During our series we have learned that angels are created beings, spiritual rather than physical in nature, and that they operate in specific roles. There is a military branch headed by the archangel Michael, a secret-service like branch run by the Cherubim, throne room attendants called Seraphim (which may or may not be angels), and some tasked to specific duties like protecting churches and initiating judgments. There is one more being that must be covered here, and despite its name it is in fact no angel at all: The Angel of the Lord.

Now Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. He looked – and the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed!

The angel of the Lord appears many times in the Old Testament. In fact, before Moses’ encounter on the Mountain of God he has appeared three times (in the book of Genesis). He has appeared to Abraham’s servant Hagar twice, and again to stop Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. Up until know he has appeared as someone with authority and knowledge of future events, but here in Exodus 3 (quoted above) we find out his true identity.

In Exodus 3.2 we learn that the angel of the Lord is the one speaking to Moses from the burning bush, and 12 verses later this same “angel” identifies himself as the great “I am”. It cannot be any clearer, the Angel of the Lord is God; specifically, he is Jesus prior to the incarnation. This holds true to every reference to the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament.

So why was he called an “angel” instead of taking the name of God? The Hebrew name of God, YHWH, refers to either God the Father or the Trinity as a whole. References to “the Spirit of the Lord” are to the Holy Spirit, and the Angel of the Lord is Jesus. Calling Jesus an “angel” may have occurred for two reasons, the first is that Jesus’ pre-incarnate missions were in the form of messenger, which is the meaning of the word “angel”. This kind of naming is carried over into the New Testament where, after the incarnation, Jesus is called “the Son of God” even though that was not the moment Jesus came into being (John 1.1-4). It may also be a term of endearment, but it in no way implies that Jesus is an angel, for he is greater than the angels according to Hebrews 1.4.

Food for thought:

The Lord’s angel camps around

the Lord’s loyal followers and delivers them.

Taste and see that the Lord is good!

How blessed is the one who takes shelter in him!

Remain loyal to the Lord, you chosen people of his,

for his loyal followers lack nothing!

—Psalm 34.7-9