Who Appeared to Moses in the Bush?

In Exodus we find the story of Moses, his birth, how and where he grew up and the reason he fled for his life to the land of Midian (Exodus 2:11-15). During his exile, Moses married the daughter of Jethro, the priest of Midian. One day, while tending his father-in-law’s sheep, Moses saw a burning bush on a mountain near the place he had taken the flock, yet the bush was not consumed. Although the text says it was the Angel of the LORD that appeared to Moses in the flame (Exodus 3:2), it was the LORD who called out to Moses when he turned aside to see the bush that was not consumed by the fire:

Exodus 3:2, 4-6 KJ2000 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. (4) And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. (5) And he said, Draw not near here: put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground. (6) Moreover he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. (emphasis mine)

Just as with Jacob earlier, we find that the Angel of the LORD is also called the LORD God (YHWH). In fact, this same Angel is still speaking from the bush when Moses asked his name:

Exodus 3:14-15 MKJV And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM. And he said, So you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you. (15) And God said to Moses again, You shall say this to the sons of Israel, Jehovah the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My title from generation to generation. (emphasis mine)

Although it was the Angel of the Lord who showed himself to Moses in verse-2, he introduced himself as the LORD (YHWH), the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the fathers of the Israelite nation in verses 14 & 15. It is this Angel who brought all the plagues upon Egypt, finally killing all their firstborn in order to bring that mighty nation to its knees.

When Pharaoh finally released the children of Israel, the LORD went ahead of his people, leading them continually by a pillar of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22). However, almost immediately after Israel left Egypt, Pharaoh decided he should not have left them go. He and his armies came upon them near the Red Sea (Exodus 14:8-10). Nevertheless, the text says that the Angel of God was in the pillar of a cloud before Israel and he moved to the rear and placed himself between the camps of the Egyptians and of Israel. To Pharaoh and his armies the Angel was darkness, but to the camp of Israel he was light (Exodus 14:19-20). When morning came and Israel crossed the sea on dry ground, the Egyptians followed after them. Then, the LORD looked out of the pillar of a cloud and fire and troubled the Egyptian armies (Exodus 14:24) taking the wheels off their chariots and trapping them on the sea floor as the walls of water returned to their strength and collapsed upon them (Exodus 14:25-31).

Clearly, the LORD and the Angel of God are the same in Exodus 13 and 14. Notice it is the LORD who went before Israel in the pillar of the cloud (Exodus 13:21-22), but it was the Angelof the God who hid himself in the pillar of cloud (Exodus 14:19). Yet, it is the LORD who looked out of the pillar of cloud to gaze upon the Egyptian armies (Exodus 14:24).

Moreover, after Israel had come to the Promised Land and had lived there for quite some time, this same Angelof the LORD came to address the elders and the people at Bochim. There he reminded Israel that it was he who had led them out of bondage in Egypt, and it was he who brought them into the Promised Land, just as he had promised their fathers, Abraham Isaac and Jacob, but they had broken the Covenant that he made with them by making treaties with the inhabitants of the land. Therefore, he would not drive Israel’s enemies out from among them anymore:

Judges 2:1-4 KJV And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. (2) And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? (3) Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. (4) And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. (emphasis mine)

From the very beginning Moses spoke with the Angel of the LORD whom he addressed as both God and LORD or YHWH (Exodus 3:2-6), and it is the same throughout the book of Exodus. The plurality issue is there. It can be ignored or it can be addressed, but it is there. The targumists, often address the problem by changing LORD (YHWH) into the Word of the LORD (YHWH). There is nothing wrong with distinguishing the Godhead in this manner. The first chapter of the Gospel of John shows that the one whom the targumists called “the Word of God” is Jesus (John 1:1, 14) in the NT. Nevertheless, modern Jews and many who claim the Christian name do not understand the paradox of the two Jehovah’s (YHWH’s). They have chosen to ignore this issue by clinging to the proposition that God is a singular Personage, alone in eternity.

Throughout the Old Testament the Angel of the LORD is revealed as God and the LORD (YHWH), the God of Israel. We see him under the guise of a man meeting with Joshua as the Captain of the army of the LORD in Joshua 5:13-15. However in Joshua 6:1-2 this same man is shown to be the LORD (YHWH). The break between chapters 5 and 6 serves to hide this fact, but it is clearly there if one checks the context.

The Angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon in Judges 6:12, but it is the LORD in verse-14 that looked at Gideon and told him what to do. After awhile, Gideon realized that the one who stood before him was the Angel of the LORD and thought he would die. He believed he saw God when he saw the Angel of the LORD face to face. Nevertheless, the LORD told him to be at peace for he would not die (Judges 6:18-23). Then Gideon built an altar to the LORD. Clearly, this Angel received the worship of Gideon showing that he is indeed God – the LORD (YHWH).

When David sinned and the Angel came to destroy Jerusalem’s inhabitants, David spoke with him addressing him as LORD (YHWH). David wrote many Psalms and sang praises to this Angel (Psalm 34:7; 35:5-6).

The Angel of the LORD appeared to Elijah and fed him while he journeyed to Horeb, the Mount of God (1Kings 19:5-8). When Elijah arrived at the mount, it was the Word of the LORD that spoke with him (1Kings 19:9) and Elijah addressed him as the Lord Jehovah (1Kings 19:10).

Speaking of a day when all nations will be gathered against Jerusalem, the LORD said he would defend them. In that day those who are feeble will fight like David and the rulers will fight like God – like the Angel of the LORD (Zechariah 12:8).

Throughout Israel’s history they were rebuked and saved by this Angel. When they were afflicted, so was he. He saved them through his love and redeemed them through his pity. He led them out of Egypt and into the land he promised them. It was he who bore them throughout their history. It was the Angel of the presence of the LORD (Isaiah 63:9; cp. 1Timothy 6:16 and 1John 1:5), and the same is the Word of God (John 1:1) who became Jesus (John 1:14). We need to remember that the Hebrew word translated The Angel of the LORD may also be translated Prophet, Priest or Prince—all titles of Jesus in the NT.

The Angel of the Lord

The Angel of the LORD is a very significant figure in the Old Testament. He is no ordinary angel, but one that is peculiarly involved with the formation of the Israelite nation and their protection. We discover the title, Angel of the LORD, for the first time when this Angel appeared to Hagar after she ran away from Sarai, her mistress (Genesis 16:7). The Angel told her to return to Sarai and that he would multiply her seed (Genesis 16:10). This is not a prerogative of an ordinary angel. Angels simply do not take part in deciding which family will grow large and which will not, or which will become a nation and which will not. This is not an ordinary angel that spoke with Hagar. Moreover, in verse-16 Hagar called upon the name of the LORD that spoke with her. That is, she called him God. It is evident that no one spoke with her but this Angel, and he did not correct Hagar as she worshiped him. This would have been unacceptable, if this Angel were not God himself (Revelation 19:10; 22:8-9). Yet this particular Angel has never prevented anyone who desired to worship him from doing so.

Perhaps it would be good to give some definition to the word angel, so we can have a better idea of what we are speaking about when we use the term Angel of the Lord. The word is malak (G4397) in the Hebrew and pronounced mal awk. According to Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon, the word comes from an unused root that means to dispatch as a deputy. It is a messenger specifically of God, that is, an angel, but also a prophet, priest or teacher. This word is used to describe the office of the prophet, Haggai (Haggai 1:13), of the priest, Malachi (Malachi 2:1), or the office of John the Baptist (Malachi 3:1; cp. Matthew 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27). It can also mean a messenger from one man to another as in Genesis 32:3, 6 (cp. Number 20:14; Joshua 7:22; Judges 6:35 etc.). It can mean an ambassador or a prince as in Isaiah 30:4 which may also be implied in Isaiah 33:7. Therefore, since this word describes a number of offices, it does not necessarily mean an angelic being. The Angel of the LORD may just as well have been translated as the Messenger or Ambassador of the LORD, and may imply being his Prophet, Priest or Prince, all titles of Jesus in the New Testament!

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

In Genesis 18 the LORD God with two of his angels met with Abraham in plains of Mamre. He and the two angels with him sat and enjoyed Abraham’s hospitality (Genesis 18:1-8) and then got up to leave. But before doing so, the LORD took Abraham into his confidence and told him that he had come down out of heaven to judge Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities in the plain (Genesis 18:16-22). Knowing that his nephew Lot and his family settled there, Abraham interceded for the righteous and asked the LORD not to destroy the righteous with the wicked and even asked the LORD to spare the wicked for the sake of the righteous (Genesis 18:23-32).

