Some of the numerous appearance of "the angel of the Lord" seem to be theophanies. The angel of the Lord appeared to Hagar, spoke as tho he were God, and was called God by her (Genesis 16:7-13). The Bible says the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush but then says God talked to Moses on that occasion (Exodus 3; Acts 7:30-38). Exodus 13:21 says the Lord went before Israel in a pillar of cloud, while Exodus 14:19 says the angel of God was with the pillar of cloud.. The angel of the Lord appeared to Israel in Judges 2:1-5 and spoke as God. Judges 6:11-24 describes the appearance of the angel of the Lord to Gideon and then says the Lord looked on Gideon. Again, the angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah and his wife, and they believed they had seen God. (Judges 13:2-23)
Other visitations of the angel of the Lord do not indicate whether they were manifestations of God Himself or not, although frequently people assume that they were. Examples are the appearance to Abraham at Mount Moriah , and to Balaam (Genesis 22:11-18; Numbers 22:22-35).(2 Samuel 24:16; 1 Chronicles 21:15-30; Zechariah 1:8-19). The angel of the Lord in the NT apparently is nothing more than an angel and certainly is not Jesus Christ (Mathew 1:20; 2:13; 28:2; Acts 8:26). Sometimes the angel of the Lord is clearly not a manifestation of God but an angel identified as a separate being other than the Lord God. Examples are the appearance to David and to Zechariah
In analyzing all these verses of Scripture, some say the angel of the Lord is always a direct manifestation of God. However, some of the instances mentioned above do not support this view, and two of them actually contradict it. Others say the angel of the Lord is a manifestation of God in some instances and not in others. This second view seems to be consistant with Scriptures.
A third view, however, is that the angel of the Lord is never the Lord but always a literal angel. To support this last view, one would emphasize that angels are mouthpieces, messengers, and agents of God. In other words, it is proper to say "the Lord said" or "the Lord did" even tho He said or did something thru the agency of an angel. Under this view, a description of an act by God in the account of an angelic appearance is simply a shorthand way of saying God acted thru the angel. Since the Biblical writers make clear at the beginning of the accounts that an angel was the direct agent, no ambiguity or discrepancy needs to exist. In this view, the people that acknowledged the visitation of God were either mistaken in their belief that they had seen God Himself , or more plausibly, they recognized that God was using an angel to speak to them and therefore addressed God thru the angel. There is another way to reconcile this third view with verses of Scripture that identify the angel of the Lord with the Lord Himself: namely, the angel visibly appeared but the Lord was invisibly present. Therefore, references to the Lord acting or talking could mean literally the Lord and not the angel.
In summary, it is evident that the angel of the Lord in the OT was not always God Himself. A person can plausibly argue that the angel of the Lord was never an actual theophany, but he cannot seriously contend that the angel of the Lord was always a theophany. The simplest explanation explanation is that the phrase "the angel of the Lord" sometimes refers to a theophany of God but at other times denotes nothing more than an ordinary angel.
A Trinitarian scholar summed up the predominant view as follows:
In the OT the angel of the Lord might be only a messenger of God (the Hebrew word itself means messenger), distinct from God Himself (2 Smuel 24;16), or he might be identified with the Lord himself speaking in the first person . . . It is typical of OT theophanies that God cannot be sharply drawn . . .God is free to make His presence known, even while humans must be protected from His immediate presence.[/i]
__________________ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
with the exception of moses ,and then there is some question as to what he did see .Jehovah god has never taken on a form and appeared to men.
he has always sent an angles if he needed to give information or have someting done
The Angel Of The Lord
