End of Day 7

The Angel of Jehovah or Angel of the LORD

Written by Brad Huddleston

Z Ministries

The angel of Jehovah in the OT was the LORDS messenger, or revealer to his chosen people. Here we are going to do an in depth study on who this "Angel" was, and is. Hang on to your seats, and get ready to be both amazed, and have your breathe taken away on who this person really is!

Angel of Jehovah

Our goal in this study is to find out who the Angel of Jehovah is. His other names include Angel of God, and the Angel of Yahweh. You can read 4 different Theology volumes written by different authors, and you would probably get the 2 main answers. Our goal here is to find out for ourselves who this person is. Some say he is the Christ of the NT, others say he was just a special angel who God used for his different commissions for his people. So let's find out who this angel really is.

The term "angel" or malak in the Hebrew means simply a servant of God. The nature of the servant must be viewed in the correct context of the scriptural passage. Let's take a look at the varying terms in both the Greek, and Hebrew for clarity.

In the Hebrew we see it as Malak:

Malak { mal-awk'}(Hebrew), from an unused root meaning to despatch as a deputy; it is used in the AV for angel 111 times, messenger 98 times, ambassadors 4 times, and variant 1 time for a total of 214 times in the Old Testament. It denotes 3 main uses; a messenger or representative, an angel, or the theophanic angel a.k.a. Angel of Jehovah.

In the Greek we see it as Aggelos:

Aggelos { ang'-el-os}(Greek) ,from aggello [probably derived from 71, cf 34] (to bring tidings);

It is used as angel 179 times, and messenger 7 times, for a total of 186 in the New Testament alone, and denotes 5 different meanings; a messenger, envoy, one who is sent, an angel, or a messenger from God.

So in all, we have 400 different uses of the word "angel" in the scriptures.

Usually we think of an "angel" as in Gen. 32:1 (e.g. angels of God) who is of the heavenly order. Or it can refer to a human messenger who goes forth for someone else as in Gen. 32:3.

But when we come to the Angel of Jehovah, he is in a class all by himself. He refers to himself as Jehovah in Gen. 22:15, 16. He tells Jacob that he is the God of Bethel in Gen. 31:11-13. He was also the Messenger who wrestled with Jacob in Hos. 12:4 , being identified as God in Gen. 32:28-30 , and Hos. 12:3-5 . The Messenger also attributed the divine oath as in Judges 2:1-3 , and he also called himself "prince of Jehovah" and allowed himself to be worshiped in  Josh. 5:13-6:2 ; and Jdg. 6:19-24.

Angels of the heavenly host do not allow worship of any kind as we see in Rev. 22:8-9 . Now how can an angel of the heavenly order permit himself to be worshipped if he is not God? The answer lies in the question!

 Now let's take a look at different passage concerning the Angel of Jehovah.

"Then the angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority."  Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count." Gen 16:9-10

Here he is promising to perform what God can do, and no other. He is foretelling what God can only know by saying "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count." He also goes on to say, "Behold you are with child, and shall bear a son," etc Gen 16:11 , "He will be a wild donkey of a man," etc Gen 16:12 . Could an angel tell her that her numbers will increase? Yes they could, but they would have made a point to let her know that it was Jehovah saying this, not they, and here we do not have that indication whatsoever. All three of these passages are showing the prescience of the Angel of the LORD, which is proper to  Jehovah alone. Now verse 13 states from Hagger, "You are a God who sees"; for she said, "Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?" Remember that "no one can see God and live", Exodus 33:20 . So we have in a single piece of scripture the absolute certainty that this Angel is in fact Jehovah himself. If he was merely an angel she would have been rebuked. Calling an angel God is something the Hebrew people just did not do without proper reason, and the simple fact that she was told by the " Angel " that her descendents would increase in number, is a sure reason to call him God. This verse alone gives ample evidence on who this angel really is.

We are going to pursue two lines of evidence: (1) that this Angel is indeed a divine Person and not just another angel that was created by God and not being one of the many heavenly hosts; (2) that this Angel is none other than the Christ of God, the second Person of the Godhead in the Blessed Trinity.

1. A Divine Being, part of the Godhead - Nobody who studies scripture seriously can deny that Jesus holds divinity with his humanity. He was and is God in the fullest since of the word, yet he is also man in the fullest since of the word. So we have humanity and divinity combined in the Person of Christ after his incarnation in the body of baby Jesus . He appeared at the consummation of the age to put away sin by his sacrifice, Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages "He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." Heb 9:26 , and that he now appears in the presence of God for us, "For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us" Heb 9:24.

He will also appear again, "so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him." Heb 9:28.

But what is interesting is that as the Angel of Jehovah, he appeared over and over again in the purposes of Jehovah with the dealings with the OT saints. Remember, he is called Angel of Jehovah , and a few times as the Angel of the countenance.

Lewis Sperry writes, "Evidence that this Angel is of the Godhead is in the fact that among various appellations, he bears the same titles belonging to the deity alone, Jehovah and Elohim. It is said that he dwelt among his people ( Israel ) as their final and supreme object of worship. To the people it was said, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. ", Thus whom they worshipped under divine favor was, of necessity, Deity. Concern at this point has only to do with one designation, Jehovah . This title above all others is peculiar to Deity, since it is at no time applied to any other. Emphasizing this truth the Scriptures declare: "Seek him and maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sear, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth (Jehovah is his name)" ( Amos 5:8 , R.V.); "That they may know that thou alone whose name is Jehovah art the Most High over all the earth" (Sp. 83:18 , R.VV.); "I am Jehovah, that is my name, and my glory will I never give to another, neither my praise unto grace images" ( Isa. 42:8 , R.V.). When this ineffable name is thus freely ascribed to the second Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, the evidence is complete that the Savior is not only Deity, but he existed as such from all eternity. When the highest of all titles in heaven or in earth is given to One who bears the name Angel , as the cognomen Angel of Jehovah specifies, it is not that the name has been employed contrary to the Scriptures, but it indicates a Person of Deity, who, because of His peculiar service and relationships, though uncreated, is termed Angel . Certain passages ( Ex. 17:5 ; Num. 10:35-36 ; Ezek. 48:35 ) wherein Jehovah is associated with material objects, provide no exception, nor should confusion arise because of the fact that this Angel is sometimes called Jehovah , and other times Jehovah 's Messenger. It is recorded that Jehovah said, "I will send my angel [or messenger]," but that Angel is as clearly said to be Jehovah himself. The same Person is evidently in view whether Jehovah says, "I will send my angel," or, "I will go." If an insoluble mystery arises at this point, it is none other than that which permeates the entire doctrine of the Trinity with its one Essence. All passages bearing on the Angel of Jehovah are evidence and should be considered. ( Gen. 16:7 ; 18:1 . 22:11, 12 , 31:11-12 . 32:24-32 . 48:15-16 ; Ex. 3:2 , 14 ; Josh. 5:13-14 ; Judg. 3:19-22 ; 2 Kings 19:35 ; 1 Chron. 21:15-16 ; Ps. 34:7 ; Zech. 14:1-4 ) From these Scriptures the demonstration is conclusive that the Angel of Jehovah is part of the eternal Godhead." (This was taken in part from Lewis Sparry Chafer's Systematic Theology Volume II titled, "Theology Proper: Trinitarianism" on page 328-329.)

Now as you can see, the Angel of Jehovah uses the same titles, honors, and worship as the God of Israel. The same is used not only for the Angel , but also for Christ Jesus in the NT.

He is constantly being called, "Messenger of Jehovah”, i.e. he is actually Jehovah himself, and he is acting and coming forth on behalf of another who is also Jehovah , and we have Christ in the New Testament being called the "Logos" of God by John in John 1:1-4 . Let us continue to the next and last section of this study.

2. Angel of Jehovah as part of the Trinity - Lets make something clear before we get too far along. The titles Servant and Messenger as used as in terms of Jehovah are equivalent to the Angel of Jehovah. If you have gone through and looked at all the appearances of the Angel of Jehovah in the OT, you will find that rarely is the appearance of the First Person of the Godhead. It is almost always the Manifester, or the Messenger of Jehovah. In the OT he is called the Angel of Jehovah, or his Angel who appears to the people of his choosing, and undertakes the tasks set out by Jehovah . Now think forward in the time of Jesus Christ . Christ says, " He who has seen me has seen the Father" Matt. 11:27 , and  "No one knows the Father except the Son" John 14:9 . These passages help reflect that Jesus has seen the Father, the first person of the Godhead, face to face intimately. The Angel of Jehovah was none other than the creator of all things, and the manifestation in the OT, who after his indwelling is designated as the Christ of God. ( Col. 1:16 ; Heb. 1:2 ).

Who did this angel of Jehovah appear too? He appeared to Abraham , Issac , Jacob , Moses , and to Hagar . He also appeared to the people of Israel to lead them out of captivity from Egypt . He gave the law to Moses at Mt. Sinai , and he said he will be the Executor as well as the Sustainer of the covenant that will yet be made with Israel ( Jer. 31:31-33 ). Did Jesus ever mention his existence before any of these people? Yes, in John 8:58  he states that before Abraham , he was, i.e. that he existed before Abraham . Now how could Jesus say something so outright untrue if in fact he were not God? And again, the answer lies within the question.

Let's take a look at how the Messenger speaks of his temple in Mal. 3:1 , "Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts." Did you notice the two different messengers? One is going to clear the way for the LORD ( Jehovah ) and the other is going to HIS temple. Let's take a look at these two fulfillment's in the NT.