Abraham addressed the LORD as the Judge of the whole earth (Genesis 18:25). This One was the Almighty (Genesis 22:14), and omniscient One (Genesis 18:17-19). After the LORD was finished speaking with Abraham, he departed for Sodom.

The two angels met with Lot in the city of Sodom (Genesis 19:1-3) and told him that the LORD would destroy this city and all those in the plain. They warned him to tell his family and leave the city (Genesis 19:12-13). Lot was not swift to obey, lingering perhaps in hope for his older married children to leave the city with him. In any case, the angels practically had to drive Lot, his wife and two daughters out of the town (Genesis 19:14-16). Later, Lot met with the LORD and negotiated with him to spare a small city for his sake. After the LORD agreed, he told Lot to hurry to the city, because he could do nothing until he and his family got there (Genesis 19:17-22). Then the Judge of the whole earth, the Almighty and omniscient God, the LORD (YHWH) called down the judgment of fire and brimstone from the LORD (YHWH) in heaven (Genesis 19:24)!

Genesis 19:24 ASV Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven;

Genesis 19:24 JPS Then the LORD caused to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

Jehovah – the LORD – in human form (Genesis 18:2) upon the earth judged Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain by calling down sulfur and fire out of heaven from Jehovah – the LORD – (Genesis 19:24)! In Genesis 18 Abraham met with the LORD who was the Angel or Messenger of the LORD, although the LORD is not specifically referred to as the Angel in this text. There is a LORD (YHWH) who sends and a LORD (YHWH) who is sent (cp. Isaiah 48:12-16)! Yet, this One who was sent describes himself as the Almighty (Genesis 18:14) and the omniscient God (Genesis 18:17-19).

Although it is forbidden to worship angels (Colossians 2:18; cp. Revelation 19:10; 22:9), it is obvious from the Scriptures that Abraham worshiped the Angel of the LORD. Therefore, when Abraham showed that he was willing to sacrifice Isaac, his son, to the Angel of the LORD, this Person must be more than a mere angelic being. The text says it was God who called out to Abraham and told him that he desired Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, on an altar in Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:1-2). Nevertheless, notice what happened just as Abraham was about to slay Isaac,

Genesis 22:11-12 NASB But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” (12) he said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”(emphasis mine)

Although Genesis 22:1 says it was God who was testing Abraham, the text reveals in verses-11 and 12 that the Angel of the LORD was the one speaking with Abraham from the beginning. The Angel said that Abraham had not withheld Isaac “from Me” (Genesis 22:12, i.e. from the Angel). Therefore, Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac would have been worship of this Angel. Clearly, therefore, this Angel mentioned in Genesis 22:11 is called God in Genesis 22:1.

This becomes more obvious as we look at the life of Jacob, Abraham’s grandson. After he had fled from his brother, Esau, Jacob had married his cousins Leah and Rachel, the daughters of his uncle Laban. He worked for his uncle for twenty-one years and was about to return to the house of his father Isaac when the Angel appeared to him. Jacob came to his wives and told them what God had said to him,

Genesis 31:11-13 KJ2000 And the Angel of God spoke unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. (12) And he said, Lift up now your eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are striped, speckled, and spotted: for I have seen all that Laban does unto you. (13) I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar, and where you vowed a vow unto me: now arise, get you out from this land, and return unto the land of your kindred. (emphasis mine)

These Scriptures show us two things concerning this Angel. First, the Angel of the LORD is God himself (Genesis 31:11 compare verse-13). Secondly, it was the LORD who spoke with Jacob (Genesis 31:3), yet Jacob referred to him as the Angel of the LORD. Therefore, this Angel is the LORD God (YHWH).

