Angel of Yahweh

NOTES:

Heiser, Michael S.. The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible (p. 171). Lexham Press. Kindle Edition.

Readers may have already anticipated that the angel in whom Yahweh’s name, his presence, dwells can be identified as the mysterious figure encountered by Joshua just before the wars of conquest. I would agree. Here is the passage in Joshua 5:

An important clue to identifying this “man” as the angel of Yahweh is the drawn sword in his hand. The Hebrew phrase here occurs only two other times: Numbers 22:23 and 1 Chronicles 21:16. Both explicitly name the Angel of Yahweh as the one with “drawn sword” in hand.

The wording comes from Exodus 3:5, the burning bush passage. The angel of Yahweh was in that bush.

(Judges 2:1 – 4). The angel of Yahweh’s departure signaled an end to the regular presence of Yahweh with Israel. But even in the dark period of the judges he wouldn’t stay away completely. The call of Gideon in Judges 6 includes one appearance during this period. That there are two clearly separate Yahweh figures becomes more dramatic after verse 19.

The angel of Yahweh burns up the sacrifice and then leaves (v. 21). But we learn in verse 23 that Yahweh is still there and speaks to Gideon after the Angel’s departure.