In His work in the divine administration Christ is also another Angel (Rev. 7:2; 8:3; 10:1; 18:1). As another Angel Christ stands on the position of One who has been sent by God. In the Old Testament Christ was called the Angel of the Lord, who was God Himself (Gen. 22:11-12; Exo. 3:2-6; Judg. 6:11-24; Zech. 1:11-12; 2:8-11; 3:1-7). In the book of Revelation He is again called the Angel. Christ is another Angel; He is the unique, special Angel.
As another Angel Christ takes care of God’s people, both the sons of Israel and the believers (Rev. 7:2-17). First He cares for the chosen remnant of Israel (7:2-8). Revelation 7:2 and 3 say, “I saw another Angel ascend from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea, saying, Do not harm the earth nor the sea nor the trees until we have sealed the slaves of our God upon their foreheads.” Before the first four trumpets the Lord will seal the chosen Israelites from the supernatural calamities that will be carried out by these trumpets. In 7:4-8 we see that He will seal one hundred forty-four thousand out of every tribe of the sons of Israel, sealing twelve thousand out of each of the twelve tribes. These are the Israelites who will keep the commandments of God during the great tribulation (Rev. 12:17; 14:12). We do not know what kind of seal this will be, but it will be a mark recognizable to the angels sent to judge the earth. This is the Lord’s way of preserving the chosen Israelites while He is executing His judgment upon the earth.
In His work as another Angel Christ also takes care of the believers, the redeemed saints of the church. This is seen in Revelation 7:9-17, where we have a vision of the preservation of the redeemed ones throughout all the tribulations. The Lord’s way to preserve the remnant of Israel is to seal them and leave them on earth. His way to preserve the believers is to take them away by means of rapture. Eventually all the redeemed saints will be raptured from earth to heaven.
Revelation 8:3-9:21 discloses how Christ as another Angel executes God’s judgment upon the earth, the sea, the rivers, the sun, the moon, the stars, and men. Revelation 8:3-5 portrays the scene in heaven after the opening of the seventh seal. Christ as another Angel adds incense to the prayers of the saints (vv. 3-4). Then He takes the censer, fills it with the fire of the altar, and casts it to the earth (v. 5). The prayers of the saints here must be for the judgment of the earth which opposes God’s economy. The answer to these prayers is the execution of God’s judgment. To cast fire to the earth is to execute God’s judgment upon the earth.
With the sounding of the seven trumpets, Christ as another Angel executes God’s judgment. With the first trumpet there is judgment on the earth (8:7); with the second, judgment on the sea (vv. 8-9); with the third, judgment on the rivers (vv. 10-11); with the fourth, judgment on the sun, moon, and stars (v. 12); with the fifth, which is the first woe, judgment on men (8:13-9:11); and with the sixth, which is the second woe, further judgment on men (9:12-21).
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