Transcript for: SVU THEOLOGY WK1 The Angel of Yahweh
[Tim] So in the Bible
reality is made up of two overlapping realms:
the Heavens and the Earth. Our space and God's space. - [Jon] And while life here
on Earth may seem ordinary, sometimes we can encounter Heaven right here in our own realm. - [Tim] Yes, this happens a
number of times in the Bible. And when it does, we often
encounter a fascinating character, the Angel of Yahweh, or in most
translations of the Bible, the Angel of the Lord. - [Jon] Now, we've talked about angels. They're spiritual messengers
who perform missions for God. - [Tim] But the Angel of
the Lord is no mere angel. - [Jon] How so? - [Tim] Well, every time
he appears he's described in a way that's purposefully puzzling. And it leaves you wondering was that an angel sent by Yahweh or was that Yahweh himself? - [Jon] What do you mean? - [Tim] Here's one of many
examples. In the book of Genesis, there's a story about Hagar, Abraham and Sarah's
runaway Egyptian slave. And we read this, "The angel
of Yahweh called to Hagar." But then this angel speaks
as if he is Yahweh, saying, "I will give you many descendants." And then Hagar responds and says, "You are God who sees me." - [Jon] So the Angel of Yahweh is Yahweh. But that can't be. In the Bible you can't
see Yahweh or you'll die. - [Tim] Yeah, so this story and others like it are
inviting us into a paradox that Yahweh is above
all, inaccessible to us. But sometimes he reveals himself to us in ways that we can see and understand. And that's where this character shows up. - [Jon] He's Yahweh made visible to us. - [Tim] Yes, distinct from
Yahweh and also Yahweh. This is very similar to
other biblical stories about prophets who get a
glimpse into God's space like Isaiah, Ezekiel, or Daniel. And what they see is a
glorious human figure on a throne who's called Yahweh. - [Jon] So the one on the
throne and the Angel of Yahweh, this is the same person. - [Tim] Exactly. Watch
all this come together in the famous story of
Moses and the burning bush where we read— - [Jon] "The Angel of
Yahweh appeared to Moses in a blazing fire from
the midst of a bush. And when Yahweh saw that
Moses stopped to look, God called to him from
the midst of the bush." - [Tim] So this person
in the bush is called the Angel of Yahweh, then
Yahweh, and then God. And then later in the story,
Moses learns that the figure in the burning bush is the one
leading Israel out of Egypt in the pillar of fire and cloud. And that's the one who later takes up residence in the tabernacle. - [Jon] The tabernacle ... this is the throne room of God himself. - [Tim] You got it. The Angel of the Lord is the
royal glory of Yahweh appearing as a human. Now keep all this in mind as we start talking about Jesus. In the opening of the Gospel of John, we're told that from all eternity Jesus was with God and was God. - [Jon] Distinct from God and also God. That's the same paradox we
saw with the Angel of Yahweh. - [Tim] Right, and then John
says that God's word became human and set up a tabernacle among us. - [Jon] The temple presence
of the invisible God. - [Tim] Exactly. Now check this out. There's a story about when Jesus
took three of his followers up to a mountain and his
true identity was revealed. He was transformed into
a glorious human figure. - [Jon] Okay, I see what's going on here. So the Angel of the Lord was
God appearing like a human and Jesus is God now become a human. - [Tim] Yes, and notice this, in the New Testament no one ever uses the phrase Angel of the
Lord to describe Jesus. - [Jon] Why not? - [Tim] Well, they
wanted to avoid the idea that Jesus was merely an angel. For them, Jesus was
Yahweh God become human. In order to fulfill his ultimate mission to fully reunite Heaven
and Earth once and for all. - [Jon] You just watched a
video on the Angel of the Lord. - [Tim] Next up, we're gonna
look at the Satan and demons, the spiritual beings who resist God's plan to reunite Heaven and Earth. (gentle music)