* Angel of Jehovah

(In this study, God's Holy Name is most often rendered as "Jehovah" regardless of how it appears in the translation being quoted)

It is often claimed that there is only one "angel of the Lord" in the Bible and that "angel of the Lord is Jesus as the alleged second person of the Holy Trinity.  Strictly speaking, there is no "angel of the Lord" in the Old Testament. The Bible does refer to angels of Jehovah and angels of God, but it never says "angel of the Lord." The extant Greek New Testament manuscripts do several times have the expression that could be rendered as "angel of Lord," but it should be evident that in each instance a form of the Greek word often transliterated as KURIOS (meaning, lord) is used to replace the Holy Name of God. The only angel of Jehovah that is identified by name is Gabriel. -- Luke 1:11,19.

However, we believe that the correct reasoning related to any angel of Jehovah is that the angel often speaks and acts for Jehovah, and thus is often referred to and addressed as Jehovah. There is definitely no reason to create all many assumptions that trinitarians present so as to have it appear to be two persons of Jehovah: Jehovah the Father who sent Jehovah the Son as the messenger of Jehovah the Father. It is true that certain scriptures seem to imply that Jehovah was speaking directly to humans, but a comparison of scriptures shows that Jehovah was actually speaking through or by means of his angels. -- Exodus 3:2-4 [see Acts 7:30,35; Galatians 3:19]; Genesis 16:7-11,13; 22:1,11,12,15-18.

If we need to reach a conclusion, we do have to do some reasoning in reference to the scriptures that speak of the "angel of Jehovah", for the Bible gives no direct answer to this, except the statements in Acts 7:30,35 and Galatians 3:19. Acts 7:30,35 does not record Stephen as saying that the Lord Jesus spoke to Moses. Trinitarians assume that Jehovah was an angel (messenger) and yet that the angel was the angel -- messenger "of" Jehovah, sent by Jehovah. They would imagine and assume that Jehovah is more than one person and therefore the one person of Jehovah sent another person of Jehovah as a messenger of the first person of Jehovah, etc. Therefore they view the appearances of the angel of Jehovah as so-called theophanies, not just in the sense of a divine being making appearances, but in the sense of the Supreme Being allegedly appearing as men. They seem to see no inconsistency in this whatsoever. The assumptions are made to comply with their added-on trinitarian dogma so to have it appears that Jehovah is the angel sent by Jehovah, claiming that Jehovah as the Son was sent by Jehovah as the Father. Sadly, they do not seem to realize that this concept is no where presented in the Bible, and they have to create several assumptions outside of what is written in order to "see" the concept in the scriptures.

There are trinitarians that claim that there is only one angel of Jehovah, or as many often prefer, "angel of the Lord", whom they claim is the Son of God. We do not actually know that there is only one angel of Jehovah, as both the Hebrew and the Greek are often indefinite, so that it could be rendered "an angel of Jehovah". In Luke 1:11,19,26 an angel of Jehovah is identified as Gabriel. If there is only one "angel of Jehovah", then the angel is thus identified as Gabriel, not Jesus.

 As far as Jesus appearing in the Old Testament, it very well could have been that the same chain of communication was employed in the Old Testament days as was employed in Revelation: From Jehovah to the Logos to an angel of Jehovah. (Revelation 1:1; Genesis 16:7-11; 22:11; 31:11; Exodus 3:2-5; 23:20-23; Judges 2:1-4; 6:11,12; 13:3) We can read that Jesus was there with his God and Father before the world of mankind was made, and that it was through the pre-human Jesus, spoken of as the Logos, that the world of mankind was made. -- John 1:1,3,10; 17:5.

Although we do leave open the possibility that Jesus could have made appearances in the OT as an angel of Jehovah, the only angel actually identified by name as an angel of Jehovah is Gabriel. (Luke 1:11,19) Nevertheless, if Jesus did appear as one of Jehovah's angels, such would still not mean that that Jesus is Jehovah, or that Jesus is one three persons all of whom are Jehovah, etc. However, we are not given any hint in the scriptures that any of the scriptures that refer to an "angel of Jehovah" has any reference to Jesus in his pre-human existence. 

