Who Is The Angel of YHWH?

Who is The Angel of Yahuah?

The Angel of Yahuah has, currently does, and will continue to play a significant role within the scriptures and future prophecy.  This ‘angel’ interacted with Hager, called out to Avraham from heaven – stopping him from sacrificing Yitschaq (Isaac), spoke to Moshe in the burning bush, withstood Balaam, led Gideon, appeared to Eliyahu (Elijah), interacted with King David, smote the 185,000 Assyrians in one night, and many more profound appearances.  Some might say he’s Michael, or one of the other Archangels, alongside many other theories, yet today it’s time we found out, and I’d like to share a few points to consider. The evidence at hand and who it points to may pleasantly surprise you.

Let’s start with Exodus 3, where the Angel of Yahuah appears in the burning bush:

And the angel of YAHUAH appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a thorn bush: and he looked, and, behold, the thorn bush burned with fire, and the thorn bush was not consumed. SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 3:2 את CEPHER

Here, Moshe encounters The Angel of Yahuah, let’s see what he says:

And when YAHUAH saw that he turned aside to see, ELOHIYM called unto him out of the midst of the thorn bush, and said, Mosheh, Mosheh. And he said, Here am I.  SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 3:4 את CEPHER

Did you catch that?  The angel of Yahuah is synonymous with being ‘Elohiym’ (God) – we will get back to this in a moment.

And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off your shoes from off your feet, for the place whereon you stand is holy ground.  SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 3:5 את CEPHER

Holy ground? Take your shoes off? This is not standard practice for an angel to demand this.  Where have we seen this before?

And it came to pass, when Yahusha (son of Nun) was by Yeriycho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Yahusha went unto him, and said unto him, Are you for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as Captain of the Host of YAHUAH am I now come. And Yahusha fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What says my lord unto his servant? And the Captain of YAHUAH’S Host said unto El- Yahusha, Loose your shoe from off your foot; for the place whereon you stand is holy. And Yahusha did so.  YAHUSHA (JOSHUA) 5:13-15 את CEPHER

This is the only other instance of a prophet being asked to take his shoes off, being in the presence of a divine entity and on holy ground; we cannot ignore this.  For identification purposes, let’s look at the Hebrew word used for ‘captain’:

Here are it’s uses/definitions:

Regardless of the exact definition we go with; it’s clear this ‘angel’ is the leader of Yahuah’s army (host).  Interestingly enough, The Book of Revelation tells us plainly who this leader/captain is:

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of YAHUAH. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.  CHIZAYON (REVELATION) 19:11-14 את CEPHER

This is none other than our Messiah, Yahusha.  I’m very thankful that the title “The Word of Yahuah” was used, as we will expound on this in a moment, but let’s finish up with Exodus 3:

Moreover he said, I am the ELOHIYM of your father, the ELOHIYM of Avraham, the ELOHIYM of Yitschaq, and the ELOHIYM of Ya`aqov. And Mosheh hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon ELOHIYM. And YAHUAH said, I have surely seen את eth-the affliction of my people which are in Mitsrayim, and have heard את eth-their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know את eth-their sorrows;  SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 3:6-7 את CEPHER

Notice The angel of Yahuah proclaims he is the Elohiym of Avraham, Yitchaq and Ya’aqov.  At this point, you may be saying to yourself, Yahusha (Messiah) cannot be labeled ‘an angel’, he’s much higher than this. Let us not forget that the Hebrew word for Angel means ‘messenger’:

Was/is Yahusha a messenger sent from Yahuah?

