The Angel of the Lord appears to Hagar, the Egyptian maidservant of Sarai, in Genesis 16, as she flees into the desert. The angel finds Hagar here in the wilderness and delivers a message that directly impacts the future of the Israelite nation, promising a multitude of descendants from her unborn son, Ishmael. > [!bible]+ Genesis 16:10 - ESV > 10. The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” %% #Genesis #Genesis16 %% The angel says that He will be the one to multiply her offspring, not God. This will not be the last time that the Angel of the Lord will make claims like this. > [!bible]+ Genesis 16:13-14 - ESV > 13. So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” 14. Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. %% #Genesis #Genesis16 %% Remarkably, Hagar perceives the angel as God Himself, explicitly stating, "You are a God of seeing" (Genesis 16:13). From this verse alone, we see that at the very least, the Angel of The Lord is associated with God. If the Aramaic Targums translations are used, they explain that the Angel of the Lord is the Word - the same title used for Jesus. > [!quote] Genesis 16:13 Aramaic Targums > And she gave thanks before the Lord whose Word spake to her, and thus said, Thou art He who livest and art eternal; who seest, but art not seen! for she said, For, behold, here is revealed the glory of the Shekina of the Lord after a vision. The initial appearance of the Angel of the Lord to Hagar in Genesis 16 marks a significant moment where the angel directly influences the future of the Israelite nation by promising a vast number of descendants through her unborn son, Ishmael. In this narrative, Hagar acknowledges her visit with the Angel of the Lord as having seen God. This perception is further supported by the Aramaic Targums, which equate the Angel of the Lord with the Word, a title also applied to Jesus. This encounter suggests that the Angel of the Lord is not just an ordinary angel but a manifestation of God's presence in the Old Testament, foreshadowing the revelation of God through Jesus Christ. #TheAngelOfTheLORD