The Angel of God, the pillar of cloud, and Jehovah, as the Divine Trinity, protected God’s redeemed people and fought their enemies for them for the purpose of bringing the redeemed into the enjoyment of the Triune God. In Exodus 14 God appeared as the Angel of God, the pillar of cloud, and Jehovah. We may wonder why God did not do things as Himself directly but was “complicated” by doing things as the Angel of God and the pillar of cloud. According to verses 19 through 20, it was the pillar of cloud that protected Israel from Pharaoh and the Egyptian army. However, verses 24 and 25 say that it was Jehovah who fought from within the cloud (cf. Num. 14:14). Actually, it was the Triune God who fought. Although many such points concerning the Trinity are puzzling and even inexplicable, we know that the Trinity exists for the purpose of dispensing God into us.
One of the compound names of Jehovah in the Old Testament is Jehovah-shammah, which means “Jehovah Is There,” or “Jehovah is present” (Ezek. 48:35). The presence of God today is God Himself as Spirit. The Spirit is not something other than God. The presence of God as the Spirit is for dispensing. Thus, Jehovah-shammah is God Himself for dispensing. While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, the pillar of cloud and of fire was a sign that gave them peace by causing them to realize that God was with them. Moreover, they all knew when it was time to move, because they all could see when the cloud moved. This typifies the Triune God moving with them and dispensing Himself for their enjoyment.
According to Exodus 14:24 and Numbers 14:14, Jehovah was in the cloud and in the fire. Although normally nothing can exist within fire, our God was in the fire for the purpose of dispensing Himself to His people that they could partake of Him, participate in Him, and enjoy Him. The Angel of God, the pillar of cloud, and Jehovah, as the Divine Trinity, brought God’s redeemed people first to feast with the Triune God, then into the tabernacle, and finally into the good land. The feast, the tabernacle, and the good land signify the Triune God for His people’s enjoyment.
Exodus 23:20-23 says, “I am now sending an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Be careful before Him, and listen to His voice; do not rebel against Him;...for My name is in Him. But if you will indeed listen to His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My Angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites;...and I will cut them off.” Verse 25 says, “You shall serve Jehovah your God, and He will bless your bread and your water.”
Just as the Angel came in the name of Jehovah, the Lord Jesus as the sent One of God came in the name of the Father (John 5:43). Exodus 23:22 shows that the Angel’s voice was Jehovah’s speaking, proving that the Angel and Jehovah are one. The Angel’s voice being Jehovah’s speaking is similar to the Lord Jesus never speaking from Himself but only from the Father (John 8:28; 12:49). When others heard the Lord’s voice, they received the words of the Father. For this reason, the Lord said in John 5:24, “He who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me.”
Exodus 23:23 says that that the Angel of Jehovah will go before Israel, but verse 25 says that Jehovah will cut off their enemies. This also shows that the Angel and Jehovah are one. Exodus 32:34 says, “Now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you. Now My Angel will go before you.” Exodus 33:2-3 says, “I will send an Angel before you; and I will drive out the Canaanites...Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey.” In these verses also, the Angel of Jehovah and Jehovah are used interchangeably. The Angel of Jehovah, Jehovah as the Triune God (Elohim), brought His redeemed people into the good land and cut off their enemies so that the redeemed could enjoy the riches of the Triune God. This is the Trinity revealed in the second book of the Old Testament. This shows that we cannot systematize the truth in the Bible.
In Exodus 17:6 Jehovah said to Moses, “I will be standing before you there upon the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink.” Moses represented the law. Jehovah as the smiting God, the rock as the crucified Christ, and water as the Spirit of life signify the Divine Trinity (1 Cor. 10:4). The water flowing out signifies the dispensing of God. This clearly reveals that the Divine Trinity is for God’s flowing out into His people. By the authority of God, the Christ was smitten on the cross and the living water flowed out (John 19:34). This living water is the Spirit, who flows into our being. The rock being smitten typifies Christ being crucified so that the Triune God might gush out as the thirst-quenching Spirit into His redeemed people for their enjoyment and satisfaction (John 7:37-39; Rev. 22:1).