For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. YAHUCHANON (JOHN) 6:38את CEPHER

YAHUSHA said unto them, My food is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. YAHUCHANON (JOHN) 4:34את CEPHER

I can of my own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which has sent me.  YAHUCHANON (JOHN) 5:30 את CEPHER

As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eats me, even he shall live by me.  YAHUCHANON (JOHN) 6:57 את CEPHER

I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do. And now, O Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world was. את eth I have manifested your name unto the men which you gave me out of the world: yours they were, and you gave them me; and they have guarded את eth-your word.  YAHUCHANON (JOHN) 17:4-6 את CEPHER

Truly, Yahusha our messiah was sent by Yahuah, our amazing Father. He accomplished his marvelous work and was, and still is the most important Malak (messenger) ever sent to us. Thankfully, once again Revelation gives us more understanding, as Yahusha is The Angel of Yahuah.  Not ‘an angel’, but The Angel. Much like Sukkot isn’t ‘a feast’, but ‘The feast’.

AND I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: And he had in his hand a little cepher (book) open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.  CHIZAYON (REVELATION) 10:1-3 את CEPHER

One could make a case that an angel, perhaps even one of the 7 archangels could come down with a cloud, a rainbow, feet as pillars of fire and perhaps even have a face shining like the sun (all attributes given to messiah); however, Revelation 4-5 (throne room scene) makes it abundantly clear that Yahusha alone was given the book to open, which we see here in his hand, in this passage. This ‘Mighty angel’ is Messiah Yahusha.

I want to go back to the very first time the title of ‘The angel of Yahuah’ is introduced, in Genesis 16.  This is when Sarah casts out Hager from their midst:

But Avram said unto El-Sarai, Behold, your maid is in your hand; do to her as it pleases you. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face. And the angel of YAHUAH found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. And he said, Ha’ger, Sarai’s maid, whence came you? and whither will you go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.  BERE’SHIYTH (GENESIS) 16:6-8 את CEPHER

Then this happens:

And the angel of YAHUAH said unto her, I will multiply את eth-your seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.  BERE’SHIYTH (GENESIS) 16:10 את CEPHER

“I will multiply your seed”.  Angels, even Archangels don’t speak in this manner, as if they themselves make things happen, but The Angel of Yahuah does, this cannot be discounted. I’m familiar with the term and use of ‘agency’, being that angels act as emissaries of Yahuah and speak to people on his behalf, yet there is still a major difference with how The Angel of Yahuah speaks with authority.  Next, Hager associates ‘The angel of Yahuah’ as Elohiym (God):

And she called the name of YAHUAH that spoke unto her, you EL see me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that sees me?  BERE’SHIYTH (GENESIS) 16:13את CEPHER

Hager equates the Angel of Yahuah as being El (God). We could end the study here, as I believe the evidence is quite clear, however this year has brought about a profound ‘aha moment’ in my walk and I want to share, as it pertains to this study. For whatever reason (all in Yahuah’s timing), I have stayed away from the Aramaic Targums until very recently. Upon reading them, many confirmations in general have come about, but especially to the topic at hand.  We will be taking a look at this same passage in Genesis 16, but in the Aramaic Targums (which simply means translation):

And Abram said to Sara, Behold, thy handmaid is under thy authority: do to her what is right in thine eyes. And Sara afflicted her, and she escaped from before her. And the Angel of Yahuah found her at the fountain of waters in the desert; at the fountain of waters which is in the way to Chagra. And He said, Hagar, handmaid of Sara, whence comest thou, and whither does thou go?
Genesis 16 – Aramaic Targums

Here is where it gets very interesting:

And the Angel of Yahuah said to her, Behold, thou art with child, and thou wilt bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Ishmael, because thy affliction is revealed before Yahuah. And he shall be like the wild ass among men: his hands shall take vengeance of his adversaries, and the hands of his adversaries be put forth to do him evil; and in the presence of all his brethren shall he be commingled, (yitharbeb, Arabized,) and shall dwell. And she gave thanks before Yahuah whose Word spake to her, and thus said, Thou art He who livest and art eternal; who seest, but art not seen! · for she said, For, behold, here is revealed the glory of the Shekina (presence) of Yahuah after a vision
Genesis 16 – Aramaic Targums

This passage unequivocally clarifies that The Angel of Yahuah is The Word.  Most of you reading this already know who ‘The Word’ is, but let’s solidify this concept:

IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with את eth ELOHIYM, and the Word was ELOHIYM. The same was in the beginning with את eth ELOHIYM. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.  YAHUCHANON (JOHN) 1:1-3 את CEPHER

I love this passage, it clarifies the pre-existence of Yahusha, his title being ‘The Word’, his divinity as Elohiym (God) and the often-debated topic of the Father/Son dynamic; which we fully believe there is the Father and a Son.  I may do a follow up to this, expounding on evidence that it was Yahusha (The Word) who has been interacting with mankind all along, starting with Adam.  Here are just a handful of the nuggets backing this line of thinking, found within the Targums which have quickly become a treasure trove:

And the Word of Yahuah created man in His likeness, in the likeness of the presence of Yahuah He created him, the male and his yoke-fellow He created them
Genesis 1 – Aramaic Targums

And a garden from the Eden of the just was planted by the Word of Yahuah Elohiym before the creation of the world, and He made there to dwell the man when He had created him.
Genesis 2 – Aramaic Targums

And they heard the voice of the Word of the Yahuah Elohiym walking in the garden in the repose of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from before Yahuah Elohiym among the trees of the garden
Genesis 3 – Aramaic Targums

There is so much more to share about this, but for another time! Let us take a quick look at the covenant made with Avraham:

Thereupon was the Word of Yahuah with Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not; for if these men should gather together in legions and come against thee, My Word will be thy shield: and also if these fall before thee in this world, the reward of thy good works shall be kept, and be prepared before Me in the world to come, great exceedingly.
Genesis 15 – Aramaic Targums

And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. Then said they unto him, Who are you? And YAHUSHA said unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.  YAHUCHANON (JOHN) 8:23-25 את CEPHER

And YAHUAH (Yahusha not yet revealed) descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of YAHUAH. And YAHUAH (Yahusha not yet revealed) passed by before him, and proclaimed, YAHUAH, YAHUAH EL, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. And Mosheh made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.  SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 34:5-8 את CEPHER

(Remember, this is The Angel of Yahuah speaking): And ELOHIYM said unto El-Mosheh, EHAYAH ASHER EHAYAH (I am that I am): and he said, Thus shall you say unto the children of Yashar’el, EHAYAH has sent me unto you. And ELOHAI said moreover unto El-Mosheh, Thus shall you say unto the children of Yashar’el, YAHUAH ELOHAI of your fathers, the ELOHIYM of Avraham, the ELOHAI of Yitschaq, and the ELOHAI of Ya`aqov, has sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my mention unto all generations.  SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 3:14-15את CEPHER

YAHUSHA said unto them, Amein, Amein, I say unto you, Before Avraham was, EHAYAH (I am).  YAHUCHANON (JOHN) 8:58 את CEPHER

Yes, it was Yahusha, The Angel of Yahuah who declared I am that I am.  While I’m still ‘testing’ the Targums, the excitement level reminds me of 2015 all over again, when the Ruach Ha’qodesh revealed two major truths; true Scriptural Cosmology (FE) and the Everlasting Torah. Praise be to Yahuah through his Son for revealing Truth in these last days – which has become more delectable than earthly food.

‘Behold, ADONAI, I will go, as you have commanded me, and reprove the people which are present: but they that shall be born afterward, who shall admonish them? thus the world is set in darkness, and they that dwell therein are without light. ‘For your Torah is burnt, therefore no man knows the things that are done of you, or the work that shall begin. ‘But if I have found grace before you, send the RUACH HA’QODESH into me, and I shall write all that has been done in the world since the beginning, which were written in your Torah, that men may find your path, and that they which will live in the latter days may live.  EZRA REVIY`IY (4 EZRA) 14:20-22את CEPHER

Thus says YAHUAH, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am YAHUAH which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, says YAHUAH.  YIRMEYAHU (JEREMIAH) 9:23-24 את CEPHER