Christ the Angel of Jehovah
By C. L. Taylor
FROM Genesis to Revelation, the Bible record, with all its wonderful variations and kaleidoscopic revelations, is but the forthshining of the glory of the Divine One,—the story of "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." When God gave His Son to the world as its offering for sin, then, also, the fate of the world rested upon Him. To the Lord Jesus Christ was given "power over all flesh" (John 17:2), to Him were committed all judgment and authority (John 5:22, 27). In the stories of patriarch and prophet, of priest and prince, of ruler and ruled, are, therefore, only glimpses of the Christ who, as a simple man, as a mighty warrior, as a flaming angel, or as Jehovah, God, sought to accomplish in and for and thru mankind the beneficent designs of the great plan of salvation. Understanding that from the very beginning only God the Son, with but one or two exceptions, has been the One seen and heard, then indeed the word of God assumes a new beauty, and wonderfully plain but comprehensive and suggestive is the record of earth which Heaven has been pleased to give. The Purpose of the Writing.
In the light of the foregoing, it is easy to understand that "whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we thru patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." Rom. 15:4. The basis of hope for to-day is that He who worked for Noah, for Abraham, for Jacob, lives and works now. Seeing what our Christ did in those days of long ago, we may see what He will do, tho in a larger way, in this present time. Said Jesus, "Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad." John 8:56. By faith Abraham became acquainted with the Lord Jesus, accepted Him as his Saviour from sin and sinning, and so entered into covenant relation with Him. Heb. 11:8-10; Gen. 15:1-6. Thru faith in the gift of the only-begotten Son of God, he was able to offer up his only son, Isaac. Heb. 11:17-19. But it was as "the Angel of Jehovah,"—Jehovah's messenger—that the Son of God visited men in those patriarchal days. Malachi refers to Him as "the Messenger [or angel] of the covenant." Mal. 3:1. God's covenant of peace was laid in Jesus Christ. Therefore as the angel of Jehovah's covenant, the Son of God ministered especially to those who by faith had entered into covenant relation with Heaven. Christ Meeting Men on Common Ground.
What a beautiful, yea glorious thought that all thru the ages the Son of God, as His Father's messenger of love and power, has condescended to meet man on common ground, as it were, and to enter into all the various details of his life and work as Friend and Helper, as Counselor and Guide! But even so it was. To poor, discouraged Hagar "the Angel of Jehovah" came with comforting advice and sweet assurance, and that Hagar might know Him as she ought, He evidenced His divinity in a promise that only the Divine could make or keep. Gen. 16:7-13. She heard His voice, and recognized His nature; and out of the fulness of her heart she said, "Thou art a God that seeth." The Angel of Jehovah was the Son of God. To Abraham "the friend of God," the Angel of Jehovah came at various times and under different forms. As the patriarch sat in his tent door in the heat of the day, "Jehovah appeared unto him." And how?—As a man among men. "Lo, three men stood over against him," and one was the Son of God. From the heavenly courts, where ten thousand times ten thousand holy ones paid Him adoration, Jehovah's messenger came to converse with a man—a creature of dust! He had come to take that man into Heaven's confidence! And Jehovah said, "Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do?" And then He told him of Sodom's doom, and listened patiently while again and again the man of faith pleaded for the benighted city. Genesis 18. Then, again, read the story of the test of faith in Abraham's later years. Genesis 22. Who was it that so carefully and tenderly watched over the aged man of God as from his Hebron home he wended his way to Mount Moriah there to offer up the son of promise? Ah, listen! When the father raised the knife in obedience to God's command, "the angel of Jehovah [the Son of God] called unto him out of heaven, and said, . . . Now I know that thou fearest God." Yes, it was the Lord Jesus Christ who that day heralded to an expectant universe the love and faith of one of His children. It was He who one day would actually die as man's ransom, One from whom the stroke of wrath would not be turned away. It was the Angel of Jehovah who, during that night of distress and temptation, wrestled with the man Jacob. Wonderful indeed it is that the Christ of God should enter into such relationship with one of His own creatures. But as Jehovah's Messenger, that was the work of His choice. But if the relationship seemed humble, the results were divinely glorious. That night Jacob "the supplanter" became the Israel of God. That night of wrestling brought him a new nature and a new name. Genesis 32. Let us thank God for such a Messenger. As the Hagars still need comfort, the Abrahams testing, the Jacobs new natures, so the Angel of Jehovah's covenant still lives. He visits men to-day, He enters into all their life experiences, and by His Spirit makes known to them the secrets of Heaven.