Angel of the Lord

This PDF will be focusing on the topic of the Angel of The Lord

Genesis 16:7-13
7 The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way
to Shur. 8 And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you
going?" She said, "I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai." 9 The angel of the LORD said to her,
"Return to your mistress and submit to her." 10 The angel of the LORD also said to her, "I will
surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude." 11 And the angel
of the LORD said to her, "Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name
Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction. 12 He shall be a wild donkey of a
man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over
against all his kinsmen." 13 So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "You are a
God of seeing," for she said, "Truly here I have seen him who looks after me."

Explanation
First it is explicit in this passage that Hagar identifies the one whom she saw was the True God
of Israel. She didn't just see this as a created angel who gave her a message but the true God
who sees all things. Not only that but the angel in his own right blesses Hagar to multiply
nations, what created messenger has the authority to do such? None! The passage leaves no
room for escape. The angel doesn't tell us that he's merely delivering to her what God is saying
but rather speaks in his own right telling her that he will increase and bless the nations. This
presumes that the Angel creates and that he is omnipotent since he is granting Hagar and her
son numerous offspring which implies that the Angel has the power to insure that his word will
come to pass and that no force will be able to interfere with his purpose. This is a clear cut
ascribing divinity to the Angel.

ECF
Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity (Book IV)
“ Then, when Hagar had departed from her sight, the Spirit speaks thus concerning her, And
the angel of the Lord said to Hagar, Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her
hands. And the angel of the Lord said to her, I will multiply your seed exceedingly, and it
shall not be numbered for multitude, and again, And she called the Name of the Lord that
spoke with her, You are God, Who hast seen me. It is the Angel of God Who speaks , and
speaks of things far beyond the powers which a messenger, for that is the meaning of the
word, could have. He says, I will multiply your seed exceedingly, and it shall not be
numbered for multitude. The power of multiplying nations lies outside the ministry of an
angel. Yet what says the Scripture of Him Who is called the Angel of God, yet speaks words
which belong to God alone? And she called the Name of the Lord that spoke with her, You
are God, Who hast seen me. First He is the Angel of God; then He is the Lord, for She called
the Name of the Lord; then, thirdly, He is God, for You are God, Who hast seen me. He Who
is called the Angel of God is also Lord and God. The Son of God is also, according to the
prophet, the Angel of great counsel. To discriminate clearly between the Persons, He is
called the Angel of God; He Who is God from God is also the Angel of God, but, that He may
have the honour which is His due, He is entitled also Lord and God.

Novation, On the Trinity (Ch. XVIII)

“...moreover, the angel meets with Hagar...Since this name is nowhere conceded to angels,
except that on either side the truth compels us into this opinion, that we ought to
understand it to have been God the Son, who, because He is of God”

Genesis 18:2; 13-14; 25-26

2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When
he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth… 13 The
LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I
am old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about
this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son."... 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to
put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that
from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?" 26 And the LORD said, "If I find at
Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake."

Explanation
Abraham saw three men standing before him, we are told at first that the three are men,
but then later on two of the three “men” who appeared are identified as angels in
Genesis 19:1, so who's the third man who appeared? The text couldn't be more than
clear identifying the third one who stayed back in Genesis 18:22 as Jehovah.
Furthermore In verse 14 identifying himself as the one who can do anything and has no
boundaries saying “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” and In verse 26 this third man is
identified by Abraham as The Judge of All The Earth. The text leaves no room for
confusion on the identity of the third man. This is Jehovah God, the Judge of all the
earth, the one who spares the righteous and destroys the wicked.

ECF
Irenaeus, Against Heresies (Book IV)
“Therefore Abraham also, knowing the Father through the Word, who made heaven and
earth, confessed Him to be God; and having learned, by an announcement [made to him],
that the Son of God would be a man among men...Therefore have the Jews departed from
God, in not receiving His Word, but imagining that they could know the Father [apart] by
Himself, without the Word, that is, without the Son; they being ignorant of that God who
spoke in human shape to Abraham”
Apostalic Constitutions (Book V)
“Him did Abraham entertain, and acknowledge to be the Judge, and his Lord...Ezekiel also,
and the following prophets, affirm everywhere that He is the Christ, the Lord, the King, the
Judge, the Lawgiver, the Angel of the Father, the only-begotten God.”

Augustine, On the Trinity (Book II)

“...that this one is to be understood to have been the Lord, the Son of God, while the other
two were His angels; because, whereas three appeared, Abraham there speaks to one as
the Lord”

Ambrose, Exposition of the Christian Faith (Book II)

“For the Father did not appear to Abraham, nor did Abraham wash the feet of God the
Father, but the feet of Him in Whom is the image of the man that shall be. Moreover, the
Son of God says, Abraham saw My day, and rejoiced. John 8:56 It is He, therefore, Who
swore by Himself, [and] Whom Abraham saw.”

Extra ECF
Justin Martyr, Dialogue With Trypho (Ch, CXXVI, CXXVII){ Hilary of Poitiers, On the
Trinity (Book V){ Jerome, Letter CVIII to Eustochium{ John Chrysostom, Homilies on
the Gospel of John (H.33)

Genesis 19:24
24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of
heaven.

Explanation
The verse above shows a distinction within Jehovah. It's not only that we see Jehovah twice in
the verse but we see a distinction in how the first Jehovah mentioned and the second Jehovah
mention relate to each other in the action of destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. One is
destroying Sodom and Gomorrah on earth with the fire which he received from the Jehovah in
heaven. We know the one on earth is a divine theophany which is likely the Angel of the Lord.
Only further showing the Angel of the Lord is a divine person within the Godhead. This is not
language we expect to find if the bible was unitarian. There would be no reason to show such
distinction unless there is a multiplicity of persons that are Jehovah. For more on this passage
you can click “here”

ECF
FIRST CREED OF SIRMIUM (347 A. D.), Canon 16
17. “Whoever shall explain, The Lord rained fire from the Lord (Gen 19:24) not of the Father and the Son,
and says that He rained from Himself, be he anathema. For the Son Lord rained from the Father Lord.”
Irenaeus, Against Heresies (Book III)
“Since, therefore, the Father is truly Lord, and the Son truly Lord, the Holy Spirit has fitly
designated them by the title of Lord. And again, referring to the destruction of the
Sodomites, the Scripture says, Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah fire
and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven. Genesis 19:24 For it here points out that the
Son, who had also been talking with Abraham, had received power to judge the Sodomites
for their wickedness.”

Novation, On the Trinity (Ch. XVIII)

“But although the Father, being invisible, was assuredly not at that time seen, He who was
accustomed to be touched and seen was seen and received to hospitality. But this the Son
of God, The Lord rained from the Lord upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire. And
this is the Word of God. And the Word of God was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and this
is Christ. It was not the Father, then, who was a with Abraham, but Christ. Nor was it the
Father who was seen then, but the Son; and Christ was seen. Rightly, therefore, Christ is
both Lord and God, who was not otherwise seen by Abraham, except that as God the Word
He was begotten of God the Father before Abraham himself.”

“BASIL OF Caesarea, On Proverbs 7:22

The Lord Created Me (LXX.). According to them [the heretics he has in mind] the Saviour
[Jesus] is not God nor the Father Lord, and it is written in vain, “the Lord said unto my
Lord.” False is the statement, “Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee.” False too, “The
Lord rained from the Lord.” False, “God created in the image of God,” and “Who is God save
the Lord?” and “Who is a God save our God.” False the statement of John that “the Word
was God and the Word was with God” (John 1:1); and the words of Thomas of the Son,
“my Lord and my God” (John 20:28).”

Extra ECF
Ambrose, Exposition of the Christian Faith (1.3.22-23){ Athanasius, Discourse Against the
Arians (2.15.13){ Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity (5.16){ Cyprian, Against the Jews
(3.33){ Justin Martyr, Dialouge with Trypho (127). ETC

Genesis 22:11-17
11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he
said, "Here am I." 12 He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I
know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." 13
And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a
thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering
instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, "The LORD will provide"; as it
is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided." 15 And the angel of the
LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, "By myself I have sworn,
declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as
the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,

Explanation
The Angel calls out from heaven to make sure Abraham doesn't actually sacrifice his son saying
“Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him” the Angel expresses to Abraham that
he knows he's righteous and fears God. So what then does the Angel do? He provides a ram for
Abraham to sacrifice to him. We know this was provided by the Angel because Abraham calls
the place “Jehovah-Jireh” or “The God who provides”. This is not ordinary for any Angel. What
Angel provides for people so that they can sacrifice to him? What Angel is sacrificed to? The
Angel must be God or the scriptures have been nullified (Exodus 22:20, Exodus 34:14, ETC.).
Furthermore the Angel calls out again to Abraham and swears by himself and in his own right,
which no mere created Angel does. To add on to this the Angel blesses Abraham and claims to
be able to multiply Abraham's seed to that of the stars in heaven, which is way beyond a mere
messenger's ability to do. So it most definitely must be the case that this Angel is God almighty
in nature, specifically God the Son.

