THE Angel of the Lord - Angels - Part 7

Maybe you’ve noticed and maybe you haven’t, but now and then in the Old Testament we come across the phrase, “THE angel of the Lord”.  Who is this unique angel and what distinguishes him from the ones described as, “AN angel of the Lord”?

The difference is that this angel is directly identified with God – He is not just FROM the Lord, but IS the Lord Himself.  Let’s look at some of the Bible passage that speak of him.

In Genesis 16:6-14  God had promised Abram that he and his wife Sarai would have a child.  When years passed and they got older, and yet still had no child, Sarai suggested Abram take her maidservant and sleep with her so that maybe she would have a child for her mistress.  

This was not in God’s plan for Abram, but he complied with his wife's wishes and slept with his wife's servant.  Her servant Hagar became pregnant and when she did, she began to despise her mistress.  

When Sarai complained to Abram about it, he gave her the go ahead to do what she wanted with Hagar, and so we read:  

•  “Then Sarai mistreated Hagar, so she fled from her.  THE angel of the Lord found Hagar. .and, speaking in the first person, told her, 

• “Go back to your mistress and submit to her. . . I will increase your descendants”.  

Hagar identified this angel as the Lord Himself:

•  She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her, “YOU ARE THE GOD who sees me.”

Then in Genesis 22:2; 9-12  God instructed Abraham to sacrifice the very son He had promised to him years before, the son of his old age, the son on whom all of God’s promises to Abraham rested, Isaac.  

When Abraham reached the place of sacrifice, he took the knife to slay his son, but THE angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven saying, again in the first person:   

• “Do not lay a hand on the boy.  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.”

Over in Exodus 3:1-6 we read the account of Moses and the burning bush.  Moses saw the bush from a distance and drew near to see what it was because the bush was on fire, but it didn’t burn up.  When he arrived at the place we read:  

• “There THE angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. . . . When the Lord saw that Moses had gone over to look, God called to him from the bush. . Then He said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”

In Judges 2:1-5  We read that THE angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said to the people of Israel:

• “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land. . . . I will never break my covenant with you. . . . “

We can tell just from these few texts that THE angel of the Lord seems in some ways to be distinct from God, and also, in some mysterious way, was also identified WITH God and actually WAS God.

In previous blogs we’ve already said that God is the creator and angels are a work of His creation – they are NOT God himself.

But this angel is different.  It would seem that THIS angel must be more than just an angel.

So, who is He?

Could it be that God the Son, the 2^nd person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ, came and walked this earth centuries before He was born as a baby in Bethlehem?   Many theologians and Bible scholars think so.

John Calvin said:

• “I am rather inclined . . . to agree with ancient writers, that in those passages wherein it is stated that the angel of the Lord appeared to Abraham, Jacob and Moses, Christ was that angel.”

Billy Graham says:  

• “There are no grounds for questioning the very early and traditional Christian interpretation that in these cases there is a pre-incarnation manifestation of the second person of the Trinity.”

The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus existed BEFORE He came to earth as a baby.  

In John’s gospel, chapter 1, verse 2, he says in reference to Jesus whom he calls “The WORD”:

·       He was “with God in the beginning”

In John 8:58  Jesus told the Jews, 

·       “Before Abraham was born, I am”

In John 17:5  In what is known as Jesus’ high priestly prayer, Jesus said that He had glory in God’s presence:

·       “before the world began”.

Since Jesus existed before His birth in Bethlehem, He certainly could have appeared in Old Testament times.

Also, of the 3 persons of the Trinity, Jesus is the one most involved in manifesting God to man.  

In Matthew 1:23  He is Immanuel, “God with us”

In John 1:18  Jesus is the One and Only Son of God who is both:

·       “at the Father’s side” and “has made Him known”

In 1 Timothy 3:16  we read that Jesus:

·       “appeared in a body” and “was seen by angels”

In the Old Testament book of Exodus 23:23, God says this of this special angel:  

·       “See I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and bring you to the place I have prepared.  Pay attention to him and listen to what he says.  Do not rebel against Him; He will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in Him.”

THE angel of the Lord then is no ordinary angel – this one had God’s Name in Him and He could forgive sins – though in Mark’s gospel, chapter 2, verse 7 it says:

·       “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Once Jesus was born, there were no longer any appearances of THE angel of the Lord – which is a additional evidence that He may have been that angel.

But Jesus could never have saved us in His appearance as an angel – in order to do that, he had to become ONE of us, He had to become a man.

In Hebrews 2:14-17, the author says: 

·       “Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity. . . For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.  For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way. . . that He might make atonement for the sins of the people.”

Since His incarnation as a man, Jesus no longer appears as THE angel of the Lord, and in that we should rejoice.  Only as the perfect Son of God could He die in our place, forgive our sins, bestow eternal life, and give us victory over sin in the here and now.  

I’m grateful, aren’t you?

GUARDIAN ANGELS AND ANGELIC MESSAGES - Angels # 6

I’m sure you’ve heard someone (maybe it was you!) say this at one time or another when someone has avoided a serious accident:  “Your guardian angel was watching out for you.”

