Denny answers:
The angel of the Lord appeared during Old Testament times and was probably Jesus before He was born as man.
During Old Testament times (the part of the Bible before Jesus’ birth), the angel of the Lord appears at special times. This angel is distinct from other angels, such as when the Bible mentions “an angel” or “an angel of the Lord.” Read the following stories of when the angel of the Lord appeared and see if you can figure out who He is:
• The angel of the Lord appeared to Hagar. She called Him, “the God who sees me” (Genesis 16:7-13; Genesis 21:17-19).
• The angel of the Lord stopped Abraham from killing Isaac and said He would bless Abraham (Genesis 22:11-18).
• The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a burning bush and revealed Himself as God (Exodus 3-4).
• The angel of the Lord went before the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 14:19).
• The angel of the Lord spoke judgment on the disobedient Israelites (Judges 2:1-4; 5:23).
• The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon (Judges 6:11-24).
• The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah and his wife, who were fearful because they had “seen God” (Judges 13:3-23).
• The angel of the Lord rebuked Satan and replaced Joshua’s filthy clothes with clean garments (Zechariah 3).
The angel of the Lord spoke as God, people called Him God, and He acted as God. A mere angel is not God. So, the angel of the Lord seems to be an appearance of God! Because the angel of the Lord does not appear in the New Testament (which begins with Jesus’ birth), the angel of the Lord could have been Jesus before He became a man.
Bible Truth
- “[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him” (Colossians 1:15-16).
- “who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him” (1 Peter 3:22).
- “So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs” (Hebrews 1:4).
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