Moses Meets the Angel of Yahweh (#6 in Yahweh and the Angel of Yahweh)

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Messenger of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked and saw that the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush has not burned.” When Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus 3:1–6)

Years back in 1994, there was a revival taking place in Toronto, Canada, that was like this burning bush Moses saw. It was creating a lot of stir and people were drawn to come see it. My pastor offered his staff a chance to go see it, so I went. We were seeing spirited worship, individual prayer resulting in people being “slain” in the Spirit, people roaring like lions, and uncontrollable laughter in the Spirit. I submitted to prayer but didn’t get slain. The person standing behind me to catch me nudged me as I was praying, trying to initiate the fall, so I told God I was only going down if He made me go down. He didn’t. Some fascinating things happened to me as a result of the prayer there, but not the advertised slaying.

Moses, on the other hand, experienced something totally supernatural, a meeting with God. We’re told that the Messenger of Yahweh appeared in the flame of fire in the bush that attracted Moses’ attention. But when Moses comes to the bush it says God called to him from the bush. Is it Yahweh or the Messenger of Yahweh who is in the bush? That it is God who is in the bush is undeniable because His presence makes the ground there holy. Moses clearly understands this is God and he is afraid to look at Him because of the belief that he would die if he did so. But that it is the Messenger of Yahweh who is in the bush is also undeniable. Can they be equated?

We’ve already seen that the Messenger of Yahweh and Yahweh are separate personalities, and that the Messenger of Yahweh can speak for Yahweh, even quote Him, yet can also speak as if He is Yahweh. And here, at the bush, it appears that the Messenger of Yahweh is, in some sense, Yahweh, whose presence makes the ground holy. He is not in human form but is physically manifesting as flaming fire that does not consume the bush. And he is called Yahweh and God by the text.

So to our list of facts about the Messenger of Yahweh we can add another:

1. The Messenger of Yahweh is a separate personality from Yahweh who can speak about Yahweh and for Yahweh.
2. The Messenger of Yahweh can take on a human form to interact with humans.
3. The Messenger of Yahweh can speak from heaven without manifesting in any physical form.
4. The Messenger of Yahweh can speak as if he is Yahweh.
5. The Messenger of Yahweh is equal to Yahweh.

It is time to make a digression to figure this mystery out.