6280. That the “redeeming Angel” is the Lord as to the Divine Human, is evident from the fact that by assuming the Human and making it Divine the Lord redeemed man, that is, delivered him from hell; whence the Lord as to His Divine Human is called the “Redeemer.” That the Divine Human is called the “Angel” is because the word “angel” means “sent,” and the Lord as to the Divine Human is said to be “sent,” as is plain from many passages in the Word of the Evangelists. Moreover before the Lord’s coming into the world the Divine Human was Jehovah Himself flowing in through heaven when He spoke the Word; for Jehovah was above the heavens, but that which passed from Him through the heavens was at that time the Divine Human; for by the influx of Jehovah into heaven, He set forth a man, and the very Divine thence derived was a Divine man. This then is the Divine Human from eternity, and is what is called “Sent,” by which is meant proceeding, and this is the same as “Angel.”
[2] But as Jehovah by this Divine Human of His, could not flow in any longer with men, because they had so far removed themselves from this Divine, He therefore took on the Human and made it Divine, and thus by influx from this into heaven He could reach even those of the human race who would receive the good of charity and the truth of faith from the Divine Human, which was thus made visible, and could thus deliver them from hell, which could not possibly have been effected in any other way. This deliverance is that which is called “redemption,” and the Divine Human Itself, which delivered or redeemed, is what is called the “redeeming Angel.”
[3] But be it known that in respect to the Divine Human, as well as in respect to the Divine Itself, the Lord is above heaven; for He is the Sun which illumines heaven; thus that heaven is far beneath Him. The Divine Human which is in heaven is the Divine truth which proceeds from Him, which is the light from Him as a sun. In respect to His essence the Lord is not Divine truth, for this is from Him as light from the sun, but He is Divine good itself, one with Jehovah.
[4] The Lord’s Divine Human is called “Angel” in other places also in the Word, as when He appeared to Moses in the bush, of which it is written in Exodus:
When Moses came to the mountain of God, unto Horeb, the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. Jehovah saw that Moses turned aside to see, therefore God called unto him out of the midst of the bush. And he said further, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Exodus 3:1-2, 4, 6);
it is the Lord’s Divine Human which is here called the “Angel of Jehovah,” and it is plainly said that it was Jehovah Himself. That Jehovah was there in the Divine Human may be seen from the fact that the Divine Itself could not appear except through the Divine Human; according to the Lord’s words in John: “No one hath ever seen God, the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath set Him forth” (John 1:18); and in another place: “Ye have neither ever heard the voice of the Father, nor seen His shape” (John 5:37).
[5] Moreover the Lord as to the Divine Human is called the “Angel” where it treats of leading the people into the land of Canaan, of which we read in Exodus:
Behold I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee unto the place which I have prepared. Beware thou of His faces, for He will not bear your transgression, because My name is in the midst of Him (Exodus 23:20-21, 23).
That the “Angel” in this passage is the Divine Human, is evident from the fact that it is said, “because My name is in the midst of Him,” that is, Jehovah Himself is. By “My name” is signified the quality of Jehovah which is in the Divine Human (that the Lord as to the Divine Human is the “name of Jehovah,” may be seen above, n. 2628; and that the “name of God” is His quality, as also everything in one complex by means of which God is worshiped, n. 2724, 3006).
[6] In Isaiah:
In all their distress He had distress, and the Angel of His faces will deliver them; in His love and in His indulgence He redeemed them, and He took them, and carried them all the days of eternity (Isaiah 63:9).
That the “Angel of the faces of Jehovah” is the Lord as to the Divine Human, is manifest, for it is said that “He redeemed them.”
[7] In Malachi:
Behold the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come unto His temple, even the Angel of the covenant whom ye desire; Behold He cometh, saith Jehovah Zebaoth. But who shall endure the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth? Then shall the meat-offering of Judah and Jerusalem be sweet to Jehovah, as in the days of eternity, and as in former years (Malachi 3:1-2, 4).
That the “Angel of the covenant” is the Lord as to the Divine Human is very evident, for the subject treated of is His coming; the “offering of Judah and Jerusalem being then sweet to Jehovah” signifies that worship from love and faith in Him will then be sweet. That by “Judah” here is not meant Judah, nor by “Jerusalem” Jerusalem, is clearly evident; for neither then nor afterward was the offering of Judah and Jerusalem sweet. That the “days of eternity” are the states of the Most Ancient Church, which was celestial; and that the “former years” are the states of the Ancient Church, which was spiritual, may be seen above (n. 6239). Moreover by an “angel” in the Word, in the internal sense, is not signified an angel, but something Divine in the the Lord, (n. 1925, 2319, 2821, 3039, 4085).
