Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
21Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. Exodus 23:20-21
Firstly, is the angel spoken of in this verse the one who led the Israelites with a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire through the wilderness? I am sure that it is, but, considering that the text does not explicitly say that it is, I should allow the possibility that it isn’t.
The Bible says that God was the one who guided Israelites with the pillars of cloud and fire.
Exodus 13:21 KJV — And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
Exodus 14:24 KJV — And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,
Assuming that Exodus 23:21 is speaking of the angel that was doing these same things, is the angel simply the representative of Yahweh, and so is called Yahweh in the text, or was Yahweh Himself the angel? What does it mean that His name was in him?
Thank you.
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