Broad meadows

The book of Judges mentions the angel of the LORD 14 times, in chapters 2, 5, 6 and 13. Most of those fall into the two most prominent of those listed in Judges, Gideon and Samson. Not coincidentally, the young goat also appears in both accounts, further cementing the angel of the LORD as the goat that the Bible is describing. Gideon offers a young goat in sacrifice, as do the parents of Samson.

Using the concept of merging as we have in earlier writings, this would make both Gideon and Samson as the physical type of the (young) goat. Judges 6:12 says, “When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior. ” Gideon goes on to say to the angel that he is the least in his clan, so how can he save Israel from the oppression of Midian? In other words he doesn’t know he’s a “mighty warrior.”

In the story of Samson, he goes through a period in his life (or existence) when he has lost his strength and is blinded. Unlike the Lord Jesus Christ, who appears to know exactly who he was as early as 12 years old in Luke 2:49, what I think both accounts are telling us is that the goat doesn’t know who is, apparently that it must be revealed to him, apparently as an adult. In Samson’s account you get a broader telling of the angel’s existence. He is the strongest created being (his angelic form), has his power stripped (his human form) and regains his strength to destroy the idolatrous temple.

Gideon also starts his mission by destroying the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah pole next to it. Judges 6:25-26 says, “That same night the LORD said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering.” So why the second bull?

Way back in Genesis 15, we noted the covenant God made with Abram and the symbols presented, the first being a heifer. The next animal in line was the goat. I think this means the first bull was Jesus, as was stated at that time, that would make the second bull the angel of the LORD. But to what end? Who exactly is being helped? What is the purpose of the goat (the second bull) in God’s plan of redemption?

In the context of both Gideon and Samson’s account, idolatry is destroyed. In Gideons account, however, idolatry springs up around the ephod he makes. In the book of Revelation, the Apostle John is told three times not to worship angels, but to worship the one true God. This is perhaps the danger associated with his ministry. Angels are created beings. Only the creator is to be worshipped as God (Revelation 4::11).

I’ll begin to answer those questions in greater detail in the next few writings, but before I end this one, I want to tell you who I think the angel of the LORD is.

In Jude 9 it states, “But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” The only other time the phrase “the Lord rebuke you!” is used is in Zechariah 3:1-2. It says, “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” So then, the angel of the LORD is Michael. In my analysis, that makes Michael the rider on the white horse in Revelation 6:2. And as I stated earlier, I believe the Covid vaccine is the second seal. That would mean that Michael is here now. And given what was stated in Zechariah 3, part of his purpose is to snatch people from the fire.