From the Abrahamic covenant to the glory of YHWH filling Solomon’s temple, the Angel of YHWH is present with His people and often in a fiery theophany (Gen. 15:17-21; Exo. 3:1-6, 19:18, 24:16-17; Lev. 9:23-24). Why an angel, and who was he? The Hebrew word for angel, malak, means messenger (Strong’s H4397).

In the Garden, Adam and Eve walked with God, face to face, but the Angel of YHWH was involved with the patriarchs. YHWH and two angels appeared as three men to Abraham (Gen. 18:2). When Abraham was about to slay his only son in obedience to YHWH’s command, the Angel of YHWH called out to him from heaven to stop him from killing Isaac and then to bless him (Gen. 22:10-18). The Angel of God appeared to Jacob, saying, “I am the God of Bethel” (Gen. 31:11-13), referring to YHWH’s revelation at the top of the ladder as the God who will go with him (Gen. 28:13-15). When Jacob was about to bless Joseph’s sons, he said to him, “El Shaddai appeared to me at Luz [Bethel] in the land of Canaan (Gen. 48:3-4). Jacob blessed Ephriam and Manasseh, stating, “May the God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from all harm— may he bless these boys,” merging the Angel of YHWH with YHWH (Gen. 48:15). Hosea described Jacob’s wrestling with the Angel as struggling with God (Hos. 12:3-4), but in Genesis, a Man wrestled with him (Gen. 32:24). The Angel of YHWH is synonymous with a Man, the God of Bethel, El Shaddai, the God of Abraham and Isaac, Jacob’s God who shepherded him and delivered him from all harm, and the Angel.

Moses encountered the Angel of YHWH in a flame of fire from the midst of a burning bush; still, it was YHWH who revealed Himself to Moses and sent him to Egypt (Exo. 3:2-6; Act. 7:30-36). YHWH had come down to deliver Israel out of a dark, hopeless domination, yet Moses saw the Angel of YHWH. When Balaam set out to curse Israel, arousing YHWH’s anger, He appeared as the Angel of YHWH with a drawn sword, turning Balaam’s curse into a blessing (Num. 22:22-35). Joshua saw a Man with a drawn sword, the Commander of YHWH’s armies, and, like Moses, took off his sandals and worshiped Him (Jos. 5:13-15). In Deborah’s victory over Sisera, the Angel of YHWH was involved (Jdg. 5:23). The Angel of YHWH spoke to Gideon, sending him to deliver Israel from the hands of the Midianites (Jdg. 6:11-22). The Angel of YHWH announced to Manoah and his wife Samson’s birth, a son who would deliver Israel from forty years of Philistine domination (Jdg. 13:2-3). An angel of the Lord announced Israel’s long-anticipated Deliverer’s birth (Mat. 1:20). The common thread in these Angel of YHWH appearances is Israel’s deliverance out of the enemy’s hand. Also, a fear of death from seeing YHWH face-to-face and a surrounding sacred space occurs in several of the Angel of YHWH’s appearances.

