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Is Christ An Angel Of God?

Posted January 1, 2009
Hi Mike,

I just finished reading a segment in Essential Doctrines of the New Testament by Dr. Ernest Martin. In chapter 2 Dr. Martin is teaching about the angels giving the law to Moses at Mt. Sinai and he says in no way was this main angel we see throughout the Exodus Jesus. He says Hebrews 1 lets us know Jesus is much higher than the angels and the fact that the law was given by an angel shows it is inferior to the law of Christ. It seems like this is all correct. I just have a question. John lets us know that no man has ever heard God's voice or seen his shape, but then Moses said this :

Exo 33:1And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

This verse is not referring to Jesus?  This is the angel speaking in the name of Yahweh? Is Jesus ever referred to as the angel of the Lord? I hope you can see what I am asking for help on. Any guidance would be great.

Your Brother in Christ,

M____


Hi M____,

An angel is a messenger sent from God, and Christ certainly was God's messenger.
Luk 4:18  The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Joh 20:21  Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Look at how Jacob speaks of Christ:
Gen 48:16  The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
Even the translators understand that this is a reference to Christ and so have capitalized the word 'Angel' there in Genesis 48:16. Now look at these verses in Daniel 3:
Dan 3:23  And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Dan 3:24  Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, [and] spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
Dan 3:25  He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

"The fourth was like unto the Son of God" because that is exactly who was with them in that fiery furnace. But now notice how the holy spirit refers to "the Son of God."

Dan 3:26  Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, [and] spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come [hither]. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
Dan 3:27  And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
Dan 3:28  [Then] Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed [be] the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
What confuses Dr. Martin and so many others is this verse of scripture:
Heb 1:13  But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

To which of the angels? The answer is 'only to Christ.' We will sit at Christ's right hand, until our enemies are made our footstool, and we are certainly angels who are to "keep the things written therein and the saying of the prophecy of this book."

Dr. Martin was simply never given to understand this verse of God's Word:

Psa 119:160  The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever. (ASV)

Christ told his disciples that He was sending them just as His Father had sent Him. Therefore it should come as no surprise to discover that we, too, are called angels:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Now notice who it is who "keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book:"
Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him [the angel which had just shown John the judgment of the great whore]. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
...and again:
Rev 22:8  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 shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

"I am thy fellowservant and of your brothers... and of them which keep the sayings of this book." The angels are God's elect, and it is they who "show us these things."

I hope this helps you to see that an angel is sent from God to show us what God wants us to see. I also hope that you can now see that that is exactly what Christ is doing in all of us:

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified it by his angel [Christ] unto his servant John;

This is not the revelation of John but of Christ, and it is given to us by God's angel, Christ.

In regards to your second question about Christ being the Yahweh of the Old Testament, please check out these URLs.

http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/Is_Christ_The_Yahweh_of_The_Old_Testament.php
 
...and...

http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/Christ_is_yahweh.php

Your brother in Christ,

Mike