The Angel

Judges 6:²¹ “Then the Angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the Lord departed…” (NKJV, emphasis added).

John 8:⁵⁸ “Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!” What was Jesus really talking about here? In the Old Testament, the Bible refers to angelic beings using the term an angel of the Lord or an angel from God. But there is this personality that the Bible refers to as the Angel of the Lord as we can see in today’s scripture reference. Take note that the first category is the small letter ‘a’ angel and the other is capital letter ‘A’ Angel. That capital letter ‘A’ Angel is Elohim, the Angel of the Lord, and that was the pre-incarnate Christ. The reference to the Angel of the Lord occurs sixty-five times in the Bible and there is no occurrence of the Angel of the Lord after the birth of Christ. The last time was before the birth of Christ, in Luke.

Every time the Angel of the Lord speaks, He speaks in the first person, He speaks for God. He always speaks in the first person; it is not a reported speech. The Angel of the Lord appeared to several people; to Abraham, to Moses, to Hagar, to Manoah, to Balaam, to Gideon, and to many others. To Abraham; Gen.22:^11-12 “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.” (NKJV, emphasis added). If He were an angel from the Lord, He would say, ‘for the Lord knows’. But He speaks in first person; that Angel must be God Himself. When Jesus said, ‘Abraham saw my day and was glad’ [John 8:56], we see that it actually happened.

To Moses; Ex.3:^{2,6, 13-14} “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…  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.’” (NKJV, emphasis added). No angel from the Lord will accept worship or equate himself to God. The one that tried it [lucifer], was crushed.

John 8:⁵⁸ “Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!” John 1:^1-4 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

Prayer [song]: Jehovah Elohim. The God of all creation, He whose words cannot be broken. The self-existing Mighty One, uncreated Lord of all. Elohim, Eternal One… Amen!