The Word of the Lord

This presentation is based on insights from Michael S. Heiser’s book The Unseen Realm: Recovering the supernatural Worldview of the Bible. This blog presents the material somewhat differently than I did in person in sermons at two different churches recently.

The Apostle John and the writer of the letter to the Hebrews both do something modern readers of the Bible might not have expected with the “word” of God. John says that Jesus is “the Word” of God, who is both God and with God, who became a man like us (John 1:1-14). For those not expecting it, it comes as a shock to learn that one God is at least two persons. We will discuss how John comes to this conclusion from the Old Testament record in just a moment.

The writer of Hebrews does something similar that is far more subtle, and most modern readers do not catch it. In Hebrews 4:12-13 the writer says that the word of the Lord is alive and powerful, judging the hearts, and that nothing is hidden from the sight of him to whom we must give account. Somehow most modern readers are led to believe that it is the Bible, the “written word of God” that this passage refers to, but a close reading in the larger context suggests that Jesus is the “word” in view here. He is alive and powerful! He is the Judge before whom nothing is hidden.

In Gen 15:1-6 we begin to see why the Apostle John so confidently claims that the man he knew personally as Jesus is, in fact, the eternal Word of God made flesh. In this incident the “word of the Lord” comes to Abram in a vision, speaks to him and then leads him outside to show him the stars. Is this not a strange way to express merely hearing a voice from God? First, the fact that this is a vision suggests that Abram actually sees the speaker. The speaker then conducts Abram outside and shows him the stars, telling him that his descendants will be even more numerous.

Jeremiah 1:1-9 is a passage in which “the word of the Lord” comes to Jeremiah and actually touches his face. It seems as though the “word” should be capitalized in this instance.

The dual person-hood of the one God becomes evident in another phenomenon in the Old Testament: meeting with the Angel of the Lord. There are many instances in Genesis in which the Angel of the Lord blends identity with the Lord.

In Gen 22:10-18 Abraham recognizes the “Angel of the Lord’s” (mal’ak = “messenger” or “angel” in Hebrew) voice as God.

In Gen 31:11-13 the Angel tells Abraham’s grandson Jacob that he is God. Jacob wrestles with a person all night in Gen 32:22-30. This person changes his name to Israel, after which Israel realizes that this was God. He marvels that he was face-to-face with God and actually lived!

As Israel nears the end of his life Israel asks his son Joseph to bring his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh to be blessed (Gen 48:1-4, 14-16) As he blesses the boys he asks God and the Angel of the Lord to bless the boys. In one verse it is the singular elohim and in the next parallel verse it is mal’ak whom Israel asks to bless the boys.

At the end of the Book of the Covenant (Ex. 23:20-21) God tells the children of Israel to follow an angel who will guide them. At one point he tells them that this angel will not forgive their disobedience. What is this about an angel forgiving sins? Isn’t that God’s job? God also tells the people that His own Name is in that Angel.

In Judges 2:1 the Angel of God is quoted as saying, “I brought you out of Egypt to the land I promised to your ancestors.”

In Judges 6:11-24 the Angel sits under a tree, waiting for Gideon, burns up an offering, disappears and becomes God’s disembodied voice.

Let’s look again at John 1:1-14.

Why should it be difficult to believe that our one God can be both at least two divine persons at once? The Word of the Lord / Angel of the Lord is clearly the one who came to earth, born as a human of a virgin by the Holy Spirit as God’s one and only Son, Jesus Christ.