It is virtually impossible that the Angel of the Lord is Michael the arc angel. He is however, the preincarnate Jesus Christ.

The following is what I wrote about 15 years ago on this very subject.

The angel of the Lord first appears as the angel of the Lord at Genesis 16:7. He says in the following verses that he will multiply Hagar's descendants at verse 10. At verse 13 Hagar says, "Thou art a God who sees; Have I even remained alive after seeing Him."

At Genesis 17:1-2 you have the Lord (physically) appearing to Abram and says to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. verse 2, And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply your exceedingly." Question? Is the being who multiplied Hagar's descendants at Genesis 16:10 the same being who multiplied Abrams descendants at Genesis 17:1-2? Also notice Genesis 18:1, "Now the Lord appeared (physically) to him/Abraham by the oaks etc. Who was that?

Moving on to Genesis 22:1 it says, "Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham etc." At verse 11, "But the angel of the Lord called to him/Abraham from heaven, AND SAID, Abraham, Abraham! etc." verse 12, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him, for now I KNOW that you fear God, since you have not WITHHELD your son, your only son, FROM ME." Please note that the text says, "your only son from Me, why? Abraham's first born son was Ishmael, not Isaac. Why is that?

Genesis 22:15, "Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, verse 16, AND SAID, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, verse 17, "indeed I will greatly multiply your seed as the starts of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies." Verse 18, "And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because YOU HAVE OBEYED MY VOICE."

So what we have here is the angel of the Lord at Genesis 16 who multiplied Hagar's descendants and was identified as God is the same being who made the covenant to Abram at Genesis 17:1-2 who is identified as God. It is also the same being (the angel of the Lord) at Genesis 22:16-18. Swearing an oath is a matter of one's own conscience. No one can swear an oath on behalf of you. Also notice that even in today's courts we swear an oath "By God."

All of this is backed up by the writer of Hebrews at Hebrews 6:13-14, "For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, HE SWORE BY HIMSELF, Verse 14, "saying, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply you." Luke 1:73, says, "The oath which He swore to Abraham our father."

A couple of points of interest. The angel of the Lord is speaking in the "first person" here. This is confirmed at (Genesis 16:10, Genesis 21:18, Genesis 31:13). Also, the angel of the Lord appears at, Genesis 16:7-14, Genesis 22:11-16, Exodus 3:2-4, (the burning bush), Numbers 22:22-38, Judges 2:1-3 and at other places. It should be noted that the Hebrew word for "angel" is "malak." It simply means "messenger." And of course angels are messengers, and so are men.

Malachie 3:1, "Behold, I am going to send My "malak/angel/messenger" and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the "malak/angel/messenger" of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming, says the Lord of hosts." The first messenger in this verse is none other than John the Baptist. This is confirmed at Mark 1:1-4. Obviously John is not an actual angel. Who do you think the second messenger is? The one who will come to HIS temple, and the one in whom we will delight? As a side note the prophet Malachie, well his name is from the root word "mala," which again simply means messenger.

Also of note, THE angel of the Lord never appears in the New Testament, although he is mentioned at Acts 7. by Stephen. Another important point that people miss is there is a difference between the words, "a or an" as opposed to the word "the."
The grammatical function of "an" or "a" is to connote a thing not previously noted or recognized. In other words, it's just that, "AN/A" angel/messenger. The word "the" connotes a thing PREVIOUSLY noted or recognized. A good example that makes my point is at Acts 5:17-21, Peter and other apostles were put in jail. At vs19, "But "an" angel of the Lord during the night opened the gates of the prison." We don't know who this angel was that God sent.

The bottom line in all of this is the fact that a real angel, like Michael CANNOT SWEAR OATHS ON BEHALF OF GOD ALMIGHTY HIMSELF. Can an actual angel swear an oath? Yes! Revelation 10:5-6. "And the angel whom I say standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven, vs6, and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there shall be delay no longer." Who is the angel swearing by?

In conclusion, God the Father cannot be seen and the Father has no separate manifestation from the Son. The Son is the only manifestation and revelation of the Father. What is known of the Father is revealed through the Son. To see the Son is to see the essence of the Father, John 1:18, John 10:30, John 12:45, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3. In short, the Son of God Jesus Christ is the Angel/Messenger of the Lord, not Michael. I will be happy to answer any questions.

IN THE ANGEL OF THE LORD,
bluto

IMO, Angels and the Son of God (Jesus) are distinct beings with different roles and natures.

Nature
Angels are created beings. They are spiritual entities created by God to serve Him and carry out His will. They are not divine and do not possess the same attributes as God.
Jesus Christ, on the other hand, is understood to be the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity. He is both fully divine.

Role
Angels are messengers and servants of God. They are depicted throughout the Bible as beings who deliver messages, protect God's people, and carry out divine commands.
esus Christ, as the Son of God, has a unique role in salvation history. He came to earth as the incarnate Word of God to fulfill the Father's plan of redemption. Jesus' primary mission was to reconcile humanity to God through his sacrificial death and resurrection.