We have mentioned Galatians 3:19. In this scripture, the apostle Paul speaks of "angels" [plural] used in setting up of the law. "Why, then, the law? on account of the transgressions it was added, till the seed might come to which the promise hath been made, having been set in order through messengers [angels] in the hand of a mediator." (New American Standard) The word translated "ordain" (Strong's 1299) in the KJV here means: "to arrange, appoint, ordain, prescribe, give order." The mediator referred to is Moses, who thus received the law from God through the angels, who set these laws in order to Moses so that he could write them down. Paul, however, does not identify any of the angels referred to as being Jesus.

We conclude that there were "angels" that spoke for and represented the Word of Jehovah, and thus quoted Jehovah in the first person as they spoke the words of Jehovah. Likewise, they were on occasion responded to by the term "Jehovah", since Jehovah was speaking through them.

  

Another point is that many trinitarians will deny that Jesus was an angel before coming to the earth (in opposing the idea that Jesus is Michael the archangel), yet paradoxicallymany of these same trinitarians want the angel of Jehovah spoken of here to be the prehuman Jesus. Nevertheless, there are some trinitarians who do believe that Jesus is the Michael the archangel, although these claim that Michael was uncreated.

Jesus never made any claims to be Jehovah. He claimed Jehovah as his God and Father, the one who sent him, anointed him, and gave him his authority. The holy spirit reveals through the scriptures that Jehovah (Yahweh) is the only true God, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus. Jehovah (Yahweh) is the God and Father of the Lord Jesus. Jesus has one who is the Supreme Being over him; Jesus is not his Supreme Being whom he worships, prays to, and who sent him, and whose will he carried out in willful obedience. -- Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Matthew 4:4 (Deuteronomy 8:3; Luke 4:4); Matthew 4:7 (Deuteronomy 6:16); Matthew 4:10 (Exodus 20:3-5; 34:14; Deuteronomy 6:13,14; 10:20; Luke 4:8); Matthew 22:29-40; Matthew 26:42; Matthew 27:46; Mark 10:6 (Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:7,20-23); Mark 14:36; 15:34; Luke 22:42; John 4:3; 5:30; 6:38; 17:1,3; 20:17; Romans 15:6; 2 Corinthians 1:3; 11:31; Ephesians 1:3,17; Hebrews 1:9; 10:7; 1 Peter 1:3; Revelation 2:7; 3:2,12.

The holy spirit reveals through the scriptures that Jesus was sent by Jehovah, speaks for Jehovah, represents Jehovah. Jesus is not Jehovah whom he represents and speaks for. -- Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Matthew 23:39; Mark 11:9,10; Luke 13:35; John 3:2,17,32-35; 4:34; 5:19,30,36,43; 6:57; 7:16,28; 8:26,28,38; 10:25; 12:49,50; 14:10; 15:15; 17:8,26; 20:17; Acts 2:22,34-36; Romans 15:6; 2 Corinthians 1:3; 8:6; 11:31; Colossians 1:3,15; 2:9-12; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 1:1.

With the above in mind, let us examine the scriptures where it is claimed that Jesus appeared as as the angel of Jehovah, and as supposedly as "Jehovah", in the Old Testament.

Genesis 16:7-14

The angel of [Jehovah] found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. 8 He said, "Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, where did you come from? Where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai." 9 The angel of [Jehovah] said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands." 10 The angel of Yahweh said to her, "I will greatly multiply your seed, that they will not be numbered for multitude." 11 The angel of [Jehovah] said to her, "Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because {Jehovah] has heard your affliction. 12 He will be like a wild donkey among men. His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him. He will live opposite all of his brothers." 13 She called the name of [Jehovah] who spoke to her, "You are a God who sees," for she said, "Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?" 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. -- World English, "Jehovah" is rendered as "Yahweh" in this translation, but we have altered it to present the Holy Name as "Jehovah".

