Exodus 23:20–22

“Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.”

This passage contains valuable clues to one of the great mysteries of the Old Testament. Often the appearance of an angel leaves the reader wondering, “Was that just an angel, or a theophany, or what?” Some passages are clear; others are not. Here, God is sending an angel, but he carries great authority.

God equates the angel’s voice with God’s voice when He says, “Beware of Him and obey His voice.” The angel’s words are God’s words. That’s not surprising, since “angel” means “messenger”. Relaying God’s words is pretty much what angels do.

But God says, “My name is in Him.” What does that mean? Obviously, “My name is in Him,” means something important. So, who is this guy?

Many commentators think that this is the LORD himself. That’s why the New King James’ Version capitalizes the pronouns in this passage. God also says, “do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions.” At minimum, God has given this angel some kind of judgement power. Also, any rebellion would be against Him.

On the other hand, the LORD Himself appears many times in Exodus (e.g., in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night) and Moses simply describes those incidents as the LORD appearing. Sometimes Moses uses “the angel of the LORD” (Ex 3:2) or “the glory of the LORD” (Ex. 24:16) to describe the LORD showing up, instead of just an “angel.” It seems that God entering His creation is more like “sticking His toe in” than His fully leaving eternity to come here. No description we can understand could be comprehensive.

So, we’re not going to fully understand this side of eternity. All we can be sure of is that “My name is in Him” conveys significant power and authority.

That fits. Names mean a lot.

We are called Christians. God’s name is in us too. Do not take this lightly. We have more power and authority than we realize; the great saints certainly had plenty. If Jesus is our Lord and the Holy Spirit lives in us, then we are His messengers. So, what are we supposed to do with that?

Well, it’s definitely not to just sit back and enjoy God’s blessings. That’s for sure. We were saved for a purpose. Do you know your calling? Have you figured out your Personal Mission Field?

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/videos/item/8441-personal-mission-field

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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. Saturdays' by Matt Richardson. Subscribe here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

The weekly study guides, which include questions for discussion or meditation, are here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.