a land flowing with milk
and honey; for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked
people; lestI consume thee in the way” (Ex 33:2-3). Moses was notsatisfied
with this arrangementand told God so. In the same chapterMoses complains,
“See, thou sayestunto me, Bring up this people;and thou hast not let me
know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name,
and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I
have found grace in thy sight shew me thy way, that I may know thee, that I
may find grace in thy sight, and considerthat this nation is thy people” (Ex
33:12-13). The Lord replied to him, “My presence shall go with thee, and I
will give thee rest” (verse 14). To this Moses replied, “If thy presence go not
with me, carry us not up hence” (verse 15). Moses makesa sharp distinction
between“an angel” who would be a createdbeing whom God offered to send
with him and “thy presence” whichwould be God in person. Here we have a
passagein which there is a reference to an angelwho is not to be identified,
but is rather to be contrastedwith the person of God himself. Yet in Numbers

20:16 Moses tells the king of Edom, “When we cried unto the Lord, he heard
our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt”
According to Exodus 33:14-15 this “angel” ormessengerwas none other than
God’s presence in person. In these verses we have a goodexample of how the
word “angel” is used variously in the Old TestamentScriptures. Sometimes it
is a common noun referring to creatures ofGod, sometimes it is a proper
noun referring to God Himself. Only the context will reveal in eachinstance,
which is the case. Yetin all these passages the basic meaning of the word
mal’akh is always “messenger,”a messengersentby God to men. Doubtless
these passages are also the key to the understanding of the cryptic expression
in Isaiah 63:9 where the unique term “angelof his presence”occurs, “Inall
their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence savedthem.”
Hengstenberg calls attention to a remarkable incident related in the book of
Joshua which is strongly suggestive ofthe Angel of the Lord although he is not
thus designatedhere. It is the occasionwhenafter the Jordan river had been
crossed, “Itcame to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his
eyes and looked, and behold, there stooda man over againsthim with his
sworddrawn in his hand; and Joshua went unto him, and said, Art thou for
us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay, but as captain of the hostof 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 said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot;
for the place whereonthou standestis holy. And Joshua did so” (Jos 5,13-16).
The fact that this “captainof the Lord’s hose’acceptedworshipfrom Joshua
and that the place where he appearedto Joshua became holy by his very
presence, as had the area around the burning bush in Exodus 3:5, is evidence
that this was none other than God himself appearing, this time not as the
Angel of the Lord, but as the captain of the Lord’s host. This must be the
same Prince of the Angels who said, Matthew 26:53, “Thinkestthou that I
cannot now pray to my father, and he shall presently give me more than
twelve legions of angels?” This captainof the Lord’s host undoubtedly is just
another form in which the pre-incarnate Christ appeared to Old Testament
believers on occasion.
In Judges 6: 11 we read of the appearance ofan Angel of the Lord to Gideon
under the oak which is in Ophrah to commissionhim to save Israelfrom the
hand of the Midianites. When Gideon brought forth a present a kid, and
unleavened cakes ofan ephah of flour, the angeltold him to place it upon a
rock, and “the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his
hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavenedcakes;and there rose up fire
out of the rock, and consumedthe flesh and the unleavened cakes.”Only then

does Gideon seemto have realized that the Angel of the Lord who appearedto
him was Godhimself. He deplores this fact, since he fears that he must now
die “Alas, 0 Lord God for, because I have seenan angelof the Lord face to
face.” But the Lord assuredhim, “Peace be unto thee; fearnot; thou shalt not
die.” This appearance ofthe Angel of the Lord to Gideon was doubtless
another in a series of appearancesofthe pre-incarnate Christ to Old
Testamentbelievers.
The Book ofJudges contains another appearance ofthe Angel of the Lord in
chapter 13. The wife of Manoah, a Danite, was visited by the Angel of the
Lord to announce to her the birth of Samson(verse 3). When Manoah’s wife
reported this to her husband, she said, “A man of God came to me, and his
countenance was like the countenance of an angelof God, very terrible; but I
askedhim not whence he was, neither told he me his name” (verse 6). In
answerto Manoa’s prayer “the angelof the Lord came againunto the woman
as she satin the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her, (verse 9).
The woman informed her husband of the man’s return, “And Manoah arose,
and went after his wife, and came to the man” (verse 11) and askedhim to
repeatthe instructions for rearing Samsonwhich he had given to his wife,
which the Angel of the Lord gladly did. Manoahthen invited the Angel of the
Lord to dine with them, to which he replied, “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” (verse 16). Here the writer inserts the information into the
narrative, “ForManoahknew not that he was an angel of the Lord.” Manoah
then inquired as to the name of the angel, and he replied, “Why askestthou
after my name, seeing it is secret?”(verse 18). Manoahnow prepared a kid
with a meat offering and offeredit upon a rock, and “It came to pass, when
the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angelof the Lord
ascended:in the flame of the altar” (verse 20). But now Manoahand his wife
became frightened and Manoahsaid to his wife, “We shall surely die, because
we have seenGod” (verse 22). Yet his wife comforted him with the thought “If
the Lord were pleasedto kill us, he would not have receiveda burnt offering
and a meat offering at our hands; neither would he have shewedus all these
things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these” (verse 23).
The Angel of the Lord, calledby Manoah’s wife “ a man” and “a man of
God,” acceptedworshipfrom them in the form of sacrifices. This makes it
clearthat this was neither an ordinary man or prophet, nor a createdangel,
but God himself, as both Manoahand his wife concludedafter this experience.
On the basis of the passages we have consideredit is obvious that before the
institution of prophecy, in the days of the patriarchs, of Joshua, and of the
judges of Israel, God used this method of communicating with his Old

