Who exactly is the “angel of the Lord” in the Bible? Scripture gives us several important clues to His identity. While there are general references to “angels of the Lord” or “an angel of the Lord,” the specific title of “the angel of the Lord” points to someone unique.

The angel of the Lord speaks as God, identifies Himself with God, and exercises the responsibilities of God (Genesis 16:7-12; 21:17-18; 22:11-18; Exodus 3:2; Judges 2:1-4; 5:23; 6:11-24; 13:3-22; 2 Samuel 24:16; Zechariah 1:12; 3:1; 12:8). In many of these appearances, those who saw the angel of the Lord feared for their lives because they realized they had seen “God.” This leads me to believe and understand that this is the pre-incarnate Jesus.

Another clue we get is that the appearances of the “angel of the Lord” stop after Jesus arrives on the earth, pointing us to the fact that this is exactly who the Bible is referring to. If you go through the text, the Angel of the Lord was all-knowing, all-powerful, and handled all things as God and for Him. Let’s remember John 8:58: “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”

Next time you are reading and studying the Word of God and you run into “the Angel of the Lord,” translate that as Jesus and see how the text reads. Check out this Video to dig a little deeper into the
Angel of the Lord.

-Brian Neitsch Sr.