Messenger #1- "Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me", "Jesus sent two disciples,  saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. "If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them." Matt 21:1-3

Messenger #2- "And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,", " And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.  And He said to them, "It is written, ' MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER '; but you are making it a ROBBERS' DEN ." Matt 21:12-13

Notice that the first messenger is supposed to clear the way for the LORD, and look who is the second Messenger. Jesus tells them to go and find a donkey where he knew it would be, and if they had trouble to tell them that the Lord needs use of them. Then following this, Jesus rides the donkey through Jerusalem , and the people are shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD ;
Hosanna in the highest!" Matt 21:9

Then Jesus walks into His Temple, saying, " MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER "

The above passages can explain what he meant by the two messengers, but it could also be speaking of the Second Advent as well. In either case, these passages show that the Angel of Jehovah is in fact, Jehovah himself. The angel in Mal. 3:1  is saying that he is going to HIS temple, not someone else's, but HIS alone. In Matt. 21:13 , we have Jesus calling the Temple , HIS. This is how the Angel of Jehovah speaks of the Temple , and the people of Israel . Only way that Jesus or the Angel of Jehovah could claim something as their own is if it is in fact theirs to begin with.  

I believe I have made a clear argument on who the Angel of Jehovah was, and is. I believe that when Christ said, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Matt 11:27 , he was revealing to his disciples that he was the Angel of the Lord, has always been face to face with the Father, and that he is in fact, Jehovah , the Messiah, and King of Israel.

Richard Watson writes, "It has now therefore been established that the Angel Jehovah , and Jesus Christ our Lord, are the same person; and this is the first great argument by which his Divinity is established. We trace the manifestations of the same person from Adam to Abraham , from Moses to the Prophets, and the Prophets to Jesus . Under every manifestation he appeared in the form of God, never thinking it robbery to be equal with God. 'Dressed in the appropriate robes of God's state, wearing God's crown, and wielding God's scepter'. He has ever been received Divine homage and honor. No name is given to the Angel of Jehovah, which is not given to Jehovah Jesus; no attribute is ascribed to the one, which is not ascribed to the other; the worship which was paid to the one by patriarchs and prophets, was paid to the other by evangelists and apostles; and the Scriptures declare them to be the same august person, the image of the Invisible, whom no man can see and live. ("The Redeeming Angel , the Redeeming Kinsman, and the Redeeming God", Theological Institutes, I, P.504)

In light of all the evidence given and gathered from the Scriptures of the OT, there can be no doubt that Jehovah is coming to establish his reign of righteousness in all the earth. It is written in Ps. 96:11-13 ,

"Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and all it contains; Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy Before the LORD , for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in His faithfulness". 

This is the description concerning the Second Advent, also known as the Second Coming. What a glorious sign and testimony to who this angel really is, he is Jehovah , the Manifester of the Invisible Father, and protector of the righteous and the judge for the wicked. 

Therefore we can carefully conclude that Jesus Christ 's full title should be, Jehovah the Christ Jesus . I think it is appropriate to quote the next to last verse in the whole Bible by saying, "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus ."

Written by:

Brad Huddleston

Nov. 2003

 

 

1. Gen. 32:1- "Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. 2  Jacob said when he saw them, "This is God's camp." So he named that place Mahanaim" Back

2. Gen. 32:3- "Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom." Back

3. Gen. 22:15, 16- "Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD , because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son" Back

4. Gen. 31:11-13- " "Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am.' "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. '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.' " Back

5. Hos. 12:4- " Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; He wept and sought His favor. He found Him at Bethel And there He spoke with us" Back

6. Gen. 32:28-30- " He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked him and said, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved." Back

7. Hos. 12:3-5-" In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And in his maturity he contended with God. Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; He wept and sought His favor. He found Him at Bethel And there He spoke with us, Even the LORD , the God of hosts, The LORD is His name" Back

8. Judges 2:1-3- " Now the angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers; and I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you,  and as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.' But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have done? "Therefore I also said, 'I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.' " Back

9. Josh. 5:13-6:2, "Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" He said, "No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD ." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, "What has my lord to say to his servant?"  The captain of the LORD'S host said to Joshua, "Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so. Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in.  The LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors." Back

10. Jdg. 6:19-24- "Then Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them. The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And he did so. 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 sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the LORD , he said, "Alas, O Lord GOD ! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face." The LORD said to him, "Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die." Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and named it The LORD is Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. Back

11. Rev. 22:8-9, " I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9  But he said to me, "Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God." Back

12. Angel of Countenance- The noun is the translation of a variety of Hebrew and Greek expressions, Hebrew [panim]; Greek [prosopon], being the most frequent. Besides these there are found Hebrew [mar'eh], "appearance," "shape," "comeliness," "visage," Hebrew [`ayin], "the eye," Hebrew [to'ar], "appearance," "figure," etc., and Aramaic Hebrew [ziw]. To the Oriental the countenance mirrors, even more than to us, the character and feelings of the heart. Back

13. 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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men." Back

14. Matt. 11:27, "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Back

15. John 14:9, "Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Back

16. Col. 1:16, " For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him." Back

17. Heb. 1:2, "in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world." Back

18. Jer. 31:31-33, "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD , "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD .  "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD , "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." Back

19. John 8:58, "Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." Back

20. Rev 22:20, "He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." Back