Testamentbelievers that he sent his specialmessenger, the Angel of the Lord,
to Hagar, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua,Gideon, Manoahand his wife in
order to bring them specialmessagesimportant for the development of God’s
plan of salvationfor mankind. This Angel of the Lord is obviously one of the
persons of the Trinity, for in severalof these passageshe is identified as God.
He performs divine acts, receives divine worship, and displays divine
attributes. He is not God the Father, who is the personof the Trinity who
sends the Angel of the Lord. There are then two remaining possibilities. He is
either the secondpersonof the Trinity, the Son of God, or the third person,
the Holy Spirit. The latter possibility is virtually excluded by the factthat
there are many rather direct references in the Old Testamentto the Holy
Ghostthe third person of the Trinity, and that these references are easily
recognizable as they designate him simply as the Spirit of God. This leaves us
with but one conclusion, as H. C. Leupold says in reference to Genesis 16:7:
But the angel of the Lord (mal’akh Yahweh), who was He? We believe
Hengstenberg and Keil demonstrated adequately both that he was divine and
that he is to be regardedas a kind of pre-incarnation of the Messiah—using
the term “pre-incarnation” as indeed open to criticism if pressedtoo closely.
For our passage his identity with Yahweh is fully establishedby verse 13. For
the presentwe offer Whitelaw’s five arguments (condensed)for this position.
The Angel of the Lord is not a createdbeing but the Divine Being Himself, for
He explicitly identifies himself with Yahweh on various occasions.
Those to whom he makes his presence knownrecognize him as divine.
The Biblical writers call him Yahweh.
The doctrine here implied of a plurality of persons in the Godheadis in
complete accordancewith earlier foreshadowing.
The organic unity of Scripture would be broken if it could be proved that the
central point in the Old Testamentrevelation was a createdangel, while that
of the New is the incarnation of the God-Man.3
In this evaluation Leupold agrees exactlywith Johann Gerhard who says,
“When either the name Jehovahor divine works ordivine worship is
attributed in Scripture to an angel, then this Angel must be understood to be
the Sonof God.”4 Francis Pieperquotes with approval F. A. Philippi, who in
his Kirchliche Glaubenslehre, after enumerating the passagesin which “the
Angel of the Lord is different from Jehovahin regard to his person, and yet
one with him in “essence,”says,
In their native sense these passages teachthat the Angel of the Lord is the
uncreated angel, identical with Jehovah to whom divine attributes, works,
names, and worship are ascribed. If we found in these passagesonly oriental
hyperbolism, then we would sacrifice the solid basis for Scripture

interpretation, and, following such a course consistently, would with the
rationalist dissolve and canceleven the firmest and most indestructible
revelation.5
Other theologians taking the same position are Hengstenberg, Keil,
Thomasius, Rohnert, and also JosephAddison Alexander, who remarks on
Isaiah63:9:
The old Christian doctrine is that the Angel of God’s presence was that Divine
Being who is representedin the New Testamentas the brightness of the
Father’s glory and the express image of His Person, the image of God, in
whose face the glory of God shines and in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the
Godheadbodily.
"THE" angelof the Lord
The Angel of the Lord
This is a very interesting subjectfor me. The angelof God or the angelof the
Lord appears in scripture many times and in very important situations and
yet we know very little about him, or do we? Scripture does not come right
out and tell us much about him. He is powerful and in greatauthority as we
will soonsee. I do not claim to have all the answers concerning this angelbut
will attempt to bring you some interesting scriptures in hopes that you will
continue to study him further for yourselves. I have no desire to be an author
but have an undying desire to teachand lead others into a greaterdesire for
knowledge ofGod's word. I pray this is the result of this and all my studies.
Angel = angelos = a messengerfrom "angello"to deliver a message. It is also
used of a representative or guardian (Rev.1:20). Usually used of an order of
createdbeings, superior to man (Heb. 2:7; Psa. 8:5) and belonging to heaven
(Mt 24:36;Mk. 12:25)and to God (Lk. 12:8; Psa 103:20). The word angelor

messengercanbe attributed to others as well and I think you will see this as
we proceedin this study.
His Names Angel of God Genesis 21:17. Here we have Hagar and her young
son fleeing from Sarah and her jealousy. They are in the wilderness and
apparently close to death from thirst. Both Hagar and the child Ishmael are
crying. You see this is the secondtime she has been driven out by Sarah from
the camp. She is without water or food and no shelter from the hot eastern
sun. she is dying and so is her son. She has placed him under a bush some
distence from her so she will not see him die. Verse 17 tells us that God heard
the lad crying (this is interesting because Ishmaelmeans "Godhas heard");
and the angel of God calledto her from heaven and said "do not fear, for God
has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift the lad and hold him by
the hand, for I will make a greatnation of him. Then God opened her eyes
and she saw a well of water…"
Angel of the Lord Genesis 22:11, here is another familiar story where
Abraham obeys God and brings his only son Isaac to the mount to sacrifice
him there as he was commanded. As Abraham stretches out his hand to take
the knife to slay his son verse 11 says "but the angelof the Lord calledout to
him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham, and he said, "Here I am".
And 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".
Captain of the host of the Lord Joshua 5:14, Joshua was the successorto
Moses.He was also one of the two (along with Caleb)who wanted to go in and
take the Promised Land when the other 10 spies were afraid. Here he is now
in the leadershipposition over all Israeland about to go into the city of
Jericho. Lets start at verse 13 "Now it came about when Joshua was by
Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and lookedand behold, a man was standing
opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua wentto him and
said to him "are you for us or for our adversaries"?And he said "No, rather I
indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord". And Joshua fell on his
face to the earth and boweddown and said to him " what has my Lord to say
to his servant? And the captain of the host of the Lord said to Joshua "remove