ECF
Cyprian of Carthage, The Treaties of Cyprian (Book 2)
“In Genesis, to Abraham: And the Angel of the Lord called him from heaven, and said to
him, Abraham, Abraham! And he said, Here am I. And He said, Lay not your hand upon the
lad, nor do anything unto him. For now I know that you fear your God, and hast not spared
your son, your beloved son, for my sake. Also in the same place, to Jacob: And the Angel of
the Lord spoke unto me in dreams, I am God, whom you saw in the place of God where you
anointed me a pillar of stone, and vowed to me a vow.”

Augustine of Hippo, On The Holy Trinity (Book 3, Ch.11)

“Does the Son of God say of the Father, The Lord says, while He Himself is that Angel of the
Father? What then? Do they not see how hard pressed they are about these three men who
appeared to Abraham, when it had been said before, The Lord appeared to him? Were they
not angels because they are called men?”

Genesis 28:18-22; Genesis 31:11-13; Genesis 32:28-30,

Hosea 12:3-5
Chapter 28:18 So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and
set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19 He called the name of that place Bethel,
but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be
with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to
wear, 21 so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God,
22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give
me I will give a full tenth to you." --
Chapter 31:11 Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am!'
12 And he said, 'Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped,
spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel,
where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return
to the land of your kindred.”

Genesis 32:24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the
day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and
Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, "Let me go, for the
day has broken." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." 27 And he said to
him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." 28 Then he said, "Your name shall no longer
be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed." 29
Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my
name?" And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying,
"For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered."

Explanation
These three texts are very significant, let's start off with Genesis 28:18-22. We see Jacob make
an offering/vow this is a devotion in which he makes to God to the fullest extent. This is worship
without a doubt he's showing his gratitude for God. Who is this though in which Jacob identifies
as his God and worships through vows/offerings? Genesis 31:11 tells us that the Angel of God
tells Jacob “I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me.” Now
what Angel without any precursor can just say He's the God of Bethel, which is the house of
God. Noone except God can say such things, especially without a precursor. This Angel is the
house of God, because he is by nature God. To add on in Genesis 32:24-30 we see that Jacob
wrestles with God, some might bring up that Jacob won but this is irrelevant because it's as if
saying a Father allowing his child to triumph over him means the child is actually stronger. We
see that God blesses Jacob and gives him a new name. Who is identified as the God who
appears to Jacob? Hosea 12:3-5 tells us that it was an Angel who wrestled with God but in
Genesis 32:30 we see that Jacob identifies the Angel as God and says “For I have seen God
face to face…” . Why does Jacob identify this specific Angel as God? Jacob saw some angels
before in Genesis 32:1-2 and never says that he saw God. So why this specific angel? It's
because this angel is the true God of true God and Jacob understood that, that's why he
identifies this specific angel as God.

ECF
(Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter 56)
“ Then I replied, "Reverting to the Scriptures, I shall endeavor to persuade you, that He who is said to
have appeared to Abraham, and to Jacob, and to Moses, and who is called God, is distinct from Him who
made all things, – numerically, I mean, not [distinct] in will. For I affirm that He has never at any time done
anything which He who made the world – above whom there is no other God – has not wished Him both
to do and to engage Himself with.”
Novation, On the Trinity (Ch.19)
“If the Angel of God speaks thus to Jacob, and the Angel himself mentions and says, I am God, who
appeared unto you in the house of God, we see without any hesitation that this is declared to be not only
an angel, but God also; because He speaks of the vow directed to Himself by Jacob in the place of God,
and He does not say, in my place. It is then the place of God, and He also is God. Moreover, it is written
simply in the place of God, for it is not said in the place of the angel and God, but only of God; and He
who promises those things is manifested to be both God and Angel, so that reasonably there must be a
distinction between Him who is called God only, and Him who is declared to be not God simply, but Angel
also. Whence if so great an authority cannot here be regarded as belonging to any other angel, that He
should also avow Himself to be God, and should bear witness that a vow was made to Him, except to
Christ alone, to whom not as angel only, but as to God, a vow can be vowed; it is manifest that it is not to
be received as the Father, but as the Son, God and Angel. Moreover, if this is Christ, as it is, he is in
terrible risk who says that Christ is either man or angel alone, withholding from Him the power of the
divine name — an authority which He has constantly received on the faith of the heavenly Scriptures,
which continually say that He is both Angel and God. “

Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity (Book IV)

“You have now had evidence of God the Judge as Lord and Lord; learn next that there is the same joint
ownership of name in the case of God and God. Jacob, when he fled through fear of his brother, saw in
his dream a ladder resting upon the earth and reaching to heaven, and the angels of God ascending and
descending upon it, and the Lord resting above it, Who gave him all the blessings which He had
bestowed upon Abraham and Isaac. At a later time God spoke to him thus: And God said to Jacob, Arise,
go up to the place Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto you
when you fled from the face of your brother. Genesis 35:1 God demands honour for God, and makes it
clear that demand is on behalf of Another than Himself. He who appeared to you when you fled are His
words: He guards carefully against any confusion of the Persons. It is God Who speaks, and God of
Whom He speaks. Their majesty is asserted by the combination of Both under Their true Name of God,
while the words plainly declare Their existence.”

Clement of Alexandria, (The Instructor, 1:7):

"Now that the Word was at once Jacob's trainer and the Instructor of humanity [appears from this]--"He
asked," it is said, "His name, and said to him, Tell me what is Try name." And he said, "Why is it that thou
askest My name?" For He reserved the new name for the new people--the babe; and was as yet
unnamed, the Lord God not having yet become man. Yet Jacob called the name of the place, "Face of
God." "For I have seen," he says, "God face to face; and my life is preserved." The face of God is the
Word by whom God is manifested and made known. Then also was he named Israel, because he saw
God the Lord. It was God, the Word, the Instructor, who said to him again afterwards, "Fear not to go
down into Egypt.”

Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 72 on the New Testament

“And said to Him, I will not let You go, except Thou bless me. When the conqueror was blessed by the
Conquered, Christ was figured. So then that Angel, who is understood to be the Lord Jesus, says to
Jacob, You shall not be any more called Jacob, but Israel shall your name be, which is by interpretation,
Seeing God. After this He touched the sinew of his thigh, the broad part, that is, of the thigh, and it dried
up; and Jacob became lame. Such was He who was conquered. So great power had this Conquered
One, as to touch the thigh, and make lame. It was then with His Own will that He was conquered.”
Ambrose, On the Death of Satyrus (Book II)
“In Jacob, too, let us imitate the type of Christ, let there be some likeness of his actions in
ourselves. We shall have our share with him, if we imitate him. He was obedient to his
mother, he yielded to his brother, he served his father-in-law, he sought his wages from the
increase, not from a division of the flocks. There was no covetous division, where his portion
brought such gain. Nor was that sign without a purpose, the ladder from earth to heaven,
Genesis 28:12 wherein was seen the future fellowship between men and angels through the
cross of Christ, whose thigh was paralyzed, Genesis 32:25 that in his thigh he might
recognize the Heir of his body, and foretell by the paralyzing of his thigh the Passion of his
Heir.”

Leo the Great, Letters (L.33)

“No doubt the Almighty Son of God could have appeared for the purpose of teaching, and
justifying men in exactly the same way that He appeared both to patriarchs and prophets in
the semblance of flesh ; for instance, when He engaged in a struggle, and entered into
conversation (with Jacob), or when He refused not hospitable entertainment, and even
partook of the food set before Him.”

Extra ECF
Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho (58, 126){ Tertullian, Against Praxeas (14){ Athanasius, Against the
Arians (Discourse 3){ Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures (Lecture 12){ FIRST CREED OF
SIRMIUM (347 A. D.), (Canon 15)

Genesis 48:16
15 And he blessed Joseph and said, "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac
walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, 16 the angel who has
redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the
name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the
earth."

Explanation
First we see Joseph is praying for blessing and for the name of his fathers to grow into a
multitude in the midst of the earth, but who is the subject of the prayer? There is only one
subject of this prayer, we know this because of the singular (‫ָּברך‬ַ (barak)) which means to bless.
If Jacob wanted to distinguish between God and the Angel he would have used a plural for
bless along with a conjunction when mentioning the Angel. Does he do this? NO, Jacob
identifies the God who has been his shepherd his whole life with the Angel who has redeemed
him from evil. Jacob very clearly sees the angel who redeemed him as the God whom his
fathers Abraham and Issac walked. What does it mean when it says walked? When the text
uses “walked”, it denotes all acts of religion throughout their lives and when used in relation to
God denotes worship, obedience, etc. If it wasn't clear before Jacob identifies the Angel as the
God whom Abraham and Moses “walked”, they worshiped and did all acts of religion towards
this Angel. This is no regular Angel, this is the God of Israel, the holy redeemer, and the one in
whom Jacob trusts to have sovereign control to bless his sons and protect them.

