Lk. 2:8-10 And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.The "angel of the Lord" (angelos Kyriou) appeared to the shepherds. This phrase is found frequently in Scripture, mostly in the OT. The phrase appears eight times in the Gospels, and four times in Acts.
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
Our preliminary thesis is the angel of the Lord, in almost every instance, is God the Word appearing. This isn't always true since The Father spoke at times as well:
Mt. 3:17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
But we would suggest that most every other instance of God speaking is the Word of God:
Jn. 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Not only did He create all things, the Son's word continues to sustain the universe:
He. 1:3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
The apostle John also tells us:
Jn. 12:41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
We would suspect that John was referring to Isaiah chapter six, where Isaiah recorded his encounter with the One seated on the throne in glory. Interestingly, Isaiah first refers to the Lord (Adonai, verse one) as the one seated on the throne, but in verse five he says his eyes have seen the LORD (Yahweh). Then in verse eight he says he heard the voice of the Lord.
The question asked is, "Who will go for us?" This boggles the mind. Isaiah sees the pre-incarnate Word and identifies Him as both Adonai and Yahweh, and then hears (them) say "us."
Let's provide some examples of messages coming via the angel of the Lord.
Ge. 16:7, 10, 13
The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur... 10 The angel added, “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count...” 13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
Notice the angel of the Lord doesn't say what we would expect an angel to say. An angel would say, "The Lord will increase your descendants." But the angel of the Lord says, "I will increase your descendants." Also the narrative attributes the words to the Lord in vs. 13. In addition, Hagar herself says she saw God.
Ge. 22:15-16
The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son...
Here the angel of the Lord says, "I swear by Myself," not "The Lord swears by Himself."
Ex. 3:2-4
There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight — why the bush does not burn up.” 4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”
The "angel of the Lord" appeared in the flaming bush, but then verse 4 says that God spoke to Moses from the bush.
Ju. 2:1
The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, `I will never break my covenant with you...
And, the angel of the Lord takes personal credit for delivering the people into the land, and then describes Himself as never breaking the covenant.
One last example.
Ge. 32:24-30
So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. 28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, [Israel means he struggles with God.] because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.” 29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, [Peniel means face of God.] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
This is curious in that the being is described as a man. After Jacob wrestled with the man the man tells him he struggled with God. Then Jacob named that place "face of God" because he saw God, not a man, face to face.
***
The angel of the Lord always comes with a message, and always with a big message. Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Elijah, David, all these people had an encounter with the angel of the Lord. And all these encounters came with a destiny-changing message.
This is exactly what happened to the shepherds in Luke 2. In this case, the message was the arrival of the Savior, the most momentous message ever delivered, and it was delivered by the angel of the Lord:
11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
The angel of the Lord delivered the message of the Advent, a message so important that every other angel showed up as well:
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel...
Having established that the angel of the Lord is almost always the pre-incarnate Jesus, the Word of God, we now come to our conclusion. Let's first requote the passage:
Lk. 2:8-10 And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.So the angel of the Lord, that is, God the pre-incarnate Son, tells of the birth and location of the incarnate Son, the savior. The Word of God speaks about the Son of God. Both the Word of God and the Son of God existed in this moment simultaneously. This is so mind-blowing that we cannot put words to it.
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
Previously we wrote of the mysteries. We found that many of the mysteries were explained in Jesus. But not all of them were. One of those still-hidden mysteries is:
1Ti. 3:16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.
God is not so easily systematized and explained as some might think. We are glad that the infinite and glorious God of heaven and earth is still beyond our ability to describe or understand:
Job 9:10 He does great things beyond searching out, and wonders without number.
Is. 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no-one can fathom.
We worship at the wonder of this, and we glorify the living God for doing wonders. Holy is He, and exalted above every name!
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