According to 23:20, the Angel of Jehovah was sent by Jehovah. Here we have both a Sender and a sent One. Zechariah 2:8 and 9 indicate that the Sender and sent One are one. Verse 8 says, “For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you” (lit.). Verse 9 concludes with the words, “Ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me” (lit.). These verses indicate that Jehovah of hosts sent Jehovah of hosts. According to verse 8, Jehovah of hosts says, “After the glory hath he sent me.” Here we see that the Sender and the sent One are actually one.
Those who follow the way of systematic theology may ask how we can say that Christ the Son and the Father are one. They may point to the fact that the Son prayed to the Father and that the Father answered the Son (Luke 3:21-22). If the Father and the Son are one, they ask, how could the Son pray to the Father, and how could the Father answer the Son? The answer is found in Zechariah 2. Who is the sent One, and who is the Sender? In Zechariah 2:8 and 9 both “he,” the Sender, and “me,” the sent One, refer to Jehovah of hosts. According to these verses, Jehovah sent Jehovah, for He is both the Sender and the sent One. The same is true in Exodus 23:20, where we are told that the Angel of Jehovah was sent by Jehovah.
Regarding the Angel of Jehovah verse 21 says, “My name is in him.” The name Jehovah means “I Am That I Am” (3:14). This name is in the Angel of Jehovah. Why is the name of Jehovah in the Angel? Simply because the Angel is Jehovah Himself. If the Angel were not Jehovah, how could Jehovah’s name be in him? The name of a person is identical to the person himself. We cannot separate a person from his name, for his name indicates his very being. For this reason, we do not simply speak of ourselves as persons, but we identify ourselves by name. The name of Jehovah was in the Angel and inseparable from the Angel.
Exodus 3 indicates strongly that the Angel is Jehovah. Verse 2 says, “The Angel of Jehovah appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a thorn-bush” (lit.). As we read through chapter three, we see that it was actually Jehovah who appeared to Moses and spoke to him (vv. 4, 6, 14, 16). Furthermore, the Jehovah who appeared to Moses is the Triune God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. The Angel of Jehovah is equal to Jehovah, Jehovah is equal to God, and God is triune—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—as signified by the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Therefore, this Angel of Jehovah actually is the Triune God. Furthermore, this Angel is Christ, and Christ is the Son of God. This means that the Son of God is Jehovah God, even the Triune God.
Exodus 23:22 says, “If thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak....” This indicates that the Angel’s voice is God’s speaking. In John 14:10, the Lord Jesus said, “The words which I speak to you, I do not speak from Myself; but the Father who abides in Me, He does His works.” Just as the Angel’s voice was Jehovah’s speaking, so the Son’s speaking was the Father’s working. The fact that the Angel’s voice was Jehovah’s speaking proves strongly that the Angel and Jehovah are one.
If we study the record in the Old Testament concerning the journey of the children of Israel from Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the good land, we shall not find one instance where the Angel of Jehovah spoke anything. Why then does God speak of the Angel’s voice, if the Angel never voiced anything? The reason is that God was the One who spoke. God’s speaking was the Angel’s voice. God sent Himself to accompany His people, to guard them in the way, and to bring them into the good land. This indicates that the Angel and God were truly one. Thus, God’s speaking was the Angel’s voice.
As we consider the fact that God’s speaking was the Angel’s voice, we see that it involves the matter of the Trinity. The Trinity is the dispensation of God to man. Even with the children of Israel in the Old Testament, we can see God’s dispensation.