Throughout this study, we have surveyed dozens of appearances, as well as possible appearances, of the angel of the LORD in Scripture. And we’ve tried to show how the person and work of this divine messenger foreshadow the coming Messiah. In short, we have labeled these appearances Christophanies, or appearances of the preincarnate Christ. 

But you may wonder: If the angel of the LORD really is Jesus, why doesn’t the Bible just say so? We clearly see God the Father at work in the Old Testament. And the Holy Spirit is personally active in creation and human history throughout the Hebrew Scriptures as well. So why are the alleged manifestations of the preincarnate Christ shrouded in mystery?

The short answer is: To keep Satan in the dark with respect to the triune God’s work of redemption. While there are some four hundred prophecies, appearances, or foreshadowings of Christ in the Old Testament, each one serves as a tiny piece of a very complex puzzle.

No single messianic prophecy spells out the gospel message in detail, although each prophecy is a vital part of the whole. Satan is far more intelligent than we are, but he is not omniscient. And one of the marvelous themes of Scripture is God’s sovereignty over human history and angelic rebellion. Put another way, the LORD is always at least one step ahead of men and angels, no matter how clever or powerful they may be.

God’s plan for living with humans and angels at the intersection of heaven and earth – in the Garden of Eden – goes horribly wrong from the start. Satan rebels, convincing other angels and humans to join his insurrection. God knows all about this, of course, and immediately promises a redeemer who will crush the head of Satan and set things right with fallen humanity (Gen. 3:15). This is the first of several hundred pieces of the divine puzzle regarding the Kingdom of God. But even the most careful reading of the Old Testament leaves us with many unanswered questions about the promised Messiah. Perhaps that’s one reason the religious elite of Jesus’ day expected a conquering king and not a suffering servant.

As Michael Heiser points out, there is no verse in the Old Testament that uses the word messiah of a man who was actually God and who would die for the sins of humanity. Not even Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12, which pictures the suffering servant, specifically mentions the messiah. Elsewhere in Isaiah, the servant refers to the nation of Israel (e.g., Isa. 41:8; 44:1-2, 21; 45:4; 48:20; 49:3). And the word messiah, which means “anointed,” almost always depicts David or one of his descendants who reign as king after him.

By the time we get to the New Testament, the clues have all been revealed, but the mystery remains. That helps us sympathize with the disciples, who are confused when Jesus tells them he is heading for Jerusalem to die (Matt. 17:22-23; Mark 9:32-34). Peter even rebukes Jesus for bringing up the matter (Matt. 16:21-23).

Even after Jesus’ resurrection, he has to supernaturally open the disciples’ minds to understand what has just transpired. The two disciples Jesus meets on the road to Emmaus have to experience divine illumination to even recognize the glorified Christ (Luke 24:31). Later, when Jesus appears to his followers in Jerusalem, he must help them understand the necessity of his death, burial, and resurrection.

He told them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you – that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. He also said to them, “This is what is written: The Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:44-47).

So, “the messianic profile is only clear in hindsight – and even then only to someone who already knows what to look for and expect,” writes Heiser.

But certainly Satan and his demons knew all of this, right? Not so fast. Of course, they knew the prophesied son of David had arrived (Matt. 8:28-29; Luke 4:31-35). But nothing Satan or demons say in the Gospels shows they know Jesus has come to earth to die and rise again, thus reversing the curse of Genesis 3. Up until that time, some fallen angels tried to create their own race of beings in opposition to God (Gen. 6:1-4). At other times, Satan and his minions sought to exterminate the line of Abraham, thus preventing the birth of the promised seed who is to bless all clans (Gen. 12:1-3; Esth. 3:6). And even after Jesus’ birth, they tried killing him, or causing him to forfeit his mission (Matt. 2:16-18; 4:1-11). In fact, they would welcome his death by any means, thinking it the end of the Davidic line. 

Divine Misdirection

Curiously, Jesus goads Satan and his demons into seeking his death. In Matthew 16, he takes his disciples to Caesarea Philippi at the base of Mount Hermon – a place historically tied to paganism and considered the very gates of Hades. There, Jesus confirms his identity as the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And then he declares that on “this rock” – perhaps a reference to Mount Hermon, a place claimed by the underworld – “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matt. 16:16, 18). Six days later he brings Peter, James, and John to a “high mountain” – likely Mount Hermon once again – and is transfigured before them (Matt. 17:1-7). Jesus then sets his sights on Jerusalem and the cross.

As Heiser summarizes: “The Devil and those aligned with him are lots of things, but they aren’t morons. They were duped into killing Jesus, just as God had planned. They launched the series of events that would lead to their own demise. It was divinely designed misdirection.”

This is precisely what the apostle Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians:

We do, however, speak a wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, because if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 

1 Cor. 2:6-8, emphasis added

By rulers, Paul certainly is acknowledging human authorities like Pontius Pilate and the religious leaders of Israel. But he also has in mind demonic powers (Eph. 2:2). In other words, the Lord kept his enemies – human and divine – in the dark until the death and resurrection of Christ were accomplished works.

This is a lot to take in, but it may help us understand why so much of the Old Testament – including messianic prophecies and appearances of the preincarnate Messiah – comes to us in types and shadows that only materialize in fulfillment. And it makes our study of the angel of the LORD all the more wondrous. Just as the Father and the Holy Spirit are active from the first pages of Scripture, the Son is working as well.

As Jesus tells the religious leaders, after they question him about healing a disabled man on the Sabbath, “My Father is still working, and I am working also” (John 5:17). Rather than leading to their repentance, Jesus’ words goad the religious leaders into trying to kill him, for not only is he violating the Sabbath, but he’s calling God his Father, making himself equal with God (v. 18). 

The forces of evil – human and divine – carry out their plans, but as Peter declares in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, Jesus is “delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge.” Then, God raises him up, “ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death” (Acts 2:23-24).

Christ has broken the curse through his sinless life, sacrificial and substitutionary death on the cross, and physical resurrection. And he’s coming back one day to completely reverse the effects of sin and restore the intersection of heaven and earth to its pristine perfection. Then, the same Christ who appears in a burning bush, a pillar of fire, and a cherubim-propelled chariot-throne, and who later comes as God in human flesh, will wipe the tears from our eyes. The agony of living in a sinful and fallen world becomes a faint memory of “previous things” as the angel of the LORD makes all things new (Rev. 21:4-5).

This concludes our study of the Angel of the LORD.

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