And Jehovah appeared
to him by
The oaks of
Mamre. And he was
Sitting at the door
of the tent in
The heat of the day.
Genesis 18:1;
(Greene’s Interlinear Bible)
And he said, My Lord,
if now I have
Found favor in Your
sight, I beg You, do not
Leave from Your
servant.
Genesis 18:3; Green’s
Interlinear Bible)
And Jehovah said to
Abraham, Why as Sarah
Laughed at this,
saying Indeed, truly shall I bear,
Even I whom am old?
Is anything too difficult
For Jehovah? At the
appointed time I will return
to you, at the time
of life, and there will be a
son to Sarah. And Sarah denied, saying,
I did not laugh—for
who was afraid.
And He said, No, but
you did laugh.
Genesis 18:13-15;
Greene’s Interlinear Bible)
The
narrative of Abraham is so clear in the original Hebrew language that to say
anything otherwise in regard to Jehovah being God and the Angel of God is to
ignore the truth that was written for us to read. The narrative of Hagar and
her encounter with the Angel of the Jehovah Who found her by a fountain in the
wilderness when she was running away from Sarai, and to have that Angel of
Jehovah attend to her having a son and then to say: “And she called the name
of Jehovah, the One speaking to her, You, a “God of vision! For she said, even
here have I looked after the One seeing Me” (Genesis 16:13; Greene’s Interlinear
Bible). Hagar calls the Angel Jehovah, the One to whom she spoke. It is
this Angel of Jehovah that promises her to have a son, something only God could
promise and then carry out that promise. Why send an angel of Jehovah? First, no one can see God and live (Exodus
33:20). Why and angel? Don’t make this
mistake; the word angel carries a meaning larger than to be applied to a
being. The word also translated in the
Greek language carries the same meaning: The word has the meaning: messenger.
Yes, this message must be sent and the one carrying the message, is a being that
we call angel; the messenger. The Angel
of Jehovah carries the message of the Father, and does the will of the Father
Who sent Him. The opening Scriptures is the narrative where Abraham met with
three men, angels, spoke to one of them, not to all, but one. The narrative opens with Jehovah appearing
to him by the oaks of Mamre. This is not to say that Abraham saw Jehovah at this
point, for the next verse state: “And he lifted up his eyes and looked; and
behold, three men were standing by him (vs.3). Notice this, Abraham does not speak to all, but to One, singular: “And
he said, My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, I beg You, do not
leave from near Your servant” (vs.3). It was Jehovah that spoke to Sarai,
It was Jehovah that heard her laugh, it was Jehovah that pointed this out even
when Sarai tried to lie about her laugh. Throughout the intercession by Abram
in behalf of the cites of he plain, the Angel is addressed as Adonai, a title
that was reserved for the true God. And the One speaking was Jehovah: “And
Jehovah said, if I find fifty righteous within the city, in Sodom, than I will
spare all the place because of them” (Genesis 18:26; Greene’s Interlinear
Bible). After speaking with Abram Jehovah left: “And when He had
finished speaking to Abraham Jehovah left.
And Abraham returned to his place” (Genesis 18:33). Now the
narrative returns to the other two angels, for the Angel of Jehovah, Jehovah
Himself had left: “And the two angels came into Sodom at evening” (Genesis
19:1; Greene’s Interlinear Bible). Things
to notice; One, the Angel of Jehovah assumes the authority of God to punish or
pardon as seen fit by Him. When fire
and brimstone fell down on Sodom and Gomorrah, it was from Jehovah out of
heaven, the place where earlier He had returned.
You
may ask: “What may these words mean?” This interchanging of Angel of Jehovah,
Jehovah, Lord, LORD, but then that would not be the correct question for if the
word "may" is inserted into the question then any answer may be determined to be
correct. The correct question should
be: “What do they mean?” If we take the words by themselves they can be
explained away, but, if the are taken in context, using the correct translation
of the original words, that is, in connection with God’s revelation, those
things He has revealed, it is apparent that Jehovah is distinguished from a
person being from Jehovah. Yet it is to be admitted that both persons carry the
same authority, do the same work, as all things are attributed to be the same
not in One just carrying out the word of the other, rather that each have
identical power and authority, and ability to promise, and to keep the promise.
For both to be revealed as being similar in all aspects, then more must be
understood, there is an economy in the Godhead, and this narrative is plain in
its teaching that there is a Godhead. When it is written: “And Jehovah
rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from Jehovah out of the
heavens, And He overthrew those cities, and all he plain, and all those living
in the cities, and the produce of the ground” (Genesis 19:24-25; Greene’s
Interlinear Bible), And they did not pertain to the One Abraham spoke to,
the One Angel that returned to heaven, the One called Jehovah, to simply mean
Jehovah as God, and not the Angel of Jehovah, then what is don is to go against
the authorized punctuation of the passage as indicated by the accents, and
against the analogy of Scripture. This
then, would make the interpretation to be unnatural. It brings this passage in conflict with other Scriptures. The distinction is perfectly clear, there
are more than one Person in the Godhead.
I
will continue this subject to completion and not leave it half done so that you
may have the knowledge that will grow your faith, and enable you to defend your
faith to anyone who asks.
Let Your mercies come also
To me, O LORD––
Your salvation according to
Your word.
So shall I have an answer for
Him who reproaches me,
For I trust in Your word.
Psalm 119:41-42
Be Led By God And His Word
Richard L. Crumb
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