Do you wonder about tomorrow? Are you concerned about what it will bring? Remember the old church song — Because He lives, I can face tomorrow? I am thinking of this as I write this blog this morning.
“See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him.” Exodus 23 v 20-21.
Isn’t it comforting to know you are not going it alone? God says here that He is sending an angel to guard you and bring you through, and all we have to do is pay attention, listen to him, and obey.
But who is this angel?
Angels generally refuse worship and point away from themselves. This one is spoken of in terms that belong to God alone. Israel must obey his voice. Most striking of all, God says, “My Name is in him.” In Scripture, God’s Name is His very self, His character and His presence. This angel does not merely carry a message from God. He carries God.
This is why many think the angel here is actually the Angel of the Lord, a pre-incarnate appearance of the Son. Both Isaiah (63:9) and Paul (1 Corinthians 10:4) believed in the theophany of the Son of God.
Interestingly, His role is “to bring you to the place I have prepared,” and Jesus said, “I am going there to prepare a place for you… I will come back and take you to be with me” (John 14:2–3). The angel of Exodus brings Israel to “the place I have prepared.” Jesus brings His people to the place He has prepared.
You do not do life alone. Christ goes ahead of you, and because you follow Him, you pay attention to Him and obey Him.
The question for today, then, is not only “Is He with me?” but “Am I listening to Him?”
