Hey, Pastor John!
I have a question. My history and bible teacher says that the Angel of the Lord is Jesus. Is that true? He said that when Abraham was going to kill Isaac, after the Angel of the Lord told him to stop, he said “Because you have not withheld your only son from me, I know that you fear God.” My teacher says that what he said would be sinful for an angel to say. He also said that the last time in the bible “Angel of the Lord” is said is before Jesus was born. I was wondering if that was true or not.
Thanks!
Samantha
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Hi Samantha.
God has always spoken through His angels, Samantha, the same way He spoke through His prophets. Many times, a prophet would speak as if God Himself were standing there speaking (“I will bless you…”, or “I command you…”, etc.) But that does not mean that the prophet himself was God or Jesus. The same is true for angels. At the burning bush, it was an angel that spoke to Moses out of the bush (Acts 7:30), but what did the angel say? “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” That did not mean that the angel was actually God, or Jesus. Nor does it mean that it was a sin for that angel’s words to sound as if God Himself was speaking.
No angel is God or His Son. God and Jesus are not angels. Angels have a different kind of life from what God and Jesus – and you – have. You are not an angel, either! Jesus is the King of angels and all other heavenly beings, and they worship and serve him (Rev. 5:11-14).
Also, just so you know, the phrase “the angel of the Lord” is used in the New Testament after Jesus is born at least six times: Mt. 2:13, 19; 28:2; Lk. 2:9; Acts5:19; 8:26.
So, the angel of the Lord is not Jesus, Samantha. I have heard people say so, too, but it is not true.
Thanks for the question,
Pastor John