Twenty-one years earlier as Jacob journeyed to his uncle Laban, he camped for the night in a country called Luz (Jacob renamed it Bethel). Genesis 28:12-22 says that Jacob had a dream, and in this dream he saw angels ascending and descending between earth and heaven. The LORD (YHWH) spoke to Jacob while he slept saying that he was the God of Abraham and Isaac, his father (verse-13). The LORD said that he would be with Jacob wherever he went (verse-15). When he awoke, Jacob was afraid (verse-17) and anointed the rock that he used as a pillow and named that place Bethel, the House of God (verses 18-19). Immediately, Jacob vowed a vow to the LORD God who appeared to him in the dream and committed his life to him there at Bethel (verses 20-22). In Genesis 31:13 the Angel of the LORD said that he was the God of Bethel to whom Jacob made his vow! Therefore, the Angel of the LORD is God—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!

The Rock of Israel

While trying to get the Corinthian Church to see their sins and the jeopardy in which they placed themselves, Paul began to compare their experience with that of ancient Israel coming out of Egypt. In doing so, Paul wrote in 1Corinthians 10:4 of the Rock that Moses struck and gushed with water for Israel to drink. Paul said that Rock was Christ. Paul went on to say that the Rock followed them throughout Israel’s forty-year journey in the wilderness. Notice:

1 Corinthians 10:1-4 AMP For I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, that our forefathers were all under and protected by the cloud [in which God's Presence went before them], and every one of them passed safely through the [Red] Sea, [Exodus 13:21; 14:22, 29] (2) And each one of them [allowed himself also] to be baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea [they were thus brought under obligation to the Law, to Moses, and to the covenant, consecrated and set apart to the service of God]; (3) And all [of them] ate the same spiritual (supernaturally given) food, [Exodus 16:4, 35] (4) And they all drank the same spiritual (supernaturally given) drink. For they drank from a spiritual Rock which followed them [produced by the sole power of God himself without natural instrumentality], and the Rock was Christ. [Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:11] (emphasis mine)

This Scripture is very clear. Israel drank water that poured out of a rock, and this rock spiritually represented the LORD who stood upon it, as Moses struck it with the rod (Exodus 17:6). When writing to the Corinthians, Paul did not speak of a literal rock that Israel drank from, but a spiritual Rock. It was not the literal water that satisfied them, for Paul says they all partook of a spiritual drink. Notice, too, this same spiritual Rock followed them. The Greek is akoloutheo (G190) and means “be in the same way with, accompany”. Paul identified this spiritual rock as Christ. This means the LORD (YHWH) who stood on the rock was the One who became Christ. The same was the pillar of smoke that either followed or went before Israel in the wilderness, depending upon Israel’s need. He was “in the same way” with them.

As Moses addressed Israel for the final time, he began by recounting the many experiences that God brought his people through. One of these experiences concerned the rock out of which water poured for Israel to drink when they were thirsty in the desert (Deuteronomy 8:15). When Moses was finished speaking, he ended his address with a song of praise to God and it began like this:

Deuteronomy 32:1-4 JPS Give ear, ye heavens, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. (2) My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew; as the small rain upon the tender grass, and as the showers upon the herb. (3) For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe ye greatness unto our God. (4) The Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are justice; a God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he. (emphasis mine)

In his song of praise Moses began by ascribing the Rock as a name for the LORD God. He mentioned the water that flowed from the rock again in verse-13, and in verse-15 described God as the Rock of our salvation. In verse-18 Moses claimed that this Rock begat Israel and bore them as a mother and father care for their own children. In verse-30 Moses sang the praises of the Rock who protected his people from their enemies, and in verse-31 he compared the rock of the enemy to the Rock of Israel, concluding in verse-37 by asking, “Where are their gods, the rock in whom they trusted?”

2Samuel 23:2-3 says that the Rock is the God of Israel. In Psalm 18:2 it is the LORD who is my Rock and my fortress. In Psalm 42:9 David says God is his Rock (cp. Psalm 78:20, 35). Paul said in 1Corinthians 10:4 that this same Rock is Jesus.

The Ground is Level at the Cross!

I have often found it difficult to speak openly about what I believe concerning salvation. Most Christians I know believe salvation can be lost and more still believe most people won't be saved. For years I labored over the issue of salvation, not that I questioned my own relationship with Christ, but what exactly did Jesus do at the cross? The issue is pretty basic really:

At the cross, whom did Jesus save, and can that salvation ever be lost?

I pray that those, who love to see their Lord lifted up to be seen and praised by all, will allow the words of Christ, and not those of men, end any controversy about this most fundamental subject of our faith.

