The Angel of the Lord

Exodus 23:20–21 ESV

“Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him.

1. God’s name is in him.

2. He has the power to forgive sin.

3. He must be obeyed.

Exodus 14:19–20 ESV

Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

Three characteristics mark the angel:

The Angel goes before.

2. The Angel protects his people.

3. The Angel fights God’s enemies.

Exodus connects the Angel of the Lord with the Divine Presence.

Leviticus 26:12–13 ESV

And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

The Angel of the Lord first appears in the Bible in the life of Abraham. See Genesis 16:7; 22:11, and possibly 18:22.

Numbers 20:16 ESV

And when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.

The Angel of the Lord opposed Balaam’s project of cursing Israel (Num. 22:22ff).

Judges 2:1 ESV

Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you,

Judges 6:22–23 ESV

Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.”

Judges 13:2–3 ESV

There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.

Psalm 34:7 (ESV)

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.

1 Kings 19:7 ESV

And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”

Isaiah 37:36 ESV

And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

Zechariah 12:8 ESV

On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord, going before them.

Malachi 3:1 ESV

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare 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.

Mark 1:2–3 (ESV)

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

“Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ”

John 1:18 ESV

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.