your sandals from your feet, for the place you are standing is holy" and
Joshua did so.
Well that's it! these are the names that are given to this unusual character
who appears to us in God's word in the most unusual places and
circumstances. Once to help the father of the Arab and Islamic nations, once
to help the Fatherof Israeland once to help Israelconquer the first city of the
promised land. The same person (this will become clearlater) only with
different titles or names. But that is just the beginning of the dilemma. His
names could easilybe explained by the task he appears to accomplish. But
there is something much deeper here, much more sacredthan first seenunless
one really looks.
Lets look at eachstory to see what I mean:
1. In his appearance to Hagarhe is calledthe angelof God. He tells Hagar
that God has heard the crying of the lad and then tells her to take the boys
hand and that "HE" will make him a greatnation. Immediately it says God
then opened her eyes to see the well. Either this angelattributes to himself
more authority than we would expect or there is something else happening we
do not see yet. By what authority can"HE" the angelmake Ishmael a great
nation, something only God cando? Remember this is the same promise God
made to Abraham and his seed. By saying that "He" meaning the angelwill
multiply Ishmael we cansee that the Angel of God here is acting as God. 2. In
his appearance to Abraham he clearlycommands Abraham to do something
opposite from what God told him to do. He further goes on to say, do nothing
to the lad because now I know that you fear God seeing that you did not
withhold your son, your only son, from "ME". Here we see this angel
assuming the same authority as God and even calling himself God. There can
only be one explanation for this and that is that this angelis in fact God. No
angelwould ever exceptworship from a human no less take of the authority of
God unless He was in fact God showing Himself in a bodily form to Abraham.
3. In this appearance to Joshua we see what we would expectfrom an angel.
Powerful, mighty and warrior like, ready to do battle for Israel. Only, two
unusual things take place here; one is that he accepts homage fromJoshua
(which as statedpreviously no angel would do). Secondis the command to

take off his sandals because where they were standing was Holy ground.
Another reference to the presence of God. This is the same scenario as that of
Moses onSinai as we will see later. The angel of the Lord here is saying that
because I am present, this ground is Holy.
So here we have three separate instances thatshow all three names attributed
to this mighty and authoritive figure and in all three instances he either
assumes things only God can or should do, he accepts worshipor homage and
actually places himself in the place of God, and speaks forGod. Let us now
look at instances where he appeared to others in scripture and what
transpired. This may give us a better foundation for deciding who and what
this characteris and what his place is in the scheme of things.
His Appearances
To Hagar Genesis 16:7-8;21:17 we have already lookedat chapter 21 and
have seenhow the angel of the Lord had heard Hagar's cry and that of her
son and provided for her in the wilderness. In chapter 16 we see His original
visit to her when she fled from Sarah the first time because ofSarah's jealousy
and how it was Gods plan that she live and bare a child for Abraham. The
angeltells her that the boy will be the father of a greatnation and eventells
her what to name the child. Hagarcalls the angelof the Lord, God here, and
says she is amazedshe has seenGod and still lives. The angel in no way tries
to correcther in this. The provision here and in chapter 21 could only have
come from God and the language of the text clearly shows that this is the
provider Himself speaking and Hagar recognizedthis.
To Abraham Genesis 18:1-33;22:11,15 while chapter18 does not use the
name angelof the Lord or angelof God, we clearly see the physical
appearance ofthree men coming to visit Abraham and Abraham rightly
recognizes one of them as the Lord. This is a human manifestation of God
coming to Abraham with a promise of a sonand a judgment upon the five
cities of the plains. While Abraham definitely calls one of these men Lord,
some have speculatedthat he was calling all three Lord and that this was the
appearance ofthe Godheadin bodily form. There is no evidence of this in
scripture howeverand we should not go beyond its boundaries. The thought is

