Judges 13:11-23, The Angel of the LORD (1)

It may seem strange to refer to God as an Angel.  So, first, let us correct the previous sentence.  Todays name is not “an angel of the LORD” but THE Angel of the Lord.  In that form (some 65 times in Scripture), the Angel of the Lord, we believe refers to God, and specifically, God the Son.  Here are the reasons for this.

·       The OT speaks of the Angel of God (e.g. Ex. 14:19) and the Angel of His Presence (e.g. Isa. 63:9).  These also, likely, refer to the Angel of the LORD.

·       The Angel of the LORD is said to be God (Deity) on several occasions.

o   Gen. 31:11-13: The Angel of God tells Jacob, “I am the God of Bethel.”

o   Ex. 3:2-6: The Angel of the LORD tells Moses, from within the burning bush, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham … Isaac … and Jacob.”  Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

o   Gen. 22:1,11-12: On Mt. Moriah, God tested Abraham.  Yet, the Angel of the LORD spoke from heaven, telling Abraham not to take Isaac’s life, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.

o   Hagar (Gen. 16:9-13), Gideon (Jud. 6:11-22), and the parents of Samson (Jud. 13:17-18,22) identified the Angel of the LORD as God.

·       The Angel of the LORD is a special appearance of God in the OT times; He is to be identified with Christ.  Why do we believe this to be true?

o   The Angel of the LORD is both God (as noted above) and the mouthpiece of God, even as Christ.  John 1:1 refers to Christ as the Word who was God and was with God.  When the Angel/the Word speaks, it is the word of God (cf. Gen. 16:7 & 13; 22:1,11-12,15-16).

o   The Angel of the LORD appears as a “man,” in a physical form (e.g. Zech. 1:10-11).  Jesus was the Word who became flesh (Jn. 1:14).  He did not have a human body until He was conceived and born into this world.  But if God, for His own purposes, came to men in OT times as a Man, it would make sense that it is as the second member of the Godhead, the Son of God.

o   The Angel of the LORD (Jud. 13:18) and Christ (Isa. 9:6) bear the name Wonderful.

o   One other interesting thought is that, the Angel of the LORD does not appear in the NT after the birth of Christ.  The obvious reason is that the Son of God had come in the likeness of man. 

This fits Heb. 1:1-2.  God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets (including appearances as the Angel of the LORD) has in these last days spoken to us by His Son!  God revealed Himself to the prophets through His names.  But once God became Man, there was no greater revelation that He could make beyond that.  We will consider more evidence in our next post on the connection between the Angel of the LORD and Christ.