THE ARM AND ANGEL OF THE LORD

The Scriptures give me the strongest impression that our Lord wants to fully open His heart to us so that we can adore Him in truth (John 4:23-24) and to show us His glory, what is at the core of His Being and plan, even as Jesus had prayed:

•    “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24)

However, there are many truths that we are presently unable to receive, especially before the Holy Spirit had been given (John 16:12). Therefore, there were many things that our Lord had hidden, but in plain sight, like the Savior (Isaiah 49:2; 51:16), His mighty Arm:
 
•    Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him [Also Psalm 69:10]; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40:10–11)

Is “arm” simply a metaphor used to indicate His strength? Instead, the arm seems it be more than a metaphor. The arm also seems to be associated with salvation and had been hidden for the time, until He “bares” Him or it:

•    The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. (Isaiah 52:10)

The arm is also referred to a “you” and not an impersonal “it,” who had led Israel through the sea:

•    Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon? Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? Isaiah 51:9–10

The arm seems also to be associated with the wrath of God and His salvation:

•    I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me [Also 59:16]…In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old…who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name…the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. (Isaiah 63:5,9, 12, 14)

This arm, the “angel of His presence,” had also led the children of Israel out of Egypt:

•    And when we cried to the LORD, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt... (Numbers 20:16)

It wasn’t the Father who had led Israel out of Egypt but rather the Arm of the Father, also called “Yahweh”:

•    And on that very day the LORD [“Yahweh” in Hebrew] brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts. (Exodus 12:51)

This is further affirmed by the fact that the Angel bore His name, signifying His character and essence:

•    "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… For My Angel will go before you.” (Exodus 23:20-23)

The Father couldn’t be in their proximity lest He destroy them:

•    “And I will send My Angel before you…for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people…My presence will go with you…" (Exodus 33:2-3,14)

In summary, both the Angel [or “Messenger”] seem to be referring to the same Person who had been leading Israel, but who is this person? Jesus had rebuked the Pharisees, who had been convinced that studying the Bible had entitled them to eternal life. However, Jesus insisted that the Bible is about Him, the One they had rejected:

•    “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,” (John 5:39)

But do the OT Scriptures “bear witness” to Jesus as the “Arm of the LORD”:

•    Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?...Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:1–4-5)

For those willing to see and to receive the hidden Light of God, Jesus is both the Messenger of God and His Arm.