interesting though. Keep in mind that this one can neither be Michaelor
Gabriel for the same man is delivering a promise of goodtidings and a
judgment where the two former deliver either or. Further we see that once
Abraham realizes that the man he has calledLord is going to destroy the cities
of the plain (Sodom and Gamorah)he bargains with Him for their
deliverance. Only God Himself could have promised Abraham that He would
not destroythem if a certainnumber of righteous people were found. In
chapter 22 we see the event previously discussedwhere although calledthe
angelof the Lord he takes upon himself the authority of God as well as the
speechabout Himself as God. In verse 16 He says, "by myself I have sworn,
declares the Lord" a plain reference to the fact that this is God speaking and
not just an angel. And the clearreference that Abraham had not withheld his
only son from "ME" (the angelspeaking)shows that this is clearlyGod
Himself speaking as He made the command to Abraham and only He could
stop it.
To JacobGenesis 31:11-13;32:24-30 Jacobhad workedthe 14 years to getthe
wife he had loved and had amasseda greatflock and was returning home
(actually fleeing from Laban) and in a dream was visited by the angel of the
Lord. Chapter 31 verse 11 the one who appears in the dream is called the
angelof the Lord, but in verse 13 the angelsays "I am the God of
Bethel….where youmade a vow to me" this is clearly saying that this angelof
the Lord is also actually the same God Jacobhad previously worshiped and
built a pillar to in Bethel. In Genesis 32 we have the familiar story of Jacob
wrestling with an angeland having his hip dislocated. During the
confrontation, Jacobrecognizes the angelas God, and asks fora blessing
there. Verse 30 tells us that Jacobsays "I have seenGod face to face, yet my
life has been preserved", Jacobknew who the angelwas. Like Hagar he is
amazed he has seenGod and still lives. As before he was never correctedfor
his belief.
To Moses Exodus 3:2 of all the scriptures that talk about the angelof the Lord
this is probably the most familiar, yet the one people miss in its implications
the most. In Genesis 3 verse 2 we have Moses tending the flocks of Jethro his
father-in-law and "the angelof the Lord" appears to him in a blazing fire
from the midst of a bush. But if we look at verse 4 we something very

interesting. "When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, Godcalled him
from the midst". He then instructs Mosesto remove his sandals, as did the
angelto Jacobyears later, because in the presence of God the ground is Holy.
In verse 6 He says, "I am the God of your 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. Verse 7 begins with "and the Lord said", and He tells
Moses thatHe has heard the cries of "His" children Israel. Verse 13 tells us
that Moses saidto God and verse 14 begins with "and God said". So you see
the transition from the angelof the Lord, to The Lord and finally to God, yet
all speaking of the same person. Verse 14 also gives us His name, as "I AM
WHO I AM". This is the proper name of God (usually transliteratedfrom the
tetragram YHWH and in Hebrew Jehovah) and means, "I am who has always
been". Jesus in his many self proclaimed titles uses this same idea when He
describes Himself as; I AM the way, the truth and the life, I AM the gate, I
AM the light of the world, I AM the bread of life and I AM the living water
and "before Abraham was I AM". This was just one reasonthe religious
leaders were so angry at the things Jesus saidof Himself. He claimed to be the
same I AM that Mosesencountered. Thatbeing said, the angel of the Lord has
to be without a doubt a pre incarnate appearance ofJesus. WhenMary was
told she would bare a child she was told the child would be calledEmanuel or
God with us. But God has always been with us and I believe these appearances
of the angelof the Lord is God in bodily form before the birth in Bethlehem.
To the Children of IsraelExodus 13:21-22;14:19 the thirteenth chapter tells
us that the pillar that led the children of Israel in fire by night and by cloud by
day was the Lord (verse 21)yet if we jump over to chapter14 verse 19 we see
the following;"and 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 here clearlywe see the names or
titles of Lord and the angelof God as interchangeable and of like meaning.
The pillar was definitely the protectionand guidance of the children of Israel
and the Psalms proclaim that it was God who protectedand guided Israel.
To BalaamNumbers 22:22-41 here we find a very unusual story of a man
calledBalaamwho was paid to bring a curse on Israelby Balak the king of
Moab. God had commanded him to only go to Israel if calledand to say only

that which God tells him to say. Balaamdisobeys God howeverand leaves on
his ownand ready to bring the curse he has been paid to bring. Along the way
we are told that "the angelof the Lord" was standing in the road and ready to
kill Balaamfor his disobedience and only his donkey could see the angel. Read
the whole story, you'll find it interesting. The point being that through the
entire chapter the one blocking the road is called the angelof the Lord and in
verse 35 the angeltells Balaamto go and speak only that which the angel tells
him, yet in verse 38 Balaamtells Barak that he may speak only that which
God has commanded. Again we see that the two are interchangeable in nature
and authority.
To Joshua Judges 2:1-5 we have already lookedat Joshua 5 and seenthe first
time Joshua encounters the angelof the Lord before battle with Jericho.
There He appears as a mighty warrior as in the appearance to Balaam. In
Judges 2 we find he appears to Joshua to bring promise. While he is here
calledthe angelof the Lord he says, "I brought you up out of Egypt" clearly
something attributed to God throughout scripture. He also tells Joshua that "I
will never break my covenantwith you" againsomething clearly done by God.
An angelcannotmake a covenantwith humans or anyone else for that matter.
Clearly although calledan angelthe term has to be interpreted as messenger
in the broadestsense rather than the spiritual being referred to elsewhere.
To David 1 Chronicles 21:16-18 there is a lot of history in these verses but for
the purpose of this study we are only concernedwith how David responds to
the angelof the Lord here. David has just disobeyed God and taken a census
of the people of Israel, something God forbade him to do. As David looks up
he sees the angelof the Lord with His sword drawn and stretched out over
Jerusalemin judgment. David pleads with the angel to spare Jerusalem, as it
was he who disobeyed and verse 17 says "and Davis said to God". In the
middle of the verse and this prayer for mercy Davis says "O my Lord, my
God". Clearly David recognizedthat this was no mere angelbut God himself
and David obeys Him as such.
Jacob's PrayerIn Genesis chapter48 we find that Jacob(Israel)is dying and
he has summoned Josephto bestow his final blessing. In the prayer he gives
we find an interesting fact beginning with verse 15:And he blessedJoseph

