Angel of the Lord
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Angel of the Lord is a biblical character often viewed as a theophany or Christophany.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia cites examples such as Genesis 3:8.[1] The same source then quotes Genesis 16:7-14.[2] In this case, initially it is an angel which appears to Hagar, however it then says that God spoke directly to her, and that she saw God and lived (Genesis 16:13). The next example the New Catholic Encyclopedia cites is Genesis 22:11-15, which states explicitly that it was the angel of the Lord, rather than God Himself, speaking to Abraham (Genesis 22:11).[3] However, the angel addressing Abraham speaks the very words of God in the first person (Genesis 22:12). In both of the last two examples, although it is an angel present, the voice of the Lord Himself is spoken through the angel, and so this is a manifestation of Deity. The angel is therefore considered a preincarnate appearance of Jesus Christ.
A similar case would be Moses and the burning bush. Initially Moses saw an angel in the bush, but then goes on to have a direct conversation with God Himself (Exodus 3).
