“And the messenger of His presence saved them, In His love and in His pity He redeemed them, And He doth lift them up, And beareth them all the days of old.”
(Isa 63:9, YLT)
When John in John 1:1-2 & 14 writes: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”, he knew the Jews would immediately make the link – the Word of which the Old Testament speaks is the Messiah who presents himself as Anointed Redeemer. He is the One who throughout Scripture manifested as the Angel of the Lord. Unfortunately we are stuck with a set idea about the term ‘angel’. The Hebrew word for it, mal’ak, merely means messenger, one who is sent with a message. Thus Haggai (1:13) is called the “messenger (mal’ak) of the Lord”. The original link between “angel” and “sent one” is very clear from Mal 3:1, which is an irrefutable prophetic sign post to Christ – ““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, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts.” The Messenger is the Angel of the covenant. (Elsewhere mal’ak is translated in the KJV as “ambassador” – 2Ch 35:21; Isa 30:4; Isa 33:7; Eze17:15.)
In the light of this the tale of Exodus becomes a very interesting excursion with Christ! For example, in Ex 13:21 we find – “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.” In the next chapter, in Ex 14:19, this is specified as follows – “And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.” Thus: God = the Angel of the Lord = the pillar cloud and the pillar of fire. CHRIST led the people of Israel through the desert! From Ex 23:20 and 23 it is clear that it is Christ, presented as the Angel/Messenger of God, who accompanies Israel to the Promised Land. Therefore God spells it out neatly in verse 21: “Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him.” And then in Ex 33:14 (NKJV): “And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Christ is thus indeed, as Isa 63:9 (Darby) calls Him, “the Angel of his presence”.
The Literal Translation of the Holy Bible translates it beautifully as “the Angel of His Face”! He, Christ, is the Messenger whom we meet face to face. “He is the face of the invisible God”, the “express image of His person” (Heb 1:3, NKJV)
- Sela: Explain this mystery to someone.
- Read: 1 Chr 17; Jer 43; Col 2
- Memorise: Col 2:13-15
- For a deeper understanding: Read chapter 5 of J.I. Packer’s book Knowing God.
