Ep. 12 | Who is “The Angel of the Lord?”

Text: Exodus 3:1-6

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.

THREE THINGS about this Angel of the LORD

1. COMPLEXITY TO ACKNOWLEDGE

Problem: Sometimes the Angel of the Lord speaks as if he is a messenger from Yahweh, and other times he speaks as if he is Yahweh.

2. CONTENT to ADDRESS

1) DEFINITIONS

• What does ANGEL mean? Messenger. (MALAK)

• What about Lord? Lord is YHWH—a term we will discuss in more detail as we progress through Exodus chapter 3 and Episode 14 of INTO YOUR BIBLE.

2) DILEMMAS

1. THE WONDERS DILEMMA

2. THE WONDERFUL DILEMMA

3. THE WORSHIP DILEMMA

3) DISPUTE (the ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM)

4) DECLARATION

• The Old Testament uses Yahweh and his angel interchangeably. This angel is a THEOPHANY. Or more specifically, a CHRISTOPHANY.

  • THEOPHANY: (Greek: theos = “God” + phaino = “appear”—So, an appearing of God)

  • CHRISTOPHANY: (Greek: Christos = “Christ” + phaino = “appear”—So, an appearing of Christ)CHRIST to ADORE

3. CHRIST to ADMIRE

1. There is a DISTINCTION

2. There is a DOCTRINE

3. There is a DISPLAY

4. There is DOMINION