The Angel of the Lord speaking today

The Angel of the Lord makes several appearances in the Bible. Sometimes he can be seen, and other times he is only heard.  I have read these passages and wondered how awesome it would be for me to experience one of these conversations.  So many of the miracles we encounter in the scriptures seem only like fantasy because we just never see that kind of spiritual movement today.  Yet, there is something about the words spoken by the Angel of the Lord that is timeless.  Yes, he delivered very specific and pointed messages to people about events or circumstances unique to them, but that does not mean that there is not also a general message for all of us in those words.  Let us review some of these scriptures and see how the Angel of the Lord is still speaking to us today.

Gen. 22:15-18

Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Many of us know the story very well. God had promised Abraham a son, and after quite a convoluted journey to that point, Abraham indeed received that promised child.  Then, God made a request that seemed to nullify that promise. He asked Abraham to take that son and sacrifice him on the altar.  In obedience, Abraham proceeded to do just that. He prepared the altar, placed his son on it, and was about to strike the fatal blow.  Then, he heard a voice tell him to stop.  The Angel of the Lord called out and told Abraham that he could keep his son, that his obedience was shown.  Keeping that promised son, however, was not Abraham’s only reward for his obedience.  His willingness to sacrifice that one child gained him such favor in God’s eyes that he then was promised descendants in greater number than anyone could count.

In giving this promise to Abraham, the Angel of the Lord is not necessarily telling us that our descendants will be as numerous as his.  However, he is outlining a rule of sacrifice that applies to us even today.  Abraham was willing to give what little he had to God because he understood that what he had was God’s anyway.  That was really God’s son given to Abraham as a steward.  He waited for that boy, and he loved him greatly, but the point here is not to test that love.  The lesson for him and for us is about how much we are willing to give for God because we know He will provide.  When we hold on to the very little we have and refuse to sacrifice it for him, then we lose even that little bit.  When we open up our tiny storehouses and give God whatever He asks for, when we sacrifice not out of abundance but out of our need, God will reward us with a return greater than we ever could imagine.

Zec. 3:6-7

Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘If you will walk in My ways, and if you will keep My command, then you shall also judge My house, and likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk among these who stand here.’ ”

Here we have the vision seen by Zechariah about the future of Joshua.  The beginning of the vision shows Joshua clothed in filthy garments and standing before the Angel of the Lord.  Then, the Angel instructs some to remove those filthy garments, which signifies the removal of Joshua’s iniquity.  The Angel then clothes him with rich robes and puts a clean turban on his head.  This is an image of renewal that is then followed with a bargain.  If Joshua would walk in the ways of the Lord and keep his commands, then Joshua would be given a high place of authority among the people.  In that time, this image might have made less sense than it does for us today.  Now that Christ has come and shared the gospel message, the beginning of the vision seems abundantly clear.  Not only does the Lord cleanse us of our iniquity, but He rewards those who obey him.

I see a progression in this vision.  First, Joshua is cleansed.  He is fitted in perfectly clean attire that shows us he has not a blemish on him.  After this cleansing, he then is given the command to be faithful because faithfulness brings a reward.  The thing is, that cleansing was just the start.  Even after the moment of purification, we have the option to go roll around in that filth.  In fact, many of us will do that time and again.  Some who have loved the Lord at some point even decide to go back to their filth and stay there.  We see a distinction here between justification and sanctification.  We have been cleansed in a moment, but it is up to us to keep the transformation going.  For those who truly work out their salvation with fear and trembling, many rewards await.  One of those rewards is the privilege of being placed in a position of great authority when the kingdom of Christ reigns fully on this restored Earth.  This is reality.  Those who remain faithful today will be storing up unimaginable rewards tomorrow and will reign with him.

Jgs. 6:12, 14-15

And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

The response of Gideon to the Angel tells us everything we need to know here.  God had his eye on a mighty warrior to bring deliverance.  Gideon was chosen for this specific task, and he was the perfect man to see it through.  There was only one problem.  Where God saw a man of valor, Gideon saw himself as the smallest of the small.  We cannot say that his vision was necessarily clouded because he was only speaking out of his circumstances.  Gideon indeed was the smallest or youngest in his house, and his house was part of the weakest clan in the tribe.  All the cards appeared to be stacked against him.  God, however, saw a much different man than that.  He saw a fighter, a leader, and a savior of sorts.  He saw the one who would be wise enough, mighty enough, and obedient enough to lead his people out of oppression at the hands of the world.