and said, The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The
God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, The angelwho has
redeemedme from all evil, Bless the lads. Jacobhere calls God the angelwho
savedhim. I find that very interesting.
Now those are the appearances ofthis mighty angelin the Old Testament
scriptures. He nowhere appears in the New Testamentscriptures nor is there
any references to Him there. This has causedno small debate as to who this
being is and why he only appears in the Old Testamentdealings with Godand
Israel. If we sum up for a moment what has been done so far we see the
promise of a son to Abraham who becomes the father of the nation of Israel.
We see the promise of a son and his protectionto Hagaras her son will
become the father of many of the Arab nations. We see the protection of Israel
by the angelfrom Egypt to the taking of the PromisedLand and beyond to the
time of David the King of Israel. From David forward we see nothing of Him
as if He has ceasedHis work here on earth. How this is explained or if it can
be explained has been the subject of much study. There is some speculation
though and I will share that with you only as opinion. One must study for
himself and see whatthe scriptures say or do not say and come to ones own
conclusion. Firstlets look at His characteristics.
His Characteristics
Delivererof IsraelJudges 2:1-3 these are the verses we just lookedat. The
promise is that He will not break His covenantwith Israeland warns them to
make no covenantwith any other gods or the inhabitants of the land they now
possess. He also tells them that He left some of these idolatrous nations there
as thorns in their side for not doing exactly as He had commanded.
Extended Blessing and Promises Genesis as a whole shows his blessings upon
Abraham and Sarah, Hagar, Isaac and Jacob, Ishmaeland Esau as wellas
their decedents. His providence was always with them as well as His presence.
His protectioncan be seenboth here and in Exodus with His deliverance from
bondage.
Pardon of Sin Exodus 23:20-22 here we see the promise of God to send His
angelbefore Israelto guard them along the way. He tells Israel that if they

obey Him, He will make pardon for their transgressions.Godalso tells the
children of Israel that His name is in Him. This is a curious statement and
deserves further study. A study of the names of God and the names of Jesus
will do well here. See the lasttwo studies on names for assistance.
So who is this angelof the Lord? Some have said God himself, and there is
definitely proof for this argument from scripture. How then do we deal with
God saying He will send this angel to Israel? Canthe angelbe God and yet
separate from God at the same time? Has this ever been seenin scripture
before? I think you see where I am going with this.
Genesis 1:26 says the following "Let us make man in our image, according to
our likeness… We know that this is the creationaccount. Who exactly is God
talking with here? Obviously not the angels, as they are not as Godis in image
or likeness and although witnesses ofthe creationwere not a part of it's
creationbut were createdthemselves. It is obviously a conversationwith the
Godheadof Father, Son and Spirit as we have been made in their likeness.
This has always beenused as proof of the existence ofJesus before Christmas
Day 2000 years ago. Jesus has saidin John 9:54-58 to the religious leaders that
Abraham rejoicedto see His day, and that he did see it and was glad. When
they questioned Him about this Jesus said, "Before Abraham was born, I
AM". So when did Abraham see Jesus'dayand was glad? In His ministry as
the angelof the Lord in the Old Testamentscriptures, can be the only answer.
Jesus was physically born 2000 years ago but has existedwith the Father
throughout all eternity. It does not make sense that He and the Spirit just sat
around for eons waiting for Christmas and Pentecostto spring onto the scene.
They were an active part in creation, in choosing God's people, in their
protection and deliverance.
Like I said before this is my opinion, but it is not without scripture and study
to back my claim. I cannotpoint to a verse that says the angelof the Lord is in
fact Jesus, but I believe the evidence is strong in pointing to this conclusion.
How else canwe explain the interchangeable referencesfrom the angelof the
Lord to God and back again. Did Jesus not say, if you have seenMe you have
seenthe Father, and I and the Fatherare one. Clearly the two are
interchangeable and one and the same. I believe the same is true here. Jesus

says of Himself in Revelationthat He is the "Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end". Gods plan has existed since the beginning of time (see study on
Why Blood) and Jesus is saying I have been a part of this plan, I planned it
myself and in factI AM the plan. He has had an active part from the
beginning and at every crucialpoint we can see Him there.
Well now you have some food for thought. Study it and let me know your
thoughts on this. It is not only a fascinating study topic, but it will show you
the powerand the awesomenessofthe God we serve. Look in any goodbible
concordance under I AM to see how this first appears at Sinai and later how
Jesus uses it to show that He is in fact God. As the angelof the Lord protected
Israeland led them, so in the New covenant Jesus now protects and leads us.
file:///D:/GOD'S%20ATTRIBUTES/MY%20STUDY%20OF%20ATTRIBUT
ES/VISIBILITY%20IN%20JESUS/ANGEL%20OF%20THE%20LORD/The
%20Angel%20of%20the%20Lord7.htm
One GreaterThan The Angels
Prof.M.M.Ninan
In Hebrew, the word for "angel" is malakh. A malakhsimply means
messenger, itcould be human, terrestial, alien, material or immaterial beings.
In that sense anyone who gives a revelation of God and His characteris an
Angel. Jesus being the ultimate revelationof Godis an Angel. Before the
incarnation God spoke through prophets and also through the medium of
angels. Yetthere is one malakh who stands out from all the rest. The Bible
calls him, "The Angel of the Lord."