ECF
Novation, On the Trinity (Ch.19)
“For when this very Jacob was about to bless Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons of Joseph,
with his hands placed across on the heads of the lads, he said, The God which fed me from
my youth even unto this day, the Angel who delivered me from all evils, bless these lads.
Even to such a point does he affirm the same Being to be an Angel, whom he had called
God, as in the end of his discourse, to express the person of whom he was speaking as one,
when he said bless these lads. For if he had meant the one to be understood as God, and
the other as an angel, he would have comprised the two persons in the plural number; but
now he defined the singular number of one person in the blessing, whence he meant it to be
understood that the same person is God and Angel. But yet He cannot be received as God
the Father; but as God and Angel, as Christ He can be received. And Him, as the author of
this blessing, Jacob also signified by placing his hands crossed upon the lads, as if their
father was Christ, and showing, from thus placing his hands, the figure and future form of
the passion. Let no one, therefore, who does not shrink from speaking of Christ as an Angel,
thus shrink from pronouncing Him God also, when he perceives that He Himself was invoked
in the blessing of these lads, by the sacrament of the passion, intimated in the type of the
crossed hands, as both God and Angel.”

Athanasius, Against Arians (Discourse III)

“And if the Patriarch Jacob, blessing his grandchildren Ephraim and Manasses, said, 'God
which fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel which delivered me from all evil, bless
the lads ,' yet none of created and natural Angels did he join to God their Creator, nor
rejecting God that fed him, did he from Angel ask the blessing on his grandsons; but in
saying, 'Who delivered me from all evil,' he showed that it was no created Angel, but the
Word of God, whom he joined to the Father in his prayer, through whom, whomsoever He
will, God does deliver.

For knowing that He is also called the Father's 'Angel of great Counsel ,' he said that none
other than He was the Giver of blessing, and Deliverer from evil. Nor was it that he desired
a blessing for himself from God but for his grandchildren from the Angel, but whom He
Himself had besought saying, 'I will not let You go except Thou bless me ' (for that was God,
as he says himself, 'I have seen God face to face'), Him he prayed to bless also the sons of
Joseph.”

'Athanasius, Against the Arians (Discourse III, Chapter XXV) God which fed me all my
life long unto this day, the Angel which delivered me from all evil, bless the lads,’ yet none
of created and natural Angels did he join to God their Creator, nor rejecting God that fed
him, did he from Angel ask the blessing on his grandsons; but in saying, ‘Who delivered me
from all evil,’ he shewed that it was no created Angel, but the Word of God, whom he joined
to the Father in his prayer, through whom, whomsoever He will, God doth deliver. For
knowing that He is also called the Father’s ‘Angel of great Counsel,’ he said that none other
than He was the Giver of blessing, and Deliverer from evil. Nor was it that he desired a
blessing for himself from God but for his grandchildren from the Angel, but whom He
Himself had besought saying, ‘I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me’ (for that was
God, as he says himself, ‘I have seen God face to face’), Him he prayed to bless also the
sons of Joseph.

'Origen, Commentary on Matthew, Book XIII,

“when the angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear Him and delivereth them;”
but of the great, whether it is the Lord who is greater than the angels, who might say about
each of them, “I am with him in affliction;” and, so long as we are imperfect, and need one
to assist us that we may be delivered from evils, we stand in need of an angel of whom
Jacob said, “The angel who delivered me from all the evils;” but, when we have become
perfected, and have passed through the stage of being subject to nursing-fathers and
nursing-mothers and guardians and stewards, we are meet to be governed by the Lord
Himself.

Exodus 3:2-6; 13-14

1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led
his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the
angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and
behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, "I will turn aside to
see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." 4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to
see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then he
said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are
standing is holy ground." 6 And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at
God...13 Then Moses said to God, 'If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God
of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to
them?" 14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel,
'I AM has sent me to you.'"

Explanation

This Angel not only is identified as God by Moses but he himself also declares to be the God of
Abraham, Issac and Jacob. The Angel again never gives us a precursor or statement that he is
speaking for the Lord, but speaks to Moses directly as if he is God and Moses directly identifies
him as God. Not only does the presence of the Angel makes it necessary that Moses takes off
his shoes out of devotion and respect for who he is speaking with and the place he is standing
at , but Moses is scared of the presence of the Angel so he looks away because he was afraid
to look at the Angel in which he recognizes is divine. When Moses asks for the name of the one
who spoke to him, the Angel declares he is the Great “I AM”. Imagine Moses went up to his
people and said without a precursor “I am the God of Israel” he would be condemned, he would
need to clarify that he isn't speaking of himself and say something like “ this is the message of
the Lord”. Notice how the Angel did not do such, he just speaks in his own right.

ECF
Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho (Ch.63)
Now the Word of God is His Son, as we have before said. And He is called Angel and Apostle; for He
declares whatever we ought to know, and is sent forth to declare whatever is revealed; as our Lord
Himself says, “He that heareth Me, heareth Him that sent Me.” From the writings of Moses also this will be
manifest; for thus it is written in them, “And the Angel of God spake to Moses, in a flame of fire out of the
bush, and said, I am that I am, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of thy
fathers; go down into Egypt, and bring forth My people.” And if you wish to learn what follows, you can do
so from the same writings; for it is impossible to relate the whole here. But so much is written for the sake
of proving that Jesus the Christ is the Son of God and His Apostle, being of old the Word, and appearing
sometimes in the form of fire, and sometimes in the likeness of angels; but now, by the will of God, having
become man for the human race, He endured all the sufferings which the devils instigated the senseless
Jews to inflict upon Him…”

Irenaeus, Against Heresies (Book IV)

“Therefore have the Jews departed from God, in not receiving His Word, but imagining that they could
know the Father [apart] by Himself, without the Word, that is, without the Son; they being ignorant of that
God who spoke in human shape to Abraham, Genesis 18:1 and again to Moses, saying, I have surely
seen the affliction of My people in Egypt, and I have come down to deliver them. Exodus 3:7-8 For the
Son, who is the Word of God, arranged these things beforehand from the beginning, the Father being in
no want of angels, in order that He might call the creation into being, and form man, for whom also the
creation was made; nor, again, standing in need of any instrumentality for the framing of created things, or
for the ordering of those things which had reference to man; while, [at the same time,] He has a vast and
unspeakable number of servants. For His offspring and His similitude do minister to Him in every respect;
that is, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Word and Wisdom; whom all the angels serve, and to whom they
are subject. Vain, therefore, are those who, because of that declaration, No man knows the Father, but
the Son, Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22 do introduce another unknown Father.”

'Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Book II)'

“or when the Almighty Lord of the universe began to legislate by the Word, and wished His power to be
manifested to Moses, a godlike vision of light that had assumed a shape was shown him in the burning
bush (the bush is a thorny plant); but when the Word ended the giving of the law and His stay with men,
the Lord was again mystically crowned with thorn. On His departure from this world to the place whence
He came, He repeated the beginning of His old descent, in order that the Word beheld at first in the bush,
and afterwards taken up crowned by the thorn, might show the whole to be the work of one power, He
Himself being one, the Son of the Father, who is truly one, the beginning and the end of time.”

Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity (Book 4, Ch.33)

"For God appeared from the bush as the Angel of God, and the prayer for Joseph is that he
may receive such blessings as He shall please. He is none the less God because He is the
Angel of God; and none the less the Angel of God because He is God. A clear indication is
given of the Divine Persons; the line is definitely drawn between the Unbegotten and the
Begotten."

Extra ECF
Augustine, On the Trinity (Book 2, Ch.13){ Gregory of Nyssa, Against Eunomius (Book 3){ Athanasius,
Against Arians (Discourse 2, CH.18){ Ambrose, Exposition of the Faith (Book 1, Ch.XIX)

Exodus 23:20-23
20 “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the
place I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against
him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. 22 If you listen carefully to what
he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who
oppose you. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites,
Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out.
Explanation
Not only does the Angel forgive sins and has the power to destroy Israel’s enemies, but he also
embodies within his very own being the Divine nature and characteristics of Jehovah. The name
of God is revelation of his divine nature and nothing else, it's his identity. This is why in Isaiah
42:8 Jehovah gives his name and glory to no one. This angel has the Lord's name in him. The
central importance of Jehovah's identity is shown all throughout passages like Psalms 148:1-5,
Psalms 20:1-7, etc. The Angel embodies the name completely and fully. To add this is
connected to Christ because we see God speak to his people telling them it's “My angel” and to
listen to him in all things, we see this in Mark 9:7 and Matthew 17:5 where God speaks saying
“My Son” listen to him. To no one else does God claim that his name is in them. It's beyond
clear this angel is God.

ECF
'Justin Martyrs, Dialogue with Trypho (Chapter LXXV.)
“Moreover, in the book of Exodus we have also perceived that the name of God Himself which, He says,
was not revealed to Abraham or to Jacob, was Jesus, and was declared mysteriously through Moses.
Thus it is written: 'And the Lord spoke to Moses, Say to this people, Behold, I send My angel before your
face, to keep you in the way, to bring you into the land which I have prepared for you. Give heed to Him,
and obey Him; do not disobey Him. For He will not draw back from you; for My name is in Him.' Exodus
23:20-21 Now understand that He who led your fathers into the land is called by this name Jesus, and
first called Auses Numbers 13:16. (Oshea). For if you shall understand this, you shall likewise perceive
that the name of Him who said to Moses, 'for My name is in Him,' was Jesus.”

'Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews'

“He who ever spake to Moses was the Son of God Himself; who, too, was always seen. For God the
Father none ever saw, and lived. And accordingly it is agreed that the Son of God Himself spake to
Moses, and said to the people, “Behold, I send mine angel before thy”—that is, the people’s—“face, to
guard thee on the march, and to introduce thee into the land which I have prepared thee: attend to him,
and be not disobedient to him; for he hath not escaped thy notice, since my name is upon him.””

"Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings

"of Jesus? Then, again, it is the Word of God Himself who speaks when He promises to provide this
successor to Moses, speaking of him as an angel,—a name commonly given in Scripture to those
carrying any message. The words are: "Behold I send my angel before thy face, to preserve thee in the
way, and to bring thee into the land which I have sworn to give thee. Take heed unto him, and obey, and
beware of unbelief in him; for he will not take anything from thee wrongfully, for my name is in him."

'Tertullian, Five Books in Reply to Marcion.'

"As partner in His name:[Exodus 23:20-23]"

Extra ECF
{Tertllian, Five books in Reply to Marcion (Chapter XVI){ John of Chrysostom, (Homilies on Colossians
1:15-18){
Joshua 5:13-15
When Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was
standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to
him, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" And he said, "No, rather I indeed come now as
captain of the host of the LORD." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and
said to him, "What has my lord to say to his servant?" And the captain of the LORD's host said
to Joshua, "Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy."
And Joshua did so.

Explanation
Having Joshua immediately remove his sandals reminds one of the LORD telling Moses to
remove his sandals in God's presence at the burning bush (Exodus 3:5). This is a clear act of
divine worship. This is self explanatory, Joshua knew he was in the sight of the Holy God. The
Captain of Yahweh’s host/the Malak Yahweh/Yahweh directly claims to have given Jericho into
the hands of Joshua and not that a created angel had appeared to Joshua and was saying that
he was commissioned for such a task.

ECF
‘Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho (Chapters 55-68)’ I shall give you another testimony, my friends,
from the Scriptures, that God begot before all creatures a Beginning, [who was] a certain rational power
[proceeding] from Himself, who is called by the Holy Spirit, now the Glory of the Lord, now the Son, again
Wisdom, again an Angel, then God, and then Lord and Logos; and on another occasion He calls Himself
Captain, when He appeared in human form to Joshua the son of Nave (Nun). For He can be called by all
those names, since He ministers to the Father's will, and since He was begotten of the Father by an act of
will; just as we see happening among ourselves: for when we give out some word, we beget the word; yet
not by abscission, so as to lessen the word [which remains] in us, when we give it out: and just as we see
also happening in the case of a fire, which is not lessened when it has kindled [another], but remains the
same; and that which has been kindled by it likewise appears to exist by itself, not diminishing that from
which it was kindled.

Eusebius of Caesarea, ‘Ecclesiastical History 1.2’ Joshua, the successor of Moses, calls the leader
of the heavenly angels and archangels and of the supernal powers and as if he were the power and
wisdom of the Father, entrusted with the second rank of sovereignty and rule over all, “prince of the host
of the Lord,” although he saw him only in the form and shape of a man. At any rate, it is written: “And it
came to pass, when Joshua was in the field of the city of Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, and saw a man
standing over against him, holding a drawn sword, and he went to him and said: ‘Are you one of ours, or
of our adversaries?’ And he said to him, ‘I am prince of the host of the Lord and I have now come.’ And
Joshua fell on his face to the ground and said to him, ‘What does my Lord command to his servant?’ And
the prince of the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Loose your shoe from off your feet, for the place on which you
stand is a holy place.’ ” Here, too, you will perceive from the identity of words that this is no other than he
who also spoke to Moses.
‘Jerome, Homily on the Exodus 91’ Now, grasp the mystical meaning of Holy Writ. As long as we are
walking through the wilderness, it is necessary that we wear sandals to cover and protect our feet, but
when we shall have entered the Land of Promise, we shall hear with Jesus [Joshua], the son of Nave
[Nun]: “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place upon which you are standing is holy.” When,
therefore, we enter into the kingdom of heaven, we shall have no need of sandals or for protection against
this world, but—to give you a new thought—we shall follow the Lamb that has been slain for us

Judges 6:12-23
12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, O
mighty man of valor." 13 And Gideon said to him, "Please, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then
has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to
us, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has forsaken us and
given us into the hand of Midian." 14 And the LORD turned to him and said, "Go in this might of
yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?" 15 And he said to him,
"Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the
least in my father's house." 16 And the LORD said to him, "But I will be with you, and you shall
strike the Midianites as one man." 17 And he said to him, "If now I have found favor in your
eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. 18 Please do not depart from here
until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you." And he said, "I will stay till
you return." 19 So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened
cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and
brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. 20 And the angel of God said to
him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth
over them." And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that
was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the
rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the LORD vanished
from his sight. 22 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." 23 But the LORD
said to him, "Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die."

Explanation
This passage among many is prominent when discussing the identity of the Angel of the Lord.
We see that the Angel appears to Gideon and he's unaware of the identity of the man who
appears to him. Then the Angel makes it clear who he is because he promises to be sovereign
over Gideon’s health and protect him against the Midianites. Who makes such promises of
certainty unless this Angel has full control? The Angel then vanishes after the fire springs up
from the rock and Gideon has now perceived the identity of the Angel of the Lord who was
before him. Gideon now has full knowledge that the one who spoke to him was the Angel of the
Lord, then goes on to identify the Angel as God Almighty saying “Alas, O Lord GOD!”. Not only
that he goes on to express fear for his life saying “I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to
face”. What man has fear of dying after seeing a creature? Fear of death after perceiving
someone's presence among you is something that is of God alone. Every example we have in
scripture is always men fearing that they have seen God because he's so majestic and that as
sinners we cannot behold his presence. Gideon recognizes the majesty and deity of the one
who spoke to him and then goes on to use the phrase “I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to
face” synonymously with the phrase “I have seen God face to face” (Exodus 33:20) because
they are one and the same.

ECF
'Ambrose, On The Holy Spirit (Book I)’
And Gideon, moved by that message, when he heard that, though thousands of the people failed, God
would deliver His own from their enemies by means of one man,Judg. vi. 14. offered a kid, and according
to the word of the Angel, laid its flesh and the unleavened cakes upon the rock, and poured the broth
upon them. And as soon as the Angel touched them with the end of the staff which he bore, fire burst
forth out of the rock, and so the sacrifice which he was offering was consumed. Judg. vi. 19–21. By
which it seems clear that that rock was a figure of the Body of Christ, for it is written: “They drank of that
rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.” 1 Cor. x. 4. Which certainly refers not to His Godhead,
but to His Flesh, which watered the hearts of the thirsting people with the perpetual stream of His Blood.

Gerard De Gols, “A Vindication of the Worship of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Supreme God”
“That Gideon worshiped Christ as God, is so plain, that anyone that reads Judges the 6th chapter must
believe it, or must believe that Gideon was an idolater; for as vs. 12 we find that “the Angel of the Lord
appeared to him, and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor.’” And it appears in vs.
13 that Gideon thought it was a created angel; but vs. 14 the Lord, the Jehovah, looked upon him,
convinced him that he was not a created Angel, and commissioned him to be a judge and a deliverer of
Israel. Here we have still the same person speaking first as an Angel, now as the Jehovah, and assuring
him of his Presence, “I will be with you,” in the same manner as he had done to the Patriarchs before; and
when Gideon had asked for a token of his Presence, and the Angel had wrought a miracle, and then
departed from him, Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God!” which was not an exclamation through fear or
surprise, but was a recognition of his Divinity, and an act of Adoration paid to the divine Majesty.”

Cambridge Bible Commentary

Judges 6:21. The food intended for a meal is converted into a sacrifice, and supernatural fire betokens
the divine acceptance; cf. Jdg 13:20, 1 Kings 18:38, 2 Chronicles 7:1, Leviticus 9:24, 2Ma 2:10. and
the angel of the Lord departed] But in Jdg 6:23 Jehovah is still present and speaks to Gideon. Perhaps
some distinction was felt at this point between Jehovah and the Angel of Jehovah; the partial
manifestation was withdrawn, Jehovah Himself remained. Moore’s suggestion that these words were
inserted on the analogy of Jdg 13:20 seems hardly necessary. Judges 6:22 And when Gideon perceived
that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of
the LORD face to face. 22. Now at last Gideon recognizes the nature of his Guest; he is overwhelmed
with terror, for he has intruded upon the holiness of God, and death must be the penalty; cf. Jdg 13:22
and Genesis 16:13; Genesis 32:30, Exodus 33:20 (all J), Deuteronomy 4:33; Deuteronomy 5:24;
Deuteronomy 5:26, Isaiah 6:5.

