Who is the Angel of the LORD, is he different from the angel of the Lord? In reading the Bible through from cover to cover, it comes to ones attention that there is a difference between these supernatural beings, some are fellow workers as in Revelation 22:6-9 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. Here let it be noted that the "Lord God . . .sent his angel," this is not capitalized. This is important, as when it is capitalized, then who is this Angel? In this study we will look at these texts and by context learn to tell the difference. 

     Starting out in Genesis 22:1-18 we read the story of Abraham taking his son to be sacrificed on Mt. Moriah. In verse 1 it states that "God did tempt Abraham," this lets us know at the start who is behind this test. Now in verse 11 the "angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven," and "He said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me." At the start it tells us that God is talking, with no change of who is talking, in verse 11 it is the same voice now called "angel of the LORD" (note Lord is capitalized), and by the context at end of verse is the capitalized word "Me." This lets us know that this angel of the LORD is not a regular angel, in that this Angel accepts the worship of Abraham, so is therefore a divine being, the God of Abraham. 

     Our next example comes from Exodus 3:2. "And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed." Now the angel of the LORD is the God who appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and in verse 4-7 reveals who He is to Moses.

"And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows." The final statement of who this angel of the LORD is, in Exodus 3:13-14, "And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." [Confirmed again Exodus 14:19.]

     Also Exodus 23:20-21.  "Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.  Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for My name is in him." 

     In the New Testament the same story of Moses is repeated in Acts 7:30-37. "And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out, after that he had showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear." 

     In Numbers 22:22-35 is the story of Balaam and the donkey. Here "God's anger was kindled" and the Angel of the LORD, then stands in the way of the donkey with His sword drawn. Note that LORD is capitalized, and "His" is also capitalized. In verse 31, it states; "Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the Angel of the LORD standing in his way, and His sword drawn in His hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face." Now this Angel of the LORD accepts the worship of Balaam, which the angel of Revelation did not, as he was a fellow servant. By the context of this story we recognize that this was Jehovah's work from start to finish of this story. 

     In Joshua 5:13-15, "And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."  Now this story is slightly different, in that it is God who accepts worship, but here He calls Himself, "the captain of the host of the LORD." 

     The next example is found in Judges 2:1-4. In verse 1, it states: "And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you." Here the "angel of the LORD" states that it was "I made you to go up out of Egypt." Again this angel of the LORD is the God who brought the children of Israel up out of Egypt, who is the same God who gave the Ten Commandments. 

     In Judges 6 is the story of Gideon, here again the "Angel of the LORD" appeared. In verse 12, "And the Angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, "The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour." In verses 20-23. "And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face.  And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die." By the context again here we see that this angel of the LORD accepted the sacrifice, and only God could say to Gideon to "fear not: thou shalt not die." 

     In Judges chapter 13, we have the story of Manoah and her husband to whom the Angel of the LORD appears several times. In verse 20-22, it states: "For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that the was an angel of the LORD. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God." 

     A few more verses wherein the Angel of the Lord works. 2 Kings 1:3-4. "But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, 'Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus saith the LORD, 'Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.'" And Elijah departed. 

     Psalms 34:7. "The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." 

     Zechariah 3:1-7. "And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by. And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by." 

     Now in Isaiah 63:9, it states: "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 bare them, and carried them all the days of old." Now this text shows that this "Angel" is the one who "saved them" and "redeemed them," this is none other than our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who is our Redeemer. Also the many names of our Redeemer are found in Isaiah 9:6. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

     Now in the New Testament the term is changed in that it is not capitalized, but term "angel of the Lord" appears when angels announce the birth of the Messiah, and angels who are fellow servants and do not accept worship. It is by the context and if they accept worship that one can tell the difference between angels, and the Angel. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16: "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first." The word "archangel" appears here and Jude 9, where He is called Michael, which connects this event with Daniel 12.1. These are all further descriptions of the same God of Abraham, who is our God, Redeemer, Saviour. Jude 9, "Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation (Lit. judgment [Gr. blasphëmia), but said, The Lord rebuke thee." No other angel bears this title, who disputed over the body of Moses, but the one who raised him from the dead (Romans 5:14), the devil claimed Moses for the death-state, but God raised him as a representative of those who will be raised at the Second Coming. 

     In Daniel 10 we find a "certain man clothed in linen" who bears the same description "appearance of Lightening, and eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude." This same description is found in Revelation 1:12-16, where Jesus Christ appears to John in giving the Revelation of Jesus Christ. In Daniel 10:13, "Michael, one of the chief princes," came to help. Here there is a angel speaking, and another one comes "man clothed in linen" and "Michael," Daniel lost his strength and breath, but was strengthened. Note the Divine and angelic appearances in the book of Daniel. Names mean things in the Bible, and Michael --who is like GOD (Hebrew, El). This is a special angelic ruler for Israel (Daniel 11:21; 12:1; Jude 9, and Revelation 12:7). 

      In the book of Jude we see a story similar to that of Joshua and the Angel in the book of Zechariah. "Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee." (Jude 1:9). Here Christ and Satan are contending over the body of Moses, who appeared alive with Christ at the Transfiguration. Who but Christ could say, "The Lord rebuke thee," and have the devil flee.  Jesus Christ rebuked the devil in the wilderness. The quote below explains clearly why Christ did not bring a "railing accusation" against Satan, and we are to follow the example of Jesus Christ.

      No Railing Accusation.--"As a people, we must stand as did the world's Redeemer. When in controversy with Satan in regard to the body of Moses, Christ durst not bring against him a railing accusation. He had every provocation to do this, and Satan was disappointed because he could not arouse in Christ a spirit of retaliation. Satan was ready to misinterpret everything that was done by Jesus; and the Saviour would give him no occasion, not the semblance of an excuse. He would not turn from His straightforward course of truth in order to follow the wanderings, and twistings, and turnings, and prevarications of Satan."  Counsels to Writers and Editors, page 59.  Another quote with further insight: , "Christ Himself, when contending with Satan about the body of Moses, "durst not bring against him a railing accusation" (Jude 9). Had He done this, He would have placed Himself on Satan's ground, for accusation is the weapon of the evil one. He is called in Scripture, "the accuser of our brethren" (Rev. 12:10). Jesus would employ none of Satan's weapons. He met him with the words, "the Lord rebuke thee" (Jude 9)."   Reflecting Christ, page 70.

     In Revelation 12:7, "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." 

Who has always been at war against the God of Abraham, that the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament is stated in, 1 Corinthians 10:1-4. "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ."