Expert: Marvin Howard - 9/10/2010

Question
Dear,
In O.T, how can we prove that the angel of the Lord is Christ? Pls,, answer to me as soon as possible.

Answer
Hi!

Zau, thank you for the honor of assisting you in this matter. I will do my best to give you useful information. Was Jesus alive (though not yet incarnate) in the Old Testament where we must even consider this question?

John 1:1 and 14, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

Jesus was the Word, and He was present and active in the creation.

Hebrews 7:3, "Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually."

Like Melchisedec, Jesus is eternal; without beginning or end. So, if Jesus was alive in the Old Testament (and He was/is), what did He do? What, if anything, is recorded of Him and His activities? This is not all inclusive, but it proves the point of the question.

Exodus 3:2, "And 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."

Here is the Hebrew for "angel:"

Strong/H4397
מלאך
mal'âk
mal-awk'
From an unused root meaning to despatch as a deputy; a messenger; specifically of God, that is, an angel (also a prophet, priest or teacher): - ambassador, angel, KING, messenger. (Emphasis mine, MRH)

Brown, Driver, %26 Briggs/H4397
מלאך
mal'âk
BDB Definition:
1) messenger, representative
1a) messenger
1b) angel
1c) the THEOPHANIC angel
Part of Speech: noun masculine (Emphasis mine, MRH)

Both of these include references to a sovereign King, or God Himself. Context must decide whether this is Christ, Gabriel, Michael, or one of the unnamed host. What is the context in this passage?

Exodus 3:13-14, "And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."

According to verse 2, this is "the angel of the Lord," but it is also God when Moses answered in verse 13; and Moses knew it.

Now, we must consider this thought more deeply, as this says nothing inherently about whether He is the Father, Son, or Spirit. Run a reference on that name; "I AM."

John 8:24, "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins."

John 8:28, "Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things."

How do these verses matter in this subject? Simply, words were added by the translators; presumably to make the flow of English better. Did it? Let's remove those words that are not a part of the original text and look again.

John 8:24 (corrected), "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins."

John 8:28, (corrected) "Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am, and I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things."

Jesus claimed to be, "I AM." Now, lest someone levy the false claim that I tampered with Scripture to arrive at this conclusion, please examine the following:

John 8:58, "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am."

All of this is recorded in the same discourse to the same people. When Jesus claimed three times to be, "I AM," He claimed to be God. The Jews KNEW this: the supposed blasphemy of which they accused Him. Never allow anyone to tell you Jesus never claimed deity: be that the Jehovah's (False) Witnesses, the muslims, or anyone else. Jesus said He was God. Moreover, Jesus used the same self existent name for Himself as the Being in the burning bush. He claimed to be the self-same God that spoke to Moses in the bush. Before Abraham was (past tense), Jesus was present in the self-contained existence in the continuing tense. Being self-contained, Jesus is not subject to time: He is eternal and God.

Zau, I pray this has been helpful to your purpose. Jesus is God, and anyone who does not believe that has no hope of salvation. Jesus was in the burning bush and anyone who does not believe that has no hope of salvation. If I can be of further assistance in matters of Scripture, please do not hesitate to ask.

In His Service,
Marvin Howard

For those who may read this answer in the archives, and see the ratings, it was asked at 6:37 in the morning (my time), and answered at 9:20 the same morning (my time): less that 3 hours. That is according to the records of AllExperts. Yet I am rated a 6 in timliness because the querist chose not to read it for 3 days. The rest of the ratings are subjective, so when someone doesn't accept the Sctiprure I provide, I expect low ratings like this. But to answer, especially in this depth, in less that 3 hours, that should have garnered a time rating of 12.

This may cost me my chance to help more people through this site, but I am all about telling the truth.