Exodus 23:20 - "Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared." -- World English.
This scripture is being presented by some trinitarians as supposedly a reference to their added-on trinity dogma. One claims, "Though the word 'Trinity' is never found in the pages of Scripture, It is a doctrine that is taught throughout the Scripture, both in the Tanakh and in the New Testament." In reality, Jehovah is presented as only one person throughout the Bible, and one cannot find the trinity doctrinal concept presented even once anywhere in the Bible. One has to created many trinitarian assumptions and then add those assumptions to, and read those assumptions into, any and every scripture presented that is claimed to be speaking of the added-on trinitarian concept.
It is the one person who is Jehovah who sent the angel to guide Israel. The default reasoning is that the angel whom Jehovah sent is not Jehovah who sent him. There is nothing in the verse that says that Jehovah is more than one person. Indeed, it is Jehovah who is speaking, who says he sent this angel; thus the default reasoning should be that this angel is not Jehovah Himself. Any thought that this angel is one of three persons, all of whom are Jehovah, has to be assumed beyond what is stated, added to what is stated, and read into what is stated.
Some combine this scripture with Malachi 3:1, where Jesus is referred to as the angel of the covenant, and in some vague manner apply the word "before" in that verse with the word "before" in Exodus 23:20, and evidently reason that this is proof that the angel in Exodus 23:20 is the Messiah, Jesus. In reality, the application of Malachi 3:1 is totally different from the application in Exodus 23:20. The combining of two scriptures in this manner is not "rightly dividing the word of truth." -- 2 Timothy 2:15, King James Version.
Many Bible Students, however, do believe that this angel was Jesus, as the prehuman Logos, the Son of God. The reality is, however, that no scripture actually presents Jesus as being one of Jehovah's angels. Nevertheless, if this angel was the prehuman son of Jehovah, this would still not mean that we need to imagine and assume that the verse is speaking of any alleged second person of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as many trinitarian advocates claim.
Exodus 23:21 - Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don't provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him.
Jehovah's name -- authority from Jehovah -- was in the angel since Jehovah sent this angel and the angel did the work that Jehovah gave him to do. Jehovah directs the children of Israel to heed what the angel says, for what the angel says is what Jehovah Himself is directing the angel to say. (Exodus 23:21,22) Jehovah again refers to this angel as "my angel" in verse 23, again showing that the angel is not Jehovah Himself, but an angel whom Jehovah sent.
Some claim, based on what is said in Exodus 23:21, that this angel has the authority to pardon transgression, and evidently this is supposed to mean that the angel must be Jehovah, and therefore a person of Jehovah. Actually, what is said in Exodus 23:21 is that this angel "will not pardon your disobedience." It does not say that the angel has been given authority to pardon anyone. Nevertheless, the angel could have been given authority to pardon transgressions; his being given any such authority does not mean that we need to imagine, assume, add to, and read into the scripture that this angel is Jehovah, and further imagine, assume, add to, and read into the scripture that God is more than one person, etc. Any authority the angel had is in fact that which was given to him and was not inherent to his being.
John 17:11
Some try to tie Exodus 23:20,21 with John 17:11, which they evidently read as saying that Jesus made the claim that God's name was given to Jesus. What Jesus actually prayed for was that Jehovah would keep his followers (whom/whoever Jehovah had given to him) in the name of his God and Father. In other words, "Keep them, whoever you have given me, in your name." This corresponds with Ezekiel 34:23, where Jehovah says that he set up "one shepherd" over his sheep. By his words recorded in John 10:16 and in its context, Jesus was declaring himself to be this one true --the genuine -- shepherd of his Father's sheep. (John 10:29) Nevertheless, if it is thought that Jesus is Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, because the name Jehovah was given to Jesus, this would actually mean that Jesus was not Jehovah until his God gave to Him the Holy Name, which really doesn't make sense.
Nevertheless, was the name of Jesus' God in Jesus? Yes, in the sense that Jesus came in the name of Jehovah, his God, and he stands and feeds the sheep in the name of Jehovah, his God and Father. -- Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Psalm 118:26; Micah 5:4; Matthew 21:9; 23:13,39; Mark 11:9,10,26; 13:35; Luke 13:35; 19:38; John 5:43; 10:25; 12:13; Ephesians 1:3.
Exodus 23:25 - And ye shall serve Jehovah your God, and he will bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. -- American Standard Version.
According to some, the above speaks of two different persons as being Jehovah, since Jehovah refers to Himself as "he" and also "I". The reasoning appears to be that since Jehovah speaks of Himself in both the third person and second person in the same sentence, we thus need to imagine, assume, add to, and read into the scripture that Jehovah is more than one person, etc. Actually, there is no reason to imagine and assume anything beyond what is written related to Exodus 23:25 as in Exodus 31:17, where Jehovah again speaks of himself in the first and third person.
The more logical reasoning should be that Jehovah spoke of Himself in the third person to emphasize that it was indeed He, and not a false god or some man, who gives this blessing.
Nothing in any of this actually gives us reason to conjure up and presume that this angel is a person of Jehovah, or even that this angel is Jesus, although we can say that the latter is a possibility; if it is so, the Bible says nothing about this angel or any other angel of Jehovah as being Jesus. Definitely, there is nothing in these verses, or any place else in the Bible, about a triune God, or that God is three persons, or that Jesus is Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, etc.
Ronald R. Day, Sr.
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