The Lord Is With You

The Lord Is with You

When most of us think of the Son of God coming to earth, we picture him as a baby in Bethlehem. And certainly that is right and true. It was then that the second member of the Trinity took on flesh to live among us. But he was not absent or inactive in Old Testament times. Throughout the Old Testament there are numerous times the angel of the Lord appeared, and while Scripture doesn’t spell it out absolutely, because this unique angel promised what only God can do and performed what only deity can accomplish, it may be that the angel of the Lord was none other than the pre-incarnate Son of God.

When the angel of the Lord spoke, his words were perceived as being God’s words. The angel of the Lord met Hagar in the desert, and Genesis says, “the LORD . . . had spoken to her” (Genesis 16:13, emphasis added). Abraham heard the voice of the angel of the Lord on Mount Moriah telling him not to plunge the knife into his son Isaac, saying, “I will certainly bless you” (Genesis 22:17, emphasis added), which is a promise from God himself. The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in flames of fire from within a bush, and we are told that “God called to him from the middle of the bush” (Exodus 3:4, emphasis added). In fact, it was the presence of God himself that made the place Moses was standing “holy ground” (Exodus 3:5). After the angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah and his wife to tell them she would give birth to Samson, Manoah said, “We will certainly die, for we have seen God!” (Judges 13:22).

While God sent angels as his messengers in the New Testament, this wondrous and unique angel of the Lord did not appear. His absence might convince us that this revealer of God in the Old Testament was not a different being from the revealer in the New Testament. It was his form that was different. Rather than angelic form, he took on human form.

Why would the angel of the Lord appear on the stage of the world’s earlier history? It must have been in order to reveal his Father to us—to prepare the way for his own coming in the flesh, and to outline in shadows the nature of his coming Kingdom. God was here in the form of his Angel, providing his loving guidance and careful protection, actively involved in the cares and affairs of undeserving men and women. He sees our need and he condescends to us. He cares. He comes.

Revealer of God, visit me with your holy presence. Fill me with wonder and praise for your love that extends from eternity past into eternity future.