In the Talmud he is called Metatarsus, whichderives from two Greek words
meta and thronos, meaning "one who serves behind the throne of God." He is
also knownas the "Prince of the Countenance" becauseofthe close relation
betweenthis angeland God Himself. The Angel of the Lord is one who is sent
by God, the one who represents God Himself. The name of Godis in him.
Throughout the Old Testament, the Angel of the Lord appearedin human
form.
1. Hagar:The God who Sees
Gen 16
7 The Angel of the LORD found Hagarnear a spring in the desert;it was the
spring that is beside the road to Shur.
8 And he said, "Hagar, servantof Sarai, where have you come from, and
where are you going?" "I'm running awayfrom my mistress Sarai," she
answered.
9 Then the Angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and
submit to her."
10 The angeladded, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too
numerous to count."
11 The Angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are now with child and you
will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your
misery.
..
Hagaraddresses the Angel of the Lord as God
13 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."

Evidently Hagar spoke to the LORD and addressedhim as "You are the
God" Of course we canargue that it was only that aspectof God which sees.
But we cannot perceive the entire aspects ofGod. That will be asking too
much.
2. Abraham Intercedes with God
Gen 18
1. The LORD appearedto Abraham near the greattrees of Mamre while he
was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heatof the day.
Three men
2 Abraham lookedup and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw
them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to
the ground.
……
"Where is your wife Sarah?" they askedhim. "There, in the tent," he said.
One of them was the LORD
10 Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year,
and Sarahyour wife will have a son." Now Sarahwas listening at the entrance
to the tent, which was behind him.
…
13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarahlaugh and say, 'Will I
really have a child, now that I am old?'
14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed
time next year and Sarahwill have a son."
…..
17 Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?

18 Abraham will surely become a greatand powerful nation, and all nations
on earth will be blessedthrough him.
19 For I have chosenhim, so that he will direct his children and his household
after him to keepthe wayof the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that
the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."
20 Then the LORD said, "The outcry againstSodomand Gomorrah is so
greatand their sin so grievous
that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that
has reachedme. If not, I will know."
Abraham intercedes with God
22 The men turned awayand went towardSodom, but Abraham remained
standing before the LORD.
23 Then Abraham approachedhim and said: "Will you sweepawaythe
righteous with the wicked?
…..
26 The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will
spare the whole place for their sake."
27 Then Abraham spoke up again:"Now that I have been so bold as to speak
to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,
28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy
the whole city because offive people?" "If I find forty-five there," he said, "I
will not destroy it."
…..
30 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. Whatif only
thirty can be found there?" He answered, "Iwill not do it if I find thirty
there."
…

Then he said, "Maythe Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more.
What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "Forthe sake often, I
will not destroy it."
The Lord went awaywhile the two Angels proceded to Sodom
33 When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and
Abraham returned home.
19:1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in
the gatewayofthe city.
So out of the three men whom Abraham receivedone was the LORD himself.
The other two were angels. But this angel was a localizedangel, who was
limited in space and had the form of a man. The factthat God appeared to
Abrahm is confirmed by Stephen before the Sanhedran:
"The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in
Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and saidto him, "Getout of your
country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you."'"
(Acts 7:2).
3. God who Stayed a Sacrifice
Gen 22
9 When they reachedthe place God had told him about, Abraham built an
altar there and arrangedthe woodon it. He bound his sonIsaac and laid him
on the altar, on top of the wood.
10 Then he reachedout his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham!
Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
12 "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."

…..
Angel of the Lord identified himself as God
15 The Angel of the LORD calledto Abraham from heaven a secondtime
16 and said, "I swearby myself, declares the LORD, that because youhave
done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17 I will surely bless you…
Here the Angel of the Lord is in talking from the Heavenand speaks in first
person as God and swears by his person. Was this angeldelivering a message
from God in the first personas a quotation? Was this Angel sent or was God
immanent in Him?
4. God who wrestles with Man face to face.
Gen 32
Jacobwrestledwith a man who turns out to be God
24 So Jacobwas leftalone, and a man wrestledwith him till daybreak.
25 When the man saw that he could not overpowerhim, he touched the socket
of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenchedas he wrestledwith the man.
26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacobreplied, "I
will not let you go unless you bless me."
27 The man askedhim, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered.
28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,
because you have struggledwith God and with men and have overcome."
29 Jacobsaid, "Pleasetell me your name." But he replied, "Why do you ask
my name?" Then he blessedhim there.
30 So Jacobcalledthe place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to
face, and yet my life was spared."

