7. The Angel of the Lord - Howard and Younger

A Modern Look 2

Enns made several good suggestions, and in many ways David M. Howard agrees. Looking at
Joshua 5:13-15, Howard offers his take on the angel of the Lord. In one sense, Howard wants to suggest that these passages cannot be viewed as there being an ordinary angel. In some way, God is present in these instances. For instance, as already seen, both Moses and Joshua are told they are standing on holy ground in Exodus 3 and Joshua 5 respectively, and they appear to worship the Lord in these instances. At the same time, in Exodus 23:21, it appears as if the angel is given the authority to forgive sins. However, there are also times in which there are clear distinctions made between the angel and God. In Exodus 33:2-3, God sends the angel ahead with the Israelites while He stays behind. Thinking on these passages, it appears as if Howard and Enns are making a similar argument. God is present with the angel of the Lord in that He speaks through the angel, using the angel as one of His messengers. But once again, that does not necessarily mean that the angel should be equated with the Lord.

Finally, Howard looks at the possibility of the angel being a representation of the pre-incarnate Christ. He agrees that there are several instances in the Old Testament where it seems appropriate to assume that a pre-incarnate Christ is present, but he cannot get past the fact that the New Testament does not make any such claim. In fact Scripture is particularly silent as to the real identification of this angel. There is not really a clear cut answer. Howard makes one final conclusion, much like Enns, believing that the angel of the Lord might be a type of typology of Christ. This statement once again suggests that there are connections between the angel and the Lord, but there may not be a one-to-one parallel between the two.

In one final example, K. Lawson Younger looks at Judges 13, when an angel appears to the parents of Samson. Younger points out that in this passage it is not a question as to the identity of an angel, for Scripture plainly states that this is an angel or messenger of the Lord. This example shows one last group of passages that must be considered. Although there are many instances within Scripture that are ambiguous, and there is much debate as to who the angel of the Lord might be, there are instances in which the angel is clearly an angel. In instances such as these, the reader is not expected to draw out any connections to the Lord or think in terms of Christology. So it is important that these other passages are not confused with the angel of the Lord passages. They are a case unto themselves.

We have almost made it to the end. Tomorrow I will post the conclusion of this paper, along with the Bibliography so that you can see how I came to my conclusion on this difficult topic...

Matt