But the angel of Adonai called to him out of heaven: “Avraham? Avraham!” He answered, “Here I am.” He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy! Don’t do anything to him! For now I know that you are a man who fears God, because you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
-Genesis 22:11-12
Just before Abraham is about to plunge the dagger into Isaac’s heart to end his life, we are told that the “Lord’s messenger” or some translations will say the “Angel of the Lord” called out to Abraham to stop him.
Now I don’t have the authority to force any certain interpretation or conclusion on you, but I will present the following facts concerning this “being” who called out to Abraham to stop him.
First Fact:
The original Hebrew is “MALACH Yahweh” and NOT “MALACH Adonai”. So the literal translation is the “Angel of Yehoveh”.
Second Fact:
This angel of Yahweh speaks with the same authority (in the first person) as Yahweh God Almighty. In other words, this Being is saying “I say“. He is not saying “God says“.
My point is simple and this is the challenge I set before all Christians everywhere regardless of whether your just an average churchgoer or a seminary professor with 5000 PHDs under your belt, try to harmonize the two aforementioned facts with your “trinity” teaching.
Who is this MALACH YAHWEH?
I assert that it is a full-blown manifestation of God who is NOT Yeshua or the Holy Spirit.
The truth be told, starting with the Council of Nicea in the early 4th century AD, doctrines were established (and continue to be created) that are NOWHERE present in Scripture.
I reiterate.
For the first 200 years, the early church knew nothing of a trinity teaching.
Concerning the word, malach, that you translated as ‘angel’, isn’t ‘angel’ a word from a transliteration of the Greek word ‘aggelos’ pronounced ‘angelos’, and not an actual translation?
That word is translated as messenger, the same as the Hebrew word ‘malach’. The only reason, I believe, that ‘angel’ appears within Strongs’ definition of ‘malach’ is to reference the Greek ‘aggelos’.
I personally don’t think that ‘angel’ should be used as it isn’t a definition. Angel is only an English word because of transliteration. I think messenger should always be used, but that is just my opinion.
But to the point of the article, when we see the definition for what it really is, ‘messenger’, we now see that it is a messenger of YHWH. This puts the phrase into it’s proper context. A messenger speaking with the authority of the Father, much like a military chain of command.
When the captain of a ship sends his messenger someplace for official business, he goes with the full authority of the captain. He can negotiate terms of settlement, authorize expenditures and sign documents. In the same way, when the captain leaves the ship his 2nd has the full responsibility for the ship and it’s crew. If a situation warrants it, the 2nd can take the ship out of port as needed in these situations.
But in all of these situations, he is never the captain or a part of the captain. He is the right hand of the captain and as such he is of the same mind as the captain as he knows from direct communication just what the captains standing orders are.
Now I take that this messenger(s) could be more than one of YHWS’s host, but it might be only one. Whatever the case, YHWH’s Anointed One has been given all authority. I believe this happened at his resurrection (but maybe prior to that), and he will give it back (without being asked) when it is time.
This is how I see this point. Thank you for placing this comment section within your site.
Thanks for your comment Steve. Overall I agree with your comment. Here’s the thing. MALACH can mean just a plain old human messenger or a heavenly messenger. Context lets us know which is which. Since the general word we use for a “heavenly messenger” is “angel”, I don’t have a problem using the word “angel”. Shalom.
But now that we know it is a messenger / angel OF God…doesn’t that let us know that it cannot be God?
I never said MALACH or MALACH YHVH indicates that this entity is God.
I don’t get your confusion? This is exactly what the Trinity teaching has always been?
The Angel of YHWH is Jesus.
My dear brother, good for you for diving into God’s Word and moving towards a greater understanding. Let me just leave this with “your Hebrew needs more work”. Blessings on your study time. Mat the Lord bless you and keep you.
תּוֹדָה רַבָּה