Here againthe wrestling man turns out to be God. At PenielJacobsaw the
face of God as a man.
This is confirmed by the prophet Hosea
Hosea 12
2 The LORD has a charge to bring againstJudah; he will punish Jacob
according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb he graspedhis brother's heel; as a man he struggledwith God.
4 He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and beggedfor his
favor. He found him at Betheland talked with him there--
5 the LORD God Almighty, the LORD is his name of renown!
Hosea thus confirms that the Angel of the Lord who fought with Jacobwas
indeed God himself. Now how do we explain the fact Jacobovercame God?
Remember that this was the night before Jacobwas going to meet his brother
Essauwhom he tricked. Jacobstill had a secondchance to make the choice
betweenright and wrong. To concede thathe had tricked his brother. He was
reluctant to do that. Finally the Angel of the Lord had to touch him and make
him weakling. The next day we meet Jacobappearing before his brother
Essaulimping. Then he fell down and gave the honor due to his elder brother.
Every one of us struggles with God. We still canmake choices againstGod
and prevail. But it will lead to disaster. Godin his mercy may touch and make
us limping just to humble ourselves to chose the right from the wrong.
The 'angelof the LORD' who visited the patriarchs was God Himself, not any
creature masquerading as God. God himself authenticates it thus:
Ex. 6
2 God also said to Moses,"Iam the LORD.
3 I appearedto Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacobas God Almighty, but by my
name the Yhvh I did not make myself known to them.

5. God who appeared in the Burning Bush
Ex 2
Moses meets the Angel of the Lord in the flames of fire and widentifies himself
as God.
2 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.
3 So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush
does not burn up."
4 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."
5 "Do not come any closer," Godsaid. "Take offyour sandals, for the place
where you are standing is holy ground."
6 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.
7 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.
…
11 But Moses saidto God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaohand bring
the Israelites outof Egypt?"
12 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."
13 Moses saidto God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The
God of your fathers has sentme to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?'
Then what shall I tell them?"

14 God said to Moses, "IAM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the
Israelites:'I AM has sent me to you.'"
15 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 Godof Jacob--has
sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be
remembered from generationto generation.
……
God gives a proof that Moses actuallysaw God
4:1 Mosesanswered, "Whatif they do not believe me or listen to me and say,
'The LORD did not appear to you'?"
2 Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he
replied.
3 The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground
and it became a snake, andhe ran from it.
4 Then the LORD said to him, "Reachoutyour hand and take it by the tail."
So Moses reachedoutand took hold of the snake and it turned back into a
staff in his hand.
5 "This," saidthe LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the
God of their fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of
Jacob--has appearedto you."
6 Then the LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak."So Mosesput his
hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow.
7 "Now put it back into your cloak," he said. So Moses put his hand back into
his cloak, andwhen he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
8 Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first
miraculous sign, they may believe the second.

9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water
from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the
river will become blood on the ground."
Moses saidto the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the
past nor since you have spokento your servant. I am slow of speechand
tongue."
Moses was speaking to the creatorof man
11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf
or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
12 Now go;
6. God who Presided over the Covenant Dinner
Ex. 24
9. Mosesand Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went
up
They saw God
10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feetwas something like a pavement
made of sapphire, clearas the sky itself.
God of Israelhas hands
11 But God did not raise his hand againstthese leaders of the Israelites;they
saw God, and they ate and drank.
12 The LORD said to Moses,"Come up to me on the mountain and stay here,
and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have
written for their instruction."

7. Mosesseesthe Back of God.
Ex 33
18 Then Mosessaid, "Now show me your glory."
19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you,
and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassiononwhom I will have
compassion.
20 But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."
21 Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a
rock.
22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and coveryou
with my hand until I have passedby.
23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back;but my face must
not be seen."
8. Angel of God in the Pillar of Cloud
Ex 14
18 The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through
Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen."
19 Then the angelof God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army,
withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front
and stoodbehind them,
The Angel of the Lord was in the pillar of cloud guiding the Israelites through
the wilderness. This Angel says "I am the Lord".

9. Joshua meets God
Joshua 5
13 Now when Joshua was nearJericho, he lookedup and saw a man standing
in front of him with a drawn swordin his hand. Joshua went up to him and
asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"
14 "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have
now come." ThenJoshua fell facedownto the ground in reverence, and asked
him, "What messagedoes my Lord have for his servant?"
15 The commander of the Lord's army replied, "Take offyour sandals, for
the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.
That the Commander of Yahweh's army is the Angel of the Lord who
appearedto Mosesin the burning bush becomes clearwhenHe commands
Joshua, "Takeyour sandaloff your foot, for the place where you stand is
holy"
In Revelation22:8, the Apostle John "fell down to worship before the feetof
the angel" who had shownhim visions of things to come. But the angelrefused
to acceptworship saying:"See that you do not do that, For I am your fellow
servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keepthe words
of this book. Worship God" In accepting the worship of Joshua, the Angel
declaredhimself as God.
10 Baalamsees the Angel of the Lord
Num 22
The Angel of the Lord appears to Balaam, a no Hebrew Prophet.
21 Balaamgot up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the
princes of Moab.
22 But God was very angry when he went, and the angelof the LORD stood in
the road to oppose him. Balaamwas riding on his donkey, and his two
servants were with him.

23 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a
drawn swordin his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaambeat her
to get her back on the road.
24 Then the angelof the LORD stoodin a narrow path betweentwo
vineyards, with walls on both sides.
25 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressedclose to the wall,
crushing Balaam's footagainstit. So he beather again.
26 Then the angelof the LORD moved on aheadand stoodin a narrow place
where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left.
27 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam,
and he was angry and beat her with his staff.
Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth,
…..
31 Then the LORD openedBalaam's eyes, and he saw the angelof the LORD
standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowedlow and fell
facedown.
32 The angelof the LORD askedhim, "Why have you beatenyour donkey
these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a
recklessone before me.
33 The donkey saw me and turned awayfrom me these three times. If she had
not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have
spared her."
34 Balaamsaid to the angelof the LORD, "I have sinned. I did not realize you
were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go
back."
35 The angelof the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but speak only
what I tell you." So Balaamwent with the princes of Balak.

