A Historical Approach 4
To end this historical look on the angel of the Lord, consider Martin Luther, one of the Reformers. Skipping ahead to the sixteenth century, Luther began a new era that has become known today as the Reformation. During this time he wrote a series of lectures on the book of Genesis and other passages. In his lectures on Genesis, Luther deals with the passages that refer to the angel of the Lord, but he neglects to look at some of the other passages scattered throughout the Old Testament. He also takes a different approach to these passages in that he does not speak of Moses or Joshua’s encounters and even separates the passages in Genesis into two separate categories.
He begins with Hagar’s encounter with the angel of the Lord prefacing his discussion with the idea that the angels were sent to earth as guardians for God. They were sent to guard Eden, protect Lot in Sodom, encourage the disciples at Jesus’ ascension, and in this case, protect Hagar in her present dilemma. In this explanation, Luther lumps together the passages that specifically mention the angel of the Lord with those that show how one or more angels were sent to deliver messages or protect God’s people. It seems as if he does not feel comfortable with making any distinctions between the different instances in which angels appear. Furthermore, he disagrees with Hilary who “thinks it was God Himself who spoke with Hagar” in Genesis 16:7-9. Instead, Luther believes that there are times in which the “angel had assumed the appearance of a human being.” He then looks at Genesis 21:17 and Genesis 22:11, where he once more suggests that God does not appear to Hagar and Abraham. In these instances, Luther sides more with Augustine who believed that the angels should not be equated with the Lord.
However, Luther also seems to believe that there were times in which God or Christ was present in physical form on the earth prior to the Incarnation. In his discussion on Genesis 18, Luther makes it clear that the three men who appeared were the Lord. In fact, he interprets Abraham and Sarah’s actions as being oblivious to the fact that they are in the presence of the Lord. At first, Abraham accepts these men as he would accept any visitors. When Sarah hears that she is to bear a son, she laughs in unbelief. Luther suggests that Sarah may have only considered these men to be messengers of God rather than God Himself. But in the end, Abraham does appear to worship these three men, an act intended for someone of divinity. From this encounter, it appears as if these three men can be viewed as a representation of the Trinity.
Now although Luther does not look to any of the other angel of the Lord passages for support, he does put forward two interesting cases. In one sense, he adamantly states that anytime the angel of the Lord is said to appear, the passage should be taken literally. The angel of the Lord is just that, an angel sent from the Lord, not the Lord Himself. However, in the vaguer situations, such as the three men who appear to Abraham, it may be possible that these types of passages can be viewed as the Lord appearing in physical form. Even though Luther does not look at Exodus 3 or Joshua 5, it appears as if he would classify these passages with Genesis 18. Since they explicitly state that the Lord appeared to Moses and Joshua respectively, and since both Moses and Joshua end up worshipping the Lord, these passages hold some strong parallels to Genesis 18. Therefore, Luther’s view seems to be split into two distinct types. He would suggest that the angel of the Lord passages should not be grouped with Genesis 18 and other passages of the like. Instead, there are two distinct groups: one where God sends His angels with a message, the other where God delivers the message Himself.
After taking this historical approach in looking at the angel of the Lord, what is the conclusion? As previously noted, confusion still abounds. The church fathers and scholars of the last two thousand years do not give a definitive answer to this difficult topic. Their opinions have shifted and changed. Therefore, consider some of the ideas presented in the last few years.
In the next post, we will begin looking at a more modern look to see what ideas they have presented in answering this question...
Matt
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