Monday, April 28, 2008

Who is the "Angel of the Lord"?

In consideration of the identity of the Angel of the Lord, I believe that it is the preincarnate Lord Jesus Christ. Because the New Testament is the completion of God’s revelation, starting here is important as the evidence both supports the divinity of Jesus Christ (by such verses as Titus 2:11-14, John 8:58, Matthew 26:64, Mark 2:5, Revelation 1:17-18, 2 Peter 1:1-3, Colossians 2:8-10, Romans 9:5, Hebrew 1:9, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, John 2:27-28, etc.) and the triune nature/plurality of persons of the Godhead (by such verses as Matthew 28:19, 1 John 5:7, Luke 3:21-22, John 14:1, John 10:30, John 17:11, John 17:21, etc.). Understanding from the New Testament the nature and personality of God (one in nature, yet three in Persons), we can identify the only three Persons who could possibly be the divine Angel of the Lord from the Old Testament. While simply understanding that Christ is the only member of the Godhead who has taken on a body of flesh, the additional support from such verses as Exodus 33:20, 1 Timothy 6:16, and 1 John 4:12, demonstrate that while it is true that God has never been seen, more specifically, God the Father has never been seen (John 1:18, John 6:46, Colossians 1:15, ), so as not to use the incarnation of Christ as either a contradiction of His deity or a contradiction of Scriptural claims. Lastly, there is no indication in Scripture that the Holy Spirit has taken on a body other than in appearance as a dove to John the Baptist in Matthew 3:16 and John 1:32, whereas the voice of the Father was apparently audible to all.

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