|
|
THE ANGEL OF THE LORD IN THE BIBLE
[Jn 1:4-5]:
(v. 4) "In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
(v. 5) The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not."
["was the light of men" = Why did John use "was the light of men" and not "is the light of men." And why did John use the past tense "comprehended" and not the present tense "comprehends"? Certainly Jesus Christ is life and light today and forever! The fact that the verbs are in the past tense makes it likely that the author, John, is speaking of Old Testament times...times of the Jews and before. Our Lord Jesus Christ truly "was" life and the light of men even as far back as Adam & Eve when He "was" with them in the Garden of Eden, (Gen 3:8); and with Abraham and Sarah as the Angel of the Lord, (Gen 18:1-33); He wrestled with Jacob, (Gen 32:22-32); He was with the nation Israel in her exodus from Egypt and their journey through the wilderness, (1 Cor
10:1-4); and He was even with Gideon, Samson, Daniel and all the others...not as He appeared in Bethlehem and grew up in Nazareth, but our Lord appeared in different forms such as the Angel of the Lord before His humanity was born of Mary as a Man in Bethlehem. The prophet Micah spoke of His appearances in times past:
[Micah 5:2 cont.]:
"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be Ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from days of eternity."
["One will go forth" = Christ the Messiah, Who will be born in Bethlehem.
"for Me" = for God the Father.
"from days of eternity" = from before all time which indicates the eternality of Christ which only God possesses.
Jesus was on the scene in Old Testament times as the Angel of Jehovah. Scripture identifies the Angel of Jehovah not just as a messenger of God but as God appearing as the Messenger Himself. The word translated as 'angel' in God's Word can mean a created spirit being as it does in Ps 91:11, 103:19-21 & 104:4. And the word in Scripture translated as 'angel' in English is also used to mean the key messenger of a particular church congregation, i.e., the pastor-teacher, (cp. Rev 2:1, 8, 12, 18; #:1, 7, 14). (An angelic spirit being would not need a letter written to him by John in order to inform his congregation). But in numerous passages in the Old Testament, the phrase translated as 'Angel of the Lord' is identified as a Messenger Who is God, appearing on earth in various forms:
[Gen 22:15-18]:
(v. 15) "Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven,
(v. 16) and said, 'By Myself I have sworn,' says the Lord, 'because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,
["says the Lord" - Scripture refers here to the Angel of the Lord as God Himself]
(v. 17) indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
(v. 18) 'And in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
[Gen 31:11-13]:
(v. 11) "Then the Angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am.'
(v. 12) And he said, 'Lift up, now, your eyes and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.
(v. 13) 'I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.
[Ex 3:2-4]:
(v. 2) "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.
(v. 3) So Moses said, 'I must turn asidc now, and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.'
(v. 4) When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am.' "
Compare Gen 16:7-13; 48:15-16; Judges 6:11-23; 13:9-20; Acts 7:30-35.
And the Angel of the Lord is more specifically identified as the Second Person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ:
[1 Cor 10:1-4]:
(v. 1) "For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers [referring to Israel in the days of Moses] were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
(v. 2) and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
(v. 3) and all ate the same spiritual food;
(v. 4) and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ."
So the context of verse 4 indicates that there was a spiritual Leader - a spiritual Rock Who accompanied the nation Israel through the Red Sea and into the wilderness. The passage clearly indicates that there was only one spiritual Leader:
(v. 3) "and all ate the same spiritual food;
(v. 4) and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ."
Old Testament passages indicate that the One Who accompanied Israel was God:
[Ex 13:21]:
"And the Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night."
["Lord" = "Yhwh" = Yahweh = Jehovah God Almighty Who is "the spiritual Rock that accompanied them and that Rock was Christ", (1 Cor 10:4), Who went before Israel in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night]
[Ex 14:19]:
"And the Angel of God,........
["Angel of God" = God the Son in His preincarnate appearance, cp Gen 22:11-12 in which the Angel of the Lord refers to Himself as God in verse 12]
[Ex 14:19 cont.]:
"And the angel of 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."
(Cp Ex 23:20-23)
Objectors might say that Ex 14:19 above indicates that Jesus Christ in His preincarnate form appeared as a created angel rather than as God when He accompanied the nation Israel. However, this would refute the previous passage in Exodus 13:21 which indicates that He was God, in the form of the Angel of God, Who accompanied Israel through the wilderness. So it was Jehovah God, Who can appear in any form and in more than one place at the same time, (since He is omnipresent, Ps 139), Who appeared as an
Angel of the Lord in the form of a cloud and a pillar of fire, thus exemplifying the capacity of the triune God to be One God but express Himself in three Personalities in an omnipresent way as He sovereignly sees fit.
So, the Angel of the Lord - the Angel of Jehovah - while identified in Scripture as Jehovah Himself and as Jesus Christ is also identified as operating separately from God the Father yet as a unity with Him:
[Gen 24:7]:
"The Lord, the God of heaven, Who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and Who spoke to me, and Who swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I will give this land', He will send His Angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there.' "
Compare: Gen 24:40; Ex 23:20; 32:34; 1 Chron 21:15-18; Isa 63:9; Zech 1:12-13.
Then, when our Lord appears on the earth as a Man, it is notable that the Angel of God no longer appears - for the role of God the Son is then moved from preincarnate appearances to the incarnate GodMan.
So the context of 1 Cor 10:4 previously quoted indicates that there was a spiritual Leader - a spiritual Rock Who accompanied the nation Israel through the Red Sea and into the wilderness. The context indicates that there was only ONE Spiritual Guide: Christ. Furthermore, Old Testament passages indicate that there was only one spiritual Guide Who accompanied Israel into the wilderness: God. Therefore, Jesus Christ is God.
on this subject)