Angel As Representative of the Lord

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We know that angels act as God’s messengers or administrators in this world and are occupied in carrying good news or executing judgment. In fact, the Hebrew word for “angel” signifies “messenger.” Also, the term “angel” is often used in the Word of God to speak of one who represents another, without his being personally there. For example, those who were praying for Peter (Acts 12:12-1712And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying. 13And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. 14And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. 15And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel. 16But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished. 17But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go show these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place. (Acts 12:12‑17)) did not believe that it was Peter who knocked at the door, but said, “It is his angel.” We also read of little children that “in heaven their angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 18:1010Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 18:10)).
However, there are many times in Scripture when the word “angel” is used to signify the divine Presence, although it may be at times a literal angel, or angelic power, that carries out the act. Concerning this use of the word, J. N. Darby makes this comment: “In Exodus 23:20-2120Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 21Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. (Exodus 23:20‑21), the Lord says, ‘Behold, I send an Angel before thee to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him and obey his voice; provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for My name is in him.’ God goes before them by angelic power, by what He calls Mine Angel (vs. 23) — that is, an intervention of God in that way which was really Himself, only in the way of angelic power. Thus Jacob says (Gen. 48:15-1615And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, 16The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. (Genesis 48:15‑16)), ‘God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads.’ So also where God, as I AM, manifested Himself in a flame of fire in the bush, He is called ‘the Angel’ in the bush (Ex. 3:22And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. (Exodus 3:2)). Where Jacob declares at Peniel (that is, the face of God) that he had seen God face to face, and lived, Hosea says, ‘He had power over the angel and prevailed’ (Hos. 12:44Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Beth-el, and there he spake with us; (Hosea 12:4)). So in the case of Manoah it is said, ‘The angel of Jehovah did wondrously,’ and Manoah says, ‘We have seen God,’ and the words are received as Jehovah’s, telling them such and such things (Judg. 13). He is called all through the passage the ‘Angel Jehovah,’ as many translate it. Subsequent to what is spoken of in Exodus 23, Israel made the golden calf. The Lord would have refused to go with them, for, if present, He must consume them, and declared He would send an angel with Moses. Moses intercedes, and the Lord says His ‘presence shall go with’ him.”
We find the same use of the word in the New Testament, for there is no doubt that the “strong angel” referred to in Revelation 10:11And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: (Revelation 10:1) JND is the Lord Himself. He is “clothed with a cloud,” which is indicative of the divine presence, and His subsequent claim to the earth and the sea leave no doubt as to who He is. Also, in Acts 7:3838This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: (Acts 7:38), Stephen refers to “the angel which spake to him [Moses] in the mount Sina,” and this is clearly a reference to the Lord.
The Face of God
We may well ask why the Lord would choose to work this way. Surely the Lord can and does intervene in the lives of His own or execute judgment through the power of angels. Sometimes they are visible, but often their work is done outside of the view of man in general. But sometimes the Lord Himself wishes to make His presence known and uses angelic power or the form of an angel to do this. If He appeared in His glory as God, man could not look upon it. Moses’ face shone when He had been on the mount, so that the children of Israel could not look upon it, although he had not looked directly on the face of God. So also at any other time, man could not look on God’s face and live. But in acting through angels and in angelic power, He could manifest Himself clearly at times, while remaining hidden, as it were, from the eye of man. In such cases He made it clear, by His voice and His words, that it was God Himself who was speaking. What grace, that God would deign to speak to man and do it in a way that clearly showed who He was, yet also in a way that man was not consumed.
W. J. Prost