V. 36. The angel of the Lord went forth...
The Angel of the Lord:
1. Genesis 24:7. He shall send his angel before thee...
24:40, the Lord will send his angel with thee...
Exodus 23:23, Mine angel shall go before thee and bring thee...
33:2, I will send an angel before thee, and I will drive out...
As we go about what God has for us to do, we have his Angel not only with us, but to go before us to prepare the way; this should give us renewed courage and boldness to go and do what he has for us.
2. Psalms 34:7, The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him...
Not only does this Angel go before us, but he is also encamped around us to protect us. 2 Kings 6:17.
What danger do we fact? His angel is there to protect us. However, we can get out of that protection by presumption, disobedience and rebellion. Numbers 15:30, Deuteronomy 17:12, 13
Disobedience: Deuteronomy 17:12, pride as opposed to God. My way regardless of what God might say.
Rebellion: V. 13, the act of a proud manner, self-importance, defiance.
Proverbs 11:2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
The root word for pride is Zed, which is used in 3 specific aspects:
1. One is presumption. Because a person is proud he presumes too much in his favor, especially in the sense of authority. For instance, the false prophet was one who presumed to speak in the name of God, assuming authority to do so, without having been called (#De 18:20; cf. v. 22 for use of the noun derivative). False gods, too, are spoken of as presuming authority for themselves; {#Ex 18:11} and Babylon is said to have claimed too much for herself as against the Holy One of Israel. {#Jer 50:29} Egyptians assumed the same in subjecting the Israelites to bondage. {#Ne 9:10
2. The second aspect is rebellion or disobedience. Because the person is proud he asserts his own will to the point of rebelling against one in authority over him. The Israelites so asserted themselves against God when they chose to fight the Canaanites, even though God told them not to do so. {#De 1:43} The same thought is contained in #Ne 9:16,29. Eliab, David's older brother, accused him of having pride in coming to the Philistine battle scene.
3. The third, closely related to the second, carries the additional element of willful decision. If a person so asserted himself and killed his neighbor, his own life was required as punishment. If the staying was unintentional, however, a place of refuge was available for him. {#Ex 21:14} Indeed, if a person willfully disobeyed the priest, whether murder was involved or not, he had to die. (#De 17:12-13, where both zîd and zadôn appear) This seems to explain David's distinction between hidden' (KJV secret') and presumptuous' sins (#Ps 19:12-13 [H 13-14]). He prays that he may be cleansed from the hidden,' thus admitting his guilt in that respect; but asks that he may be kept from the presumptuous.' (TWOT at Proverbs 11:2)
Presumption: The Lord will take care of me, so I can do as I please. No need to prepare for tomorrow.
3. Psalms 35:5, Let the angel of the Lord chase them.
35:6, let the angel of the Lord persecute them.
Not only will he go before us to prepare the way and encamp around us to protect us, but he also will chase our enemiespersecute them. (Maybe not in the time frame we would like, but he will in his time.)
4 Daniel 3:28. Blessed be the God... who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants (from the fire) that trusted in him.
Not only will he go before us to prepare the way, encamp around us to protect us, chase and persecute our enemies for us, but he will deliver us from the fire.
Are we facing the fiery trials? The angel of the Lord will deliver those who will trust in him.
5. Daniel 6:22. My God hath sent his angel, an dhath shut the lion's mouth that they not hurt me...
1 Peter 5:8. Be sobor, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
Not only will He go before us to prepare the way, encamp around us to protect us, chase and persecute our enemies, deliver us from the fire we might be facing, but he will shut the lion's mouth.
The lion is roaring against the Christians today as he has through the ages, and given half a chance, he will devour the sheep. His main diet is sheep he loves mutton. But we have a Great Shepherd, sent by God to shut the mouth of the lion.
There is no reason to fall by the wayside, and be devoured by the lion. Look to him, the angel of the Lord, the great shepherd. He can and will stop the mouth of the lion. Hebrews 11:33.
1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 8 ¶ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 10 ¶ But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
6. Moving into the New Testament.
Acts 5:19 But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth,
Not only will He go before us to prepare the way, encamp around us for protection, chase and persecute our enemies, deliver us from the fire, close the lion's mouth, BUT he will deliver us from prison. He will open doors that are impossible for men to open.
Do we feel like we are in prison?
Is it dark with no light at the end of the tunnel?
The angel of the Lord can open the door and free us from the priosn
of fear, or whatever prison we are in.
Notice the Lord did this by night. No matter how dark it seems to be, he can still open the door for us.
Not only can he deliver us from that prison we are in with no light, but over in Acts 12:7, the Angel of the Lrod came while Peter was asleep.
Are we tried of fights?
Does it seem we are asleep on our feet?
The Angel of the Lord can even deliver us from these things.
So we see the Angel of the Lord:
Goes before us as we go about our duties for him, today, tomorrow,
next week.
Encamps around us to protect us from the enemies we are unable
to see.
Chases and persecutes our enemies for us.
Delivers us from the harm that might be caused as we go through
the fire.
Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
He can and will stop the mouth of the lion as he roars against us, and tries to devour us.
He can deliver us from that prison we are in, even if we are asleep or it is dark as a dungon.
7. Isaiah 37:36 Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
If He could handle 185,000 problems for Hezekiah, then what have we to fear? No matter how great the odds agains us might seem, the angel of the Lrod can handle whatever we might have to face. 185,000 problems?
Who will he do it for?
Psalms 34:7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
Fear that is, a sense of our own weakness in the light of his power. Cling to him.
Fear of the Lord will result in doing his will.
Do we fear the Lord enough to walk in the light of his word? If so, then look at the power we have available to us in the Angel of the Lord.