It begs the question, “Do each of us really have a guardian angel?”  What does the Bible have to say on the subject?

There is only one verse in the Bible that says anything that could refer to guardian angels.  It’s Matthew 18, verse 10, where Jesus says in reference to children:

·         “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones.  For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.”

Jesus’s words still leave us wondering:

·         The verse doesn’t directly say that angels do any guarding of the little ones.

·         It also doesn’t specifically say that each little one is matched with an angel of his or her own.

·         The angels mentioned don’t seem to be at the “little ones” sides, but always in heaven where they look on the face of the Father.

John Calvin, in reference to the subject of guardian angels, said: 

·         “Whether or not each believer has a single angel assigned to him for his defense, I dare not positively affirm. . .this indeed, I hold for certain, that each of us is cared for NOT BY ONE ANGEL MERELY, but that ALL, with one consent, watch for our safety.”

David Jeremiah, who currently pastors a church in California, says in his book: “What the Bible Says About Angels”:

·         “God condescends to be concerned about such as us, and will even dispatch one angel, or an army of them, for our service and protection.”

So, while the Bible doesn't make it clear that one angel guardian angel is assigned specifically to us, we can be confident that when we need their help, God sends as many angels as we need.

In a previous blog, I mentioned that the word angel means “messenger” and that angelic messages go only one way.  God sent angels to man with His message, or He sent them with a specific task in service to God’s people, and the angels carried out His ministry at His command.

So what kinds of messages and ministries have they carried out for God?  

Messages of Comfort and Encouragement:

·         In Genesis 21:14-19   After the birth of Abraham and Sarah’s son Isaac, Abraham sent her servant Hagar, and the son he had by her (Ishmael) away, and Hagar finds herself in the wilderness.  With her water gone, Hagar is crying in despair.  We read:  

o   “God heard the boy crying and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said:  ‘What is the matter Hagar?  Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.  Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

·         The Arab nations today trace their ancestry back to Abraham’s son Ishmael.

·         In Luke’s gospel, chapter 22:39-43  Jesus is in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane right before His betrayal and arrest and He says:  

o   “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done”.  An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.

o   For other examples of angelic messages of comfort and encouragement, you might look up I Kings 19:3-7 and Daniel 10:4-19.

Messages of Guidance

·         In Genesis 19:1; 12; 16-17  we read that two angels arrived at the gate of the city of Sodom and Abraham’s nephew Lot, who long ago had moved into the city, was sitting at the gate.  The angels urged Lot to get his family members out of the city, because the Lord was about to destroy it.  

o   V. 16-17 When Lot hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, ‘Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain!  Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!’

o   Those detailed instructions of guidance were so specific they couldn’t be mistaken!

·         Matthew’s gospel, chapter 1:18-21 is a familiar part of the Christmas story read every year at this time. 

o    Joseph has discovered that his fiancé Mary is pregnant and he is not the father. While he was considering how he could divorce her quietly, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 

o   “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

o   Additional angelic messages of guidance can be found in Genesis 31:10-13; Exodus 23:20-21; Numbers 22:22-35; 2 Kings 1; Acts 10:3-33; and Revelation 1:1-10.

Messages of Deliverance and the Ministry of Protection

·         In the Old Testament book of Daniel 6:7; 10-13; 16; 19-22 we read the familiar account of Daniel in the lion’s den.

·         Daniel’s habit was to pray three times a day to the living God.  The King of Babylon had decreed that no one in his kingdom could pray to anyone but him.  When Daniel’s enemies discovered that Daniel had continued his practice of prayer, they reported him to the king and he was thrown into the lion’s den.

·         We read:

o   “The next day, the King got up, hurried to the lion’s den, and said:  Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?  Daniel answered:  “My God sent his angel and he shut the mouths of the lions”

o   Additional accounts like this can be found in Daniel 3:13-30 and Acts 12:5-11  

Messages and Ministries of Judgment 

·         In the Old Testament book of 2 Kings 19:32-36 we read that the Assyrian army is threatening the city of Jerusalem.  

o   V. 35 “That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty five thousand men in the Assyrian camp.  When the people got up the next morning – there were all the dead bodies.  So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, broke camp and  withdrew.”

·         In the New Testament book of Acts, chapter 12:19b-22, King Herod, wearing his royal robes, and sitting on his throne, delivered an address to his people.  Their reaction is to shout:  “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.”

o   v. 23 says:  “Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down and he was eaten by worms and died.”

·         Additional passages that speak of the ministry of angels in administering God’s justice can be found in Genesis 3:24; 2 Samuel 24:15-17; 2 Kings 19:35; and Revelation 12:7.

So hey, how are you doing on the angel quiz that I gave you back in the first blog?  

Are you taking a closer look at those angels you’re putting out for Christmas?  Write down some of their characteristics and those you always think of when you think of angels, especially cherubs, and watch for the blog:  “Rank on Rank the Host of Heaven”.  Your thinking about angels is in for a shock!