Gideon is one of the first characters to stand out to me when I began to really study the Bible.  I remember reading over this story many times and seeing myself in it.  When I say that I saw myself in the story, I do not mean that I saw myself necessarily as a mighty warrior.  What I saw was someone who does not have a clear vision of who he is in God.  That led me to seek after God’s vision of me.  I wanted to know what it is that the Lord sees when he lays his eyes upon me.  This is something we all should seek because we cannot walk out God’s purpose for our lives if we do not know who we are in him.  Gideon is a great example.  Had he not been told that he was a mighty warrior, and had he not believed that this was the truth despite outward appearances, he would not have had the courage and faith to execute God’s plan for him.  The deliverance of his people hinged on him knowing who he was in the Lord and walking out that character.

Acts 5:17-20

Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.”

I often speak and write about the fact that I had no idea what I was signing up for when I gave my life to Christ.  There are details about this faith of ours that I think are wisely left to be discovered only after we have grown in the Lord.  I never imagined the kind of suffering one could endure simply for following Christ and spreading the gospel message.  Had someone told me on that day that I myself might have to endure similar sufferings as Christ and those whose martyrdoms have been recorded, I cannot say whether my decision would have been the same.  With no knowledge of God, I might have thought that enduring pain or suffering for him is not something I would be able to bear.  Then, we see stories like this, where an angel of the Lord, or perhaps the Angel of the Lord, puts an end to the injustice but follows up that deliverance with a curious message.

The apostles had just been thrown in prison for speaking the gospel message.  Who knows what they were thinking or how long they thought they might have to remain in that place?  Then, an angel appeared to set them free.  The angel then instructs them to continue what they had been doing, to commit the act that had just gotten them imprisoned.  The angel is telling them not to give up.  Some might not want to continue preaching about the Lord after going through this kind of punishment because of it.  They might think it best to lay low and whisper about the Lord instead of shouting about him, but this angel is telling us that our sufferings should not diminish our walking in power and obeying what God tells us to do.  In fact, trials should light a fire under us to do even more.  The apostles were not instructed to leave the prison and hide.  They were instructed to walk out of there and be just as vocal as they had been, if not even more.

Psa. 34:4-7

I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.

David went through a lot in his life.  Most of us never will be king or command an army or commit adultery that leads to murder.  However, given the breath of trials and errors experienced by David, I think each one of us can see a little bit of us in him.  He might have been persecuted in ways we will not be persecuted, but we still will be persecuted for our faith and can learn from he learned.  When David speaks, he speaks from vast experience.  He hit levels so low that he was hiding in caves, living among the Ibex and foraging to survive.  He also hit levels so high that he was in command of thousands upon thousands, doing what he wanted and taking what he wanted because he had the authority to do so.  He knew what it was to be marked simply for obeying God, and he knew what it was to allow himself to be corrupted by that very God’s blessings.  When he tells us that the Angel of the Lord is here to deliver us, it is because he himself has been delivered.

I think it is common for us to see God’s protection as a momentary occurrence.  For example, if I were to be involved in a horrific traffic accident yet emerge completely unscathed, I might think that the hand of God or the Angel of the Lord protected me in that moment.  What we see from David’s description, though, is not a moment of saving.  He talks about the Angel of the Lord surrounding us and being by our side as if he is a constant companion always providing protection.  He does not simply show up at the time we need him.  He appears to be waiting on us.  From these words of David, he appears to be standing guard and ready at all times.  And when he is there, he is a covering on all sides.  There is no way for the enemy to go through a back door or side entrance to enter our camp.  The Angel of the Lord is a shield that is all encompassing without a place for that protection to be breached.

Through Abraham, we learn that the Lord desires sacrifice and that he rewards those who are willing to lose everything they have in order to please him.  Through Zechariah, we learn that our moment of justification is only the beginning, that we still must work through our sanctification and keep ourselves faithful to God.  Through Gideon, we learn that we must seek God to see ourselves as He sees us so that we can walk according to that image and fulfill his plan for us.  Through the apostles, we learn that the trials and persecutions we suffer because of our faith should fuel our fire and make us even that much bolder to share the gospel message.  Through David, we learn that we have a protector who never leaves our side.  We might think that the Angel of the Lord stopped speaking a long time ago, but he is still speaking.  We only need to let those words speak to us today.