The Angel of the Lord is first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 16:7.
The Angel of the Lord appears to Hagar in the wilderness by a spring. Hagar was the handmaid of Sarah, who was the wife of Abraham.
God had given Abraham the promise in Genesis 12 that he would make Abraham into a great nation. He promises to bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who curse Abraham. He states very clearly in Genesis 12:3 that through Abraham, all the families related to him would be blessed. This would eventually include both Sarah and her handmaid, Hagar.
God's Covenant and Abraham's Struggle
Then, in Genesis 15, God appears to Abraham again. In Genesis 15:1, the Word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision. This encounter is strategic and vital to this discussion. It unlocks the mystery of who the Angel of the Lord is.
In this experience, Abraham had sort of wrestled or argued with God about the promised seed God had promised to give Abraham. He lets God know the obvious: he is childless and has no offspring to date, which means he cannot fulfill the promise.
Abraham suggests that maybe Eliezer of Damascus, a servant of his household, should be the heir. God tells him, "No."
Abraham believed the Lord and continued to trust, despite his confusion.
Sarah's Plan and Hagar's Flight
But then Sarah got itchy feet.
She suggested to Abraham in Genesis 16 that he take her handmaid, Hagar, and have a child with her, so that God could bless them with a great nation.
She fell into the trap, as many do, of wanting to help God fulfill His promise to them.
So, Abraham slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant, having a son whom she named Ishmael.
Many debate today whether Ishmael is the true father of the Muslim nation. However, what is certain is that his descendants settled south of Israel and became part of this nation in some capacity. The Muslim nation claims Ishmael as their father, and thus Abraham as their ultimate father, and from them, the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham.
Once Hagar gave birth, Sarah was livid with Abraham and Hagar and forced Abraham to send Hagar away.
Hagar Encounters the Angel of the Lord
It is in this vulnerable moment that Hagar, whom Abraham and Sarah have sent away, meets the Angel of the Lord in Genesis 16:7.
The angel of the Lord instructs Hagar to return to Sarah and submit to her authority. She does. He tells her that God will bless her son, Ishmael. Hagar in Genesis 16:13 refers to the angel as "El Roi," or "The God who sees me." She refers to the Angel of the Lord as God. She recognizes that she has seen God by seeing the Angel of the Lord.
The Angel of the Lord: A Pre-Incarnate Christ?
The Angel of the Lord is seen as a Divine Messenger with Divine Authority.
The "Angel of the Lord" in the Old Testament is most often interpreted as a manifestation of God Himself, a theophany, or a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ.
This is where Abraham's experience of the Word of God in a vision, as described in Genesis 15, becomes critical to the discussion.
Genesis 16 is the first mention of the Angel of the Lord, but the figure that visited Abraham in Genesis 15 provides a foreshadowing of someone who is yet to come and may very well be the Angel of the Lord in Genesis 16.
Genesis 15 says, "The word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision."
This "word" spoke to Abraham, and he called that word, "The Lord God."
How does the "Word of the Lord" come to Abraham in a vision?"
How does he see the word of the Lord?
John 1:1 provides us with an indication of who this was and how he saw the Word of God.
The Gospel of John tells us that the Word was God and is God. We later learn in John 1:14-16 that the Word is Jesus.
Abraham met preincarnate Jesus in Genesis 15.
Then in Genesis 16, Hagar meets the Angel of the Lord. She sees the Angel and knows immediately this is God, just as Abraham knew the Word was God in Genesis 15.
The Angel of the Lord is not a created angel but a divine being who acts as a messenger and a representative of God. The name of the Lord, which is the Word of God, that visited Abraham in Genesis 15, is explicitly said to be "in him," and this angel speaks with God's authority, just as Jesus does in the New Testament.
The Angel of the Lord is identified directly with God in Exodus 3:2-4. The Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire out of a bush. Exodus 3:4 tells us that the Angel in the bush speaking was God Himself. In Exodus 3:6, the Angel of the Lord says to Moses, "I am the God of your father." And Moses was afraid to look at the burning bush because he knew he was looking at the presence of God.
God saw Moses just as Hagar said in Genesis 16, "God sees me."
There is a difference in the Bible between an angel from God and the Angel of God.
An angel from God has a name.
The angel of God is God, and His name is Yahweh, the I AM! The same name, Jesus, declares himself to be no less than seven times in the Gospel of John. Jesus is the "I AM."
Evidence and Implications For Christology
Perhaps the most compelling evidence that the Angel of the Lord is Jesus is found in the fact that after Jesus comes to earth, there are no further "Angel of the Lord" citations in the Bible. There are "an" angel of the Lord citations in Acts and Revelation, but this appears to be a different manifestation than what is seen in the Old Testament prior to the incarnation of Jesus.
Jesus becomes the incarnate "Angel of the Lord," and thus, prior to this, the Angel of the Lord was the Pre-incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ Himself. The Word of God, who appeared to Abraham, made flesh.
Jesus is the Word of God, and the Angel of the Lord made flesh.
