The Angel of the Lord
The Angel of the Lord, or the Angel of Yahweh, also known as The Voice, is a heavenly and divine entity that appears before certain special individuals on God's behalf.
Description[]
While this entity is known as the "angel" of the Lord, it is no mere angel as every time it appears it is always described in a way that is purposefully puzzling with many speculating on whether or not the Angel of the Lord was an angel sent by Yahweh or in actuality Yahweh Himself.
History[]
Genesis[]
In the book of Genesis, there is a tale involving the woman known as Hagar, Abraham and Sarah's runaway Egyptian slave, who came across an entity that, according to the book, is described as the "angel of Yahweh" who calls to her and actually begins to speak as if he is Yahweh by saying, "I will give you many descendants." Hagar supports this concerning the identity of the Angel of Yahweh being Yahweh by addressing the entity, "You are God who sees me."
Another tale involving this entity is when when this angel comes to Gideon in the book of Judges, he speaks as if Yahweh is distinct from himself, but then the narrator calls this figure “Yahweh”. It is then told that “the angel of Yahweh disappeared”, only to find Yahweh still there talking to Gideon.
Exodus[]
The story and others similar to it are inviting people to a paradox which is that Yahweh is above all and inaccessible to mortals but He at times can reveal Himself to humans in ways that they can see and understand. This all means that the Angel of the Lord is actually Yahweh made visible to mortal perception and while distinct from Yahweh is also Yahweh.
An example of this paradox is recorded in what is perhaps the Angel of the Lord's most famous appearance and that during the tale of Moses and his journey. In the Exodus it was the Angel of the Lord that actually appeared before Moses in the form of a burning bush, and when Yahweh saw that Moses stopped to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush; this figure is referred to as the Angel of Yahweh, then Yahweh, and lastly God. Later in the story Moses learns that the figure in the burning bush is the one leading Israel out of Egypt in a pillar of fire and cloud and being the same figure that takes up residence within the Tabernacle.