Who delivered Israel out of Egypt? Was it the Angel of YHWH or YHWH? Clearly, YHWH brought Israel out of Egypt by the strength of His own hand (Exo. 13:3, 9; 20:2; Lev. 19:36; Num. 15:40-41; Deu. 4:20). Still it is written, “When we cried out to YHWH, He heard our voice and sent the Angel and brought us up out of Egypt” (Num. 20:16). From Exodus 23:20-22 we learn that YHWH’s Name was in the Angel, His Presence, the I AM of the burning bush, sent to keep Israel in the way and bring them into the place which He had prepared. Since YHWH’s name was in the Angel, the Angel was YHWH appearing to humans outside of Eden, those living outside of His holy space. “The Name,” in whom Israel was to trust, is often personified as YHWH defending Israel in His indignation (Isa. 30:27-28; Psa. 20:1, 7). The identity of YHWH is the same as that of the Angel of YHWH. We see the melding of the Angel of YHWH with YHWH’s identity in several verses. “Then the Angel of YHWH came up from Gilgal to Bochim and said: “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers, and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you'” (Jdg. 2:1). “He became their Savior. In all their affliction, He was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity, He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old” (Isa. 63:9). Ordinary angels do not redeem, forgive sin, or make covenants with Israel; only YHWH, Israel’s Savior, does these things. Jude 5 identifies that it was Yeshua (Jesus) who saved the whole nation of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Angel of YHWH saves and destroys by divine acts. His Angel delivered Shadrach, Meshack, and Abed-Nego because they trusted in their God (Dan. 3:28). Daniel was delivered from the lion’s den because God sent His Angel to shut the lions’ mouths (Dan. 6:22). Zechariah’s eight night visions about the restoration of Israel involved the conquering Angel of YHWH (Zec. 1-6). “The Angel of YHWH encamps all around those who fear Him and delivers them” (Psa. 34:7). David prays that YHWH will save him and fight against his enemies, putting them to shame on a dark and slippery path, like chaff before the wind, chased by the Angel of YHWH (Psa. 35). At the Passover, YHWH called for the death of Egypt’s firstborn to the saving of Israel’s households (Exo. 11:4; 12:27). YHWH’s passing through the land of Egypt and Sodom brought the judgment of destruction at an appointed time. In Lot’s exodus from Sodom and Gomorrah, angels took Lot by the hand to escape the city (Gen. 19:12-17). However, the destroying angel turns against Israel when His people become unholy in His holy land. The Angel of YHWH destroyed 70 thousand Israelites when David took a census without collecting the half-shekel (2Sa. 24:16). Sennacherib’s Assyrian army of 185,000 was killed by the Angel of YHWH, delivering the nation of Judah (2Ki. 19:35; Isa. 37:36). At the end of the ages, the Angel of YHWH appears as the Messenger of the covenant to purify and make holy a people for Himself, leading the second exodus while Babylon is destroyed (Mal. 3:1; 4:1-4; Rev. 10:1;18:21; 22:6; 16:1).

From the calling of Abraham out of Ur to Lot’s exodus, Israel’s exodus, Rahab’s exodus, and the nations’ return to God, YHWH calls humanity out of exile to start a new life in His presence. In the end, we shall see His face and have His name on our foreheads (Rev. 22:4). To leave an old, unholy way of life, humanity must internalize a pure heart in order to see God (Psa. 24:3-4; Mat. 5:8). The path to holiness is described as coming out of an iron furnace, a refining fire, and passing through the waters of judgment to a new identity in a holy God (Deu. 4:20; Psa. 66:9-12). Yeshua has sent His Angel to testify that YHWH will be with us on the journey of humanity’s final exodus as He was for Israel (Hag. 2:4-9; Rev. 22:16). From the creation in Genesis 1 to Revelation, the Creator God will eradicate all things that destroy His purposes for us (sin, death, chaos, disorder, wickedness, violence, giants, oppressors, tanninim, Leviathan, Pharaoh, Babylon, gods of the nations, Gog and Magog). We must understand the Angel of YHWH as the Name, the Presence, El Shaddai, and YHWH within the context of the entire exodus covenant since it ties Genesis’s Creator, overpowering tohu and bohu (Gen. 1:2), to the new creation by His power over all that destroys His plan of dwelling with us face to face, filling the earth with His glory.

Takeaway:
The Angel of YHWH often appears as a Man or an Angel, a Being that embodies the essence of YHWH. He is recognized as the Angel of YHWH, a Messenger, yet He is the Name, the Presence, El Shaddai, YHWH, and ultimately Jesus Christ. The Creator YHWH becomes visible as the Angel of YHWH to humanity living in exile, outside of holiness, to let us know that He will never leave us nor forsake us but will be with us on the return journey to living in the light of His face without fear of death.

Fun Factors:
The Angel of YHWH is used 67 times in the Tanakh and has a letter value of 117, 9² + 6² or 81 + 36. The number 81 is 3 × 27, relating to the Holy of Holies, and 36 is the numeric value of the “tabernacle,” ohel, meaning tent.