[273 words]
Unless this preacher has missed it somewhere else in the Bible, his name is still a mystery. Yet there is great significance attached to his name. Notice this declaration from heaven: “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him” (Exodus 23:20).
The two angels who are named in the Bible have names with “God” in them. Gabriel’s name in Hebrew means “champion of God” (Luke 1:19); “Michael” means “who is like God?” (Daniel 12:1). (The “El” ending of their names is the abbreviated form of the Hebrew word for “God.”) It must be that case then, that, since the angel’s name is not given in Exodus 23, God intended for the angel to be respected and obeyed because of what he represented.
That angel was directly associated with the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night in order to lead the people (Exodus 13:21, 22; 14:19). He evidently also had part in revealing the law to the children of Israel because the writer of Hebrews said, “For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward” (Hebrews 2:2). We may correctly conclude from these things that when God said, “for my name is in him,” He meant His authority. Today, we must have Christ’s authority for all that we do (Col. 3:17).
J. Brooks Boyd, Jr.
Livingston church of Christ
Livingston, TN