The Angel of His Presence

The Angel of His Presence

In Christendom, there's a belief that Jesus Christ is "The Angel of the LORD" mentioned throughout the Old Testament. This is one of many feeble attempts to prove that Jesus had a literal pre-earth existence (as either a person of the Trinity, or as God [Modalist], or even--literally--an angelic being, such as Michael the Archangel as the Jehovah's Witnesses teach). Despite their obvious disagreements, each of these groups would agree that the references to "Angel of the LORD" are references to the "per-incarnate" Jesus. But are they? That's the first question we can ask. Another question we can ask is whether or not being "the" or "an" Angel of the LORD necessarily proves that that person is God Almighty Himself. The simple answer is, "No, it doesn't." Jesus is an Angel of the LORD--I would clarify: the premier Angel--, but this isn't to say that he is God.

Angels in the Bible Include, but Aren't Limited To, [...]

The Hebrew term for "Angel" is Malak and is applied to human persons of various stations, not just Heavenly beings, which can be easily established from the following passages:

• low-level messengers (Gen. 32:3, 6; Num. 20:14; 21:21; 22:5; 24:12; Joshua 7:22; Judg. 6:35; 7:24; 9:31; 11:12-19; etc., etc.)
  

• the two men sent to spy out Jericho (Joshua 6:17, 25)
  

• the prophets (2 Chron. 36:15-16; Is. 44:26; Haggai 1:13; Mal. 3:1)
  

• priests (Malachi 2:7; Ecc. 5:6)
  

• God’s servants (Is. 42:19; Job 4:18)

So, if Jesus is also an Angel of the LORD, what sets him apart from the others? To arrive at the answer, we will look at Isaiah 63.

Isaiah the Angel Tells Us

We find the Angel Isaiah speaking about the history of the Hebrews and nation of Israel, and of God's "lovingkindness" towards them. In verse 9 we read, "In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old." Two details from that verse need to be noted in order for us to connect the dots: first, "the angel of his presence," and second, "all the days of old." Who is the "angel of His presence" and when were "the days of old"? Angel Isaiah tells us in verses 11 and 12, saying, "Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying Where is he that brought them up out of the sea, with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit with in him?" It's revealed to us that the "days of old" refer to the days when God put his spirit into Moses and used Moses to deliver the people he chose out of captivity. Angel Isaiah is telling us that the Angel of God's presence at the time was Moses--not a pre-incarnate Jesus. To further substantiate this claim, we're going to focus on "his"--referring to God's--"presence."

Moses: The Angel of His Presence

Let's look at several verses and passages where we are told, in no uncertain terms, who the Angel of God's presence was in those olden days, and what that means for us today. We'll take them at rapid pace and then give the commentary.

• Exodus 33:11 reads, "And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend."
  

• Exodus 34:29-30 reads, "And it came to pass, when Moses came down from moutn Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him."
  

• Numbers 12:7,8 goes further, revealing, quoting the Creator, "My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"

See: "face to face"; "mouth to mouth"--these describe the close fellowship the Moses, the Angel of God's presence, had. For this to be true, it must be that, unlike every other prophet, with only one exception, Moses had "face-to-face" communion with God's similitude.[*] We must be careful to understand that because no man can actually see God and live (Exodus 33:20; John 1:18), Moses was seeing was something representing God in some way--perhaps like the burning bush prior, or another "physical manifestation" of some sort (a cloud? a pillar of fire? perhaps an Angel from Heaven, as one might reasonably expect [2]. But the basic point is plain: No other Prophet had before or since communed with God the way Moses had. But that changed.

Jesus: An Angel Just Like Moses...but Greater

In Deuteronomy 18:18,19, we find probably one of the most striking and important prophecies of the Messiah yet-to-come. Angel Moses wrote down what God revealed to him: "I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." The Promised Prophet would be "from among their brethren" (Hebrew), "like unto" Moses, and will be given words to speak and will speak those words. What kind of "Prophet" was Moses? One who communed with The Father face to face, unlike every other Prophet. Now the only exception we can say is Moses. Jesus has taken the lead.

This prophecy is fulfilled in the Gospels with the advent of Jesus. We read a number of times the following:

• In John 7:16 Jesus tells us, "My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me"
  
  
• In John 12:49,50 we read, "For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me [as the Father's Messenger/ Prophet], he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak" (John 12:49,50)
  
  
• In John 14:24 Jesus says, "He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me."

As a quick aside, I'd like to ask "How is Jesus the logos when he says that the logos isn't his?" The Deitists* say that's Jesus speaking from "his human nature." I say prove it.

Do you see how Jesus is the Angel of God here in the Gospels? I haven't found a literal pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus yet in all of the Old Testament. But I have found verbal, prophetic promises of him. Now, to really emphasize the connection to Moses, thus identifying Jesus as the premier Angel of God's presence, we need look no further than the Mount of Transfiguration,[3] where we see Moses, Jesus, and Elijah--three Prophets, or Angels, of God: Moses, who spoke to God "face to face," Elijah, who didn't speak to God "face to face," and Jesus, the Prophet like Moses, who, like Moses, undoubtedly spoke face to face with God. And which of this is most exalted? God said Jesus, for Jesus was chosen above his brethren, just as it says in Deuteronomy 18. There are no Angels quite like Moses and Jesus. And of the two, Jesus is the greater in authority and inspiration, for God what God said to Peter, James, and John, was also spoken to Moses and Elijah, and anyone else who might come after them: "This is my beloved son, listen to him."

Conclusion

Angels aren't just Heavenly beings but are also humans who've been chosen and authorized by God to deliver messages. There are different "ranks" of authority of these, which is easily admitted by anyone who is honest with the text. Not all messengers of God are the same. The focus of this paper wasn't to explore every reason why Jesus isn't God but rather to show that Jesus is indeed an Angel of God--the Angel of the LORD, i.e., The Premier Angel of Angels. Jesus is for us what Moses was to them in the days of old: The Angel of His Presence. Will you listen to him as God told you to, or will you continue to believe falsehoods that suit your deluded, inherited dogmas of apostate imagination?
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[1] "Similitude": meaning "form," "likeness," representation," "semblance" (Brown, Driver, Brigg's Lexicon; "Similitude": "Something portioned (i.e. fashioned) out, as a shape, phantom, or embodiment; manifestation, or representation" (Strong's, Number 8544).

[2] Contrary to popular misconception, John did not speak face to face with God, nor even Jesus Christ, but rather a different Angel. See Revelation 1:1, which reads, "A revelation of Jesus Christ, that God gave to him, to shew to his servants what things it behoveth to come to pass quickly; and he did signify it, having sent through his messenger to his servant John." Don't miss it: God gave the Revelation of Jesus Christ to Jesus who in turn gave it to his messenger who in turn gave it to John; interestingly enough, that would make John a messenger to us, considering he dutifully wrote it all down for us to read. Would anyone dare to gainsay such an obvious chain of authority?

[3] Matthew 17; Mark 9; Luke 9

[*] A term I coined to refer to anyone suggesting that Jesus is literally Almighty God.