Judges 13:15-22
15 Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat
for you." 16 And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "If you detain me, I will not eat of your
food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD." (For Manoah did not know
that he was the angel of the LORD.) 17 And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "What is
your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?" 18 And the angel of the
LORD said to him, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?" 19 So Manoah took the
young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to the one who works
wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. 20 And when the flame went up toward
heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and
his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground. 21 The angel of the LORD
appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the
LORD. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, for we have seen God." 23 But his
wife said to him, "If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering
and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such
things as these." 24 And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young
man grew, and the LORD blessed him.

Explanation
Manoah first sees the angel and tries to prepare a food offering out of reverence for the angel,
then the angel goes on to tell him to sacrifice to the Lord. Manoah did not know that this was the
angel of the Lord, but will soon learn just as Gideon did the true identity of this angel. Manoah
asks for the name of the angel and the angel of the Lord says “why do you ask my name,
seeing it is wonderful”, the name of God signifies his identity and nature. The Angel, just as God
bears the name above all names in which no one can comprehend because it is wonderful. This
text could not be clearer on the nature of this messenger, he bears the name of Jehovah
(Exodus 23:20-23) because he is by nature identical with Jehovah. Manoah then continues to
sacrifice to the Lord and he falls on his face as an act of worship in the context of religious
sacrifice. This connects with Christ, we see the angel of the lord become one with the sacrifice
and being offered up in the fire, just as Christ was offered up for us. Manoah, just as Gideon
now has knowledge that he's speaking to the Angel and again is scared of death because he
was in the presence of the Angel and recognizes it as the presence of God, because they are
one and the same. Then his wife comforts him by telling him that the Lord wouldn't have
accepted their offering if he wanted to kill them but who's the Lord who didn't kill them when he
appeared? The Angel and this is further confirmed because she says in verse 23 the Lord that
she's speaking of is the one who announced such things. She is clearly referring to the one who
announced the birth of their son. So we learn that this sacrifice was not only to the Lord in
heaven but also to the Angel because he is said to have accepted their offering. Meaning that
both the Angel and God received a sacrificial offering in the context of religious worship, either
Manoah is an idolater or the Angel is worthy of divine worship. Furthermore, In Proverbs 30:3-4
it describes how God's name and his son's name is wonderful and unknown by Agur by asking a
rhetorical question to imply that it’s majestic and wonderful.

ECF
‘Gregory The Theologian, Theological Orations 2 (28).19’
Must you not show respect for Manoah, the Old Testament judge.… Manoah was overwhelmed by the
sight of God in a vision. “Wife,” he said, “we are lost, we have seen God”—meaning by this that even a
vision of God is too much for human beings, let alone God’s nature.
‘Gregory of Nyssa, Against Eunomius 8.1’
And so, too, the word that was spoken to Manoah shows the fact that the Divinity is not comprehensible
by the significance of his name, because, when Manoah asks to know his name, that when the promise
has come actually to pass, he may by name glorify his benefactor, he says to him, “Why do you ask this?
It also is wonderful”; so that by this we learn that there is one name significant of the divine nature—the
wonder, namely, that arises unspeakably in our hearts concerning it.

‘Tertullian, Five Books In Reply to Marcion (Chapter XV)’

Among them doth profess to have “seen God”

‘Cyril of Jerusalem, The Second Theological Oration (Chapter Oration XXVIII)’ And are you not
amazed at Manoah the Judge of yore, and at Peter the disciple in later days; the one being unable to
endure the sight even of one in whom was a representation of God; and saying, “We are undone, O wife,
we have seen God;” speaking as though even a vision of God could not be grasped by human beings, let
alone the Nature of God; and the other unable to endure the Presence of Christ in his boat and therefore
bidding Him depart; and this though Peter was more zealous than the others for the knowledge of Christ,
and received a blessing for this, and was entrusted with the greatest gifts.

Extra ECF
{Pacian of Barcelona, (Letter 2.2){Sulpitius Severus, Works of John Cassian (Book II, Chapter III)}

2 Samuel 14:20
20 Your servant Joab did this to change the present situation. My lord has wisdom like that of an angel of
God—he knows everything that happens in the land.

Explanation
The comparison of the King’s wisdom is made to that of the angel of the Lord in order to
emphasize the great wisdom of the King. The comparison made is obviously hyperbolic in order
to highlight the wisdom of the King, but why use the Angel of the Lord as reference point in the
verse unless the Angel was understood to be of divine wisdom. The comparison would be futile
and make no-sense unless the people contextually understood the Angel as having divine
wisdom. To continue, the verse shows that to be wise like the Angel is to know everything that is
happening on the earth, a rather explicit testimony to the Angel’s omniscience!

Zechariah 3:1-4
1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan
standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O
Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the
fire?” 3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the
angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And
to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure
vestments.”

Explanation
There are three persons mentioned in this passage which are the Angel, Satan and Joshua the
high priest, along with some other angelic beings. Knowing this we can see that the Angel of the
Lord mentioned in v.1 is the same as the Lord speaking to Satan in v.2, which shows the two are
one and the same. Then the Angel of the Lord is able to do what God alone does, namely
“Removing the iniquity of Joshua the High Priest”. He is able to forgive the sins of Joshua and
make him purified, “clothe him with pure vestments”. We see purification and the taking of
iniquity belongs to the Lord (Micah 7:18-19) and this is exactly what the Angel is seen as doing
in his own right.

Commentary
3 sn The juxtaposition of the messenger of the Lord in v. 1 and the Lord in v. 2 shows that here,
at least, they are one and the same. See Zech 1:11, 12 where they are distinguished from each
other. (Source; bold and underline emphasis ours) - NET Bible Commentary

Zechariah 12:8
8 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.

Explanation
This verse is very similar to 2 Samuel 14:20 in that the text hyperbolically compares two things.
In this passage it compares the House of David to God, but this verse differs in that it doesn't
only compare it to God but also the Angel of the Lord. This wouldn't fit the text unless the Angel
of the Lord is either equal or greater than God himself.. The text compares the strength of the
House of David to the most maximal being, namely God, then goes on to compare it to the
Angel. Why continue the hyperbolic comparison if you have already compared the strength of
the House of David to the greatest being there is. This only makes sense if the Angel is equally
as great as God in order to be used as an equal reference point of comparison. This
demonstrates that the Angel in scripture is set on an equal standpoint with God because they
are of one and the same essence.
Commentary
sn The statement the dynasty of David will be like God is hyperbole to show the remarkable
enhancements that will accompany the inauguration of the millennial age. - NET Bible Notes

As part of His defense of them, the Lord would strengthen the feeble among the people so they
would be as strong as David, the mighty warrior. The Davidic rulers would also receive
supernatural strength and would be like God, as the angel of the Lord who would go before them
(cf. Exod. 14:19; 23:20; 32:34; 33:2, 14-15, 22; 1 Sam. 29:9; 2 Sam. 14:17, 20; 19:27).
—Constable’s Notes

These are to become like David, the bravest hero of Israel (cf. 1 Samuel 17:34., 2 Samuel 17:8).
The strong ones, designated as the house, i.e., the household or family of David, are to be like
Elohim, i.e., not angels, but God, the Deity, i.e., a superhuman being (cf. Psalm 8:6), yea, like the
angel of Jehovah, who goes before Israel (‫)לפניהם‬, or the revealer of the invisible God, who is
essentially the equal of Jehovah (see at Zechariah 1:8). The point of comparison lies in the
power and strength, not in moral resemblance to God, as Kliefoth supposes, who takes Elohim
as equivalent to Jehovah, and identifies it with the angel of Jehovah, as some of the earlier
commentators have done. — Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

" Some have mistakenly believed that this was intended to be a qualification or limitation on the
promise of one "as God" in the house of David. Mitchell classified it as a gloss; and Baldwin
understood it as "modifying" the phrase "as God"; but Hailey evidently understood the two
phrases more perfectly, stating that: "This places the angel of Jehovah on the same level as
Jehovah himself."[20] The oneness of the Father and Son is indicated. The thought of applying
this passage to anyone other than Christ is preposterous. — Coffman’s Commentary

Psalms 34:7
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them

Explanation
This passage demonstrates that the Angel of the Lord is omnipresent by virtue of being able to
encamp around and be sovereignly protecting those who fear him. Furthermore the Angel is the
object of “Holy Fear” for David and others, this is something due to God alone because this type
of fear that begets protection from God is the type of fear that is a product of the believing in
God, so if the Angel is the subject of the holy fear he must by necessarily be the subject of their
faith as well.

ECF
Augustine, Expositions on the Book of Psalms.
Psalm XXXIV
“The Lord shall send His Angel round about them that fear Him, and He shall deliver them:” but thus, “The
Angel of the Lord shall send round about them that fear Him, and shall deliver them.” Whom called He
here the Angel of the Lord, who shall send round about them that fear Him, and shall deliver them? Our
Lord Jesus Christ Himself is called in Prophecy, the Angel of the great Counsel, the Messenger of the
great Counsel;. so the Prophets called Him.Even He then, the Angel of the great Counsel, that is, the
Messenger, shall send unto them that fear the Lord, and shall deliver them. Fear not then lest thou be hid:
wheresoever thou hast feared the Lord, there doth that Angel know thee, who shall send to succour thee,
and shall deliver thee.

