The Angel of the LORD
Angels are not hard to come by: "some have entertained angels unawares."
(Hebrews 13:2). But attentive Old Testament readers will have encountered
a unique and startling double identification. In some passages we meet
with a party called the "angel of the LORD" who is also revealed to be the LORD:
"Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, 'Please let
us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.'
"And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, 'Though you detain Me, I will
not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD.' (For
Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the LORD.)
"Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, 'What is Your name, that
when Your words come to pass we may honor You?'
"And the Angel of the LORD said to him, 'Why do you ask My name, seeing
it is wonderful?'
"So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered
it upon the rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah
and his wife looked on -- it happened as the flame went up toward heaven
from the altar -- the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar!
When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground.
When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then
Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the LORD.
"And Manoah said to his wife, 'We shall surely die, because we have
seen God!'
"But his wife said to him, 'If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would
not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us
all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time.'" (Judges
13:14-23).
Not only is this theophanic "angel of the LORD" acclaimed as God by
those who encounter Him, He Himself claims to be God:
"And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of
fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the
bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, 'I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush
does not burn.'...Moreover He said, '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...Then Moses said to God, 'Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel
and say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you," and they say to me, "What is His name?"
what shall I say to them?' And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And He said, 'Thus you shall say
to the children of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you."'" (Exodus 3:2-14).
To put the bluntest point on the issue, when the theophanic "angel of the LORD" says to Moses, "I am the
God of your father -- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" -- is He fibbing, or is He telling
the truth? From the time of Justin Martyr, Christians have affirmed, He's telling the Bible truth -- He really
is God -- and He is a 'sent messenger', which is what 'angel' means:
04397 mal'ak
from an unused root meaning to despatch as a deputy; TWOT-1068a; n m
AV - angel 111, messenger 98, ambassadors 4, variant 1; 214
1) messenger, representative
1a) messenger
1b) angel
1c) the theophanic angel
'Angel' means messenger, envoy or ambassador, one sent,-- even if just a man: "Then Jacob sent messengers [Strong's 0439]
before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom." (Genesis 32:3). In its most literal meaning,
the word does not specify any order of created heavenly beings -- though God does maintain a stable of created, ministering spirits
to fill this task. Literally, it identifies a messenger, envoy or ambassador, one sent by another. Even human beings can
be dispatched as messengers; John the Baptist is the first 'malak', 'messenger', of Malachi 3:1: "'Behold, I send My
messenger ['malak'], and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek,
will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger ['malak'] of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,
says the LORD of hosts." The first 'malak', 'angel' or 'messenger', is a human being, John the Baptist, as identified
by Jesus in Matthew 11:10: "For this is he of whom it is written: 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare
Your way before You.' Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist;
but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Matthew 11:10-11). The second 'malak', 'angel'
or 'messenger of the covenant', is God Himself, God incarnate, Jesus Christ.
There is no room in the new religious movements' 'Father-only' theology
for a 'sent messenger' of the LORD who is also the LORD. They speculate
about creaturely impersonation:
"A third view, however, is that the angel of the LORD is
never the LORD but always a literal angel...In this view, the people that acknowledged the visitation
of God were either mistaken in their belief that they had seen God Himself or, more plausibly, they
recognized that God was using an angel to speak to them and therefore addressed God through the
angel." (David Bernard, The Oneness of God, Chapter 2).
But would a "literal" angel indeed be a creature, not the Creator?
Centuries of greeting card art have conditioned us to visualize 'angels'
as a peculiar order of created being, with a distinctive physiognomy incorporating
wings. But there's no such implication in the Bible's use of this
term; God Himself can be called an 'angel'!:
"And he blessed Joseph, and said: 'God, before whom my
fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; let my
name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a
multitude in the midst of the earth." (Genesis 48:15-16);
"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 ['malak'] of the LORD before them." (Zechariah 12:8).
Anti-trinitarians must deny one or another of the theophanic angel's attributes:
either He cannot be God, or He cannot be
sent. Thus the Jehovah's Witnesses deny that He really is God, though
He says He is. But what do we call someone who lets on that He is
what He is not? While they realize that the One who said to Moses,
"I am the God of your father -- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob", was the pre-incarnate Word of God, they fearlessly
deny that what He was saying was true. Yet how can one impute imposture or fraud to the very Truth?: "Jesus
said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'" (John 14:6). There
is no deceit in Him: "And they made His grave with the wicked -- but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in His mouth." (Isaiah 53:9); "For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving
us an example, that you should follow His steps: 'Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth'..." (1 Peter 2:22).
If President Bill Clinton were to dispatch an envoy to France who,
upon arrival, were to present himself before the French authorities and boldly announce, 'I'm Bill
Clinton', what would he be but a liar and a fraud? Impersonating the one who sent you as ambassador is
not part of the job description. Yet it's this very scam which the new
religious movements impute to the theophanic 'angel of the LORD'.
The Bible record testifies that God Himself appeared to the patriarchs,
not any creaturely imposter:
"And he said, 'Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared
to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,
and said to him, "Get out of your country and from your relatives,
and come to a land that I will show you."'" (Acts 7:2).
If Abraham had been willing to sacrifice his only son to a created angel,
how could he be acquitted of the charge of idolatry?: "But the Angel
of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, 'Abraham, Abraham!' So
he said, 'Here I am.' And He said, 'Do not lay your hand on the lad, or
do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not
withheld your son, your only son, from Me.'" (Genesis 22:11-12). To
worship the creature rather than the Creator is idolatry: "...who exchanged the truth of God for
the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.
Amen." (Romans 1:25).
To vindicate Abraham, God's friend, from the charge of idolatry, the
angel of the LORD to whom he was prepared to
sacrifice Isaac must actually be the LORD, just as those who
encountered Him thought. Hagar was sure she'd encountered the living God: "Then the Angel of the
LORD said to her, 'I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for
multitude.'...Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she
said, 'Have I also here seen Him who sees me?'" (Genesis 16:10-13).
Thankfully, God Himself confirms her identification. Visiting
Abraham, He confirms that it is He who promised Hagar He would multiply Ishmael's descendants and make of Him a great nation:
"When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram
and said to him, 'I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And
I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.'...And
Abraham said to God, 'Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!' Then
God said: 'No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call
his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting
covenant, and with his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have
heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and
will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and
I will make him a great nation.'" (Genesis 17:1-20).
It's God's prerogative to multiply nations, or to let them wither on the
vine; He hasn't assigned the task to any subordinate: "He makes nations
great, and destroys them; He enlarges nations, and guides them." (Job
12:23). In some manuscripts, Galatians 3:17 confirms Abraham encountered
God in Christ: "And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred
and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before
by God in Christ..." (Galatians 3:17).
Jacob even wrestled with Him: "Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man
wrestled with him until the breaking of day... And He said, 'Your name
shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with
God and with men, and have prevailed.'...So Jacob called the name of the
place Peniel: 'For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.'"
(Genesis 32:24-30). Hosea confirms it was the LORD with whom Jacob
wrestled -- and reveals in passing that this was no Jesse Ventura-style
body slam: "He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and in his
strength he struggled with God. Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed;
he wept, and sought favor from Him. He found Him in Bethel, and there He
spoke to us -- that is, the LORD God of hosts. The LORD is His memorable
name." (Hosea 12:3-5).
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