The following is what I wrote about 15 years ago on this very subject.
The angel of the Lord first appears as the angel of the Lord at Genesis 16:7. He says in the following verses that he will multiply Hagar's descendants at verse 10. At verse 13 Hagar says, "Thou art a God who sees; Have I even remained alive after seeing Him."
At Genesis 17:1-2 you have the Lord (physically) appearing to Abram and says to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. verse 2, And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply your exceedingly." Question? Is the being who multiplied Hagar's descendants at Genesis 16:10 the same being who multiplied Abrams descendants at Genesis 17:1-2? Also notice Genesis 18:1, "Now the Lord appeared (physically) to him/Abraham by the oaks etc. Who was that?
Moving on to Genesis 22:1 it says, "Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham etc." At verse 11, "But the angel of the Lord called to him/Abraham from heaven, AND SAID, Abraham, Abraham! etc." verse 12, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him, for now I KNOW that you fear God, since you have not WITHHELD your son, your only son, FROM ME." Please note that the text says, "your only son from Me, why? Abraham's first born son was Ishmael, not Isaac. Why is that?
Genesis 22:15, "Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, verse 16, AND SAID, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, verse 17, "indeed I will greatly multiply your seed as the starts of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies." Verse 18, "And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because YOU HAVE OBEYED MY VOICE."
So what we have here is the angel of the Lord at Genesis 16 who multiplied Hagar's descendants and was identified as God is the same being who made the covenant to Abram at Genesis 17:1-2 who is identified as God. It is also the same being (the angel of the Lord) at Genesis 22:16-18. Swearing an oath is a matter of one's own conscience. No one can swear an oath on behalf of you. Also notice that even in today's courts we swear an oath "By God."
All of this is backed up by the writer of Hebrews at Hebrews 6:13-14, "For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, HE SWORE BY HIMSELF, Verse 14, "saying, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply you." Luke 1:73, says, "The oath which He swore to Abraham our father."
A couple of points of interest. The angel of the Lord is speaking in the "first person" here. This is confirmed at (Genesis 16:10, Genesis 21:18, Genesis 31:13). Also, the angel of the Lord appears at, Genesis 16:7-14, Genesis 22:11-16, Exodus 3:2-4, (the burning bush), Numbers 22:22-38, Judges 2:1-3 and at other places. It should be noted that the Hebrew word for "angel" is "malak." It simply means "messenger." And of course angels are messengers, and so are men.
Malachie 3:1, "Behold, I am going to send My "malak/angel/messenger" and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the "malak/angel/messenger" of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming, says the Lord of hosts." The first messenger in this verse is none other than John the Baptist. This is confirmed at Mark 1:1-4. Obviously John is not an actual angel. Who do you think the second messenger is? The one who will come to HIS temple, and the one in whom we will delight? As a side note the prophet Malachie, well his name is from the root word "mala," which again simply means messenger.
Also of note, THE angel of the Lord never appears in the New Testament, although he is mentioned at Acts 7. by Stephen. Another important point that people miss is there is a difference between the words, "a or an" as opposed to the word "the."
The grammatical function of "an" or "a" is to connote a thing not previously noted or recognized. In other words, it's just that, "AN/A" angel/messenger. The word "the" connotes a thing PREVIOUSLY noted or recognized. A good example that makes my point is at Acts 5:17-21, Peter and other apostles were put in jail. At vs19, "But "an" angel of the Lord during the night opened the gates of the prison." We don't know who this angel was that God sent.
The bottom line in all of this is the fact that a real angel, like Michael CANNOT SWEAR OATHS ON BEHALF OF GOD ALMIGHTY HIMSELF. Can an actual angel swear an oath? Yes! Revelation 10:5-6. "And the angel whom I say standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven, vs6, and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there shall be delay no longer." Who is the angel swearing by?
In conclusion, God the Father cannot be seen and the Father has no separate manifestation from the Son. The Son is the only manifestation and revelation of the Father. What is known of the Father is revealed through the Son. To see the Son is to see the essence of the Father, John 1:18, John 10:30, John 12:45, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3. In short, the Son of God Jesus Christ is the Angel/Messenger of the Lord, not Michael. I will be happy to answer any questions.