11. Gideon meets the Lord
Judg. 6
Angel of the Lord Appears to Gideon
11 The angelof the LORD came and satdown under the oak in Ophrah that
belongedto Joashthe Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheatin
a winepress to keepit from the Midianites.
12 When the angel of the LORD appearedto Gideon, he said, "The LORD is
with you, mighty warrior."
…..
14 The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save
Israelout of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"
….
The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the
Midianites together."
Gideon asks fora sign
17 Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a signthat
it is really you talking to me.
18 Please do not go awayuntil I come back and bring my offering and setit
before you." And the LORD said, "I will wait until you return."
19 Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he
made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basketand its broth in a pot,
he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.
20 The angelof God saidto him, "Take the meat and the unleavenedbread,
place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so.
21 With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angelof the LORD
touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock,
consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared.

22 When Gideon realizedthat it was the angelof the LORD, he exclaimed,
"Ah, SovereignLORD!I have seenthe angel of the LORD face to face!"
23 But the LORD said to him, "Peace!Do not be afraid. You are not going to
die."
12. Manoahmeets God
Judg. 13
Angel of the Lord appears to Manoah and his wife
2 A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a
wife who was sterile and remained childless.
3 The angelof the LORD appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and
childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son.
8 Then Manoahprayed to the LORD: "O Lord, I beg you, let the man of God
you sent to us come again to teachus how to bring up the boy who is to be
born."
9 God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came againto the woman while
she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.
10 The woman hurried to tell her husband, "He's here! The man who
appearedto me the other day!"
11 Manoahgot up and followedhis wife. When he came to the man, he said,
"Are you the one who talkedto my wife?" "I am," he said.
12 So Manoahaskedhim, "Whenyour words are fulfilled, what is to be the
rule for the boy's life and work?"
13 The angelof the LORD answered, "Yourwife must do all that I have told
her.

14 She must not eatanything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any
wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do
everything I have commanded her."
15 Manoahsaid to the angelof the LORD, "We would like you to stay until
we prepare a young goatfor you."
16 The angelof the LORD replied, "Even though you detain me, I will not eat
any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD."
(Manoahdid not realize that it was the angel of the LORD.)
17 Then Manoahinquired of the angelof the LORD, "What is your name, so
that we may honor you when your word comes true?"
18 He replied, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding."
The Angel of the Lord proves himself to be the Lord
19 Then Manoahtook a young goat, togetherwith the grain offering, and
sacrificedit on a rock to the LORD. And the LORD did an amazing thing
while Manoahand his wife watched:
As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angelof the LORD
ascendedin the flame.
Manoahand his wife worshipped the Angel of the Lord
Seeing this, Manoahand his wife fell with their faces to the ground.
21 When the angel of the LORD did not show himself againto Manoahand
his wife, Manoahrealized that it was the angelof the LORD.
22 "We are doomed to die!" he saidto his wife. "We have seenGod!"
23 But his wife answered, "If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not
have accepteda burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown
us all these things or now told us this."
13. Elijah strengthened by the Angelof the Lord

1 Kin. 19
Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.
…..
5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel
touched him and said, "Getup and eat."
6 He lookedaround, and there by his head was a cake ofbread bakedover hot
coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
7 The angelof the LORD came back a secondtime and touched him and said,
"Getup and eat, for the journey is too much for you."
8 So he gotup and ate and drank. Strengthenedby that food, he traveled forty
days and forty nights until he reachedHoreb, the mountain of God.
14. Angel of the Lord destroys the Assyrian Army
2 Kings 19
Then Isaiah sonof Amoz sent a messageto Hezekiah: "This is what the
LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning
Sennacheribking of Assyria.
35 That night the angelof the LORD went out and put to death a hundred
and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp
15. Angel of the Lord selects the plot to build the Temple
I Chronicles 21:18
Then the angelof the LORD ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an
altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite

This later became the site of the temple of Solomon.
There is a dialectics in the Angel of the Lord. He is the Lord God, yet he is a
distinct personality - distinct and comprehensible, visible, audible and in
human form. Look what Zachriah says:
"In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem;the one who
is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David
shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them." (Zechariah 12:8).
Could this be Jesus?
Zech 2:10 "Shout and be glad, O Daughterof Zion. For I am coming, and I
will live among you," declares the LORD.
And he did in the personof Jesus.
Jesus claimedto be the supreme malakh of God. "Anyone who has seenme
has seenthe Father" (John 14:9).
Abraham called the angel of the Lord as the judge of mankind; and in John
5:22 Jesus says, "The Fatherjudges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to
the Son."
Since man cannot see his face of glory and live, he put on a face so that
everyone can look, see and be saved.
Phill.2
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not considerequality with God
something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made
in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became
obedient to death-- even death on a cross!
9 Therefore Godexalted him to the highestplace and gave him the name that
is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth
and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christis Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.
Finally Jesus presidedover the New covenantceremonyjust as he had
presided over the Old Covenant Ceremony. Only this time he laid his hand on
his disciples and comforted them.
It is evident that Jesus was indeedthis Angel of the Lord, who is the Sonof
God, begottonfrom the Father, the first of the existence ofGod - The Word
became flesh.

Jesus was god's angel protecting israel

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