As we are in chapter 28 of Genesis, we find our word for today. מַלְאָךְ messenger, messengers of God, a supernatural being created by God to serve Him, angel. It is used 213 times in the Old Testament. I find it interesting that the first two occasions that we find our word used we see angels brining messages, but they are very different messages from God. Genesis 16:7-11 The מַלְאָךְ angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The מַלְאָךְ angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” And the מַלְאָךְ angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction. This first time in the Bible God brings good news to Hagar about the future hope of her son. The next time we see angels they have a message of judgement from God. Genesis 19:1, 14-16 The two מַלְאָךְ angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city…So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!”...With the coming of dawn, the מַלְאָךְ angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.” When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. Did you notice that the angels are also referred to as men? These were the same visitors who met with Abram and Sari back in chapter 18. Genesis 18:16-17, 20-21 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?... The Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.” Did you notice that the angels who are also referred to as men at least one of them when speaking is now somehow called the LORD? If we remember from a long time ago we already looked at our word for LORD in all capitals which is יְהוָ֔הThis is really interesting. We don’t know exactly what is going on but it could be that because they are angels or messengers of יְהוָ֔הthe LORD and they represent God they could also be addressed as יְהוָ֔ה or the LORD. We just don’t know for sure. But the basic function of angels is their acting on God’s behalf as his servants. This is what we find them doing in our chapter today.
Genesis 28:12-13 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the מַלְאֲכֵ֣י angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Like we saw yesterday Jacob didn’t realize that God was still with him. It didn’t seem like it because he was not just leaving to go back to his relatives to find a wife he was also fleeing from his brother who wanted to kill him. So he was very much in need of encouragement. Which we find God providing through his messenger servant angels. We will talk more about angels in the days to come as they will come up a lot in the Bible. It is comforting to know that God encourages us when we are in desperate need of it through his messengers.