IN THE ANGEL OF THE LORD,
bluto
The angel of the Lord first appears as the angel of the Lord at Genesis 16:7. He says in the following verses that he will multiply Hagar's descendants at verse 10. At verse 13 Hagar says, "Thou art a God who sees; Have I even remained alive after seeing Him."
At Genesis 17:1-2 you have the Lord (physically) appearing to Abram and says to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. verse 2, And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply your exceedingly." Question? Is the being who multiplied Hagar's descendants at Genesis 16:10 the same being who multiplied Abrams descendants at Genesis 17:1-2? Also notice Genesis 18:1, "Now the Lord appeared (physically) to him/Abraham by the oaks etc. Who was that?
Moving on to Genesis 22:1 it says, "Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham etc." At verse 11, "But the angel of the Lord called to him/Abraham from heaven, AND SAID, Abraham, Abraham! etc." verse 12, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him, for now I KNOW that you fear God, since you have not WITHHELD your son, your only son, FROM ME." Please note that the text says, "your only son from Me, why? Abraham's first born son was Ishmael, not Isaac. Why is that?
Genesis 22:15, "Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, verse 16, AND SAID, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, verse 17, "indeed I will greatly multiply your seed as the starts of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies." Verse 18, "And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because YOU HAVE OBEYED MY VOICE."
So what we have here is the angel of the Lord at Genesis 16 who multiplied Hagar's descendants and was identified as God is the same being who made the covenant to Abram at Genesis 17:1-2 who is identified as God. It is also the same being (the angel of the Lord) at Genesis 22:16-18. Swearing an oath is a matter of one's own conscience. No one can swear an oath on behalf of you. Also notice that even in today's courts we swear an oath "By God."
All of this is backed up by the writer of Hebrews at Hebrews 6:13-14, "For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, HE SWORE BY HIMSELF, Verse 14, "saying, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply you." Luke 1:73, says, "The oath which He swore to Abraham our father."
A couple of points of interest. The angel of the Lord is speaking in the "first person" here. This is confirmed at (Genesis 16:10, Genesis 21:18, Genesis 31:13). Also, the angel of the Lord appears at, Genesis 16:7-14, Genesis 22:11-16, Exodus 3:2-4, (the burning bush), Numbers 22:22-38, Judges 2:1-3 and at other places. It should be noted that the Hebrew word for "angel" is "malak." It simply means "messenger." And of course angels are messengers, and so are men.
Malachie 3:1, "Behold, I am going to send My "malak/angel/messenger" and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the "malak/angel/messenger" of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming, says the Lord of hosts." The first messenger in this verse is none other than John the Baptist. This is confirmed at Mark 1:1-4. Obviously John is not an actual angel. Who do you think the second messenger is? The one who will come to HIS temple, and the one in whom we will delight? As a side note the prophet Malachie, well his name is from the root word "mala," which again simply means messenger.
Also of note, THE angel of the Lord never appears in the New Testament, although he is mentioned at Acts 7. by Stephen. Another important point that people miss is there is a difference between the words, "a or an" as opposed to the word "the."
The grammatical function of "an" or "a" is to connote a thing not previously noted or recognized. In other words, it's just that, "AN/A" angel/messenger. The word "the" connotes a thing PREVIOUSLY noted or recognized. A good example that makes my point is at Acts 5:17-21, Peter and other apostles were put in jail. At vs19, "But "an" angel of the Lord during the night opened the gates of the prison." We don't know who this angel was that God sent.
The bottom line in all of this is the fact that a real angel, like Michael CANNOT SWEAR OATHS ON BEHALF OF GOD ALMIGHTY HIMSELF. Can an actual angel swear an oath? Yes! Revelation 10:5-6. "And the angel whom I say standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven, vs6, and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there shall be delay no longer." Who is the angel swearing by?
In conclusion, God the Father cannot be seen and the Father has no separate manifestation from the Son. The Son is the only manifestation and revelation of the Father. What is known of the Father is revealed through the Son. To see the Son is to see the essence of the Father, John 1:18, John 10:30, John 12:45, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3. In short, the Son of God Jesus Christ is the Angel/Messenger of the Lord, not Michael. I will be happy to answer any questions.
IN THE ANGEL OF THE LORD,
bluto
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