Isaiah 63:9
“In all their affliction he was afflicted,
and the angel of his presence saved them”

Explanation
This passage identifies the Angel as God’s Presence/Face. Dr. Robert Morey comments on the Angel
being God’s presence:

"In the Hebrew text of verse 9, the words ‘the Messenger of His presence’... literally translates as ‘the
Messenger of His face.’ It was an idiomatic expression which meant that the Messenger who is His face,
i.e. who is the outward expression of His essence. The classic German commentator Carl Wilhelm
Nagelsbach explains:

For by ‘the angel of His face’ who saved them, the suppliant evidently intends... by whom the redemption
of the people from Egyptian slavery was effected. The expression... refers immediately to Ex. xxxiii.
14,15, where to the request of Moses that the LORD would let him know whom He intends to send with
them (vers. 12,13), the answer is given... Moses thereupon rejoins: ‘If... (thy Face) go not, carry us not up
hence.’

"Because Moses wanted to know whether God Himself would be with them, he asked whether God's ‘face’
would be with them. The divine Messenger who appeared to Moses and the Patriarchs was the ‘face’ of
God. As Delitzsch rightly points out:
‘The face of God’ is His self-revealing presence. The genitive..., therefore, is not to be taken objectively in
the sense of ‘the angel who sees His face’ but as explanatory, ‘the angel who is His face, or in whom His
face is manifested.’

"This has been pointed out by modern commentators as well. E.J. Young comments: “This angel (the
word means messenger) God had promised to send to His people (Ex. 23:20-23) and actually did send to
them (Ex. 14:19; Num. 20:16). He is the Lord's angel (Ex. 33:14, 15) and is actually the Lord (Yahweh)
Himself (Ex. 33:12).”

In Exodus 12:51, 14:30 etc we see that it was God who redeemed Israel from the Egyptians and in Isaiah
63 the Angel of his Presence redeems Israel.

All the Church Fathers talk about how the Angel is not any normal Angel and they all point this out.

<Excerpt from Answering Islam, “I AM WHAT I AM” by Sam Shamoun>

ECF
Irenaeus
Against Heresies: Book III Chapter XX
Again, that it should not be a mere man who should save us, nor [one] without flesh—for the angels are
without flesh—[the same prophet] announced, saying: “Neither an elder, nor angel, but the Lord Himself
will save them because He loves them, and will spare them: He will Himself set them free.”

Cyprian of Carthage
Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. Book II.
Also in that place: “Not an elder nor an angel, but the Lord Himself shall deliver them; because He shall
love them, and shall spare them, and He Himself shall redeem them.”

ARGUMENTS

Argument 1: The Angel of The Lord and Jesus are just Shaliachs, that’s why they can speak like their
God. They are only his agent and not God. It’s even defined in The Encyclopedia of the Jewish Religion
published in 1986 as, “Agent (Heb. Shaliah): The main point of the Jewish law of agency is expressed in
the dictum, “a person’s agent is regarded as the person himself” (Ned. 72B; Kidd, 41b).

Response 1: The Son of God is the agent par excellence of His Father. This does not mean that He was
simply a man, or perhaps an angel. Claiming someone is a shaliach then acting as if that refutes their
position is absurd, calling someone an agent doesn’t tell us anything about the nature of that person it
only describes the role of that person. We say the Son is a sheliach/agent par-excellence, he is the perfect
agent of the father. We see this in places like Matthew 11:27, John 1:18, John 14:10, Hebrews 1:3. We
affirm he’s an agent but this doesn’t tell us about the nature of such an agent, we must see how scripture
describes such an agent. For example the Son is clearly seen as God (John 1:1), yet he is still called Angel
because he gives the message of the Father. Church Fathers are clear on the Son role of Exegeting and
revealing the father to us. So this argument of Shaliach doesn’t tell us much about the person, it only tells
us the role of the person. Next, if we are to assert that the agent isn’t God himself but only a human agent
or created agent we must positively show that he does things only proper to the role of a created agent.
For example God can send people to wipe out an army and it can be attributed to God on behalf of God
working through them. More examples from scripture is Exodus 7:17-19 where God says he will strike
down the river, but acts through Aaron, or places where prophets speak for God such as Haggai 1:13 and
Deuteronomy 29:1-9 where they speak as God bc there giving his message but notice every time such as
in Haggai 1:13 it makes it explicitly clear that Haggai is delivering the message of the Lord saying “the
messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message” or in Deuteronomy 29:1 Moses
making it clear saying “These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make
with the people of Israel''. The text makes it known that they aren’t speaking of themselves but on behalf
of the Lord.
Notice how none of them are ever sacrificed to? Or how none of them can give promises to eternally bless
someone’s seed? Or how about even being called the God who sees or Jehovah-Jireh? Now I could go on
all day but we can clearly see the difference between the perfect Sheliach, the Son/Angel and Shaliachs
who have boundaries as a messenger. If Moses were to walk around saying I’m the God of Israel or we
see Aaron starting calling Moses My God or Jehovah-Jireh. It would be deemed idolatry because that’s far
beyond what a created and mere messenger can be seen as. If you are to say that a created messenger
can be a Sheliach to any extent, then what’s the limit? Can they be seen as God to the fullest extent? Can
we sacrifice to them? Can they obtain any amount of attributes that God has because he’s his agent?
What can we even say to show such an agent is actually God in nature? If taken to such an extent then it
becomes unfalsifiable. I could call Jesus omnipresent and all powerful then just say I only said that
because he’s God's created agent. Indeed, if agents can be described as God, can identify themselves as
God, can be stand-ins for God to the fullest extent, there is simply no way to determine when God is
speaking anywhere in the Bible, and when it is an agent. See how ridiculous it is. If such an agent is
boundless he must be identical in nature with God himself. Now we can confidently affirm that this
Shaliach position doesn’t refute us and when put in context is perfectly fine, because being called a
Shaliach doesn’t tell us about the person's nature but rather the role of such a person. The Son of God
who is the perfect Shaliach of the Father, his perfect image is also one in nature with his perfect Father.

Argument 2: He’s called Angel so he can’t be God Or Other people are called Angels like Haggai and
John the Baptist does this mean their God as well?

Response 2: The word “angel” is simply a transliteration into English of the Greek word angelos (Gr.
ἄγγελος), which is used in the Septuagint (LXX), i.e. the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and in the
Greek New Testament. The word that is used in the Hebrew text is malak (‫)מַ לְָאך‬. The lexical sources are
unanimous that the Hebrew word malak, in its original signification and as it is used in the Bible, means
“one sent; a messenger” (e.g. Gesenius; Brown, Driver and Briggs;5 et al.), as such it refers to the function
rather than to the nature of an agent, and could just as well refer to one who is divine or human rather
than just to a supernatural being as the word angel is normally understood. In other words, the nature of
the agent is something that can’t be determined by the word alone and has to be determined by other
factors. So trying to tell us that the Angel of the Lord can’t be God on the basis of him being called Angel
is misunderstanding the meaning of the word.

Next, showing places where other people are call “The Angel of the Lord or Angels and trying to say that
based on our logic they must be God as-well is misunderstanding our position for example pulling up that
in Haggai 1:13 Haggai is called the Angel of the Lord, Or that In Matthew 1:20-21 The Angel of the Lord
appears and in Matthew 11:9 John the Baptist called an Angel, wouldn’t refute our position and would be
a horrible straw-man.
No one has ever argued that the Angel is God solely because he is called the Angel of God; nor have we
claimed that every occurrence of the phrase "Angel of God/Lord" necessarily refers to one and the same
person, or specifically to this particular Angel who is identified as God Almighty all throughout the OT.
Trinitarians have always known that the title, "Angel of God/Lord," could refer to various spirit messengers
sent by God and doesn’t always refer to the same person. This argument shows little understanding of
our position as trinitarians.

It will be and always has been the context which determines whether the author is speaking of this
specific Angel who happens to be God or to a spirit/human messenger sent by God. The context of
Haggai 1:13 shows that it’s of course speaking of Haggai, The context Matthew 1 shows that the writer
wasn’t referring to God’s Divine Angel but to one of the many angels whom God sends, nothing indicates
that it’s the divine Angel of the Lord. I think you get the point. So this straw-man argument does nothing
but show misunderstanding of our position.

Argument 3: How would you know it’s the same Angel appearing? It could just be a different angel each
time!

