The Old Testament mentions one particular angel among the others in the Bible: the angel of the Lord. His designation as the angel of the Lord, rather than just an angel of the Lord, is what makes Him unique. This demonstrates that this is a unique angel that we only encounter in a few locations in the Old Testament.
The angel in the Old Testament
Who then is this unique angel? The fact that He is compared to God in multiple texts is just one of His many unique qualities. For instance, we read the following when God calls Moses:
“Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 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. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 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.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.“(Exodus 3:1-6)
We find the identical equation involving God in Judges 6:11–25. The angel of the Lord is referred to in this event as the Lord (also see Judges 13, 1 Chronicles 21:16-17).
Conversely, we also learn how the Lord addresses the angel of the Lord and how the angel talks to the Lord:
“Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?” said the Lord’s angel at that point. Thus, the angel that spoke with me was given pleasant and consoling words by the Lord. Zechariah 1:12-13)
The angel in the New Testament
The angel of the Lord is no longer present in the New Testament (though we do read about one in Luke 2).
Who then is this unique angel? Many Christians think it is Christ before His incarnation, or His taking on flesh and becoming a human being, as Jesus of Nazareth, because of His equation with the Lord Himself. His equation with the Lord is explained by this. However, this also clarifies how He can differ from the Lord, as seen in Zechariah 1, as [God the Son and God the Father] are distinct entities even though they are both one, together with the Holy Spirit. Lastly, this clarifies why the Lord’s angel is not mentioned in the New Testament because He has taken on human form and is known to us as Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Lord, and Mediator.
