By: Jennifer Slattery
1. The “Angel” who appeared to an Egyptian slave named Hagar.
Originally from Egypt, Hagar lived first as a maidservant, then, when her mistress remained infertile and needed a surrogate, Abraham headed Sarah’s voice and had a son through Hagar. She was the mother of his is firstborn son, though not the son of promise. (Genesis 16)
She succeeded where her mistress failed and soon grew contemptuous. Before long, things escalated and Hagar fled into the wilderness.
Hagar was pregnant, hopeless, and alone. Jesus met her there, told her to return home, and promised her a hope-filled future. From then on, she referred to Him as El Roi, the God who sees, saying, “You are the God who sees me… Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” (Genesis 16:14). In other words, “Here, now, in my destitute state, have I truly encountered God?”
The answer was yes. Jesus came to her in the middle of her despair and offered her hope. The description of His appearance was ‘the Angel of the Lord’, but we know that it was not in His fullness or Hagar would have died.
2. As one of three strangers who visited Abraham.
In Genesis 18:1, we’re told, “The LORD,” Yahweh in Hebrew, appeared to Abraham “in the plains of Mamre”. Abraham, still childless, was 100 years old. His wife, still barren, was 99. Both were well past child bearing age. But one day, three strangers approached, Jesus among them, and promised, a year from that day, Abraham and Sarah would finally have a son. Again, this appearance was not in His full glory.
Sarah found this news so impossible, she laughed. But a year later she became pregnant with the “child of promise.”
Jesus reminded Abraham and Sarah that they would indeed receive a child as promised—who, ultimately, pointed to Himself, our Savior, in whom every one of God’s promises come true.
3. The Angel who stayed Abraham’s hand as he was about to sacrifice his son.
After decades of longing, God’s promise finally came true. Sarah and Abraham’s beloved child was born. Only to be taken from them in the most heinous, unthinkable way—as a sacrifice at the hands of his own father (Genesis 22:1-19).
Or so it seemed.
But believing God could raise his son from the dead, Abraham obeyed God’s command and set out with his servant and son to offer the most painful sacrifice imaginable.
En route, not seeing the animal they needed, his boy asked, “Where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”
Abraham answered, “God will provide, my son.”
He did. Moments before Abraham was to slay Isaac, “the Angel of the Lord” stopped him, saying, “Now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from Me even your son, your only son.”
Then, looking up, Abraham saw a ram caught in a thicket—the sacrifice he offered in Isaac’s place.
Abraham named the location Yahweh-Yireh, which means “the Lord will provide” (Genesis 22:14).
Through the ram, God provided the sacrificial animal that set Isaac free. Similarly, through the Son, God provided a sacrifice that purchased our freedom.
4. The Man Jacob wrestled with before encountering his estranged brother.
Jacob, father to 12 sons from which the 12 tribes of Israel eventually emerged, deceived his brother out of his birthright and blessing then fled in fear of his life. Twenty years later, returning with his wives and children, he learned his brother was coming toward him with 400 armed men. (Genesis 32:6).
Terrified, he cried out to God for help then spent the night wrestling with an unnamed Man. He refused to let go until this man, later noted to be God Himself (Genesis 32:30; Hosea 12:4), blessed him.
Up against Esau and his army, Jacob was desperate and outmuscled. God was his only hope, and God came through. The next day, when Jacob met his brother face to face, he received not retaliation but forgiveness and blessing.
Because of our sin, we also face certain death. Jesus is our only hope. Grace comes through surrender, but first we may have to wrestle with our pride and self-sufficiency. The moment we turn to Christ, however, we receive life eternal.
The story says ‘that the LORD stood by him (Jacob)’, here Jesus came to Jacob in a vision. Again, not in His full glory.
5. The Voice that spoke to Moses within the burning bush.
Moses, born a Hebrew – adopted as an Egyptian prince – turned Hebrew shepherd, had settled into a quiet, peaceful life as a husband and shepherd. But one day, he noticed a bush engulfed in flames that failed to consume it.
According to Exodus 3:2, the Angel of the Lord, later self-revealed as the Great I Am and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to him from within that bush.
As Moses stepped closer to investigate the strange sight, Jesus called out to him by name and revealed core truths about Himself. “I Am Who I Am,” He said. (Exodus 3:14). In other words, “I’m present and eternal. The self-existing One from Whom everything else arises.”
When God commissioned Moses to be His people’s liberator, he felt overwhelmed by the task laid before him, but in three simple words, Jesus assured him his success wasn’t dependent on his strength or oratory skills. The Great I Am was sending him, would go with him, and would stand beside him.
With that kind of power, Moses couldn’t fail.
If we belong to Jesus, we have that same assurance of God’s presence. He is and will ever be the Great I Am, all-sufficient, eternal, faithful, and omnipotent One.
Here, the ‘Angel of the Lord’ appeared as a burning bush.