Response 3: Even if the question of whether the phrase is definite or indefinite could not be settled on
grammatical grounds alone, and from the above it can be seen that available evidence says that it can, it
would still be possible to deduce that God was not dispatching many different angels on the occasions
when the Bible uses the phrase Malak Yahweh, and that one specific and special Angel is in view
throughout:

After God tested Abraham’s faith by commanding him to sacrifice Isaac, which Abraham promptly set out
to obey, we are told that “the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven …” (Genesis 22:11) telling
him not to harm Isaac, for Abraham’s faith had been proved; after Abraham sacrifices a ram in the place
of his son, we are then told “The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time …”
(Genesis 22:15), showing that it was the same Angel as at the first. Of course it might be argued that this
is ambiguous, as it might just indicate that Abraham heard a second time from an angel and not that it
was the same angel, or that it is of minimal significance since this doesn’t entail that the same Angel
appeared to Hagar before him or that it was the same Angel who appeared later to Isaac, Jacob and
others under the name “angel of Yahweh”, but even if this is granted no such ambiguity or insignificance
attaches to the following. When Jacob – of whom we read many times that “the Angel of the LORD”
appeared to him – prays in Genesis 48 that “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, the Angel who has redeemed me from all evil” will
bless his descendants after him, it is clear that he thinks that one and the same Angel, the one before
whom His Father’s Abraham and Isaac walked and by whom they were shepherded, was responsible for
delivering him from all his afflictions (and also, given that this is a patriarchal benediction, that he
confidently expects the Angel to play the same role in the lives of his descendants). Moreover, this was
the very thing “the Angel of Yahweh” promised to Jacob at Bethel in Genesis 28: “Behold, I am with you
and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have
done what I have promised you.” Furthermore, when the Angel of Yahweh appears to Jacob in a dream in
Padan-aram, He identifies Himself as the same one who appeared to him at Bethel (Genesis 31:11-13).
Accordingly, every time we are told “the Angel of the LORD” appeared or spoke to Jacob or to his fathers
before him, even though these encounters are separated by time and place, it was the self-same Angel. As
well, this passage also leads us to expect future engagements of the Angel as the shepherd and
redeemer of Jacob’s descendants. The passage is both retrospective and prospective in its deliverances
about the Angel.

In the book of Exodus we read that the Angel of the LORD appeared to Moses in the burning bush, saying
of the name Yahweh, “This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations” (Exodus
3:1, 15); and in the book of the prophet Hosea we are told by way of a strong implication that the Angel
who appeared to Moses is the same one who wrestled with Jacob before his encounter with Esau in
Genesis 32, and who later appeared to Jacob after his return to Bethel from Paddan-aram as recorded in
Genesis 35:9-15: “In the womb he [i.e. Jacob] took his brother by the heel, and in his maturity he
contended with God. Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor. He
found Him at Bethel and there He spoke with us, even the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD is His
memorial name.” (Hosea 12:4-5).

Since the Angel who appeared to Moses said, “[Yahweh] is My memorial-name to all generations”, and
since Hosea says of the Angel, the one with whom Jacob wrestled and whose favor he sought, “Yahweh is
His memorial name”, then the Angel who appeared to Moses can be none other than the Angel who
appeared to Jacob (and the other patriarchs) before him.

Moreover, the Angel who appeared to Moses is the same name-bearing Angel who accompanied Israel in
her wilderness wanderings and eventually brought her into the land of Canaan: “Behold, I send an Angel
before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him
and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in
Him” (Exodus 23:20ff.). [We are already led to expect this very thing in the story of the patriarchs, where
God promises to bring the children of Israel up out of Egypt, and foreshadows it in the story of Jacob, who
is redeemed by the Angel (more on this later).] Since the Angel who appeared to Jacob is the same Angel
who appeared to his fathers before him, and since the Angel who appeared to Moses is the same Angel
who appeared to Jacob, and since the Angel who appeared to Moses is the same Angel who brought the
children of Israel up out of Egypt, and who also accompanied them through the wilderness and led them
into the land of Canaan, then the Angel of the patriarchs is the Angel of the Exodus and Conquest.

When the book of Judges later speaks of one called “the Angel of the LORD”, it records him saying: “I
brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers” (Judges
2:1), thus showing continuity of identity between the Angel of the Exodus-Wilderness-Conquest period
and the Angel of the time of the Judges. [It is also of interest that the Angel in the book of Judges acts
very much like the Angel who appeared to Jacob, for when Jacob asks the Angel for His name, He replies,
“Why do you ask My name?” (Genesis 32:29), which is similar to the reply given to Manoah when he asks
the same question: “Why do you ask My name? It is beyond understanding [Lit. “Wonderful”]” (Judges
13:18).] Since the Angel of the patriarchs is the Angel of the Exodus, and since the Angel of the Exodus
and Conquest is the Angel who appeared in the time of the Judges, then the same Angel is in view in all
three periods – Patriarchal, Exodus-Wilderness-Conquest, and Judges.

Thus, even if the grammatical issue above could not be settled, copious evidence exists in Scripture that
one agent in particular is in view in “the Angel of Yahweh” passages and that this one stands uniquely
apart from all other angels and is intimately involved with the whole course of Old Testament history. It is
with good reason, then, that Jews and Christians as well as most scholars down to the present day, even
those who do not otherwise agree on other points that swirl about this discussion, have viewed the
various mentions of “the Angel of the LORD” to be references to the same Angel.

Excerpt from Article written by Anthony Rogers **”The Malak Yahweh: Jesus, the Divine Messenger of the
Old Testament”**

Argument 4: There is no definite article in the Hebrew phrase Malak Yahweh, then it should be
translated into English as “an Angel of the LORD”
Response 4: In Hebrew, nouns and their modifiers are in agreement, such that if Yahweh is definite then
Malak is definite as well. Since Yahweh is a proper noun – indeed, it is the distinctive name of the God of
Israel – according to the rules of Hebrew grammar it is intrinsically and therefore always definite. In other
words, the grammatical construction of Malak Yahweh in Hebrew, where the second noun, a proper noun,
Yahweh, is definite, requires that the first noun, which is in the construct state, be understood in a definite
way as well.13

In response to this, some have argued that the phrase then is determinate merely because this is required
by the construction in Hebrew, such that the inspired authors could not have spoken of the Angel as “an”
angel of Yahweh even if they wanted to. But this is also mistaken. In such a case, if the author wanted to
render the phrase indefinite, all that he would need to do is include a lamed preposition between Malak
and Yahweh. Theologian Gerhardus Vos14 speaks to this error:

“The objection, that before a proper noun the preceding noun standing in the construct state becomes
inevitably determinate, in other words that it would be impossible to make ‘Angel of Jehovah’
indeterminate, even though it may have been intended so, does not hold good. The Hebrew has a way of
saying ‘an Angel of Jehovah.’ All that is necessary is to insert the preposition ‘lamed’ between Angel and
Jehovah: ‘an Angel to Jehovah.’'15

It is highly instructive therefore that the Hebrew Old Testament never employs such a construction: the
phrase that is used is invariably Malak Yahweh.

The fact that this phrase refers to one and only one is underscored by the fact that the phrase is never
used of angels in the plural; in all of the writings of the Old Testament, the Biblical authors never speak of
malakim Yahweh, i.e. “angels of Yahweh”. It may be replied that they do, however, even if only on certain
rare occasions, speak of “angels of God” (e.g. Genesis 28:12; 32:1; and 2 Chronicles 36:16), but in this
case it needs only to be pointed out that once again a distinction is drawn between angels of God in
general and the Angel of God in particular. Whereas the phrase Malak Yahweh does not permit using the
definite article, for its definiteness is determined by the use of the proper name of God, Yahweh, the
phrase Malak Elohim, which uses the more general term for deity, does permit such a construction, as in
Genesis 31:11 (q.v. Exodus 14:19; Judges 6:20, 13:6, 9; 2 Samuel 14:17, 20, 19:28; and 2 Chronicles
36:16), but for all that it never uses the definite article when speaking of angels in the plural. It speaks of
“the Angel of God” and “angels of God”, but never does it speak of “the angels of God”, thereby once again
drawing a clear distinction between this Angel and all others.

Excerpt from Article written by Anthony Rogers **”The Malak Yahweh: Jesus, the Divine Messenger of the
Old Testament”**

Argument 5: Hebrews 1:2 tells us “ but in the last days he has spoken to us by his Son” which shows
that the Son wasn’t speaking before his human birth (OT times)

Response 5: The author of Hebrews is speaking about how God revealed his will and how he
communicated the way to live perfectly, to start there is no dichotomy in this passage it does not say that
either God speaks through prophets or God speaks through his Son. This can be demonstrated simply by
showing that God still used prophets in the NT times (1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 3:4-5) and by
showing that even the Author of Hebrews believed the Son spoke in the OT times (Hebrews 2:9-13
quoting Psalms 22:22; Isaiah 8:17-18 and Hebrews 10:5-9 quoting Psalms 40:6-8 LXX). This
demonstrates that a “either or'' dichotomy simply wasn’t in the mind of the writer of Hebrews. Next, the
point of the passage is to say that God used various ways to speak and show how to life a life of holiness
through prophets mainly (not in exclusion to other ways ie. The Son or spirit) but it was incomplete but
now in the last days the Son has become incarnate and directly communicates to us the new covenant
and shows us how to live by perfect example. So this doesn’t mean that Christ cannot be the Angel of the
Lord in the OT or active in any other way because the passage doesn’t give us a dichotomy excluding the
Son from speaking in the OT.

Argument 6: Jerusalem is called the Lord is our Righteousness so does that mean that Jerusalem is
God?

Response 6: This claim completely misunderstands the reason that Jerusalem is called “Lord our
Righteousness” . It's not for agency reasons and it’s not because it was normal to call things God but it
was called Lord is our Righteousness because he dwells in Jerusalem and is the King of Jerusalem. We
see this is also why Jerusalem is called **the Lord is there** (Ezekiel 48:35) and **The throne of the
Lord** (Jeremiah 3:16-17). The reason for Jerusalem having these titles is because Jehovah is there
(Ezekiel 43:1-9; Zechariah 14:6-7) and his throne is there not because of any special qualities of
Jerusalem but because who the king of Jerusalem is. This is completely different than the Angel of the
Lord being called Jehovah, doing things only Jehovah can do, being recognized as Jehovah by others and
by God himself.

Argument 7: The Angel rejects sacrifice done towards him because he’s not God in Judges 13:16

Response 7: The Angel is not rejecting the sacrifice because it’s not proper to sacrifice to that Angel or
because the Angel isn’t deserving of the Sacrifice but because of Manaoh’s intents when attempting to
sacrifice to that Angel. If Manoah understood it was the Angel and then proceeded to sacrifice to him then
there would have been no problem and it would’ve been accept just as Abraham's sacrifice was accepted
(Genesis 22:14) but Manoah didn’t know it was the Angel of the Lord (Judges 13:16), he perceived that
this was just a man of God (Judges 13:10-11) and was about to sacrifice to someone who he perceived
to be a mere man. The Angel knew Manoah was in the wrong for sacrificing to a person who Manoah
didn’t even understand to be God yet, So he says to Manaoh only to sacrifice to the Lord to teach Manoah
that religious homage/worship is due only to God. A parallel can be noted from Mark 10:18 where a man
calls Jesus “Good” and Jesus questions the man, not on the basis of it not being proper to call Jesus
good, but on the basis that the man’s intentions were flawed. He was calling someone “good master” who
he didn’t even recognize to be the Good God! Back to Judges we see that when Manaoh does realize it’s
the Angel (Judges 13:21) he recognized the deity of the Angel and uses identical phraseology used for
God and applies it to the appearance of the Angel saying “We shall surely die, for we have seen God'', a
fear of death from simply being in someone’s presence is a fear that is only from God as seen in Exodus
20:20 and more. This shows that Judges 13:16 doesn’t pose a problem to the deity of the Angel of the
Lord.

Argument 8: Isaiah 7:10 calls Isaiah God proving that agency allows for the one who the one who
represents God to be called God!
Response 8: The context of Isaiah 7 makes it abundantly clear that Isaiah is sent on behalf of God and he
was reiterating the words that the Lord told him to say, this is why the narrator skips the middle man
(Isaiah) and says it’s the Lord speaking to Ahaz instead of saying the Lord speaking to Ahaz through
Isaiah. We already are told that Isaiah is going to come and speak the words of the Lord to Ahaz in Isaiah
7:3-4, further on Isaiah says “thus says the Lord” in Isaiah 7:7 showing he’s not speaking of the words of
himself but the words of God. This is why the narrator (Isaiah) chooses to leave out the middleman
(Isaiah) because he’s already made it clear he’s speaking the words of the Lord and now the middle man
can be set aside and we can focus on the source Ahaz is receiving these words from. Nowhere is there
confusion between Isaiah and Ahaz, we never see Ahaz call Isaiah God nor do we see Isaiah claim to be
anything more than the deliver of the words. Infact after Isaiah makes it explicit that he’s not the Lord
saying in v.13 “that you weary my God also?” and in v.14 saying “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a
sign” There is no confusion Isaiah makes it clear that the one whom words he speaking is his God just as
much as it is the whole house of David and that it is the Lord himself who gives the sign not Isaiah, why
not say “I give you the sign” if there was confusion? Why make the distinction saying the “Lord himself”?
Why didn’t Ahaz and the whole house of David start crying out saying this is the Lord our God? Clearly
Ahaz, Isaiah, and the whole House of David understood that this Isaiah is speaking the words of the Lord.

Argument 9: All Angels are said to worship Christ and are said to to be created and that no Angels are
begotten in Psalm 148:1-6 and Hebrews 1:5-6

Response 9: The confusion is based of a misunderstanding of the appliance of the word angel in the
verse and how the word can be used in different contexts, the word Angel of itself means nothing but
messenger which denotes the function of the one being spoke about but the word Angel can be used to
refer to ontology in which it refers to the created host in heaven, simply supernatural beings who dwell in
heaven and are in servitude to God. When passages like Psalms 148:2 and Hebrews 1:5-6 uses the word
Angel to talk about them being created or worshiping God/Christ or not being begotten, it’s using the word
Angel to refer to angels who are angels qua their nature so we know the referent of the word Angel in
these passages is the angelic host of heaven. The only thing these passages would prove would be that
All the angelic hosts of spiritual beings in heaven are created, and worship God and the Lord Christ.
Aswell as No Angels who are Angels qua their nature are begotten like Christ. When we call Christ an
angel we do not call him Angel by nature, but rather that Christs assume the function of an Angel being
the Fathers exegete. Christ simply assumes the office of an Angel and is not one by nature and therefore
is not being referred to in these passages. The claimant is conflating the different ways the term can be
used in order to created a straw-man of Christians beliefs; this is what is called a categorical mistake and
term conflation

Argument 10: Saying I have seen God face to face doesn’t prove the Angel is God because Jacob says
that to Esau in Genesis 33:10

Response: Jacob never actually says that he saw the face of God when he saw Esau he makes a
hyperbolic comparison to express his joy for seeing his brother and how blessed he is to be able to
interact with his brother. The text makes it clear that Esau’s face is not the face of God and Jacob is only
using a form of figurative language to describe his feeling this is completely dis-analogous to places
where the prophets explicitly tell us they are seeing the face of God when in the presence of the Angel.
Moreover the fact he uses the face of God as something to hyperbolically compare his feelings to shows
a tradition of how amazing and glorious being seeing God face to face was.

Argument 11: The angel seems to be in opposition with God's will in 1 Samuel 24 and there
seems to be a hierarchy of power between God and the Angel in Zechariah 1:12 and in 2
Samuel 24:16. Furthermore how can the Angel be God if he’s asking God questions?

Response: The angel is never working in opposition to God's will, in-fact he does exactly what
God willed. When God wanted to destroy them he started destroying the people and when God
relented he stopped attacking. All this is anthropomorphic language and anthropomorphic
display of God (Genesis 6:6; Exodus 32:14) and his angel is done in order to show the
relationship between the angel and God while also showing a distinction between the two divine
powers. We as trinitarians have no problem with the anthropomorphic display of hierarchy of the
persons; we see this in the NT as well in John 16:12-13 where the Holy Spirit is said to be
commanded by the Father. These terms being used in relation to each other is again simply
anthropomorphic for our understanding.

When the Angel asks a question it is not because he lacks knowledge but it’s simply
anthropomorphic to understand the unity between the Angel and God. If asking a question as
such implies he lacks knowledge then this proves too much. We see in Numbers 14:11;26-27 he
asks questions almost identical to that of the angel but this of course doesn’t mean he lacked
knowledge of the answer, there was clearly reason for using anthropomorphic language

Argument 12: In Zechariah 12:8 the Claimant tries to say that in Psalms 8:5 the angels are
called elohim so in Zechariah 12:8 when it says “like God like The Angel of The Lord”, When it
says Elohim in hebrew its speaking of lower Angels and than Angel of the Lord, instead of God
and then The Angel of The Lord.

Response: First of all, the one who makes this argument doesn’t understand Context. Because
the context is speaking about how David’s dynasty will go “Like God Like the Angel of the Lord”
Against Nations destroying them. It’s referring to how God or the Angel of the Lord destroyed
nations (cf. Exod. 14:19; 23:20; 32:34; 33:2, 14-15, 22; 1 Sam. 29:9; 2 Sam. 14:17, 20;
19:27,Isa 37:36 etc). And we never see the Angelic host or the “lower angels” destroy nations
like the Angel of the Lord or God in the OT. It’s always God or The Angel of the Lord who
destroys nations, never Angels or Angelic Host. So the Claimant is making arbitrary arguments
and just connecting Psalms 8 with Zechariah 12:8.
Here is a perfect Commentary on this that accurately describes my position by NET Bible
Commentary: “12:8As part of His defense of them, the Lord would strengthen the feeble
among the people so they would be as strong as David, the mighty warrior. The Davidic rulers
would also receive supernatural strength and would be like God, as the angel of the Lord who
would go before them (cf. Exod. 14:19; 23:20; 32:34; 33:2, 14-15, 22; 1 Sam. 29:9; 2 Sam.
14:17, 20; 19:27).”

Also some Jews/muslims try to say “Why is God said first and then the Angel of the Lord?”
Another commentator states that “This would either Entail the angel of the Lord is higher or
Equal to God” which we would take as the second definition of it.

THE END

Written By: Saymon and Gideon