THE ANGEL OF THE LORD (2)

0. Introduction

a) Who is the "angel of the Lord" that appears several times in the Bible? Is he a powerful spiritual being? On the other hand, is he a 'generic' spirit being that represented the Creator to the people? Did Jacob wrestle with him in the Old Testament? Was it the Father or someone else that led the Israelites into the promised land? Why did an angelic being visit both Abraham and Hagar?

b) The book Christ in the Old Testament has done a careful study of the appearances of this angel. Based on his research, the author calls these special appearances Christophanies, meaning special appearances of the Messiah - Jesus - in the form of a human BEFORE his birth to Mary.

c) There are several passages in the Bible that mention this special angelic being. We will review several of these to discover what God's word teaches about them.

1. Jacob

i) 11 In the dream an angel of God called out to me, ‘Jacob!’ 12 'He said . . . 'I know what Laban’s been doing to you. 13 I’m the God of Bethel where you consecrated a pillar and made a vow to me. (Genesis 31)

a) Jacob's wives are told what he saw while he was dreaming. In his dream then 'angelic' being calls himself the God Jacob worshipped in Bethel. This is referencing a prior revealing dream (Genesis 28:10-15). These Bible verses suggest that Jacob viewed the being he saw in a dream as divine. He later would have a seemingly odd encounter with same Being of his dream.

i) 24 Afterwards, Jacob went back and spent the rest of the night alone. A man came and fought with Jacob until just before daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not win, he struck Jacob on the hip and threw it out of joint. 26 They kept on wrestling until the man said, 'Let go of me! It’s almost daylight.' 'You can’t go until you bless me,' Jacob replied. (Genesis 32)

b) Jacob wrestles all night with a "man" who refuses to disclose his name but grants Jacob's request for a blessing. He gives Jacob the new name Israel, and afterwards Jacob is convinced that he has wrestled with God. The prophet Hosea later writes of Jacob,

i) when Jacob grew up, he fought against God — 4 he fought against an angel and won. (Hosea 12:3-4).

c) These passages and others describe a messenger of God who is both distinct from him and divine.