The Angel Of The Lord

by NEEDHAM, J. | Category: The Ministry Of Angels | Dec 2007

Of all the angelic beings to appear on the pages of Scripture, one stands out as unique. The various appearances of the one introduced in Genesis 16:7 as ‘the Angel of the LORD’ reveals one who excels, both in character and person, the created angelic hosts; one so closely connected with the God of heaven as to be indistinguishable, appearing as a visible manifestation of God Himself.

In the very first use of the word angel in the Scriptures, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Hagar as she sat by a spring in the wilderness (Gen.16:7-14). He came with a promise reverberating the divine assurance of progeny which God had made to Abram (Gen.13:16;15:5): ‘I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude’. This multiplication of Hagar's descendants through Ishmael was a matter of divine purpose to be performed by God (Gen.17:20), yet the promise came from the Angel, on His own account and to be performed by His own determination. Hagar's conviction that she had seen the God who sees, is confirmed by Scripture: it was ‘the LORD who spoke to her’ (Gen.16:13).

The intimate association between the Angel of the Lord and God Himself is not unique to Hagar's experience. On Moriah, Abraham was stayed from the sacrifice of Isaac by the Angel of the Lord, who acknowledged the act of worship being performed towards Him (Gen.22:5,12; see also Judg.6:18), something the created orders of angelic beings would never accept (Rev.19:10). Jacob's night-time wrestle with the Angel beside the Jabbok left him with a deep conviction that he had seen God face to face (Gen.32:22-32; Hos.12:3-4), a fact confirmed by the Angel in the meaning behind Jacob's new name (Gen.32:28). Moses too, having been attracted by the Angel of the Lord who appeared in fire out of the bush, approached to hear ‘God [who] called to him from the midst of the bush’ (Ex.3:2,4,6). There, at Horeb, signs were given to Moses to perform before the people ‘that they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers … has appeared to you’ (Ex.4:5), a fact confirmed in Stephen's address to the Council that with singleness of purpose and unity of deity ‘God sent [Moses] to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush’ (Acts 7:35). On a later occasion, Manoah and his wife, in an experience which reflected Gideon's (Judg.6:11-24), were left convinced that ‘we have seen God!’ (Judg.13:22). They were not dissuaded from this conviction. Indeed, the Angel took to Himself a Messianic name later revealed in Isaiah 9:6 (Judg.13:18) and identified Himself with the offering and its savour, ascending in the flame of the altar (Judg.13:20).

The regular identification with deity of the Angel of the Lord (elsewhere referred to as the Angel of God - see Judges 13:3,9-13) indicates that this is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ in pre-incarnate manifestation. Identified inseparably with God, we see the mystery of godliness, God … manifested in the flesh (1 Tim.3:16), foreshadowed in the pre-incarnate Word appearing as a heavenly Man (Judg.13:6) to work the purposes of God amongst men, until the mystery was conclusively revealed when ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us’ (John 1:14) after which references to the Angel of the Lord cease. Prior to His assumption of eternal humanity (1 Tim.2:5), He came as one sent from the presence of God (Is.63:9), heralding in type the work which He alone could accomplish when, in the fullness of time, He came to seek and to find (Gen.16:7; Luke 19:10), directing men to God (Judg.13:16; Mat.19:17) and giving Himself in sacrifice (Judg.13:20; Eph.5:2) to stay the hand of judgment (Gen.22:11-12; John 3:17) and redeem a people for God's own possession (Gen.48:16; Col.1:13-14), made righteous (Zech.3:1-4; Phil.3:9) and brought into a covenant owned by Him (Judg.2:1-2; Heb.9:16) and demanding their obedience (Ex.23:20-23; Judg.2:2; John 14:15).

In all these aspects we see the unmistakable and unsurpassable character of Christ shining out from the Angel of the Lord. (Quotations from the NKJV)

NEEDHAM, J. | Dec 2007
The Ministry Of Angels