The Angel of the Lord

There is one angel in the Bible that is different than all the others.  This angel was not created.  He appears 40 times in the Old Testament.  He is referred to as "the" Angel of the Lord.  Not an angel of the Lord.  The word Angel is capitalized.  (I recommend the New King James Version of the Bible as it is the closest to the New Testament Greek which is "koine" Greek.  It gives the highest respect to the Trinity and whenever God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit is mentioned, it is always capitalized.)

To understand this perfectly, we have to build a strong foundation. The word "incarnate" means to clothe with flesh, to embody, to give bodily form.  The opposite of incarnate is "pre-incarnate" and this means to have no body.

John 1:1 states, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God."   The Word is Jesus Christ.

Where shall we begin to study this?  Let's look at John 1:2 which states, "He was in the beginning with God."

Where is the beginning?  How about Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  Many people feel that the Holy Spirit does not show up until the New Testament but that is not correct.  Look at Genesis 1:2, " . . . and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."  The Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit.  (Again, when you see the capital letters it always refers to divinity - either God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit.)

How do we know that the Trinity is seen in the Old Testament?  Let's look at Genesis 1:26:  "Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness . . . "  Who is the Us and who is the Our?  Again, it is the Holy Trinity of God, Jesus and Holy Spirit.

Now back to the Gospel of John.  John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

If the Word, which is Jesus, became flesh, it implies that before He became flesh, He did not have flesh.  He was in a pre-incarnate state.  

As mentioned, there are 40 references to the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament but I am only going to pick one for this blog.  Let's look at Genesis 16:7.  Hagar is Sarah's maid and needs help.  "Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur."  

Another interesting observation is this.  After Jesus is born, the Angel of the Lord is never mentioned in the Bible again.  Why?  Since Jesus now had a body, the pre-incarnate Jesus would not be necessary anymore.

In Hebrews, we have this picture of the pre-incarnate Christ getting ready to become the incarnate Christ.  This is the presentation of the Redeemer when Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us.  Hebrews 10:5-7, "Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:  'Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.  In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.  Then I said, "Behold, I have come - in the volume of the book it is written of Me - To do Your will, O God."

This is a conversation that took place just before Jesus left the presence of the Father in one moment into becoming microscopic size in the womb of the virgin Mary in Nazareth.  Jesus would experience nearly every event that a human being would experience, including being born of a woman.  

It is absolutely overwhelming that God could possibly love us this much that He would send His only Son to die for us that we might have the opportunity to live throughout eternity with Him.  

Thirty-three years later, Jesus will kneel in a garden, and His humanness will say, "If there is any other way that the Scheme of Redemption can be fulfilled, let this cup pass from Me."  As we know, there was no other way, and Jesus says the same thing in the garden just as He said when He left glory and entered into the womb of a virgin:  "Not My will but Your will be done."  

And Jesus went to Calvary.  Jesus, our Savior, hung on a cross and the price for our spiritual salvation and physical healing was paid.  Jesus paid the price for our sin with His blood.  He completely broke the power of the devil and enslavement to sin.  One day we will be taken from the presence of sin into His presence forever and ever.  Where there will be no more tears.  No more pain.  Only eternal love and joy.  

Jesus came as a babe in a manger.  The lamb of God.  But He's coming back again, only this time as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.