Man has tried to contribute in some way to his worthiness before God and to secure his own salvation since Adam first sinned in Eden. The truth is, all have sinned and have fallen far short of the glory for which God created them (Romans 3:23). Because we all have sinned, God has placed no difference between the best of us or the worst of us (Romans 3:9-19). We were made righteous by the faith of Jesus Christ, just as we were all made unrighteous by the sin of Adam (Romans 3:22; 5:12). These Scriptures reveal a mystery or secret of God that was never understood until Paul’s day. The Jews represent the people of God. They recorded God’s own words (Romans 3:1-2). On the other hand, the gentiles represent those who are afar off. They have no right to God and his promises. Yet, God places no differences between those who are near (Jews) and those who are afar off (gentiles), between believers (Jews) and unbelievers (gentiles), as far as salvation is concerned (Romans 3:9; 2:24). Not even God’s people seek after him without the aid of his Spirit (Romans 3:11), so there is no room for boasting no matter who we are!

I remember a portion of the worship service in the Roman Catholic Church that I repeated every week as a teenage boy. There was a prayer in the service which had the words “…not considering our works, but freely granting us pardon…” whereby we cast ourselves upon the mercy of God. I can recall thinking in my self-righteousness that I did not want to pray this prayer. On the contrary, I wanted God to consider my works. I had tried to be good and endured insults from my peers as a result of my choice to stand with God as opposed to enjoying friendship with the world. What I did not understand at this young age was that not one of my so-called good works could have made any headway whatsoever on the way to salvation. It must be all Christ – He is my Way.

I’m sure I heard this truth preached in the Catholic Church, for it was implied in its worship service. Nevertheless, it fell upon deaf ears, because my understanding of salvation was that only what I did meant anything to God. I believed it was these very works that separated me from those who did evil in the world. I am afraid this same understanding is very prevalent within the Body of Christ today. We believe credit is shared with Jesus for our salvation. Oh! We know the correct words to say, but they don’t seem very clear to us in our experience. We really do believe our works count in our salvation. Yet, God’s word says that even our desire to change comes from him (cp. Ephesians 2:8 with Acts 5:31 & Acts 11:18). This last Scripture interprets Peter’s vision in Acts 10, culminating in the announcement in verse-18 that God gave repentance to the heathen. It becomes plain that even our will to change or repent is given to us by God. Yet we judge those who have not repented as though they had the inherent power to put an end to their pathetic state and change direction by themselves. Repentance is not one of our works! It, too, is a gift of grace from God.

In 1Timothy 2:6 we are told Christ gave himself a Ransom for all. What exactly does this mean? Is everyone’s total debt paid? The Greek word for “ransom” is antilutron (G487) and was frequently used in the Septuagint for the redemption money for a slave. It denoted equivalence, but equivalence to what? It was equivalent to the total debt of that which is being redeemed. In this case the ransom is for all. In Romans chapter five and beginning with verse eight, we are told that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, i.e. unrepentant enemies of God. While yet unrepentant, we were justified by the blood of Christ. Read it for yourself. When you and I were still God’s enemies he justified us. (Romans 5:8-9). It wasn’t our repentance that brought us to God. He came to us. We didn’t choose him; he chose us (John 15:16). We didn’t love him, until he first loved us (1John 4:19). Does this hurt our self-righteous pride? Does the cross offend us when seen like this? In Romans 5:6 the Scripture says I was ungodly when Christ died for me. I was without strength. I had no power to change, even if I desired to repent. None of my works have any value here. Nothing I could do would be enough to do the job. Left to myself, I would not seek after God (Romans 3:11). Indeed, when I was the enemy of God, I was reconciled to him by the death of his Son.

For if while we were hostile to God we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, it is still more certain that now that we are reconciled, we shall obtain salvation through Christ's life. (Romans 5:10 WNT)

The fact is: God has reconciled the whole world unto himself (2Corinthians 5:14-19). Knowing this, how will we reply to the inconsistencies put to us by some of the traditions that have come down to us? What enemy of God was not justified in his sight? What sinner has not been reconciled to God in the death of his Son? May the God of all comfort guide each and every reader to see, recognize and receive the truth of what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross.