Jesus not at all indistinctly designates Himself as the Captain of the Lord's host spoken of in our passage, in Matt. xxvi. 53: Ἢ δοκεῖς ὅτι οὐ δύναμαι ἄρτι παρακαλέσαι τὸν πατέρα μου, καὶ παραστήσει μοι πλείους ἢ δώδεκα λεγεῶνας ἀγγέλων; This passage alone would be sufficient to refute the view which conceives of the Angel of the Lord as a mere emanation and messenger. It also overthrows the opinion that he is an inferior angel, inasmuch as the Angel of the Lord here appears as raised above all inferior angels.
Thus there existed, even in the time of Moses, the most important foundation for the doctrine concerning Christ. He who knows the general relation which the Pentateuch bears to the later development of doctrine, will, a priori, think it impossible that it should have been otherwise; and, instead of neglecting these small beginnings, appearing, as it were, in the shape of germs, he will cultivate them with love and care.
It is only at a late period, in Malachi iii. 1, that the doctrine of the Angel of the Lord is expressly brought into connection with that of Christ. But a knowledge of the divine nature of the Messiah is found at a much earlier period; and we can certainly not suppose that the doctrine of the Angel of the Lord, and that of a truly divine Saviour, should have existed by the side of each other, and yet that manifold forebodings regarding their close obvious connection should not have been awakened in the mind.
[ [1]] Seb. Schmid says: "I have now come with my heavenly host to attack the Canaanites, and to help thee and thy people. Be thou of good cheer; prepare thyself for war along with me, and I will now explain to thee in what manner thou must carry it on;" vi. 2 ff.
[THE PROMISE IN 2 SAMUEL, CHAP. VII.]
The Messianic prophecy, as we have seen, began at a time long anterior to that of David. Even in Genesis, we perceived it, increasing more and more in distinctness. There is at first only the general promise that the seed of the woman should obtain the victory over the kingdom of the evil one;—then, that the salvation should come through the descendants of Shem;—then, from among them Abraham is marked out,—of his sons, Isaac,—from among his sons, Jacob,—and from among the twelve sons of Jacob, Judah is singled out as the bearer of dominion, and marked out as the person from whom, at length, should proceed the glorious King whose peaceful dominion is destined to extend over all the nations of the earth.
Whilst, hitherto, the tribe only had been pointed out, in the midst of which an imperishable dominion should be established, and out of which the Saviour was at last to come,—under David another feature was added by the determination of the family. This was done in the prophetic announcement which the Lord, by the prophet Nathan, addressed in 2 Sam. vii. to David, when he had adopted the resolution of building to the Lord a fixed temple, instead of the moveable tabernacle which had hitherto been used.
Ver. 1. "And it happened when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies round about. Ver. 2. And the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See, now, I dwell in a house of cedar, and the ark of God dwelleth within curtains."