Genesis - 32 - Gen. 15-16 - HOW TO "SEE" GOD AND NOT DIE - THE ANGEL OF THE LORD

Avram (Abram as pronounced in Hebrew – name hasn’t changed yet to Abraham or Saree to Sarah) is about to walk through the blood path – it is an ancient Chaldean (area of the first kingdom of Babylon) ritual to make a covenant.  Avram knows it well since he himself is a Chaldean -  Gen. 11:28 & 31.  So God is communicating to Avram using things familiar he is familiar with. 

This covenant ritual means if one walks through the blood path between the animals the person is saying two things. First, that by walking through one agrees to abide by the covenant.  Second, if one breaks the covenant then by walking through the blood of the animals you are saying that if I break the covenant then let it be done to me what has been done to the animals.  But, Avram never had to walk through the blood.  He was represented by someone else.  Just like Jesus and the new covenant we too are represented by someone else.  This seems to have everything to do with God’s amazing redemption plan of the human race by grace. 

A second major topic in this lesson is who is “the angel of the Lord?”  There are 52 occurrences of the phrase "the angel of the Lord" in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament.  You can see the verses starting in Genesis to Exodus 3 which is the focus of this lesson.

Gen_16:7  Now the angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.

Gen_16:9  Then the angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority."

Gen_16:10  Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count."

Gen_16:11  The angel of the LORD said to her further, "Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.

Gen_22:11  But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

Gen_22:15  Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven,

Gen_24:7  "The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I will give this land,' He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there.

Exo_3:2  The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.

Who is this?  What is it?  What do the rabbis say?  Some Christian scholars say it is Jesus!  How can that be if one studies and asks the question what does the Bible say?  No where in the Bible does it even hint at the fact that the angel is Jesus.  

Once again we need to BRING OUR BRAIN  to the Bible.  We all agree this is the inspired word of God.  In short we say the Bible is God's word.  If so and God never said the angel of the Lord is Jesus, then how do some of our Christian scholars say it is Jesus?  It is dangerous to put words in the Bible that are not there.  I would rather it be taught with words like "is it possible that the angel of the Lord might be a manifestation of Jesus.  Perhaps some Bible verses suggest this might be true."  But there are many that seem to say they know the answer and it is their way or the highway.  Not a good way to teach God's word. 

In this lesson one question I pose, and I will again and again, who do you believe?  Do you believe the orthodox rabbis?  Do you believe so called Christian scholars?  Or do you believe in THE VERY WORDS OF GOD?  I suggest to you it must be the latter.

An excellent article on this topic can be found at this link.  

Link - https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/who-is-the-angel-of-the-lord.html

Who is this guy, Rev. Ferret?  What's his background?  Why should we take time to listen to him?  Here's a link to check out his background - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0