The first time that the expression, "angel of Jehovah", appears in the Bible is in Genesis 16:7. Indeed, it is the first mention of an "angel" at all in the Bible. The angel speaks to Hagar, who was fleeing from the harsh treatment of Sarai, Abraham's wife. (Genesis 16:6) It is claimed that in these verses, Hagar calls the "angel of Jehovah" by the name "Jehovah", and that therefore the "angel of Jehovah" is the same being as Jehovah. (Genesis 16:13) While we do not believe that any angel of Jehovah is actually Jehovah, at most what is actually written would only lead one to assume such and nothing more, since there is nothing here that links this "angel of Jehovah" to a supposed second person of the trinity. Nevertheless, from this it is evidently thought that Jehovah is more than one person, and that the angel of Jehovah is one of the persons of Jehovah, based on the assumption that the first person of the imagined trinity, the God and Father of Jesus, cannot been seen, while the second person of Jehovah, Jesus, can be seen, etc. All of this, of course, is not found in scripture, it has to be conjured up beyond what is actually stated, added to, and read into what is stated. Of course, it is true that Jesus' God is invisible, and thus cannot be seen by mankind. Any idea, however, that Jehovah had be more than one person because of this has to be imagined, assumed, added to, and read into the scriptures.

Without interjecting trinitarian philosophy, however, the default reasoning should be that the "angel of Jehovah" is not Jehovah who is sent the angel. The word angel means "messenger," which means that the messenger is speaking on behalf of someone else who sent him. Thus Jehovah appears, speaks through, and acts through His messenger. In other words, the expression itself tells us that the "angel" or "messenger of Jehovah" is not Jehovah, for Jehovah is the one that sent the messenger, and that thus the messenger speaks the words of Jehovah. Thus logically, we should conclude that the author of Genesis 16:13 actually refers to Jehovah, who was the one who spoke by means of his angel, and not to the angel, the messenger, himself, who was sent by Jehovah. A similar example is where angels are referred to as men. Although they appear as "men," they are not actually men; likewise, they appear on behalf of Jehovah, and thus are addressed as being "Jehovah" or "God," although they are actually not Jehovah or the Supreme Being. Additionally, the author could have been expressing the matter as it appeared to Hagar, who might have thought that the angel of Jehovah was Jehovah himself.

We know that Hagar did not actually see the invisible Jehovah himself, although she evidently thought she had seen Jehovah. No human can see Jehovah's  mighty and invisible substance and yet live. Indeed, since he is the "invisible God", any appearance that he makes has to be in by means of some visible representation of Him. 

The World English Bible translation, and some others, makes it appear that Hagar thought she had actually seen Jehovah himself, and have made it appear that Hagar was glad that she was still alive, even after having seeing God Almighty. The King James Version translates the related words like this: "Thou God seest (Strong's #7210, yar] me: for she said, Have I also here looked [Strong's #7200, har] after him that seeth [Strong's #7210] me?" This could be read as an acknowledgment by Hagar that although Jehovah had looked after her, and had seen her plight and also seen the future of her descendants, she had failed in looking after Jehovah. "She rebukes her own dullness and acknowledges God's graces, who was present with her everywhere." (Beza, Theodore. "Commentary on Genesis 16". "The 1599 Geneva Study Bible". 
https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mhm/exodus-33.html#ex+33:10.
1600-1645).

What we do not find in Genesis 16:7-14, or anywhere else in the Bible, is the thought that Jehovah is more than one person. What we do not find in Genesis 16:7-14, or anywhere else in the Bible, is the thought that any angel of Jehovah is Jesus, whom Jehovah also sent. -- Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Isaiah 61:1; Matthew 10:40; Mark 9:37; Luke 4:18; 9:48; 10:16; John 3:16,17; 4:34; 5:24,30,36,37; 6:38-40,44,57; 7:16,28,29,33; 8:16,26,29,42; 9:4; 11:42; 12:44,45,49; 13:20; 14:24; 15:21; 16:5; 17:3,8,18,21,23,25; 20:21; Acts 3:13-26; Galatians 4:4; 1 John 4:9,10.

Genesis 18:1,22; 19:1,17,22,23

Genesis 18:1,22; 19:1,17,22,23 are some scriptures that are often presented to supposedly show that the three angels who visited Abraham were in fact the three persons of the alleged trinity of persons in one God. Of course, not one of these scriptures ever speaks of these three angels, also referred to as "men", as three persons of Jehovah, thus such a thought has to be read into what is said. We have discussed these scriptures more fully in the study entitled, "Abraham and the Three Angels", and so will not go into more detail in this study.

Genesis 21:17-20:

Genesis 21:17 And God heard the voice of the lad. And the Angel of God called to Hagar from the heavens, and said to her, What [aileth] thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad there, where he is.
Genesis 21:18 Arise, take the lad, and hold him in thy hand; for I will make of him a great nation.
Genesis 21:19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the flask with water, and gave the lad drink.
Genesis 21:20 And God was with the lad, and he grew; and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. -- Darby Translation.

Here many trinitarians call upon the spirit of human imagination so as to assume that the angel (messenger) of God is God Himself; they would further imagine and assume that the angel is their alleged second person of God, and that "God" in the expression "angel of God" refers to one of the alleged "persons" of God. Thus, by reason of their imagination, they would assume that Jesus is the angel of God, and that Jesus is also God. While we highly doubt that any of the angels of God is Jesus, even if it was, all the rest of the assumptions would not follow.

We should note that we believe that the most direct way to view this is that in Genesis 21:17, when the angel speaks to Hagar, he first speaks his own words, but in Genesis 22:18, he related the words of God of whom he is a messenger. Jehovah speaks through, by means of his angels, and thus an angel of God may relay the words of God in the first person. The fact that an angel of God does this does not mean that we need to imagine and assume that any angel who does so is actually the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, nor does it give any reason to imagine and assume any of these angels are persons of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, etc. The very fact that an angel is called "angel" -- messenger -- signifies that the angel is delivering the words of the One who sent him.

Genesis 22:11-14

Genesis 22:11 The angel of Yahweh called to him out of the sky, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" He said, "Here I am."
Genesis 22:12 He said, "Don't lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."
Genesis 22:13 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
Genesis 22:14 Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh-jireh. As it is said to this day, "In Yahweh's mountain it will be provided."

Some have claimed that since Abraham called the place "Jehovah-jireh" [Jehovah provides], and since it appears that it was actually the angel that actually provided that ram, that this means that Abraham was actually attributing the name "Jehovah" to the angel of Jehovah, and further it is imagined and assumed that this angel of Jehovah was actually a person of Jehovah, and further imagined and assumed that this person was the Lord Jesus in his prehuman existence. This really reads a lot into the verse that just isn't there. Whether Jehovah directly provided the ram, or whether Jehovah used the angel to provide the ram, this still does not mean that the angel [messenger] of Jehovah was actually Jehovah, as Jehovah often takes the credit for the work done by those whom he sends. (Exodus 3:10,12; 12:17; 18:10; Numbers 16:28; Judges 2:6,18; 3:9,10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:24,25; 14:6,19; 15:14,18; 16:20,28-30, 2 Kings 4:27; Isaiah 43:11, 45:1-6; etc.) Nevertheless, we cannot say definitely that Jesus did not appear in the Old Testament as an angel of his god, Jehovah, As stated earlier in this section, an angel of Jehovah in the Old Testament could have been Jesus, but more than like none of these angels were Jesus. The only angel of Jehovah identified by name in the Bible is Gabriel. (Luke 1:11,19) In many of the instances where an angel of Jehovah is spoken of in the Bible in the Old Testament, it could have been Gabriel.

Another claim some make concerning these verses is that Abraham offered the ram up to the angel as a burnt offering, thus proving that the angel of Jehovah was actually Jehovah himself, or as trinitarians claim, a "person" of Jehovah, that is Jesus in his prehuman existence. Again, nothing is said about the ram being offered to the angel, although, acting as Jehovah's representative, it would have been appropriate for the angel to receive the offering on behalf of Jehovah. This still would not make the angel of Jehovah into Jehovah himself.

