Daily Devotions
Exodus
"So He said... 'As Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Joshua 5:14
Text: Exodus 23 : 20
THE SPECIAL MINISTRY OF THE ANGEL OF THE LORD
God gave a very clear word as to what His Angel would do amidst Israel. The highlights were:-
1. He would go before the Children of Israel
It is interesting that God would say that the Angel of the LORD would go before the children of Israel (Exodus 23:20). Moses, made a significant comment about the fact that it was the LORD God Himself who went before the children of Israel. Moses wrote,
“The LORD your God who goes before you…”
DEUTERONOMY 1:30
2. He would bring the children of Israel to the Promised Land
God said that His Angel would be sent “to keep (them) in the way and to bring (them) into the place which (God had) prepared” (Cf. Exodus 23:20). Once again, we cannot but note that Moses said that it was God who went before Israel. He spoke of the Lord as the One .
“Who went in the way before you to search out a place for you
to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go…”
DEUTERONOMY 1:33
There is no question about the fact that this Angel of the Lord fulfilled a role that no other angel of God could! It was the apostle John who described Jesus as the One who was with God when the world was created. Always, Father and Son worked together! He may be said to have been with His Father working alongside Him in the days of Moses (Cf. John 1:1-3; 5:19-20)!
SPECIAL REGARD TO BE GIVEN TO THE ANGEL OF THE LORD
Lest there be any misunderstanding concerning the identity of the Angel of the LORD, Israel was taught how He was to be regarded!
1. He was to be Feared
He was not to be provoked! He had power to forgive or not to forgive transgressions! He was to be feared indeed. But was this not the kind of fear that Israel was asked to give to the LORD God (Cf. Proverbs 1:7; 2:5)?
2. “My Name is in Him”
What a statement this was! There was no qualification as to what it means to bear the very Name of God! To no one else has God ever given such unqualified declarations with reference to His own personal, holy Name! Israel was to always regard God’s Name as holy. Yet, here was God declaring that the holiness of His name is shared with The Angel of the LORD!