"The Angel of the Lord"
Did you know that Jesus did not just show up one day in the book of Matthew? The God of the Bible is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow (Father, Son and Holy Spirit has always been there. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not 3 separate gods, but One God, hence the Trinity as described in the Bible). Jesus is God and has been there since the beginning and that means Genesis (Genesis 16:7and too many other verses to list).
The MacArthur Study Bible, ESV, page 38 gives an explanation for Genesis 16:7, so I will type it out here for you:
"16:7, The angel of the Lord. This special individual spoke as though he were distinct from Yahweh, yet also spoke in the first person as though he were indeed to be identified as Yahweh himself, with Hagar recognizing that, in seeing this angel, she had seen God (v. 13). Others had the same experience and came to the same conclusion (cf. 22:11-18; 31:11-13; Ex. 3:2-5; Num. 22:22-35; Judg. 6:11-23; 13:2-5; 1 Kings 19:5-7). The angel of the Lord, who does not appear after the birth of Christ, is often identified as the preincarnate Christ. See note on Ex. 3:2. Shur was south of Palestine and east of Egypt, which meant that Hagar attempted to return home to Egypt".
When you read the Old Testament and you read the words "the angel of the Lord" that is referring to Jesus. The whole Bible is the Word of God and is important and relevant for your life today.
John Chapter 17
"When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and the loved them even as you loved me. 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. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." John Chapter 17 ESV
Explanation for verses John 17:1-26 from The MacArthur Study Bible, ESV, page 1576.
"17:1-26 Although Matt. 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4 have become known popularly as the "Lord's Prayer," that prayer was actually a prayer taught to the disciples by Jesus as a pattern for their prayers. The prayer recorded here is truly the Lord's prayer, exhibiting the face-to-face communion the Son had with the Father. Very little is recorded of the content of Jesus' frequent prayers to the Father (Matt. 14:23; Luke 5:16), so this prayer reveals some of the precious content of the Son's communion and intercession with him. This chapter is a transitional chapter, marking the end of Jesus' earthly ministry and the beginning of his intercessory ministry for believers (Heb. 7:25). In many respects, the prayer is a summary of John's entire Gospel. Its principal themes include: 1) Jesus' obedience to his Father; 2) the glorification of his Father through his death and exaltation; 3) the revelation of God in Jesus Christ; 4) the choosing of the disciples out of the world; 5) their mission to the world; 6) their unity modeled on the unity of the Father and Son; and 7) the believer's final destiny in the presence of the Father and Son. The chapter divides into three parts: 1) Jesus' prayer for himself (John 17:1-5); 2) Jesus' prayer for the apostles (vv.6-19); and 3) Jesus' prayer for all NT believers who will form the church (vv. 20-26)."
Let's pray: Dear Lord Jesus, I lift up those who are hurting today. I pray for those in the Nepal earthquakes and all those who are suffering. I pray that You would comfort them and provide for them in the coming days. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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