Authority
Angels operate under the authority of God. They carry out His commands and serve His purposes.
Jesus Christ, however, has authority equal to that of God because he shares in the divine nature. In the New Testament, Jesus demonstrates his authority through his teachings, miracles, and ultimately his victory over sin and death through his resurrection.

Relationship with Humanity
Angels interact with humans throughout the Bible, often appearing as messengers or agents of God's protection and guidance.
Jesus Christ, as the incarnate Son of God, has a unique relationship with humanity. He became human, lived among us, and experienced the full range of human emotions and experiences. Through his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus offers salvation and reconciliation to all who believe in him.


While angels and Jesus Christ both play significant roles in Christianity, they are fundamentally different beings. Angels are created beings who serve God, while Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God who came to earth to save humanity.

Excellent analysis. I'm sure you know the Jw's believe that Jesus Christ is Michael the archangel. But I'm not if you are aware of the fact that the Mormons believe Adam is Michael the archangel. The point is the fact you cannot compare or mix or match
ontological beings that do not have the same nature. Playing the role of Michael in both cases is a category error. This is what does them in. Gods nature is what separates Him from all that is not God. Same thing with having a human nature, it separates you from all that is not human. In short, this is a simple case of "comparing apples and oranges." Keep up the good work.

IN GOD THE SON,
bluto

yes I was aware about Michael, but to me I never believed this.

Human nature is a temporary state, God made us in his image. if we look closely at john 17, it is clear that the human potential is quite extraordinary and defies the imagination for those who believe in the Father and the Son;

Jhn 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Jhn 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

it is best understood reading the full chapter.


Peace be upon you.

The Angel of the Lord is undoubtedly pre-incarnate Christ.

I agree with the aforementioned arguments against the notion that the Angel of the Lord is Michael the Archangel. I would also add that Genesis Chapters 18 & 19 are often invoked to support the idea that the Angel of the Lord is merely an angelic being. Although I would agree that two of those figures are angels and are clearly identified as such in Gen. 19:1, the leader of the three "men" is clearly identified as God Himself via the Tetragrammaton. It is also clearly stated that two of those "men" turned away and went down into Sodom whilst Abraham remained standing before the Lord (Gen. 18:22).

I believe Jesus Christ has an Angel that looks just like Him but is not Him, it is NOT Michael and is NOT any of the Arch Angels, nor is he the pre-incarnated Christ.

He is simply set apart as the one and only Angel of the Lord.

Jesus Christ gave the revelation prophecy to His Angel to give to John on Patmos.

The angel in the in first verse of Revelation 1:1 has absolutely nothing to do with "THE" angel of the Lord in the Old Testament/the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ.

In fact the angel of the Lord never appears in the New Testament. How is it that you can come up with "opinionated" statements without any basis of truth?

For instance, how did you determine that this angel looks just like Him/Jesus Christ? Angels are spiritual beings with no corporal form. Furthermore this angel is "NOT" the one and only angel of the Lord. Jesus is the one and only angel of Lord as in there are no others.

By you posting this nonsense gives people the wrong idea or the false impression that the real angel of Lord is not the angel of the Lord.

IN GOD THE SON,
bluto

Jesus Christ does have His own Angel that He sends to speak to John regarding the revelation prophecy….

This Angel’s description looks like Jesus Christ but is NOT….because His Angel is NOT to be worshipped.

And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:

And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,

And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write:

and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:

But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.

And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.

And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passag...10.8,Rev.10.9,Rev.10.10,Rev.10.11&version=KJV

The subject at hand is "NOT" about Jesus having His own angel who you clearly stated was the angel of the Lord. You posted this on a thread I started about Michael the arch angel being the angel of the Lord. This has "NOTHING" to do with you saying "Jesus has His own an angel of the Lord" found in the book or Revelation. By doing this you are sending a mixed message regarding the real angel of the Lord,/Jesus Christ in the Old Testament.

IN GOD THE SON,
bluto

Hello bluto,

I’ve been researching because I don’t want to make accusations against each other that are spiteful, I just want TRUTH. This is what I have found:

In the OT, the Angel of the Lord does refer to Himself as God when speaking to Moses; Hagar refers to the Angel as God; the 3 men that visited Abraham speak as if they are God, the Word and Spirit which does sound like God to me.

So, the Angel of the Lord does indeed behave Himself as The Word of God which would make Him the pre-incarnated Jesus Christ. I did not see a lot of worship of the Angel(s) as God, but….

So sorry @bluto, I think you might be right about the Angel of the Lord in the OT as The Word of God (pre-incarcerated Jesus Christ)! Thank you for your insight.

I do still believe that Jesus Christ does also have His very own Angel that looks just like Him in Rev. 10.