This is an excellent teaching letter by Rabbi Jack Farber on the Angel of the Lord. I tell people all the time that God considers himself to be an angel. Most think it's just some strange eccentric tale from my imagination. But the facts are clear as this letter points out. My only disagreement is that he thinks the Angel of the Lord is refering to Jesus Christ. I say that it's talking about Michael the Archangel. Hope you enjoy this teaching.
God Bless! ~Matt~
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www.cmy.on.ca / cmy@ca.inter.net
"Sh'ma b'Koli / Listen to my Voice"
This week's Reading list:
* Shemot / Exodus 21:1-24:18
* Yermiyahu / Jeremiah 34:8-22; 33:25-26 * Mattityahu / Matthew 5:38-42
Shemot {23:20} "Behold, I send My Angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. {23:21} Pay attention to Him, and listen to His voice. Don't provoke Him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for My name is in Him. {23:22} But if you indeed listen to His voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries."
In the midst of all the mishpatim that HaShem is giving in this week's Parsha, is this significant and powerful mishpat (judgement) about His Angel. In order to understand who this Angel is, I would like to explain the Hebrew word kol translated in our passage above as voice. We first encountered this word kol in last week's Parsha, when Moshe (Moses) we were told, listened to the voice of his father-in-law Yitro (Shemot 18.24).
The next time we saw the word voice in Parsha Yitro was when HaShem gave the bnei Yisrael (children of Israel) the following message from G-d:
Shemot {19:5} Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice, and keep My brit (covenant), then you shall be My own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is Mine;
So from these two uses of the word kol we can see that the word voice as used in the Hebrew is idiomatic for obedience. But more than that, the word kol is also idiomatic for the Word (Memra in the Aramaic Onkelos Targum). The voice of G-d is the Word of G-d! This has huge implications when applied to what HaShem is saying to us in our introductory passage above from Parsha Mishpatim.
Think of what we are being told in this passage. HaShem will be sending His special Angel with Yisrael to first "keep" (from the Hebrew root word "shamar" which can mean to restrict within certain boundaries) them by the way and second to bring them into the place He prepared for them. Then they are told to pay attention to this Angel (in Hebrew the word Mal'ach – Angel also can be translated as Messenger), to listen to His kol, not to provoke Him for He will not pardon their disobedience. Why? Because HaShem's Name is in Him (some translations say that "He bares HaShem's Name"). However, bnei Yisrael are told that if they do listen to this Angel's kol, HaShem will be an enemy to their enemies. This must be one very special Angel, and let us take a look at why! First of all, as I understand this passage, this Angel will keep the bnei Yisrael within certain boundaries while they are on their way by His kol.
As we discussed earlier kol is the same as saying His Word. Therefore, what is being said here is that the Word of this Angel will be the boundaries bnei Yisrael will be restricted to! However, from the Brit Chadasha (Renewed Covenant), we know that angels are not sent by HaShem to boss us around nor are they sent to keep us within certain boundaries, but rather they are sent to minister to us, not to interfere with us. Speaking of angels, the writer of Ivrim (Hebrews) tells us: Ivrim {1:14} Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
In contrast, this particular Angel's ministering, as spoken of in Parsha Mishpatim, will be intrusive on the live of the people. Secondly, we are being told that if this Angel's kol is not adhered to He will not pardon the offender's disobedience. From what we know of angels, we find once again characteristics that are not very angel like. Why? Because the Word this Angel will speak will be law, and if not adhered to, will result in punishment. He will not forgive their disobedience. Nowhere in Scripture are we ever told or even given the impression that an angel can speak laws or forgive sin, only G-d can do that! The third thing we are being told about this Angel is that He bears the Name of HaShem. This is one of the most amazing statements found in Torah! Angels are created beings!
As we have learned from past Divrei Torah (Torah commentaries), the Name of HaShem represents His character. G-d's Name is His character!
Therefore, what we are being told is that this Angel will not just do great and mighty things as acting "in the Name of G-d," nor will He just do great and mighty things by the "power of G-d," as others have done in Scripture, like Moshe (Moses), but He will actually have the whole nature and essence of G-d, "Yod Hey Vav Hay". Certainly the implication here of this Angel is Divinity!
Another amazing thing that we find in Parsha Mishpatim is from the following passage:
Shemot {24:9} Then Moshe, Aharon, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Yisrael went up. {24:10} They saw the G-D of Yisrael. Under his feet was like a paved work of sapphire stone, like the skies for clearness. {24:11} He didn't lay his hand on the nobles of the Bnei Yisrael. They saw G-D, and ate and drank.
Now this passage has been translated in traditional Jewish Bibles as the seventy elders, not seeing G-d but worshipping G-d. It has also been explained by our Jewish sages that this was merely a vision the elders were having and not a visual experience. Let us look into these two explanations.
The root Hebrew word used for "saw" in this passage is "yirah" which can be translated as; "see", "observe", "appear", "gaze", but never "worshipped". In addition, the fact that they saw what was under G-d's feet, "a paved work of sapphire stone," also indicates that the elders were looking and not worshipping. As fo a vision, what are the chances that seventy people would have the same vision at the same time and all see the same thing? Were they all put into a trance? Did they all fall asleep at the same time? Highly unlikely! Plus, there is no indication of these possibilities in the passage. A better explanation, and one that would collaborate with what HaShem told Moshe, is that the seventy elders saw the Divine Angel, pre-incarnate Yeshua, spoken of in verse 23:20. This explanation will also confirm the deity of the Angel, thus explaining why He had these supernatural and divine attributes. It will also explain why the elders were able to look upon G-d and live.
Shemot {24:11} He didn't lay his hand on the nobles of the Bnei Yisrael. They saw G-D, and ate and drank.
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Baruch HaShem
Rabbi Jack (Ya'acov) Farber
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