Genesis 22:15-19.

15 The angel of [Jehovah] called to Abraham a second time out of the sky, 16 and said, "I have sworn by myself, says [Jehovah], because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 that in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies. 18 In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." -- World English.

Here the angel of Jehovah quotes Jehovah, thus this should show that the angel of Jehovah is not Jehovah. It certainly does not call for use of extra-Biblical imagination so as to assume that Jehovah is more than one person, and that the angel is one of the persons of Jehovah, etc. Without injecting trinitarian assumption into what is said, the logical conclusion is that the angel speaks and acts on behalf on the one whom he represents.

Genesis 31:11,13; 32:1,24,28,30

Another episode that many refer to is in Genesis 31:11,13; 32:1,24,28,30. It is claimed that the angel with whom Jacob wrestled was in reality Jesus, and in turn, it is claimed from this that Jesus is God Almighty. At most one could read into the verses that the angel is God, or a god. There are no scriptures that link the angel with Jesus, although it is possible that it could have been.

Numbers 12:8: Ezekiel 33:11

Some point to Numbers 12:8, which reads: "with him will I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches; and the form of [Jehovah] shall he see: why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?" (World English) It is claimed that this is proof positive that the "angel of Jehovah" is Jehovah. We need to point out that this "proof positive" is based upon the assumption that Jehovah is more than one person, and the assumption that the "angel of Jehovah" is actually Jesus. Also it based on the assumption that "face to face" means that  Moses actually looked upon the face of Jehovah, the Almighty Most Powerful Supreme Being of the Universe. Scripturally, we find this idea to be absurd, especially in view of the fact that Jehovah directly told Moses: "You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live." -- Exodus 33:20.

However, we can let scripture interpret scripture here and come to a conclusion. Let us look at Exodus 33:11: "[Jehovah] spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." Here we learn what this term "face to face" is meant to convey: "as a man speaks to his friend." Matthew Henry* states concerning Exodus 33:20: "God talked with Moses (v. 9), spoke to him face to face, as a man speaks to his friend (v. 11), which intimates that God revealed himself to Moses, not only with greater clearness and evidence of divine light than to any other of the prophets, but also with greater expressions of particular kindness and grace. He spoke, not as a prince to a subject, but as a man to his friend, whom he loves, and with whom he takes sweet counsel." -- Henry, Matthew. "Commentary on Exodus 33".

"Matthew Henry Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible".
https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/exodus/33.html
1706.

Additionally, we can see that this is also confirmed by the statement in Geneva Study Bible notes for Exodus 33:11. There we find:

33:11 And the LORD spake unto Mosesd face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

(d) Most clearly and familiarly of all others, (Numbers 12:7,8; Deuteronomy 34:10)

We definitely find nothing in Numbers 12:8 that would show that Jesus is Jehovah, or that Jehovah is more than one person, etc.

It is claimed by some that to call the angel of Jehovah by the name "Jehovah", and to bow down to this angel as though he was Jehovah, is a "clear" violation of the second commandment. If bowing down to angel is to be considered to be a clear violation of the second commandment, then we must assume that many who bowed downed to kings, elders, judges, etc., all through the Old Testament were breaking the second commandment. Of course, this is ridiculous. (See our study: The Worship Due to Jesus) It is true that if one should actually give to the angel the exclusive worship that only belongs to the Most High, that this would be setting such an one up in the station of Jehovah himself, and thus would be a violation of the second commandment.

What we never find any of the scriptures related to any "angel of Jehovah", or anywhere else in the Bible, is the thought that Jesus is Jehovah, or that Jehovah is more than one person. Such ideas have to be imagined beyond what is actually written, and assumptions have to be formulated, added to, and read into, the scriptures so as to make the scriptures conform to what is being imagined.

See also our resource page on:

Angel(s) of Jehovah