Who is the Angel of the Lord?
There is some confusion as to who or what is the “angel of the lord” mentioned in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. This confusion bleeds into other misunderstandings about man in the flesh actually having seen God. Understanding this will help us understand our own place in God’s authority structure.
The Bible book of Judges in chapter 6 helps us understand that when God sends an angel of the Lord, it is an angel speaking on God’s behalf. Notice in that chapter how “the Lord said” and “the angel said” are both used interchangeably. When Gideon saw the angel, it was not God Himself, otherwise – according to what we know about God from other Bible verses — Gideon would have died on the spot.
Understanding this also clarifies the meaning of other angelic encounters. When it is written that Jacob “wrestled with God” (part of what his new name “Israel” means), it was not God Himself that he physically wrestled with but rather an angel of the Lord. Abraham did not talk with God Himself (at a place called Mamre) but with three angels. Moses never saw God Himself on earth but rather an angelic presence. In all of these instances, God’s personal angelic representatives spoke and acted on God’s authority, and the Bible records each encounter as if God Himself was right there speaking.
This should also inform our understanding of how God exercises authority. Those who act in His Name and on His instructions have an authority that is functionally equivalent to God. Jesus said that we, His representatives in the earth, can act and speak as if it was Him acting and speaking. The early disciples demonstrated this again and again exactly as Jesus did. For example, the Bible records them speaking directly to a crippled man (no prayer necessary) and said, “in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” They cast out demons in Jesus’ Name, and even raised the dead.
Suddenly the words Jesus spoke in John chapter 14 and elsewhere make much more sense to us. There Jesus talks at length about Oneness with the Father and the mighty works that believers like us would do in His Name, as if He Himself was here doing them. After all, believers are called “the body of Christ.” Even to this present day, God’s people who understand the authority they have in Jesus’ Name are doing the very same mighty “impossible” works that the early disciples performed.
(Judges 6:11-14, John 1:18, 1 Timothy 6:16, Genesis 32:24-30, Genesis 18:1-2, Galatians 3:19, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 3:6-8, John 14:12, 1 Corinthians 12:27, Matthew 18:18-19, Mark 16:15-18, Matthew 17:20)